Still, Jessica was convinced to come back the next year by the camp’s manager who valued Jessica’s responsibility and love of nature. On a whim, Jessica decided to become a counselor at a kid’s summer camp.Īside from the long nature hikes, Jessica found the experience exhausting as all the other counselors were nothing but slackers in heat, more interested in hooking up with each other than enjoying nature or mentoring the children at the camp. College seemed like a waste of money to Jessica and her grades were not impressive enough to merit a scholarship. There was nothing she felt she excelled at or was particularly interested in. While Sara was a sporty wild child, Jessica was more pensive and responsible but neither sister minded their differences, instead embracing them and playing to each other’s strengths in a very supportive manner.Īfter graduation, Jessica was uncertain of what she wanted to do with her life. Jessica Cruz was born into the family of Javier Cruz and Siobhan O’Reilly-Cruz, the oldest of two daughters, Jessica’s family was well off thanks to her father’s job as an architect and both Jessica and her younger sister Sara lived a comfortable life throughout their childhood. While this issue does veer away from a wider message about human nature as a whole, it manages to increase the stakes of this story while deepening the tragedy of Jessica Cruz and placing a newfound strain on Jess and Simon Baz’s relationship.Undisclosed Biography Jessica Cruz: 1988 - 2010 What’s made the “Ghosts of the Past” arc so enjoyable is how deeply it dives into the its female lead to examine the effects of trauma on human brains. Ken Marion, the fight between Baz and his evil reflection is brought down by the aimless meanderings of the evil Baz that I am still trying to make sense of. While the early fights between Simon and the Green Realm inhabitants are entertaining thanks to the excellent panels of V. Ironically, the least enjoyable scene of this issue is what’s teased on the cover: Simon Baz’s battle with an evil, Power Ring-yielding version of himself. Simon does end up explaining this metaphor pretty dryly in the ensuing pages, but I thought it was a nice challenge to the reader regardless. These creatures personify the dangers of burying repressed memories - sure you’ll feel safer, but you’re really just dragging yourself down and hiding from what’s really going on.
This focus elevates the main themes of the arc - an arc about a literal fight for Jessica’s soul fueled by her vigilant hunt for justice for her friends.Īn easier example would be the Power Ring bearers in the “Green Realm” trying to pull Simon down into the dirt, exclaiming that’s where safety is. Eyes serve two basic metaphorical functions when it comes to storytelling: 1.) as a window to or representation of the soul and 2.) associations of vigilance, moral conscience and truth. For instance, there’s particular focus on eyes, spotlighting or zooming in on the eyes of Jessica Cruz at nearly every major narrative turn within the book. I enjoy how literary this issue feels, too - there are metaphors and foreshadowing aplenty. I can’t wait to see where writer Tim Seeley takes this in the next issue - will they find a win in an unwinnable scenario? Or will one of the Lanterns make a sacrifice for the well being of the other? If Simon succeeds, Jessica will be unable to reconcile the demons of her past, having re-experienced all this trauma for nothing, walking away just as scarred as she was before. If Jessica succeeds and unveils the face of her friends’ killers, Simon’s worst fear will be realized and he will lose Jessica to the Power Ring. This puts a whole new strain on their relationship and feels like a total lose-lose scenario, making me anxiously ponder how they’ll get out of this situation with some sort of positive.
Meanwhile, Simon learns the only reason he was allowed into the Green Realm in the first place was because of how immense his fear of failing Jessica is. While Singularity Jain convinced her in issue #44 the only way to confront her past was to discover the identities of her friends’ killers, readers learn here if Jessica does learn the truth she will lose control to the Power Ring and once again be seduced into a life of anger and violence. For Jessica, the stakes have never been higher. The cliffhanger set up for Jessica is another highlight of this issue that not only raises the stakes for the conclusion of this arc, but showcases the bond between her and Simon Baz.
These moments play out brutally fast, but they succeed in showing why the ring of Volthoom was so attracted to Jessica in the first place. Jessica watching her best friend slowly bleed out in front of her is especially saddening, however it manages to show just how important they all are to each other, thus amplifying the impact of their sudden deaths.
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