Jessica Cruz

Jessica Cruz
Art by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	(Cameo appearance) Green Lantern #20 Cameo appearance proper: Justice League #30 (Full appearance) Justice League #31
Created by	Geoff Johns Ethan Van Sciver
In-story information
Full name	Jessica Viviana Cruz
Species	Human
Place of origin	Earth
Team affiliations	Green Lantern Corps Justice League
Notable aliases	Green Lantern, Power Ring
Abilities	Use of Power ring grants: Uniform (suit and mask; Cruz refuses mask) Flight Force field Space travel Generation of hard-light constructs Real-time translation of all-languages

Jessica Cruz is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, she is a member of the Green Lantern Corps and the Justice League. Her first full appearance takes place in Justice League #31 (August 2014), which is also her first cover appearance. Cruz's original design was based on the actress Penelope Cruz.^[1] DC Comics confirmed that Jessica Cruz is a dual national Mexican American latina, and currently resides in Portland, Oregon.^[2][3]

Publication history

Jessica Cruz's name is mentioned and her right hand appears briefly in a single panel of the 2013 issue Green Lantern #20. Her next appearance comes in Justice League vol. 2 #30, when the Ring of Volthoom locates her, and she then gains her powers in the following issue - Justice League vol. 2 #31. She was dubbed "Power Ring" while she was host to the Ring of Volthoom but is not a member of Crime Syndicate of America.^[4] Jessica becomes an official member of the Green Lantern Corps, in the Prime Earth reality, at the end of Justice League #50: The Darkseid War.^[5]

Fictional character biography

Jessica Cruz and her friends are on a hunting trip when they accidentally stumble across two men burying a body. The men brutally murder her friends. Jessica manages to escape but is left traumatized. The Ring of Volthoom, which feeds off fear and had abandoned Power Ring after his death during the Crime Syndicate's incursion to Prime Earth, is able to locate her due to her trauma. Unlike the previous ring bearers, she does not willingly accept the ring, but is forced to accept it. The Ring tortures Jessica with physical and psychological pain. The Ring explains that it is using Jessica to attract the being that destroyed Earth-Three to Prime Earth because he is now dying (for reasons not explained) and wants to take the planet with him.

First full appearance and first cover appearance of Jessica Cruz

Batman is able to de-power the ring after convincing Jessica to face her fears. Jessica later succumbs to effects of the AMAZO virus, but is soon cured. Hal Jordan returns to Earth to teach Jessica how to control her ring.

When Darkseid's daughter Grail arrives on Prime Earth, she attacks Jessica and uses her ring to open a portal to Earth-Three, allowing the Anti-Monitor to cross over to the Prime Earth. Jessica and the rest of the Justice League are then transported away by Metron. After this the Justice League decides to free the Crime Syndicate to help in the fight against the Anti-Monitor and Grail. Jessica, Cyborg and Mister Miracle head to the prison and the close proximity to the Syndicate allows the Ring to possess Jessica's mind and body. During the Justice League's confrontation against Grail and Darkseid, Grail manages to separate the Flash from the Black Racer, which immediately begins to pursue the Flash. Realizing the Racer will not leave the physical plane of existence until it reaps a soul, Jessica convinces Cyborg to tap into the ring's technology and override Volthoom's control over Jessica's body for a few seconds. This allows Jessica to jump between Flash and the Black Racer, allowing the incarnation of death to apparently kill her. Jessica survives, and it is revealed that the Black Racer killed Volthoom instead, causing the ring to crumble into dust. Immediately afterwards, a Green Lantern ring descends at the battlefield and transforms Jessica into a new Green Lantern.

In Green Lanterns: Rebirth #1, she meets Simon Baz when he is investigating an alien intrusion. This turns out to be a Manhunter who battles the two of them. It is then revealed to be a training exercise run by Hal Jordan to test the two rookies. Hal combines Jessica and Simon's power batteries in order to make them work as a team and puts them in charge of protecting Earth.

When confronting the threat of the Phantom Ring, a prototype power ring that can channel the entirety of the emotional spectrum at the cost of rapidly shifting depending on the emotional state of the user, Jessica confesses to her own doubts about whether she deserves her ring given the unconventional circumstances of her recruitment. However, her fears are assuaged when she temporarily dons the Phantom Ring and it automatically transforms her into a Green Lantern, allowing Jessica to recognize her success at overcoming her old fears rather than believing that she was defined by that experience.

She is later sent to space to train with the Green Lantern Corps and is under the orders of Guy Gardner who just pushes her around and berates her until she has had enough and attacks him; Guy later strikes a deal with her that if she successfully defeats him in combat he will not talk about the encounter, which she is able to do.

Powers and abilities

As a Green Lantern, Jessica is capable of projecting energy-based constructions, flight, and utilizing various other abilities through her power ring which are only limited by her imagination and willpower. She initially experienced some trouble in creating constructs with the ring, but has overcome this limitation while training with Simon Baz.

While Jessica was briefly a Power Ring she initially had no control over the ring. Under the tutelage of Hal Jordan she learns to overcome the evil powers within the Ring and use it effectively, until Volthoom possesses her body. Her feelings of courage help Cyborg decipher the alien language of the ring and he is able to let her overcome Volthoom's influence for a moment, and jump between Black Racer and Flash which ends up destroying Volthoom and the Ring, freeing Jessica.

Jessica is also an adept survivalist and was able to live by herself for three years. She was seen wielding a shotgun with proficiency when she was able to hit the Ring of Volthoom and keep it at bay for a few moments before it made her its host.

It has recently been revealed that Jessica's ring is partly fused with Volthoom's Travel Ring, due to it being one of the first seven power rings created by the rogue Guardian Rami during Volthoom's first attack on Oa. This connection to the travel ring allowed Volthoom to make his initial journey to the past, but also resulted in Jessica accidentally using the ring to send herself and Simon over ten billion years into the past to escape Volthoom only to find themselves at the time of Volthoom's assault on Oa.

In other media

References