By Philip Schweier
May 22, 2018 - 15:42
Simon
is trapped in Jessica’s memory of the trauma that originated all of her
anxieties. But Jessica is under the control of the power ring of Volthoom from
the Earth 3 universe. How long until it assumes total control remains to be
seen. Every second counts as Simon crosses the emotional landscape of Jessica’s
recall. Meanwhile, the rest of the JLA sit and wait, unable to do much other
than guard Singularity Jain.
The story explores not only Jessica’s past, and the motivation toward her role as a Green Lantern, but also her and Simon’s relationship as partners, and the depth of Jain’s evil nature. It is thankfully short – not that it’s a bad story, but had it been padded to meet the customary 6-issue story arc, it would have suffered needlessly, as would the readers.
I like the artwork of V. Ken Marion and Sandu Florea, but one aspect of it that turned me off was their depiction of Jessica. She is rendered as a tall, statuesque beauty with super-model good looks. This is in contrast my image of her; attractive, yes, but not like a movie star. It reminds me of fan boy drawings who can’t draw anything BUT exceptionally attractive women. For me, the true mark of an artist is the ability to draw what is there, warts and all.
But on the plus side, their combined illustrations have a texture I greatly appreciate. It’s not perfect, and I saw some anatomy I’m not quite sure of, but further collaboration should enable them to work the kinks out in due time. I hope they stick around.