Far Sector has been one of the better comic books that DC Comics has been publishing. Being able to exist in its own corner of the DC Universe has allowed the introduction Jo Mullein as the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps to be the focus. N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell have been able to take their time in developing Jo as she has been thrown into the role of Green Lantern with a trial by fire. The whole situation with the City Enduring and the Council that rules it has challenged Jo in ways that have been unexpected. Let’s see what is next for Jo with Far Sector #7.
Writer: N.K. Jemisin
Artist: Jamal Campbell
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: At the City Enduring’s industry district Green Lantern Jo Mullein battles an armored mechs with her own mech construct. The mech overpowers Jo’s construct several times.
During the fight CanHaz communicates with Jo that she is detecting bodies of a Nah and two Keh Topli’s that include Councilor Averrup Thorn. Jo is surprised that she is battling the Trilogy races not the Cloud Kratocracy like she thought.
Eventually CanHaz is able to run enough of analysis to figure out the bodies inside the mechs, including that of Councilor Averrup, are dead and the machine’s code is coming from an @At. Hearing this Jo decides to wrap the fight up quickly and launches an attack that leaves her ring at 40% of its energy but is able to disable all of the mechs.
As the police arrive after the fight is over Synz of the Cliffs shows up and is informed about what happened by Jo. Synz tries to calm Jo down and warns her that she could end up like Councilor Averrup if she is not careful against the @At and Cloud Kratocracy. Jo states she need to catch these perps as she can’t just stand by.
Jo then meditates in order to focus her willpower. As she does so Jo remembers the moment the Guardian of the Universe gave her the Green Lantern ring. In that moment the Guardian of the Universe explains how she has been studying how there is possibly greater willpower in the wielder learning to live with fear and created Jo’s ring with that purpose in mind.
Jo creates a needle like construct and injects it into her neck. This causes Jo to enter the @At domain, called Atville, where she meets up with CanHaz, who has been downloading all sorts of movies and music from Earth.
Jo and CanHaz continue jumping to different areas of Atville. CanHaz explains that for Jo to survive in this domain Jo needs to think like the @At. Jo takes some time but is able to remain focus enough to interact with the other @At.
As Jo interacts with the people CanHaz reveals that the Emotion Exploit hit the @At hard as they were born from the early version of the Nah’s Internet.
Eventually Jo and CanHaz find the @At that were controlling the mechs that Jo battled earlier. When they get spotted Jo and CanHaz suit up and get ready to battle the @At. End of issue.
The Good: Far Sector #7 is an action packed issue that gets Jo Mullein further invested into what is going on with the politics in City Enduring. The deeper that Jo has gotten the more it is impacting her personally. Adding that personal-level of involvement provides even greater character growth as we see the world around Jo expanding as well.
Starting out Far Sector #7 with Jo right in the middle of battling three mechs was a great way to showcase how far she has come. Having Jo pilot a mech she constructed got over how she has fortified her willpower as she maintained the construct’s shape throughout the fight. That made the impact of the fight, which was beautifully choreographed by Jamal Campbell, hit harder. You could tell how much she was struggling. Which in the end helped to get over the story of how Jo was able to power through and take down the mechs all in one amazing show of power. Adding in the fact that she knew the attack would bring her down to 40% of her energy power gave the entire showcase a sense of drama on Jo’s part.
This fed in well to the flashback to when Jo first got her ring from the Guardian of the Universe. Learning that the ring was specifically created to test the theory of a Green Lantern accepting fear and pushing forward no matter the obstacle was a cool hook. This gives Jo a special quality to her status as a Green Lantern to separate her from Hal, Kyle, John and the other main Green Lanterns. As we’ve seen with each of the Earth Green Lanterns, DC has been given each of them a specific title within the Green Lantern Corps. Having Jo be the one that uses fear to full her willpower will give her a unique spot whenever she is given the chance to interact with the rest of the Green Lantern Corps in the future.
From the main plot perspective, Jemisin also adds drama to the mech battle by detailing how the dead body of Councilor Averrup and others were inside. This makes the whole story around the Emotion Exploit and how it connects to the ongoing decisions with the Trilogy council more intriguing. You get the feeling there is so much more to uncover than what we have seen. Which makes Jo’s role as our eyes into all of this political strife more intriguing. Because as we see her develop as a Green Lantern we are learning more about the City Enduring along with her.
The weight of all that Jo learns is also well-done. We see how even though she is pushing forward every new detail she learns impacts Jo personally. She continues to feel like an outsider and is unsure of what the right thing to do is. At the same time, Jo still pushes forward believing in her own convictions and allowing herself to figure things to as the story progresses.
Jo’s interactions with CanHaz is also entertaining. Jemisin does a good job flipping CanHaz from Jo’s informant to partner during the course of Far Sector #7. The interactions between them comes off as natural as we have seen Jo and CanHaz’s friendship develop over the course of the series. Their dynamic creates greater investment for what happens in the next issue as we see Jo and CanHaz charge in to fight a gang of @At to close out Far Sector #7.
As mentioned before, Jamal Campbell’s artwork was once again a standout throughout Far Sector #7. The action during the first half of Far Sector was fantastic. Even when there was no dialogue the action was fast-paced and delivered on the impact that Jemisin was driving for in this part of the issue. Campbell continued to shine in the second half as we get a look into the @At’s domain that is completely different from how City Enduring is designed. Going in with constantly changing scenes gave a different energy to this new world we visited alongside Jo.
The Bad: Nothing.
Overall: From beginning to end, Far Sector #7 captures your interest with an amazing action sequence drawn by Jamal Campbell and a riveting story around the City of Enduring by N.K. Jemisin. The way Jemisin and Campbell work together so well brings all these great elements to life as they build a fascinating world that Green Lantern Jo Mullein thrives in. This is definitely a must-read series for all DC Comics fans.
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