[3] Prior to his debut, the character made an unnamed cameo in The New 52 Free Comic Book Day Special Edition #1.

[5][6] Simon Baz was created by Green Lantern writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke.

[7] Simon's heritage and hometown are both influenced by Geoff Johns, who is half-Lebanese, and a native of Detroit, Michigan.

As a young adult, Simon got involved in street racing and eventually car theft; the former put his brother-in-law in a coma in the hospital.

With their suspect gone, the federal agents interrogating Simon contact Amanda Waller about the situation, a transmission Cyborg of the Justice League picks up.

This puts fear in Hal's heart, then the ring goes to Sinestro, and he and Simon swap places with Black Hand.

[17] When Simon and B'dg arrive at the planet Korugar's grave and witnessed Sinestro attacking Carol Ferris and White Lantern Kyle Rayner, they stop him.

[19] Following the events of "Wrath of The First Lantern", Simon Baz was offered the opportunity to join Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor's "Justice League of America" under the pretense that his criminal charges would be dropped and his innocence publicly declared after FBI Agent Franklin Fed vouched for him.

[20] During the 2013 "Trinity War" storyline, Baz was seen chasing Batman, who was in possession of Pandora's Box, until Superman attacked him.

After they both fail a training exercise organized by Hal Jordan, he fuses their power batteries into one, which can only be accessed when the two are together, as he needs to be sure they are skilled enough to defend Earth while he is away in deep space.

During his absence, Hal also gives the two memberships to the Justice League, hoping the other heroes would aid them in their training.

[27] In the distant future, the Book of Oa says that Simon will be responsible for training the first female Earth Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz.

Though it's only been one issue, I fully expect Baz – if he survives for a while, of course – to become another successful addition to Earth’s Green Lanterns".

Unlike some of the powerhouses in that category, Johns can't quite pull off outlandish personalities and make them seem believable, but he churns out characters that sound and feel recognizable.

What makes him a hero is he recognizes his own fault and the logic of his seizure, which is probably why Agent Fed treats him so respectably—until his hands get tied, that is".

Club, Oliver Sava felt that the character was conceptually interesting but marred by a hackneyed characterization.

Reviewing Baz' introduction in Green Lantern #0, Sava says: "The idea of an Arab-American being chosen as the Green Lantern because he's able to overcome great cultural fear is an inspired one, but the majority of sympathy for the character is condensed in two pages so that Johns can set up Baz as a suspected terrorist".

He was also critical of the decision to portray the character with a gun on the book's cover, which he derides as "ridiculous" given its lack of utility compared to a Green Lantern ring, calling it "a cheap move to make the character seem edgy... that fell out of style about 15 years ago".