Last month’s ‘Green Lantern’ #0 gave us the origin of the latest Green Lantern, a car thief named Baz. In that story Baz, who also happens to be a Muslim, stole a van. Unbeknownst to Baz, the van had a bomb inside. When Baz discovered the bomb, he raced to the only place that he knew would be safe for it to explode: the abandoned car factory from which Baz was recently laid off. Because of his relations with the factory and his Muslim heritage, the government immediately assumed that Baz was possibly involved in terrorist activity. During their interrogation, the malfunctioning Green Lantern ring that was recently parted from Hal Jordan and Sinestro, found Baz and called him into duty as a Lantern… much to the alarm of the government officials who were left looking on.

This issue opens on the President of the US as he takes a report on all of Earth’s Green Lanterns and the creation of Baz. The President isn’t as concerned about Baz’s unfounded terrorist links as he is the fact that an unknown person is in possession of a Green Lantern ring. To try and put a cap on the situation before it escalates, the President issues a call to the Justice League.

Meanwhile, Baz is trying to come to grips with the life altering events of the past twenty-four hours. Before he can even take a breath, the ring tries to give him the recorded induction into the Corps that most Lanterns get but, because the ring had been split and reassembled, he gets a jumbled message with bits and pieces from both Hal and Sinestro. The main warning he gets from both messages: “Stop the Guardians!”

While Baz seeks out his family and tries to figure out what to do next, the Guardians’ “Third Army” is beginning to get a foothold on Earth and immediately homes on to Baz’s ring. So, now our unlikely new hero is being hunted by both the Guardians’ creatures and the Justice League… but who will find him first?

I don’t think I’ve enjoyed the introduction of a new Green Lantern this much in a long while. Geoff Johns has given us a believable character in Baz and his struggles to just have a normal life in light of the craziness that’s going on around him is a surefire page turner. It’s that juxtaposition of the real world with the epic that, like my favorite hero Spider-Man, is a draw in books like this and this issue nails it. Great read!

Final Score:

 

GREEN LANTERN #13
Story by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy
Cover by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado