Okay, so this guy needs a little
more background than I initially thought. Simon Baz is the first new Green Lantern
after the DC Comics New Fifty Two reboot. Some revised history is needed. In
the new Fifty Two timeline, Sinestro is still a part of the Green Lantern Corps
having been forcibly re-recruited by the Guardians who want to give him a
second chance. Hal Jordan has officially retired from the Corps, but moonlights
as a GL using a ring that Sinestro had created himself. I think that’s enough
background, let’s get to it.
 |
| Seriously, why? Why would he need that? |
Simon Baz is a Lebanese-American.
He grew up in Dearborn Michigan, things were relatively good for Simon… until
the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001. After that, Simon and
his older sister Sira were relentlessly tormented, which is
weird when you remember that they were both born in America and had never been
to Lebanon or any part of the Middle East. No one ever said racism was smart.
In the classic chicken-egg situation, Simon grew up to be a criminal. He participated
in illegal street races, one of which put his brother-in-law in a coma, and
started stealing cars after Detroit’s economic down turn. One night he was really
unlucky, he’d been fired from his job and in an attempt to make money and relieve
stress he stole a van, which had a bomb inside it. Not a good night.
Desperate to get rid of the bomb, but not wanting anyone to
get hurt, Simon drove the bomb truck into the abandoned car factory he’d worked
at, and then ran like hell. The bomb went off, but thankfully no one was hurt.
Unfortunately, the bombing of an abandoned factory is viewed as an act of
Terrorism by the US government. Hm… nothing racy about that, is there? While
Simon was being questioned so CIA/FBI/NSA types, Sinestro and Hal’s rings
started to malfunction. The two rings fused together, and shot off to find a
new host, believing it’s two previous hosts were dead. The ring selected Simon,
slipped on his finger and breaks him out of custody. Since the superhero stuff
is beyond their paygrade, the Agent’s contact Amanda Waller. The JLA also pick
up on this and begin investigate Hal’s disappearance. And while Simon recovers
from his injuries and his ordeal, the Third Army begins to spread on Earth.
 |
| All human GL's thus far. It's a good group. |
Oy, right, these guys. A little
more information dumping then. Remember the Guardian’s first attempt at
intergalactic peace keepers, the Manhunters? They were scrapped for being ineffective
after the incident in Sector 666. Well, after the Sinestro Corps War, Red
Lantern War, the Darkest Night incident, and a number of poorly performing
Lanterns, some of the Guardians felt that the Green Lantern Corps was also a
failure. They decided to make their new, “Third Army” a group of artificial
super soldiers made from the Guardian’s Biomass and fueled by their power.
Simon, after waking up, starts
trying to be an overall better human being and Green Lantern. He stops an
incursion from the Third Army, but then is almost immediately apprehended by
the Justice League after being accused of kidnapping Hal. While in their
custody, Batman tries to take the ring from Simon, but it goes into defensive
mode, blasting everyone other than Simon in sight. Simon flies off, finds his
sister, and the two start looking for the owner of the van that Simon stole. The
Third Army beats them to the home of the actual terrorist and kill him. Simon
meets up with the FBI agent that interrogated him at the house and they found
all the weapons in the basement. A GL Squirrel (yes, they are thing) named B’dg
came looking for Hal. B’dg takes Simon to a place where he can decipher a pair
of messages left with his new ring. Hal warns Simon that the Guardians have
snapped and are creating the Third Army, and asks him to tell his girlfriend
Carol Ferris that he loves her. Sinestro’s message is a little more…egotistical.
He tells Simon that he’d direct his ring to Simon, feeling a kindred spirit in
the young man. Sinestro thought that Simon was able to overcome Fear like
Sinestro did, and he was his recruit/replacement to be the one to take out the
Guardians. Since then, Simon has done his best to take out the Third Army,
fight the insane Guardians, the equally insane and dangerous First Lantern Volthoom,
joins the JLA, fights the villain Black Hand and the Black Lantern Corps, and
tries to get heroes like Hal back on their feet. He’s a good guy.
 |
| Is that a Light Construct tattoo? Interesting. |
Simon’s powers
are identical to other GL’s: Creating Force Fields, flight, Hard-Light
projections, and translating languages. I’ve got to applaud Simon for being the
first Mask wearing GL that is smart enough to wear an ENTIRE mask, not just a
Domino type thing. But, he does lose points since his artist felt he needed to
be “edgy” by having him on the cover with a gun in hand. He’s. A. Green. Lantern. Literally
any weapon other than the Power Ring is useless!
Simon has yet to
appear in anything. Not surprising really, he’s only like two and a half years
old.
Simon Baz is an
interesting concept for a character. I’ve always thought that they could use a
little more color in the GL Corps. The redemptive elements of his story,
criminal turned hero, is very interesting. A possible glimpse into his future
has the Book of Oa stating he’ll train the first Earth Woman Green Lantern,
pushes the power of the Green Lantern Rings, and eventually comes to be known
as the Miracle Worker. Hopefully, with his similar messiah elements to his
story he won’t fade into obscurity like with Kyle Rayner. Here’s hoping. He’s
the righteous, redemptive, rambunctious Green Lantern Simon Baz. Next time, the
first editorial in a while, What I hope we Learned from the Spider-man Movies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Baz
http://www.comicvine.com/simon-baz/4005-84895/forums/interview-doug-mahnke-talks-baz-masks-guns-and-gre-692141/?page=1
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:Simon_Baz_002.jpg
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