Green Lanterns #2 Review

Writer: Sam Humphries / Artist: Robson Rocha / DC Comics So, Black Nerd Problems spent a lot of time not covering Green Lantern books after Geoff Johns left because, honestly, they weren’t great and we had a hard time subjecting ourselves to them. But we figured this not-really-a-reboot DC is rolling out would be as good a time as any to give the franchise another chance. I mean, they’ve given us a book starring two PoC Green Lanterns so it seemed like they’re really trying to be inclusive over at the DC offices. So we figured, “What’s the worst that could happen?” I thought the hardest part would be bringing myself to open the book. After the rough start the book got off to in Issue #1, the hardest part is actually opening Issue #2. Sam Humphries desperately wants us to like his “Lethal Weapon With Superpowers” approach to Green Lantern, pairing up the still gun-shy Jessica Cruz with the perpetually trigger happy Simon Baz. He wants us to buy into the stakes as the ever-tiring villains rear their constantly angry heads. The problem is execution. Jessica Cruz’s struggle to fulfill her duties as a Lantern have so much potential to be entertaining and there are a couple of moments when she’s left to her own devices to shine. Then, the real villain gets in the way: Simon Baz. There are a couple of fun scenes with him, but Humphries is trying a little too hard to make this guy the Riggs to Cruz’s Murtaugh. Every time she stands a chance of being great or at least likable, Baz sho…