When Grant Morrison took over the Green Lantern franchise Hal Jordan got back to being the lead of the main series. While John Stewart and Jessica Cruz are part of two different Justice League teams all the other Green Lanterns we know have been off the table. That is likely because Morrison has plans for them for his Green Lantern run, which is getting a second season in February 2020. Now we are finally getting a second Green Lantern comic book in the form of Far Sector. This new series will feature a brand new Green Lantern who will be taking the lead. Will she be able to become a fan favorite like Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Jessica Cruz and many other Green Lanterns have become. Let’s find out with Far Sector #1.
Writer: N.K. Jemisin
Artist: Jamal Campbell
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: In City Enduring (a futuristic city straight out of Star Wars) Green Lantern Mullein investigates a murder scene. The cop at the scene does not know what to do since this is the first murder case in a long time for this planet. Though this is Lantern Mullein’s first murder case she is able to explain the basics of forensics to the cop.
After an hour Lantern Mullein rides with Peace Captain Syzn of the Cliffs and keeps him from getting into a panic. Peace Captain Syzn can’t get passed being nervous about meeting the council.
They eventually get to the council building that houses The Trilogy. Lantern Mullein joins the Peace Captain in meeting with the council who lead the Nah, @At and keh-Topli. Noticing there are no chairs for them Lantern Mullein creates chairs for herself and the Peace Captain. Lantern Mullein then gives the Trilogy the name she wants to be addressed with after hearing herself be addressed as “the human.”
After a tense moment, The Trilogy Council leader, Marth of the Sea, formerly introduces Lantern Mullein to @Blaze-of-Glory, Averrup Thorn and Lumir of the Cliffs. After the introduction is out of the way Peace Captain Syzn brings up all the information on the person that was murdered and the information they discovered during the forensic investigation. Based on the information Peace Captain Syzn says the person was eaten.
Averrup Thorn interrupts by stating that he understands the information points to one of his people being responsible. He goes on to state that the one odd part is that if it was one of his people the murdered person would’ve been completely consumed.
Lantern Mullein brings up how they already caught the suspect and have him in custody. She goes on to talk about how The Trilogy Council requesting a Green Lantern’s assistance means they knew this murder would happen. Lantern Mullein then puts the question of if The Trilogy Council believe violence is brewing in the City Enduring then they must prepare ways to prevent it.
Lantern Mullein recalls the history she knows about City Enduring. She thinks on how there were once three species that lived together on two separate planets until an empire from another part of the galaxy took over. This lead to the species that make up The Trilogy to unleash their anger on the empire. While they defeated the empire that attacked them it lead to their two planets destruction.
Because of all that the species that made up The Trilogy decided to get rid of their anger along with all other emotions to build what is now known as City Enduring. Understanding this Lantern Mullein believes she is the only one in the council room who actually has some form of emotion.
In the present, Lantern Mullein asks @Blaze-of-Glory for the information she has. @Blaze-of-Glory says her people failed to gain any new information. The Peace Captain doesn’t believe that since @At’s are supposed to be a race of search engines. @Blaze-of-Glory states that those responsible are not acting in a pattern her people recognize.
The Peace Captain still does not believe @Blaze-of-Glory, which begins a big argument between the two. Averrup interrupts the arguing by reminding everyone they need to stay on the facts they have.
Eventually Lantern Mullein walks away from the meeting with The Trilogy Council and continue her investigation alone.
As she walks through City Enduring, Lantern Mullein remembers how the person who gave her the Green Lantern ring she wears told her she had a year to make her will a reality.
Marth of the Sea approaches Lantern Mullein and offers to show her something after the investigation is completed. When Lantern Mullein asks what that is Marth of the Sea avoids revealing it by saying she does not need to fear him. Lantern Mullein asks if there is anything to fear about him. Marth says that there is. Lantern Mullein walks away from the conversation when she realizes she isn’t getting anywhere.
Lantern Mullein goes to the police headquarters where she tells Officer Duol, who has been assigned to be her assistant, she wants to meet the captured suspect. When they go to the suspect’s holding cell they are shocked to see them dead, torn apart from the inside.
Suddenly some creature rushes out of the holding cell. Lantern Mullein goes right after the creature. End of issue.
The Good: N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell put in a lot of work to create an intriguing world for Far Sector #1 to take place in. For the most part Jemisin and Campbell are successful in the world building they conduct. In the process they add a new character in the form of Lantern Mullein, who has a lot of potential as she is added to the Green Lantern mythos.
Far Sector #1 was all about building up who Lantern Mullein is and how she has been thrown in a situation that is completely new to her. Throughout this issue Jemisin is able to juggle how new the character is with the confidence that Lantern Mullein exudes. Even when she is placed in constant situations where internally she is uncomfortable in, Lantern Mullein never backs down. She consistently voices her opinions and ends up leading conversations when she does interject.
That is a strong character trait to establish. Portraying Lantern Mullein as someone that does not waste time with other people’s bullshit gives her character a different form of confidence from the likes of Hal Jordan and John Stewart. She does not let the fact she is a fish out of water, open the door for others to look down on her. It is an extremely relatable character trait that immediately puts her over with readers coming into Far Sector.
The work done to build up Lantern Mullein was complimented well by how Jemisin characterized The Trilogy Council as a group that hold back their emotions. What made The Trilogy Council work so well was how Jemisin hinted at how each member was doing their best to control their emotions. @Blaze-of-Glory, Averrup Thorn and Lumir of the Cliffs all did their best to keep up the City Enduring’s policy of keeping their emotions in check.
Which made Lantern Mullein’s approach to the murder case stand out even more. While she was the rookie cop in this situation, Lantern Mullein clearly brought a perspective The Trilogy Council needed. Seeing how @Blaze-of-Glory, Averrup Thorn and Lumir of the Cliffs did not like that fact showed that there is much more going on than The Trilogy Council want to say. Uncovering the mystery behind each of the members of The Trilogy Council’s true motives is a solid mystery for Far Sector to follow alongside building Lantern Mullein up.
That mystery makes the motivation for Marth of the Sea highly intriguing. He more so than any of the other Trilogy Council members is open about showing how he is manipulating the situation. The unease Lantern Mullein shows while talking to Marth made the character stand out even more. He is clearly being set up as an antagonist for this series. What that means for the other members of The Trilogy Council will be very interesting to see play out.
All that said, the most fascinating aspect of Far Sector #1 was the world that Jemisin built. From the moment you open up Far Sector #1 it feels like we are jumping into a world we haven’t seen in the DC Universe. There is a new, fresh feeling to this world that looks like something out of Star Wars. Which is a good change of pace with how the usual DCU worlds tend to be an extension of Earth’s mythology, primative looking or similar to Earth but with different species.
That is not the case with City Enduring. Everything about the world feels like there is something to discover around every corner. Even in the few locations we get to see on City of Enduring they all had a unique design. It made the world feel more alive. Credit goes to Jemisin and Campbell for working to make the world feel like it has its own continuity that we are just beginning to discover.
Speaking of Campbell, he adds as much to the success of Far Sector #1 that Jemisin does. Not only does he get over how distinct of a world City Enduring is but also makes sure each species stands out. Peace Captain Syzn, Marth of the Sea, @Blaze-of-Glory, Averrup Thorn and Lumir of the Cliffs each have a character design that clues us in to the different races that live on City Enduring. The character designs all enhanced the tone each character’s dialogue took.
Campbell also did a great job making Lantern Mullein’s design stick out from other Green Lanterns. From a first look, Lantern Mullein’s costume has elements that are reminiscent of Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner. While there is that inspiration, Lantern Mullein’s costume stands out as something that is her own.
The Bad: The one spot where Far Sector #1 falters was in the quick recap in the middle of the issue about what happened to get to City Enduring’s current status quo. When that shift to telling us about City Enduring’s history happens it feels like Jesmin is the one talking not Lantern Mullein. The inner monologue felt like it was breaking the fourth wall to much that it broke the immersion as we are getting invested in this new world. To Jesmin’s credit Far Sector #1 is able to recover from this after we get back to the present but some damage is done by the direction of this history recap.
Overall: Far Sector #1 is a great start to what could potentially be one of DC Comics next big characters. N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell combined to create a character in Lantern Mullein and world in City Enduring that grab the reader’s attention from the moment the issue begins. If you are a fan of the DC Universe’s cosmic corner I recommend checking out Far Sector #1.
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