Far Sector #2 Review

Written by: N. K. Jemisin
Art by: Jamal Campbell
Lettered by: Deron Bennett
Published by: DC's Young Animal

Green Lantern Sojourner Mullein has caught the case of the century, or five since there hasn’t been a murder in the City Enduring in 500 years. And after the suspected killer is murdered in their cell, she is fast on the trail of a new criminal.

The start was strong. After Green Lantern Jo Mullein does her best Morpheus from The Matrix to catch us up to speed, we start where the last issue ended, and the action picked up. Jo chases down the suspected murderer of the suspected murderer and we see her powers on display for the first time. The hints from the last issue that Jo was having problems using her ring develops more in this scene. Her rookie classification is made obvious when she has issues with flying, ultimately losing her suspect. This is when the issue slows down drastically. The rest of the issue can be summarized as 2, maybe 2.5, scenes. After a short scene of Jo talking to the Keh-Topli’s councilor and getting more backstory on their race, she recesses back to Syzn’s. This next scene expands on the Keh-Topli’s lore. The first issue was great at what this issue does a lot of which is building the background of the races and their society, but this scene, and issue, felt laggy in the way it executed these explanations. Syzn eventually gives Jo a bit of a pep-talk about why she’s special, but the trait she talks about doesn’t seem to be one specific to Jo’s character. Jo’s narration is used in this issue, as in the first, but it doesn’t develop her much or display an influx of her personality; it just gives us insight into her ideas on situations. The strongest part of this issue was the action scene, and not for its style, but because of its substance. It was the first, and seemingly only, time we got to see Jo’s character traits play out. Her development has been coming through her actions. The narrations seem to need to begin helping define her.

The last scene is Jo meeting with the Nah’s councilor. From the first second, it is understood where this scene is going to go. Not because it's entirely obvious, but because it is strongly hinted at. So, for the end cliffhanger to reveal something revealed at the start, ended the issue with an anti-climactic feel. Since the story seemed like two big scenes after the opening, it bugged me that both were so connected to potential romantic moments for Jo, but that is a nitpick. The biggest issue with this issue is that with all the story elements I just noted almost nothing has to do with the murder mystery at the center of this story. That’s what, I feel, gave this issue such an off feeling. I know that the cliffhanger is connected and that Jo specifically said she needed a lead, but to start so fast and then drop off with few mentions of the investigation was a jarring juxtaposition. Of course, most mystery stories use the mystery as a backdrop to explore many other things, but I felt this issue stopped mid-flow and didn’t use the rest of its time that well.

However, the art is on another level, or rather, in another galaxy. The action to start the issue was fluid with a great panel layout. Jo making her way through the beautifully detailed crowd, using her ring to part them (with stylish manicured hands), then hitting the atrium that was swarming with blurry aliens mid-flight was a terrific sequence. When the story slows down, the expression in the art doesn’t stop impressing. Close-ups for dialogue scenes are done with variety in framing and coloring to keep it eye-catching. There’re a few scenes paired with Jo’s narrations where the art is dedicated to showing off the alien scenery. The highlight is the dance scene splash page. From the first shot of that scene, the colors were giving it a nice vibe, but that shot was just showing off.

After an issue focused on building the world of Far Sector, this issue seems to focus on the wrong things. The mystery takes a back seat to more exploration into the history and make-up of the city rather than the craziness going on in it at present. Green Lantern Sojourner Mullein has yet to get a defined voice, although the opening was a nice sign of what we could see her deal with. Hopefully, the next issue will focus more on her journey.