Everybody run! Green Lantern's got a gun! And some kind of Arabic tattoo? And a BDSM mask? And handball gloves? Who designed this guy?
Since Green Lantern's design their own suits from some pre-existing template but then change it to fit their aesthetic, what does this suit say about this new Green Lantern? I suppose his personality must be a little bit Hal Jordan, a little bit rock-n-Sinestro since their rings merged with both of them desperately trying to convince the ring to find someone like themselves. And the Ring may have been damaged somewhat in the Black Hand incident because it kept saying, "error." So now DC has two pieces of brain damaged alien technology running wild: Jaime's Scarab and this new Lantern's ring.
Simon Baz, an Arab-American that grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, will be the new Green Lantern. His whole life has been a reaction to reactionaries after hijacked planes were flown into the World Trade Center. And now eleven years later, he's a car thief. It looks like he works for someone because he's just been set up. He stole a van with a bomb in the back and its ready to blow.
You didn't know you were stealing a car? How naive do you expect us to think...oh, wait. Never mind!
I hope when Simon receives his ring, he just goes around the universe stealing space ships.
Simon ends up in prison being interviewed by two mysterious agents. It turns out Simon is a manslaughterer but the kind that can garner sympathy from the reader. He was driving a car involved in a crash while street racing and his brother-in-law was killed. He feels intense remorse for whatever his part was in this accident. So far, he's just a guy who grew up with a loving family in an environment of hatred sparked mainly by our government and media who went down the wrong road at some point. In other words, he's got all the makings of another flawed hero being chosen by the Green Lantern ring!
Or maybe not so flawed at all. Looks like he's being set up to be the Valjean to the Guardians' Javert.
Since Simon Baz isn't telling these assholes what they think he should be telling them because they fucking know it all, they decide to torture him until he does tell them what they think he should tell them. Why do people think torture works? Torture only works in getting someone to tell you what you want that person to tell you so that the pain will stop. By not torturing someone, if they're lying, they'll lie to you but it won't be the lie you want. If they're not lying, they'll tell you the truth that you won't believe. So you torture the person until they tell you what you want to hear. Now if they were telling the truth, they're lying but now you're will to believe the lie because it's your version of reality. It's all based in arrogance and bullshit and manipulating people through pain. And it may be against international law but don't assume you aren't being tortured every single day of your fucking life to get you to toe the line. Even if it's just manipulating you with fear, that's torture. That's scaring the shit out of you and causing psychological pain to get you to act the way they want you to act.
Simon Baz doesn't put up with this bullshit. He does not go gentle onto the water-boarding table. He fights back until the moment one of them pulls a gun on him. And in that moment, that moment just before he acts, just before he attempts to take that gun away from that guard, the brain damaged green lantern ring explodes into the room.
"And you've got the anti-authoritarian traits of Sinestro and the heroic, do-gooder ideals of Hal Jordan. Welcome to the ERROR team!"
I thought Grifter was the most wanted man in the world?
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