Green Lanterns #32

Writer: Sam Humphries

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Colourist: Hi-Fi

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Thus marks the end of Sam Humphries' run on this title. I've had some problems with his stories but what has been a consistently great aspect of his run was the relationship between Simon and Jessica. This is really what this issue is about, in addition to some finality in the rift between Simon and his best friend Nazir.

Nazir is very problematic as a character. He's incredibly selfish as a human being. He's been friends with Simon up until Rami was placed into Nazir's care, which is when he began to act a lot more hostile towards Simon. I never understood why Nazir could never accept the fact that Simon is part of a long line of intergalactic space cops who is serving a purpose so high that is beyond Nazir. He expects Simon to juggle these larger than life threats all around the galaxy while also spending as much time with his family as possible; simply, he wants Simon to hang out with him like nothing else is happening. This is incredibly toxic behaviour and I would have loved to see Simon shut this man out of his life. To make matters worse, Nazir calls Simon a liar in this issue, right after Simon deservedly calls him a jerk. I don't recall Simon ever lying to Nazir. If he did, that specific instance would have been brought up a lot more.

All this is why I have such a problem with this issue. To see Humphries close out his run by reinforcing this frankly awful relationship is baffling to me.

Scott Godlewski is an artist whose work I first encountered in the current Superman run. I didn't really connect to his art but it worked for me here. Maybe it's because there was more action in this issue than the Superman issues. There were also more character interactions that required more expressive input. Either way, I hope he comes back for more because I liked his work here.

In a weirdly bad issue, Humphries ends his run. As far as I'm concerned, Tim Seeley should do a better job with these characters and their stories.