Simon Baz is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by DC Comics, usually in those starring the Green Lantern Corps, an extraterrestrial police force of which Simon is a member. Created by writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke, Simon first appeared in The New 52 relaunch of Green Lantern in 2012, as part of the "Rise of the Third Army" story arc, in which DC Comics replaced Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Thaal Sinestro with Simon.^[2] He made an earlier cameo in The New 52 Free Comic Book Day Special Edition #1. Eventually, he will later be part of Steve Trevor's own Justice League of America, setting up his role towards the "Trinity War" crossover.

Publication history[link]

Simon Baz was created by Green Lantern writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke. He is the first Arab-American and the fifth human member of the Green Lantern Corps.^[3] Simon's heritage and home town are both influenced by Geoff Johns, who is half-Lebanese, and a native of Detroit, Michigan.^[1]

Fictional character biography[link]

Simon Baz was a Lebanese-American child living in Dearborn, Michigan during the events of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Growing up with their family, Simon and his sister, Sira were both bullied and persecuted due to their ethnicity. As a young adult, Simon began to get involved in street racing, and eventually car theft; the former that put his brother-in-law in a coma in the hospital and the latter because of the financial crisis that hit the Detroit area in one of the hardest hit areas of the United States. Simon is fired from his job, and in one night in a moment of desperation, he steals the wrong car, and while trying to evade the police in the stolen van, Simon finds out that there is a bomb in the stolen vehicle. Not knowing anything about it, or how big it is, Simon drives the van into the abandoned car factory he was laid off from, knowing that no one would be hurt in the explosion. The resulting explosion is seen as an act of terrorism by the authorities, as they bring Simon in for questioning. As Simon is being interrogated, Hal Jordan and Sinestro's fused together and malfunctioning Green Lantern Power Ring finds Simon, and selects him as the new wielder, flying him away from captivity. With their suspect gone, the federal agents interrogating Simon contact Amanda Waller about the situation, a transmission Cyborg of the Justice League picks up. Cyborg picks up the transmission to Batman and asks if anyone has spoken to Hal Jordan, since he quit the League. Meanwhile, Simon lays on the ground, knocked out, while elsewhere, the Third Army begins to spread.^[4]

After waking up and beginning to search for redemption, Simon turns over a new leaf and helps to stop the Third Army. However, he eventually runs into the Justice League, being wrongfully accused of taking Hal hostage.^[5] The Justice League eventually track down Simon, but he is not willing to fight them until Batman tries to remove Sinestro's ring from Simon's finger. In doing so, the ring goes into defense mode and attacks the League. In a panic, Baz retreated using his ring and eventually meets to back up with his sister. Sira was able to track down the original owner of the van leaving Simon to track down the lead and try to clear his name.^[6] After finding who was involved of the bomb plot, the Third Army attacked the house and killed the terrorist, and the FBI agent (who was one of the federal agents interrogating Simon before) and Simon went down into the basement and saw all the guns and bombs the terrorist had. The FBI agent blew the house up with a bomb, and then a Green Lantern squirrel named B'dg came looking for Hal Jordan.^[7]

In 2013, a new series called Justice League of America will have Simon as its Green Lantern, along with Green Arrow, Hawkman, Vibe, Steve Trevor, Martian Manhunter, Katana, Catwoman, and Stargirl.

Future[link]

Baz is first seen in a peek into the future during the Trinity War, angrily chasing Batman who is in possession of Pandora's Box, until Superman attacks him, while other heroes fight amongst themselves.

Prior to the Trinity War, Baz was seen by Sinestro and Hal Jordan thanks to visions given to them by the Book of the Black while trying to find out how the Guardians of the Universe planned to replace the Green Lantern Corps.

Reception[link]

Writing for The A.V. Club, Oliver Sava felt that the character was conceptually interesting but marred by a hackneyed characterization. Reviewing Baz' introduction in Green Lantern #0, Sava says: "The idea of an Arab-American being chosen as the Green Lantern because he’s able to overcome great cultural fear is an inspired one, but the majority of sympathy for the character is condensed in two pages so that Johns can set up Baz as a suspected terrorist." Sava comments that Baz shares a lot in common with the "gritty" superheroes of the 1990s, stating: "Baz isn’t so much a character as he is a series of clichés and coincidences." He was also critical of the decision to portray the character with a gun on the book's cover, which he derides as "ridiculous" given its lack of utility compared to a Green Lantern ring, calling it "a cheap move to make the character seem edgy... that fell out of style about 15 years ago."^[8]

References[link]