#simon baz

Hoo boy. If I had a nickel for every cryptic message in this series' opening pages...

So Kari's in a limbo of sorts (ha ha), and she's gotten the truth of the universe relayed to her by a mysterious "Oracle". Is this individual the true face behind the Voice of OA? Are they a prominent Abin Sur or Ain Aur? Is this the Martian reaching out to Kari for reinforcements against Anti-Life? Once again, who the hell knows?

Damn. I know I really shouldn't be surprised by unceremonious deaths in a Ewing book, but I'm still unsure how to feel about this one. Delusional Simon fan that I am, I'll cope with this through the fervent belief that he just ceased to exist on this plane of reality, and that he can still come back...somehow. (Glad that Benedict Arnold wannabe Jon Double got cooked in return, at least.)

Big fan of this flashback showing that Hal would've inevitably operated under a more benevolent form of "chaotic action" given enough time. The "we're all in this together, and we're all we've got" sentiment reminds me a bit of Luthor's revelation at the end of All-Star Superman.

I'm guessing this He-Man-looking fellow is either the "Oracle" Kari mentioned, or some figure who mastered the Magenta Flame before the Face of Steel corrupted the Spectrum. Regardless, now a member of our main cast finally knows about Bad Idea #0, yahoo.

Katma breaking away from Sinestro over his ruthlessness really is a multiversal constant. Darkseid willing, this will mark the beginning of her becoming a long-term ally of the Evergreen Gang. Please ignore my previous commentary about unceremonious deaths--

Yes Thaal, we see the fit. What we don't want to see is that face, though--yeesh.

Insults towards the Controller's appearance aside, it's super-duper clear that the revelation of the universe's moral arc bending towards Anti-Life is what pushed him towards accelerating that decline. Guess he didn't have anyone around to help him "turn that despair into delight" as John Jones would put it.

Hell yeah, it's nice to see Jo start to take on the role I was expecting from her--guiding the Adepts of OA towards a more effective interpretation of the Spectrum of Light. And with the story's themes and such on her side, there's no way things can go wrong from here!

Oh. Never mind, then.

I do really like the creative decision to have a whole scene where the main cast is like "The world might suck, but at least we've got community to keep us going!" and then introduce a character who's understandably like "The community sucks ass too, so I won't be helping you dorks at all."