“RAGE PLANET” Chapter Three: In issue #3, Green Lanterns Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz are trapped in the bloody and monstrous Rage Tower with their rings drained. Now, they must work together if they’re going to escape. Can the new protectors of Earth find common ground—or are they doomed to give in to the anger that’s growing between them?
Writing
As the Red Lanterns continue their advance, Bleez is momentarily cured of her rage by Simon, who achieves something with the ring that no other Green Lantern has. It would have been nice to see Bleez finally find some kind of peace – her backstory is a lot to carry – and she could have deserved some more time away from being a supervillain. Unfortunately things get messed up and she’s back on the side of red by the end of the issue. It would a great story if she actually was able to leave the Red Lantern Corps for a while, and maybe even find another ring to use.
Writer Sam Humphries focuses a lot of this issue on showing Simon being able to properly control his rage and not let it get the better of him. Simon has had a lot of anger in his life because of what he has experienced, but he doesn’t give in when the red ring tries to overwhelm him. It’s a great example of why he deserves to wear the emerald ring of willpower.
Artwork
The artwork is a bit inconsistent in this issue. There are some great details when the panel is zooming in on the character, but wider shots seem to have less details behind them. The art is actually done by two people, Jay Leisten and Robson Rocha, so it’s hard to tell who is doing which pages in this issue. They need to find a balance between the right amount of details they put into the book. It’s a bit hard to critique, as the parts which are really good are great, but the parts which don’t have this insane detail are just kinda bland.
Conclusion
This series is all about Simon and Jessica trying to be the best pair of Green Lanterns they can be. A little more focus on Jessica would be better, but showing Simon seemed more appropriate for this issue. It’s an entertaining series with a lot of potential to it.
