Green Lantern #0 : NOT A TERRORIST

Written by: Gary M. Kenny, CC2K Comics Editor

DC Comics excites us with the introduction of a new Green Lantern. An Arab-American Muslim named Simon Baz. Just so you know, he is NOT repeat NOT A TERRORIST. He was a car thief, but now he’s part of the Green Lantern Corp, an Intergalactic police force. 

*SPOILERS* 

Raised in Dearborn, Michigan, Simon was just a young child during the 9/11 attacks. His father and mother held each other while his family watched the planes attack the world trade center towers on television. Scenes of intolerance followed suit well into his young adult life and being raised in Michigan, a state that has really felt our countries recession, hasn’t made his life any better. As an Adult, Baz followed a rough crowd. He has a criminal record for illegal street races, lost his job at an automobile factory and has been helping his sister financially with raising a young child. Simon Baz ends up doing something stupid and stealing a fan. With his luck the van is carrying a bomb. The cops are on him, he does the sensible thing and drives it into an abandoned building. There goes his life.

Simon Baz is a terrorist according the U.S. Government. He is a Muslim American and did something stupid; a guy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m excited on how this is going to play out. The Green Lanterns are going to war and they just got a new recruit from the mean streets of Detroit (sorta). 

Being held God knows where, being tortured by American Agents calling themselves Feds, being water-boarded, Simond Baz was in a world of trouble, He told the truth about what happened, his life, it didn’t matter. Baz is a Muslim 1st, Arab 2nd, and American last. Just as things were going to get worst for him, he gets rescued by Hal Jordon’s broken Green Lantern ring. Low and behold DC Comics are starting to change their characters culture. A relevant Arab American superhero is exactly what the comic community needs.There has been others, but no one as gripping, as truely American as this. Bravo!

America, Simon Baz is your new Green Lantern. He is not a good looking Caucasian or a man without sins. Hey DC Comics, thank you for making characters relatable again. GOOD JOB.