WARNING: The following contains spoilers about Justice League Odyssey #20, by Dan Abnett, Cliff Richards, Rain Beredo and Andworld Design, available now.
Outstripping the regenerative abilities of any other Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz recently returned from the dead after being burned to a crisp by Darkseid in the pages of Justice League Odyssey.
With Omega Powers in place of her usual power ring's abilities, Cruz just gave the supervillain a serious run for his money with powers he inadvertently gave her in Justice League Odyssey #20.
A rip in the universe’s Source Code unleashed imprisoned planets into a section of irradiated space known as the Ghost Sector. Led by a mysterious urge to enter the section of restricted space, Starfire, Cyborg, and Azrael fly to the Ghost Sector and break through the maelstrom surrounding it.
Jessica Cruz, a Green Lantern and member of the Justice League, is sentry of the Ghost Sector. She tries to arrest them for entering restricted space but ends up joining the group. As it turns out, the heroes were called there by Darkseid, who claims he’s attempting to create an ark to preserve life against destructive forces unleashed by the tear in the Code.
For most of the series, Jessica has been the underdog of the group. Cut off from the restorative charges of the Green Lantern, she has had to conserve the charge on her power ring while fighting for her life. However, Darkseid was only telling a half-truth, and he was really trying to create a pocket reality to save himself. By activating the Sepulkore, an inter-dimensional machine used to transport the Ghost Sector into a pocket reality, Darkseid can regain his full powers after being reduced to an infant in the Darkseid War. Starfire, Cyborg and Azrael play into Darkseid’s hands and become his thralls, an order of powerful beings known as his New Gods. Now the only person standing in Darkseid’s way is Jessica, and she is pissed.
Throughout Odyssey, Jessica acts as the voice of reason on the team. as Darkseid’s greatest skeptic, the Lantern throws a wrench into Darkseid’s plans simply by existing. When Darkseid betrays the group, Jessica stands against him at less than 2% charge on her power ring, barely more than an average mortal. The incredibly courageous act impresses Darkseid, who offers Jessica a position as the God of Indomitable Will. Jessica refuses and punches him with the last of her remaining power; Darkseid crushes her right arm and power ring under his heel. Then, he incinerates Jessica, murdering the Lantern.
Unfortunately for Darkseid, Jessica doesn’t easily stay dead. The shards of Jessica’s power ring were embedded in her arm when it was shattered. When Jessica involuntarily raised her arm to block herself from Darkseid’s Omega beam, it absorbed a fraction of his power. The Omega Power that killed her ended up revising and reconstituting Jessica’s corpse
Darkseid's power turned Jessica into the first -- and only -- Omega Lantern. It also means that she doesn’t need to recharge her power ring to regain her full powers the way other Lanterns do. Jessica herself is essentially acting like an Omega battery that has absorbed Darkseid’s power, rendering her much more powerful than the average Green Lantern.
So far, Jessica has discovered that she is capable of shooting Omega Beams, Darkseid’s signature weapon. The Omega Beams are disintegrative energy streams capable of wiping living beings out of existence and reviving them. Now, Jessica is one of the only beings in the universe resistant to Darkseid and his influence, which includes the persuasive powers of Azrael as a New God.
For now, Jessica’s Omega Powers remain in their infancy. The Lantern can’t control her energy output without the moderating capacity of a power ring, and she still has some issues flying. Jessica’s Omega Powers are also ineffective against the Eskatons, higher-dimensional carrion-eaters that feast on the corpses of higher dimensional beings like Darkseid and have been absorbed by the New Gods.
However, Jessica has had a history of mastering dark energies which might make her a deadly and effective wielder of Omega Power. Jessica was the unwilling master of the parasitic Ring of Volthoom, which belonged to the evil Power Ring, and she's also used the Phantom Ring, a prototype power ring capable of channeling the entire emotional spectrum.
As the final showdown with Darkseid approaches, Jessica’s talent for mastering chaotic energies may manifest in the ability to pull out the full potential of the Omega Aspect. But since her body has effectively become an Omega Battery for Darkseid's energy, only time will tell if Jessica Gruz can fully walk in the Green Lantern light again.