Green Lantern Corps #40

We begin with a little flashback to sector 1313, with John and none other than Katma Tui, as they approach the planet Xanshi.  Katma is trying to work things out using her brain, but John just bulls in and accidentally activates the planet bomb, and that's that.  I don't really remember it happening quite this way, but hey...new 52 and all that. 

So now, on Zarox, he is confronted with the same old problem.  The bomb is fueled by all the "bad" energy of the people who live there, and so on and so forth, and they've been corrupted, and things look bad..as usual.  At least this time John isn't going off half-cocked, he's using his BRAIN!  So he sends in Jruk, to go off half-cocked, and occupy the Bad Guys, while John just picks up the bomb and flies up with it.  It isn't that easy of course.

The darkness is spreading, and the people are...cranky.  Heck, even a Green Lantern is corrupted, little  Maro, has been seduced by the darkness,and he's not particularly happy with the Corps.  Meanwhile, Von Daggle has found his love, who has been working undercover all these years and they are trying to take down the same Shadow Empire.  It turns out that apparently the Shadow Empire has been behind all kinds of shenanigans throughout the Universe.  So Daggle and whatshername set off the bomb where they are. 

The same thing is about to happen on Zarox, but Keska and Jruk and John are trying to save her son, who seems to be the last uncorrupted person on the planet.  Then at the last minute, little Maro decides that killing kids is beneath him, and he starts glowing green,and...and...Woohoo!  His example wakes up the rest of the people and they decide they don't like being evil and nasty and they revolt.  Too bad that the bomb is still going to go off and destroy the planet, because it can't be stopped by Will Power.

But hey...I guess that Love can do the trick!  Remember a couple of issues ago, when John got a Pink Ring?  Nothing much was done with the idea, except that he kept it in his pocket or something, and flies up and goes all violet and saves the planet with....LOVE!  And he keeps his clothes on while he does it.

So we actually have a...happy ending!  Remember those?  The planet is saved, the kid is saved, and Feska and Jruk finally admit that they have the hots for each other, and Marus is saved, and John flies off into the sunset.  Which is a heck of a better way to finish things off than having Hal fly off to do whatever it is that Hal is going to do..!

Nothing mind boggling, but a perfectly good and servicable Green Lantern story.  And I'm perfectly happy with that.