Green Lanterns #23 Review and *SPOILERS*

Jessica's In A World of Shit

Written By: Sam Humphries

Art By: Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Blond, Dave Sharpe

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: May 17, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I've noticed lately that it seems like Sam Humphries is just doing anything he wants with this Green Lanterns book whether it makes sense to the continuity or not and while I'm all for a writer trying new things to tell an interesting story, the things that have come before are just as important to me and it's because of this....... and the fact that Earth's sector was wrong in the last issue of this book that I've really not been enjoying this title as much as I thought I would when it was first announced for Rebirth.  I can only hope though now that we've got our Lanterns on Mogo, going through some basic training like every Lantern should, that things will pick up and this will start feeling like a proper Green Lantern title soon.  Yeah, I don't really expect that, but Rebirth is all about hope and I'm keeping mine strong because no one wants to go around being a Negative Nancy all the damn time.  Let's jump into this issue and see how the training is going for our Lantern heroes and see what Volthoom is up to now that he has Rami's records on how he made the original Green Lantern rings.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with Guy Gardner just putting Jessica Cruz through the ringing as he shows off his training methods and while it's kind of what you'd expect from basic training, it's terrible to see Jessica treated this way.......... even if her constructs aren't up to snuff and she keeps losing her willpower.  Eventually though, Kilowog shows up and shows Jessica a method to keep her thoughts on her willpower and to work through her fear, which is cool, but when it comes to Guy Gardner yelling in your ear, I guess it isn't enough and Jessica loses her cool and punches the ginger right in the face.  Simon's training while not as intense, isn't going as well as he'd hoped either.  Yeah, Kyle's not shouting at him or telling him how useless he is, but he's certainly showing Simon that he's certainly not on par with the former Torch Bearer Kyle Rayner.

While all the training is going on, Volthoom is pouring through Rami's records, trying to figure out how he can use the rings against the Lantern Corps when he finds the notes on the first seven Green Lantern rings created and finds that Rami used his cannibalized Traveling Lantern as a means to make rings in the first place.  This sends Volthoom on a bit of a tizzy, where he talks about betrayal and all that, but it does bring us to what Volthoom's next plan of action is.  Find the first seven rings and use them as a means to recreate his Travel Lantern so that he can finally go home........ which doesn't make sense to continuity, but whatever.  

In the end, we have some Jack Kirby New Gods stuff thrown at us as we discover that one of the first rings went to what Sam Humphries is calling The Third World, Galactica and while I'm not the most versed person when it comes to New Gods stuff.......... since I've never been a fan of it, I guess we'll go with it and we see the people of this world debating whether or not they should go out into the Universe and spread their message of peace before war finds them as it did the Old Gods.  Eventually, a person volunteers named Alitha and as she does, one of the first rings makes it to her.  Only problem I have with this is, I'm not sure how continuity works for all of this since Apokolips and New Genesis have become their own Universe.

That's it for this issue of Green Lanterns and while I'm a little uncertain about how all this "Third World" stuff plays into current continuity, this wasn't a bad issue, even if it didn't really get us much further into our story.  Yeah, Simon and Jessica's training was a bit of fun....... and even a little heartbreaking at times, but I hope that we don't spend this entire arc seeing it as we get a snippet of each of the original seven rings going to their original bearers......... Because, goddamn would that being boring as shit.  The art in this issue is great, as it always is when Eduardo Pansica is on pencils and for the most part, I didn't mind this issue, I just wish that the continuity was a little clearer because as it is right now, we're moving into new territory since Sam Humphries changed Volthoom's original origin and keeps reshaping the Green Lantern Universe as he sees fit issue to issue.

Bits and Pieces:

We jump right into Simon and Jessica's training in this issue and while that's fun, the continuation of our current story kinds of takes a backseat to it and we're left with Guy Gardner screaming at Jessica throughout most of this issue.  Hopefully, as this series progresses we'll get more of Volthoom and the new continuity that Sam Humphries as set up is made clear because for now, I'm scratching my head a bit at it.  Thankfully though, the art in this issue was great and the colors were vibrant as hell.

6.8/10