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Absolute Green Lantern Issue 18 (2026): Why Jo Mullein Is Missing From Her Own Comic

Published: September 2, 2026 | Publisher: DC Comics | Writer: Al Ewing | Artist: Jahnoy Lindsay

Absolute Green Lantern Issue 18 arrived in stores on September 2, 2026, and it pulls one of the biggest swerves the series has attempted yet: the official solicitation promised Jo Mullein facing “the horrors of the universe” after her clash with Sinestro and the Blackstars but Jo doesn’t actually appear in this issue at all. Instead, Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay use Absolute Green Lantern Issue 18 to answer a mystery that’s been building since issue #16: what really happened to Simon Baz.

What Happens in Absolute Green Lantern Issue 18

Back in issue #16, Simon Baz vanished during a confrontation, seemingly pulled into a mirror or into himself. Issue #17 revealed he’d resurfaced inside the Zero Zone, alongside a mysterious figure called Agent Zero. Absolute Green Lantern Issue 18 finally explains who and what Agent Zero is.

The issue flashes back to 1943, showing Agent Zero in her original context: a World War II-era operative working for Special Section Argent, an American intelligence unit battling the classic Blackhawks villain Baron Blitzkrieg. This origin story positions Agent Zero as the Absolute Universe’s answer to Captain America a wartime super-agent whose actions ripple forward into the present.

That 1943 mission turns out to be the very first breach of the Manhunters into this reality, tying Agent Zero directly into the cosmic-horror mythology that’s defined Absolute Green Lantern since it launched. The confrontation also introduces the concept of Anti-Life Darkseid’s signature philosophy into the mix, and the fallout is severe enough to strand Agent Zero in what the issue calls the Zero Dimension.

Just as significant for long-time readers: Special Section Argent is revealed to be an earlier version of the Department of Extranormal Affairs (the DEO), the agency that anchors this same week’s Absolute Flash #18. That connection threads Agent Zero — and by extension Absolute Green Lantern directly into the wider conspiracy DC has been quietly building across its Absolute line, alongside earlier connective tissue to Absolute Martian Manhunter and its debut of Absolute Darkseid.

Why This Issue Matters for the Series

Since launching in April 2025, Absolute Green Lantern has leaned into horror and cosmic dread rather than traditional space-opera heroics, with Al Ewing building a mythology around the unknown, the Manhunters, and questions about the nature of God. That approach can make the book difficult to follow issue to issue but Absolute Green Lantern Issue 18 rewards patient readers by finally connecting dots planted as far back as issue #13, where the Zero Zone and an Adam Strange/Shade the Changing Man-style character first appeared.

By centering Agent Zero’s wartime origin instead of Jo Mullein’s ongoing arc, Absolute Green Lantern Issue 18 signals that this series is becoming less a solo Green Lantern book and more a load-bearing piece of the entire Absolute Universe puzzle one now explicitly linked to Absolute Flash, Absolute Martian Manhunter, and the looming presence of Anti-Life.