By Cat Wyatt

The last several issues of Green Lanterns has been focused on the superhero trafficking that’s been occurring. Issue #43 brings us the conclusion to this boy, and it is not a letdown. To recap, in the last issue Jess was surrounded by mind-controlled superheroes (she’s attempting to save them by using constructs to destroy the chips in their brains – risky), Simon is fighting the big bad, and Scrapps went ahead and found Night Pilot…sort of.

The issue starts off with showing us Jess and her attempt at brain surgery (okay, it doesn’t feel right to call it that, but I’m not sure what else to call it). I’m thrilled they started off here, as I was both concerned and curious about this bit. I’ve been a fan of Jess for a while now, and that’s partially because of the unique way she uses her ring. This scene further reinforced that for me, as Jess not only had a creative solution to the problem (one suggested to her by the ring itself, mind you), but she’s got multiple interfaces and methods of talking with the ring while she works. It’s actually pretty cool to see (even if the green constructs going up the supers noses looks a bit like a boogie).

Meanwhile, Simon is having a bit of trouble in his fight. It’s not that he’s getting his ass handed to him (he’s actually doing a great job holding his own), it’s that he’s emotionally compromised (thanks, Night Pilot), distracted by what Jess is doing (she’s basically defenseless while she works), and is dealing with somebody that keeps changing their form. I’m pretty sure any one of those issues would be enough to make the fight more challenging, but having all three thrown at him at once? No thank you.

Speaking of Night Pilot, you know that helmet she’s always wearing? Well, apparently it’s an Ancient Vimana Pilot Helmet (something I had no clue about, but apparently the leader of the Order of the Steed knew it). If you’re thinking he just wants to take the helmet from Night Pilot, then you’d be wrong. His goal was actually to fully take over her body because she’s young and pretty (apparently that’s enough). Plus the superpowers and helmet bit.

I’m not going to lie when that twist was revealed I was more than a little worried about Night Pilot. Can the mind survive being overwritten like that? Would Night Pilot still be herself, should they be able to save her? Or is she already gone? Those were all the questions on my mind while she (he?) and Scrapps had their fight.

Remember how I mentioned that Jess is a wee bit vulnerable while essentially operating on ten plus heroes at once? Well, apparently I wasn’t the only one that figured that out. Though it shouldn’t be surprising that the enemy figured it out – it’s common sense and good (if slightly immoral) tactics. On the bright side, their movement towards Jess was the kick in the pants that Simon needed.

Now, Simon is a tough guy; I’m not here to argue that. What I would like to say is that I would never want to fight Simon when he’s trying to protect somebody else. Because if you ask me, that’s when he’s at his most dangerous.

While Simon is busy fighting off the fusion monster (sorry, couldn’t resist), Jess is actually doing a great job with her little operation plan. Though I feel like I should give her ring some credit here as well – she may have done the manual labor involved, but the ring talked her through it kept her calm when she was about to freak out. Can I just say that I love how her ring is getting its own personality? My guess is that because Jess talks to it so much, it’s compensating and learning to respond in kind, in order to provide her with the information and feedback she requires (something I’ve been told the rings are capable of, so this makes sense).

So here we have the conclusion of a multiple issue plot. Jess’s crazy plan worked, Simon kept the enemies off of Jess, and Scrapps successfully captured the leader (though she had some help). Oh, and Night Pilot is apparently fine too, so bonus? With proof of an actual crime going on the Green Lantern Corps was allowed to show up and provide assistance with all of the refugees, pilgrims, and prisoners. Which is good, because there are a lot of them.

There are still a few emotional ties up in the air, of course. Suddenly Night Pilot is all interested in Simon again, which is pretty scummy if you ask me. She rejected the guy, but once he became a big hero and saved her butt that suddenly makes him more attractive? Nope, I don’t think so. I think she got scared about what happened to her and went for the first guy around that had shown any interest in her. Okay, I’m probably being harsh, but she did reject Simon the first time around, even though he’s awesome. So I feel a little justified here.

There’s also the lead up they’ve been working on between Simon and Jess. They keep hinting at the idea of a relationship between the two of them. I think they make a great team, but I’m not sure how I feel about them becoming more than that. I don’t think I’d be upset if the creators decided to take it further, but I guess I won’t know for sure until it happens.

On the whole, this was a pretty satisfying conclusion to such a long plot. I feel like all of the loose ends got wrapped up, and the ending fight/surgery scenes were pretty dramatic as well, which is fantastic. They did leave a few points open, should they decide to return to this plot, which I’m fine with. I love that they used the last page of the issue to hint at something else going on, something specific to Jess and her issues. I can’t wait to see where that leads.

The artwork for this issue was pretty solid on the whole. Though I’m torn on how I feel about some of Jess’ expressions. It’s clear they were trying to show us how hard she was concentrating, but they just sort of end up looking a bit off, though maybe that’s just me. As per usual I loved the constructs shown, even the tendrils that sort of looked like boogers. And there were plenty of dramatic poses as well (I think Simon and Night Pilot got the best ones this issue).

Score: 4/5

Green Lanterns #43
DC Comics