Green Lantern: Rebirth

Well after starting at "Blackest Night" and working backwards to "Sinestro Corps War", I'm now back to where it all started for Geoff Johns epic: "Green Lantern: Rebirth".  It was here that Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, and Prentis Rollins laid the groundwork for everything that was to come over the next several years and in many ways rebuilt the foundation for the GL mythos.

On a side note, after seeing Rollins & Van Sciver in person at Wizard World Philly, I can say that EVS is one funny dude.  Rollins had a pretty dry sense of humor too that played well off of EVS and Shane Davis who was also on the panel.  Another random side note, Rollins & EVS worked on "New X-Men" together during Grant Morrison's epic run...

Welcome back from that commercial break and welcome to my look back at "GL: Rebirth" where everything started anew for Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps!

So for a little backstory for ya'll when this mini-series hit the stands, Hal Jordan was dead but "living" on as the host of the Spectre (a biblical Spirit of Vengeance) as a way to redeem himself for the evils committed as the villain Parallax. 

For even more backstory, Hal's hometown of Coast City had been obliterated during the "Return of Superman" story arc by the Cyborg Superman & the alien Mongul.  This led directly into "Emerald Twilight" where, driven by grief, Hal attempted to use his ring to recreate the city.  The Guardians stripped him of his power, he flew off to Oa, murdered several Lanterns, destroyed the Central Power Battery, killed Sinestro whom the Guardians had released from banishment, and flew off while Kyle Rayner was chosen as the last GL.  Hal then tried to recreate the world to his liking in "Zero Hour", sacrificed himself to reignite the sun in "Final Night", and was selected as the host for Spectre in "Day of Judgment".  Whooooo, maybe all that backstory is why DC is jumping back to square one...but then again half the fun for me was back issue digging.  Story for another day....

Well in the trade format we jump into "GL: Rebirth" with a short prelude from "Wizard X" entitled "The Day Before", pretty self explanatory for when it takes place.  Kyle Rayner saves an alien planet whose inhabitants keep chanting something the ring translates as "Parallax is coming". During this little adventure, Kyle also throws out a seemingly innocent mention of how Sector 3600 was wiped out a long time ago.  Meanwhile Hal, in his human guise, watches an airshow which nearly turns into a disaster until the new Spectre saves a plane from crashing.  A little bit of internal argument between Hal as a GL & Parallax ends with The Spectre stating how this union is "...for the good of not just us, but the universe itself."  Then, with a close up on The Spectre's eye which looks like Parallax's face, he mutters "This pathetic fear-filled universe.".  And off we go...

Enter Chapter 1 and a scene very reminiscent of Abin Sur's (Hal's predecessor) crash on Earth as another space ship crash lands on Earth, only this time it contains a panicked Kyle Rayner telling the people who find him "Don't be afraid"...kind of funny coming from a GL really.  He can't use the ring, or rather won't, is accompanied by a coffin, and refers to himself as "the first GL to know what fear really is".  It's a statement that implies Kyle has felt fear, and in his continual need for self-deprecation, Kyle believes he is the first Lantern to do so.  But as the story goes on the reader will learn that it really means something deeper than that.

We get a look at Carol Ferris, Hal's past love interest, as she walks the abandoned airfield once owned by her father while talking to her husband.  Of course she stumbles on Hal's old plane.  This one page managed to convey everything a new reader needs to know about Carol's history, and the art in the last three panels also tells the reader all they need to know about Carol's connection to Hal Jordan.  EVS draws a perfect look of shock on her face as she stumbles on the plane and wipes away the dust.

That same art/dialogue combo nails it on the head as John Stewart (the 2nd Earth GL) & Guy Gardner  (a former Earth GL) are introduced into the story for the first time.  The meticulous detail of Stewart's construct, the look on his face as he says he used to trust Hal, it all gives you an idea of just who John is.  Guy's cocky (though false) self-assurance that John trusts him, the fact that he wears a shirt with his own logo on it, his tight "show off my muscles" t-shirt all give you an idea of who Gardner is as well.  The friendship between this two is immediately evident as well as they engage in a discussion, albeit one-sided, about Hal, the Green Lantern Corps, and all of John's shortcomings.  Guy can see all of John's faults but is oblivious...or lying...about his own. 

Enter: Hal Jordan as he joins John & Guy at a baseball game.  A perfectly normal, everyday, human thing to do...the problem though is that Hal isn't human anymore.  His mere presence provokes the entire audience, including Guy, to confess their sins (In my head, I always hear those last 3 words in Antonio Banderas' "Desperado" voice) to the Spirit of Vengeance. 

Jump on over to Green Arrow & his female sidekick Mia (not as random as you'd think) as the villain Black Hand bursts in looking for something using some kind of tool as a tracking device (for more on this read "GL: Secret Origin" & see how beautifully Johns mapped this out).  His target: a GL ring that Hal gave to Oliver Queen.  Black Hand, whom Ollie refers to as a loser, ends up with an arrow in his hand just in time for Hal (as The Spectre) to enter the room full of righteous vengeance.  The Spectre burns off the hand of Black Hand (see more planning ahead there from Johns), before departing with omnious words to Oliver...

Could not find an image that wasn't cut off, but in the missing panels Hal utters "It's getting hard to focus Ollie. I...there's something wrong.  None of this should've happened.  This isn't me.  This isn't who I am."  Freaky indeed...

Back to Guy & John at Gardner's bar called...egotistically unsurprising...Warriors.  There the discussion about Hal continues, with both men praising him in their own way (hell Guy has a statue of Jordan in his bar).  During the convo, Gardner has an attack of some kind and explodes, taking the bar & John with him while over on the left coast, a certain decimated city apparently returns from the dead! 

A seemingly random jump to Hector Hammond in Belle Reve Prison bridges the gap to the JLA Watchtower where Guy is being looked at by Martian Manhunter & Doctor Mid-Nite whilst Wonder Woman & others investigate the remains of Warriors.  The only thing left intact...that statue of Hal.  Alan Scott, the mystical GL, isn't feeling so hot and the Flash (Wally West) is speeding around the partially restored Coast City only to find, alongside Aquaman, one building whole: Hal Jordan's old apartment building.  All of this is enough for Batman to declare Hal has returned to his evil ways...that the jump from Parallax to The Spectre was planned as part of some larger scheme.  Unsuprisingly John Stewart is the man standing up for Hal as he nails the whole problem on the head...

As the first issue closes, Hal restores one last part of his past, Ferris Air, while Carol stands in the midst of the wreckage.  We also get the title of this first story, and I don't think it's a coincidence that it's entitled "Blackest Night".  Hot damn is that a lot of ground covered and that's just the first issue! It's like the first chapter of "Sinestro Corps War" in that Johns dumps damn near everything into the first issue to get the reader hooked in.  It certainly leaves the reader with that "what happens next" feeling...

The 2nd issue starts just as crazy as a green energy bursts forth from the GL battery on Oa with the words "Find him. Find Kyle Rayner" as it shoots off into space.  Oh yeah, and it trashes a Hal Jordan statue as it erupts from the battery.  Kyle is still out of it on Earth, being watched over by two guys who were trolling the New Mexico desert for aliens, while his internal dialogue continues to debate on whether or not to use the ring. A ring that keeps repeating "Parallax, Parallax is coming" by the way...

Back to Hal & Carol at the airfield where we get a flashback to the first day they met as children, the fateful day that Hal's father died right in front of him after passing his jacket down to Hal; the same jacket he has been wearing in the story thus far.  Hal elaborates to Carol essentially what he hinted at to Ollie, that something is clouding his judgment and making him doubt himself, making him afraid...

Up to the Watchtower where the JLA/JSA are looking for Hal, Alan Scott is getting sicker, and Batman is being Batman.  Zatanna locates The Spectre energies, the JLA heads off to confront Hal and find him still at the airfield.  Upon confrontation, John Stewart freaks out and blasts everyone standing on the airfield!  He goes hardcore, blasting Superman in his eyes with green energy as John's ring now begins to repeat the mantra "Parallax is coming".  At the Watchtower, GA's ring duplicates itself and the new ring bonds to Guy Gardner...

That ring also keeps repeating the same phrase, as is Kyle's when we cut back to him finally recovering as he starts to explain that the yellow impurity has a name just in time for the future Drill Instructor of the GLC Kilowog to make his appearance.  Obviously acting...wrong, Wog is encouraging Kyle to use the ring, making the connection that this unusual behavior from John, Guy, and Wog is linked to ring usage.  The big cliffhanger hits when that green energy from the start of chapter 2 finally finds Kyle and is revealed to be Guardian Ganthet!  Not only that, but we find out that contained within the coffin Kyle came to Earth with is: Hal Jordan!

Chapter 3 opens with Ganthet trying to convince Kilowog to stand down as Kyle provides the info dump for the uninitiated as to the little blue guy's background.  One sentence pretty much sums it up: "Ganthet could crack the planet in half with a thought."  This stand-off also gives us what is for me the absolute coolest image of Kilowog ever put to paper:

The display of power from Ganthet as he fends of Wog is only a fraction of what the Guardian has to offer, but more importantly, Kyle finally uses his ring.  During that one page we begin to understand why the last GL hasn't used it thus far, "It's reaching into my soul again.", but what "IT" is isn't something quite known yet.  This....IT...also gives Kyle a look at what's happening with John Stewart at that moment and allows the reader to see what's gone down without devoting pages to it.  Nice touch...

Jump to Coast City & Hal Jordan as he's walked away from the JLA/JSA battle with John and finally gets an idea himself of what's really going on here.  A visit to his old apartment, a look at an old Lantern Battery, and the reflection of Parallax in the green tell him (and the reader) some of what we need to know.

Back to Kyle & Ganthet as they continue to fight the only GL whose ring makes noise (you didn't forget Kilowog already did you?), while the Guardian explains to Kyle that his ability to know fear, his "flaw", is the only thing keeping him from ending up like 'Wog & John. 

Kyle takes Hal's body and heads to the Watchtower where he assumes they will be safe while Hal battles for his very sanity with Parallax & The Spectre.  Kyle, greeted by a recovering GA, offers an explanation to Ollie (and to the reader) for what is really going on here, and we get our required massive info dump. First the truth about Parallax:

A yellow fear-eating creature traveling the universe that The Guardians eventually captured and stored within the Central Power Battery on Oa.  Over time Parallax became known as nothing more than the yellow impurity.  The Fear Entity's presence within the battery made the rings weak against its corresponding color. I actually think this is a brillant explanation for what essentially was a case of the ring being too powerful thus needing a weakness built-in (like Supes & Kryptonite essentially).

It's also the primary reason why a person with a GL ring must be a being capable of overcoming great fear in order to master the little green circle.  But nothing can last forever, and Parallax used the ring as a conduit to slowly poison the "Greatest Green Lantern", Hal Jordan, and it first showed in the white hair Hal had in his later days as a GL before Coast City (another great way to explain what came before!). 

The clincher was obviously Coast City's destruction and it was reinforced by Hal's assault on Oa, and murder of fellow GL's, not to mention snapping Sinestro's neck when the Guardians released him from his prison inside the Central Battery to fight Hal (another important story beat from the past).  Essentially Parallax is an entity latched onto Hal's soul, and even his death to reignite the sun didn't save him from Parallax.  As the next few pages show, it ultimately just gave Parallax access to the Spectre...and the big question, what woke Parallax up in the first place?

And that is how we close the third chapter!  Ain't this dude dead?!?!?  Well the first page of part 4 essentially consists of Kyle (who has largely been our narrator throughout) explaining how much of a badass Sinestro is...the only one of Hal's old enemies that Guy Gardner doesn't mock.  Sinestro honestly admits...while he's trashing the Watchtower...he never understood his yellow power until the Guardians imprisoned him alongside Parallax, essentially making him the master of fear, and setting the wheels of their own fate into motion.  Makes me wonder if the Guardians were essentially fulfilling the prophecies of the Book of Oa simply because they were prophecy?

Back on Earth, Parallax assaults Ganthet as he battles the possessed Lanterns but the owerwhelming power of the Guardian frees them from fear's control, and gives time for the collected heroes of Earth to join the fray.  At the Watchtower, Kyle & GA battle Sinestro and I think this may be the first "alley rat" reference from Sinestro towards Kyle but don't quote me on that. This little fight offers up another awesome moment after Ollie tries to charge up a GL ring...

Not only does that awesomeness happen but in the follow-up panel Ollie asks if the exhaustion and confusion he feels after using the ring...barely...is what Kyle feels like when he forces his willpower into the ring.  Kyle's response of "Every time" tells the reader more about how using the ring actually feels than any story before it, and Ollie's "Damn" is pretty much how the reader feels after seeing it.  Again, recognition must be given to EVS and crew for the bang-up artistic job on these panels.  Lesser artists would not have been able to convey these facials and all the emotions wrapped up in it...

On Earth we get the JL(S)A battle with Parallax along with the little bit of information that the reason Alan Scott was feeling sick was because the fear entity was trying to worm its way into his life as well but the differences between the GLC & his ring made it difficult.  Finally the Spectre helps Hal fight the Parallax influence, freeing them both, leaving Spectre free to find a new host and Hal...well Jordan is dead after all, he's off to somewhere.  Parallax, on the other hand, is still quite alive and hops into the body of Guardian Ganthet!  As for Hal, well the ring he left with GA comes in handy as Jordan's soul finds its way to the body on the Watchtower, and the "greatest gl" is restored!

And with the penultimate issue it is on!  Hal Jordan vs. Sinestro on the freakin' moon and we get the core (no pun) of what will drive this story for some time ahead.  Free will(power) vs. rule of fear...and one of the coolest things this chapter offers is a flashback to the first day Hal & Sinestro met.  Now I can't double check my "Secret Origin" HC to verify this because it is currently in the hands of a friend, but I do believe this exact pair of pages is part of the "SO" story...

In just a few pages Hal Jordan manages to show everyone why he was considered the greatest as he takes it to Sinestro AND verbally berates Sinestro for his disrespect of Kyle.  We also get the moment that scarred Sinestro forever as Kyle returns to the fight and embeds a ton of arrows into the wannabe dictator's back in the shape of the GL ring.  Sinestro escapes to the Anti-Matter Universe as the fight closes and we get another moment as a free Hal Jordan officially meets Kyle Rayner.  Tried to find an image...got this...

Kyle doubts himself, but as John & Guy said when this all started, Hal is the type of man to make you believe even in the most dire circumstances.  And the situation certainly is as we head back to Earth where Parallax has possessed Ganthet.  But before we get anywhere, Bats has something to say but so does Hal's fist...

The fight rages on and in the midst Johns' give us a wonderful description of just how all four Earth Lanterns & Kilowog function as GL's, how their personalities come out in their constructs, and how they all empower each other.  This fight is where the rebirth of the Corps begins.

Parallax is resecured inside the Central Battery, the Guardians return on Oa, Guy Gardner admits he missed it all, and Batman leaves well enough alone (for now at least).  We return once more to Hector Hammond as he deliver some ominous warnings about the future, Hal meets up with Carol to tell her he has plans that don't involve Ferris Air, and most importantly Hal & Ollie reconnect while Jordan reconnects with his lantern and that Oath GA can't quite remember...

So wow...just wow.  No wonder this was such a high selling book (the first issue went through four printing & sold a total of 156,975 copies; the second issue went through two printings & sold 122,221 copies. The subsequent issues sold 106,523, 108,077, 115,006, and 114,354 copies, respectively...thanks Wiki!), and so critically well received.  It set the foundation for everything that has been delivered the last few years in the GL-Verse from "Sinestro Corps Wars" to "Blackest Night", it laid down the base of the emotional spectrum, and gave explanation for elements of the past that didn't quite fit or just weren't ever given detail.  I think my favorite little throwaway line was Ganthet, the eventual creator of the Blue (Hope) Lanterns stating that "Hope is meaningless against fear...willpower is our only weapon."  See even the Guardians can grow...maybe not physically but emotionally, psychologically if they want to.

This is a trade that comes with the highest recommendation from yours truly.  Prior to reading this book my only knowledge of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern was his involvement in "Return of Superman" and the "Emerald Twilight" story arc.  Kyle Rayner was the GL that I knew and read, the one that I grew somewhat attached to while Hal Jordan was the hero turned villain trying to "fix" the world. 

The sheer power of Johns' writing and the beauty of EVS' art in this 6 issue arc are what drew me to Hal Jordan.  When I was given this trade as a gift, it was just as Sinestro Corps War was beginning I believe so I quickly got all the other trades I could find and took advantage of a big sale at my local shop to get the first 5-6 parts of "SCW" thatI had missed.  I don't regret it for a second and trust me neither will you.

So if you found your way here because of the movie, or if you're just curious about Green Lantern's history, this is the place where it all started again: "Green Lantern: Rebirth".  It's the place where it could all start for you too...

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For my other Blogs on the GL-Verse check out these:

Blackest Night

Sinestro Corps War Part 1

Sinestro Corps War Part 2

And if you're interested enough to buy them (I don't make any money): Green Lantern on Amazon

The Sinestro Corps War Revisited: Part Two!

If you haven't read Part One, here it is: Sinestro Corps War Revisited Part One

When we last left our intrepid green brigade, Kyle Rayner (possessed by Parallax) was hovering outside the balcony of Hal Jordan's brother's house while we discover that the Sinestro Corps isn't after Oa (the center of the Universe), they are after Earth (the center of the Multiverse).  But given the way this story has been set-up, alternating between issues of GL & GLC, Vol. 2 picks up with the Green Lantern Corps as they fight to save Mogo from the SC & their own living planet Ranx.  This chapter is a great example of how the Corps functions as a unit, as evidenced by Lantern Green Man using the knowledge from his home planet as a means for Mogo to protect himself.  This part also bring up the prophecy surrounding Lantern Yat and shows the reader how the Corps reacts to the new law of the Book of Oa that enables lethal force to be used.  Suffice to say the level of violence, already quite high given the ruthless nature of the SC, is jacked up even further.  Still, it's not something that sits well with every member of the GLC but before the impact of this change can really sink in, the Corps is caught up to speed on the events of the the previous chapter as they learn of the assault on Earth.

Finally, after several chapters of just hanging out on the moon biding his time, Superboy-Prime joins the fray as the SC encroaches on Earth.  This image is very reminiscent of one I put in my Blackest Night blog (although that would probably be vice versa if I was doing this in chronological order), and I think that's completely intentional.

This next chapter is the turning point in so many ways for the Earth GL's, but it also lays out fairly clearly what Sinestro's desires are when it comes to Earth.  He wants to "create a symbol of terror that will was over the universe.  I want the universe controlled with order.  And I want all to realize that control comes not out of love, compassion, or hope, but out of fear."  Suffice to say that the real world overtones of this saga are hard to miss, especially given the time frame in which this story was originally written.  What's the threat level associated with yellow again? (Threat Level yellow = a significant risk of terrorist attacks, thanks wikipedia)

Anywho, this is the moment of truth for Kyle Rayner when, as Parallax, he faces off against a powerless Hal Jordan while Guy Gardner chases down the painting Kyle mentioned in the first part of SCW.  Upon absorbing Hal, we get to see Parallax in the yellow & black of the Sinestro Corps for the first time, and it's a damn imposing figure...

This issue also marks the merging of the GLC story line & the GL story line as the Corps finally makes it to Earth, saving Guy in dramatic fashion from a SC attack as he quests for the painting.  It's also the issue, given that we're on Earth, in which the other heroes join the fray.  Remember Hal's words after the fight with Zoom that started this whole shebang?  Well looks like he was as wrong as it gets...

What proceeds is an internal battle as Kyle & Hal fight to free Kyle of Parallax's influence. Now this is where I feel like I should bring up the Tales Of The Sinestro Corps books and whether or not they were essential to the core story.  With Blackest Night there was A LOT of tie-in material, most of which was non-essential, but the 6 mini's had some story beats that were necessary to get the full picture.  The SC Tales, of which there were only 3, are a mix...the reason I bring it up here is because the Parallax one focuses on Kyle's struggle prior to this AND gives some context for just why this painting is such a big deal in Kyle's life.    None of this material is printed in the collected SCW, rather given its own collection and I'm only intending to mention it when there's something "missing" from the story proper.

Back to our regularly scheduled program: Kyle & Hal fight their way free of Parallax, Ganthet & Sayd store its essence within the lantern batteries of Kyle, Hal, Guy, & John Stewart, and Kyle...who is no longer the host for Ion...is given a proper GL ring.  The panels of the four Earth GL's reciting the oath over images of the SC's domination (in particular the Statue of Liberty replaced by Sinestro) are quite powerful.

Jump to the GLC as they head to Earth, but first the Guardians make it known they intend to reassign the Ion power, albeit earlier than they intended.  Arkillo and Killowog get their rematch, and in quite a brutal moment, the GLC's drill instructor takes Arkillo's finger and his ring along with it!  Now I'm going to have to take a look at his post-SCW appearances to see if this missing digit is actually still missing.  Dude loses his tongue and a finger....sucks to be him.

The Anti-Monitor makes his way to Earth, and starts blasting away, hitting Sodam Yat and there's this odd moment in which Sodam seems like a robot as his eyes glow red and he comes back to life.  It's just wierd, but it does lead to the Guardians infusing Yat with the Ion entity...

...which is followed up by SuperboyPrime's Tales of the SC issue that isn't discussed or mentioned, so it seems totally random that he is now without the armor.  It also makes you wonder what the hell happened to him in between panels. Oh yeah, and unfortunately the art for this chapter just sucks....sucks in the next part too.

The next part is mix of flashback and fight as we learn about Sodam Yat's origins on Daxam while he's busy getting pulped by Prime in one of the bloodiest, no make that the bloodiest fight, of the entire SCW.  The last couple panels of the fight just throw ichor all over the place and, I would surmise because he's potentially too powerful, Ion gets a weakness in the form of lead poisoning (something else I have to check on to verify that it's maintained post-SCW).  So we end this chapter with the uber-powerful Prime holding the lifeless body of Yat as Guy & John take aim. 

So we begin the final chapter of the SCW with a real look at the war with these two images...

 

From the looks of it, this war has brought every GL and damn near every hero on Earth to the fight.  But before the Earth GL's, fresh off the Parallax fight, rejoin the larger battle they are filled in on the Prophecy of the Blackest Night by Ganthet & Sayd.  It's as close to full disclosure as the Guardians, even Ganthet, are likely to get as they elaborate on the different Corps that will pop-up between SCW & BN. We even get this nifty image of the War of Light that is foretold in the Book of Oa.



 So with all that in mind, Hal attempts to save his family by having them evacuate Coast City but they, along with the rest of the residents of town, illuminate green lights in the window as a show of support.  We also see the the Anti-Monitor at work as he attempts to make a meal out of the positive matter energy of Earth.  Then all hell really breaks loose!  The Lost Lanterns come to the aid of Hal Jordan as he battles Sinestro in space, the Guardians (in a call back to the original Crisis) battle the Anti-Monitor, Guy Gardner gets sick from Despotellis, Amon Sur turns tail and runs when he realizes the GLC can kill, and Hal & Kyle realize that truth about Sinestro.

All he has wanted was to force the GLC to change, and with the institution of the Lethal Force Law, Sinestro sees that he has already won.  Sinestro speaks of his loyalty to the idea of the GLC, and in some ways all he has done has been in attempt to push change upon the Corps; changes that could truly allow the GLC to police the universe, or in Sinestro's words "The Universe will fear Green Lanterns, and the Universe will be better for it."

Back on Earth a moment that will change the future of the GLC, indeed the entire DCU, goes down as the Anti-Monitor burns one of the Guardians with his touch.  That Guardian would eventually become known as Scar, and serve as a mole within the Guardians, working for Nekron, and steering events towards The Blackest Night.  It's just one more example of how intricately Geoff Johns has laid out his GL opus...

An increasingly sick Guy & John Stewart use the Yellow Lantern Battery as a bomb to stop the Anti-Monitor, trapping the Cyborg Superman within, and seemingly granting his death wish which Henshaw meets with a "thank you" to the GLs.   Hal & Kyle both end up with 0% power in their rings, they turn Sinestro's toys against him to drain his power ring, and the fight goes hand-to-hand.  Superboy-Prime single-handedly ends the threat of the Anti-Monitor by flinging his shell into space.  Natu heals Guy using the GLC's own sentient virus, Hal beats Sinestro, a Guardian sacrifices his life to seemingly stop Prime, and the fight finally comes to a close.

The wrap-up sees Coast City's population boom, we discover Prime has been transported into the Multi-Verse, the Guardians mention initiating the 2nd new Law into the Book of Oa, Sayd & Ganthet officially spawn the Blue Ring of Hope, Cyborg Supes is unwillingly resurrected by his Manhunters, the remains of the Anti-Monitor crash land on a dark planet, and the last thing we see on the final page of the SCW....

The Blackest Night is upon us...

So upon finishing the SCW my first thought is....damn that was intense!  Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, and Peter Tomasi threw everything they had at the reader and it made for a truly emotional, impactful, gut wrenching story that not only was excellent on it's own, but it also serves as a guide stone for the future of the GL-Verse.  Just within this story you have:

- The Prophecy of the Blackest Night/War of the Light

- The Other Corps Explained

- Origin of Scar

- Anti-Monitor Set-Up In the Black Lantern Battery

- Guy Joking About Wearing Other Rings

- The 10 New Laws In The Book Of Oa (only 6 have been revealed to date)

- Earth = Center Of Multi-Verse

- Superboy Prime in Multi-Verse (Plays Out In Final Crisis & Blackest Night)

There are certainly more set-up points as well, but those are just the ones that were on the tip of my proverbial tongue.  In the same fashion that this set-up "Blackest Night" and BN led into "War of the Green Lanterns", "Sinestro Corps War" was the result of two years of build that all started in "GL: Rebirth".  Johns has proven quite masterful at sowing the seeds of his future storylines within events while simultaneously paying off the build-up, and this is a skill not easy to come by.  All too frequently an event comic can feel as if it was nothing more than a bridge to the next event, and not provide a payoff of its own.  For me that was not the case with BN, nor was it the case with SCW. 

In the initial reading, I felt like this paid off all the build and it made me excited for the future of the GL-verse.  Reading it back now, after having seen how all the set-up paid off, I find it even more amazing how much was really in the meat of this story.  And that's just within the realm of the comic book, not saying anything  of the real world implications of this story.

The character of Sinestro invokes the images of dictators from across the years, I believe Guy even calls him "Adolf" at one point, and his mission to rule by fear is one that strikes close to home in a world where we have seen our lives changed because of fear.  Fear of terror attacks has caused the general population here in the United States to WILLING give up their rights under the guise of homeland security.  This consistent state fear of is perpetuated by the terror alert color schematics, by "enhanced" airport security, by constant rumors of terrorist attacks, and by having a boogieman lurking out in the desert for nearly a decade.  It's nothing new, the idea of government using fear tactics to their advantage...the red scare of communism, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, and that's just me using the US government as an example. 

The world that Sinestro wishes to create is one in which rule of fear is taking to its ultimate extreme, but it is one that is plausible.  The opposite argument, in the form of the GLC and as evidenced by Coast City's rally, is that it is through our own willpower that we can fight this sort of fear-based tyranny, and that it can really only be done if we stand together. 

I find it a rare thing in comics that you get a story that speaks to you on a real level, and makes you think about things that actually happen in the "real world".  This was one of those stories, and in the same way Marvel's "Civil War" broached some serious issues, so did "Sinestro Corps War".  Just because it's a comic book, doesn't mean it can't...or rather won't...force you to ask questions.

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Got everything from Geoff John's GL run covering "Sinestro Corps War" thru "Brightest Day" on my EBay Store: My Ebay Store



The Sinestro Corps War Revisited: Part One!

And so it was after re-reading "Blackest Night" that I decided to keep going in reverse thru the tent-pole events of the GL-Verse.  Since Geoff Johns started his opus with "Green Lantern: Rebirth", the story has had a specific forward momentum; building towards events that shaped the immediate future of the GL Corps, and laid the groundwork for future events.  Parts of what went down in BN were established as far back as GL: Rebirth (with some story elements written well before Johns was even thinking of being a comic writer).  That is also the case right here with "The Sinestro Corps War".  So with that I decided to follow in the footsteps of what I did with BN, and read ONLY the core story itself and none of the other tie-in books (thankfully in this case that's only like 4 one-shots).

The opening page of this story, in a fashion sometimes lost in comics, tells you every bit of backstory you really need to know in 5 simple panels of beautiful Ivan Reis art.  A naked Sinestro utters one sentence that sums up his whole purpose, and the purpose of this event..."The Universe Needs To Change".  His backstory unfolds quickly, the second page answers the question of how Sinestro's back was scarred with the Lantern logo, and clearly defines his hate for Kyle Rayner, or rather "the alley rat" as Sinestro so lovingly calls him.  And in the 3rd & 4th pages, we get to hear the oath of the Sinestro Corps; an oath that is the antithesis of the GL oath.

Given the current status quo of the DCU, I find it amusing that Zoom is the villain Geoff Johns elected to use to really kick this story off as the JLA searches out Sinestro in a follow-up to the moment in an earlier issue where Batman is initated into the Sinestro Corps for a minute (GL #17)...

It's in those moments after the Zoom confrontation that Hal Jordan makes a dire statement, "I don't think the Sinestro Corps is Earth's problem, it's the Green Lanterns."  Enter the yellow rings as they fly around the universe looking for those beings capable of creating great fear in a follow-up to a few issues earlier where the reader sees the construction of the rings on Qward, further teasing what was about to go down here.

Johns' drops in on The Guardians as they investigate another of Geoff's favorites, The Cyborg Superman (last seen leading a new wave of Manhunters , who has apparently discovered the secret of the 52 parallel universes and we also get our first mention of the Prophecy of Cosmic Revelations: the Blackest Night in this story (it was name dropped GL #11).  In another small touch, that only has meaning in hindsight, Cyborg Supes says "Without life, there will be no fear, avarice, or hate.", to which Ganthet retorts "Without life there is also no hope or compassion." and Sayd (the female Guardian) chimes in "or love".    In one panel we have the core elements of the...ummm, corps...stated before anything outside of the GLC or SC exist.  And the seeds are planted...

After a quick check-in on another Johns favorite in Superboy-Prime (following up on his imprisonment after "Infinite Crisis"), we get a down moment that lets us in on the internal struggles within the GLC as well as those of Kyle Rayner AKA Ion.  We find out about Ion's Mom, about some painting, and then with a KRAKSH everything goes to hell!  Kyle's abducted, deposited in the Anti-Matter Universe, and the reader gets their first idea of just what awaits Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and the rest of the GLC...

And as if that wasn't enough, the brutality begins on Oa and we get to see how violent this war is going to be when a sniper beam blows a whole in a Lantern's head and sprays Guy's face with blood. Kyle versus the SC, the GLC vs the SC, Superboy-Prime & Cyborg Supes liberated, the truth behind Ion revealed as its ripped from the chest of Kyle, and the symbolic ripping of Kyle's heart from his chest as Sinestro tells Kyle the truth about his mother's death & the SC's role in it.  He is a broken man, just like Hal Jordan after Coast City's destruction, and just like Hal, Sinestro uses that moment to turn Kyle into Parallax.   Oh wait, there's more...

And all of that is just the Prologue issue...Sinestro, Parallax, two Super-Men, and the f'n Anti-Monitor!  Not to mention the Sinestro Corps and their very lethal methods.  In one issue, Geoff Johns has set-up a no-win situation for the GLC and even in the re-read I still felt that same sense of "how the hell are they going to survive this" that I had when I first saw that image right above.

In the proper Part One, Johns gives the reader the same kind of origin for Hal Jordan that he did for Sinestro and nails all the pertinent information in a couple of pages.  The stress caused between the Lost Lanterns & Hal Jordan continues while the Guardians elect to further bury The Blackest Night by destroying the last chapter of the Book of Oa.  But it is those action that bring about the eventual creation of the Blue Lanters when Ganthet & Sayd bid farewell to Hal Jordan with three simple words... "We will hope.".  Unfortunately that hope is nearly decimated immediately as Hal is confronted by the Parallax-possessed Kyle Rayner.

With Chapter Two of the story in GLC (written by Dave Gibbsons), it jumps to the events of the War from other perspectives: primarily that of Sinestro but with some members of the GLC included.  The level of violence in this is chapter really shows how different, how serious this battle truly is, but the crux of the story is that of Sinestro's return to Korugar which is now patrolled by Soranik Natu.  In this confrontation we get our first mention of the GLC's inability to use lethal force on their enemies which becomes a major point within the SCW, and we get the first meeting between Sinestro & Soranik which has some serious long term ramifications.  In the light of what is eventually revealed about their familial connection, it's no wonder Sinestro didn't kill her, and it gives a whole other level of meaning to Sinestro's statement that he "only need Korugar to believe you have defeated me and I have won."  Maybe, in his twisted way of thinking, Sinestro figured that Natu would owe him for the fealty Korugar would give her for the "victory" over their former tyrannical ruler....or maybe he figured she'd owe her Daddy one.  Oh yeah, and this Sodam Yat guy pops up....

Back to Hal's story and the return of Amon Sur (now a Sinestro Corps member) after his failed attempts to kill Jordan a few issues prior to SCW.  I guess the first few pages of this issue tell the tale of how only family can talk trash about family, anyone else better watch their mouth.  What's Superboy-Prime waiting for? How sad is Cyborg Supes when you really look at him? And how terrible are the Guardians as they are apparently willing to sacrifice everything Kyle has done for them to save the Ion Entity?  For the greater good and all that...

Kyle unfortunately has to suffer through some of the same moments Hal had to when he was under Parallax's influence, specifically when he kills the lost lantern Jack Chance.  And we get our second moment of a ring shutting down at the attempted use of lethal force, this time by another lost lantern, Boodikka.  Seems to be a theme.  Oh yeah, and very pivotal figure for the coming years is introduced in the Keeper of the Book of Parallax known as Lyssa Drak. 

The jump to GLC bring us a brutal bloody war on Mogo as several elements of previous GLC arcs come into play in the forms of Ranx The Sentient Planet & The Children of the White Lobe.  As a matter of fact, the attempted destruction of Mogo is actually a continuation of a prophecy from a 1986 Annual written by Alan Moore.  Hell, a lot of what Johns has used to tell his long-term story is based on Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 (the Empire of Tears, Ysmault, the Five Inversions, etc.).  We also get continued concern about the condition of Sodam Yat by the Guardians, and the fight everyone has been waiting for since we first saw him in GL #10: Arkillo vs. Killowog.  Oh yeah, and the GLC meets the Anti-Monitor!

To Hal and the Earth-GL's....oh wait, first a little stop in Coast City and the Jordan family.  See Hal's brother and his family moved to Coast City shortly after Jordan's return to life but despite the best efforts of the government, the city is still barely populated.  Anywho, Hal find himself powerless in the heart of Sinestro Corps hell and makes the scary scary decison to take on a handful of yellow rings; touching another Corps ring and setting the stage for moments to come as hell eventually wears the ring of damn near every Corps (which in turn created the speculation that he would be the White Lantern since he had touched all the colors).  The Guardians also make their first fateful decision as they renege on something they stated many issues earlier when Hal requested to explore the Forbidden Sector: they elect to rewrite the Book of Oa...and toss Ganthet & Sayd on their asses for acting on emotion. 

In the span of a few pages, the entire game changes:  The Sinestro Corps heads for Earth while the Guardians have amassed the GLC on Oa, the Earth Lanterns stand alone in Coast City as Parallax arrives, and the 1st of 10 new rules in the Book of Oa is announced: Lethal Force Enabled!  Why Earth and not Oa (given that Oa is the center of the universe)? 

Because Earth is the center of the multiverse....

Thus ends Volume One of the Sinestro Corps War HC, and part one of my recap/review/rewind/rehash.  So what do we have? 

In the first half of the story, Johns & Gibbons have laid some of the foundation for "Blackest Night", have evolved storyline points from the first two years of GL & the one year of GLC to bring to fruition the teases of the Sinestro Corps formation; villains that sprouted out in pre-SCW issues have come full circle with membership in the SC; the saga of Coast City continues; elements of Johns' other mega-story "Infinite Crisis" are brought into play with Cyborg Supes, Supes-Prime, and the 52; it laid the groundwork for the whole concept of The Entities; hell even elements of Kyle's life pre-Johns are fleshed out as his sorrow at his mother's death becomes a key storyline point.  And all of that is just in the first half of this GL-Event.

What lies in story for the culmination of the Sinestro Corps War?  How does it foretell the coming of the Blackest Night and the other Corps that are introduced following SCW?  What else does SCW tell us about the past & future of the GL-Verse?  Check back at the end of the week for Part Two of Sinestro Corps War Revisited! 

Until then, don't let Parallax get ya!

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And if you're interested in reading this, or any of the rest of Geoff Johns' Green Lantern run, I am currently auctioning off a large chunk of his run (everything from SCW - present), so check it out here: My Green Lantern Auction.

Also, check out the rest of my auctions if you're interested: The Rest Of My Auctions

Blackest Night: One Year Later

In conjunction with the one year anniversary of Blackest Night's resolution, in light of Free Comic Book Day just passing (2009 saw Blackest Night #0's release), and because I bought the Hardcover upon finding out the DC had ceased soliciting it, I decided to reread DC Comics line-wide crossover from 2009/2010!  So here's what a look at what I thought while going over this story for the first time in a year.

Now let me start by saying I ONLY read the core mini-series this time; not the Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps issues, not the 7 different mini-series that tied in, and not the dozens of other issues that bore the Blackest Night logo on their covers between June 2009 - May 2010.  My choice was done with purpose, not because I didn't want to dig through 20+ boxes of books to get all the issues out (although that may have played a part honestly), but because I wanted to see how Geoff Johns story read by itself without the addition of any outside stories.  In short, it was a mixed bag.

First, a little backstory for the uninitiated.  Blackest Night was the culmination of several years of story built on the part of GL author extraordinaire Geoff Johns.  Johns, ever since bringing Hal Jordan back in "GL Rebirth" had crafted an opus of sorts with various peaks and valleys.  The first major peak was in the "Sinestro Corps War" and the close of that excellent story also marked the beginning of the build to "Blackest Night". 



The ensuing two years built up the ground work for BN between the issues of GL and GLC by introducing the Blue, Orange, and Red Lantern Corps; restoring the Star Sapphires to prominence, setting up the Black Lantern Corps via Black Hand, and teasing the existence of an Indigo Tribe.  The Blackest Night was upon the DCU shortly after "Final Crisis" came to an end and the apparent death of Bruce Wayne was one of the final catalysts.  In fact the entire zero issue is devoted to two formerly dead guys, Hal Jordan and the newly-resurrected Barry Allen (in their Flash & GL gear), conversing over the unmarked grave of Bruce.  After they leave, Black Hand robs the grave and steals the skull from the casket and we are underway! The start of Blackest Night #1 continues from #0 with Black Hand unleashing the black rings, but then it goes into the opposite direction, all daylight and happiness on what has been named a day of rememberance for the heroes that had died.

Then the fun and chaos begins!  The dead heroes of the DCU are resurrected en masse as evil Black Lanterns intent on, quite literally, stealing hearts.  Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Jade, Aquaman...anyone that could elicit an emotional response from the living was resurrected save for the original Dove.  When the rings tried to bring him back they were denied and the message "Don Hall Of Earth At Peace" was spit out.  Hell, Johns even broke my heart by finally, OFFICIALLY, declaring the Jean Paul Valley Azrael dead when he wandered the streets as a BL in BN #4 :c(



Unfortunately there isn't really an explanation given in the specific issue for why the original Dove wasn't able to be resurrected (Johns did say we would learn more here) and there wasn't really one given during the whole of BN.  Was it written in one of the tie-ins?  The problem of Dove is just one example of not having blanks filled in without reading the tie-ins but I will get back to that after I'm done singing praises.

The guts to so brutally murder Hawkman and Hawkgirl in the close of the first issue using the Dibny's, the horror of death all the way across the DCU, the way in which the characters so often take it for granted that people will come back, all those things are right in the readers' face from jump street.  And the scene so wonderfully rendered by Ivan Reis in which Hal shows Barry everyone who has died in his absence just drove it home.  The first issue had me clamoring for more and damn did it keep delivering.

Although the shock of seeing the dead heroes return wore off pretty quickly, the awesomeness of zombie sharks was pretty damn cool!  And the visual of Deadman begging to stay dead was just so...powerful.  That one single page did more for Deadman than anything else I had ever read him in, and it served as a perfect moment in light of his future (something else I get to later).  The constant onslaught of the BL's, the omnipresent feeling of doom, the inevitability of death all hung over every panel of this comic when I was able to read it in one lump.  The countdown to 100% that accompanied every page only served to enhance the impending feeling of dread as the reader wondered what the hell was going to happen when the meter was full. 

Don't let me forget the art of Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert...in large part due to the art, I felt every emotion...particularly when Firestorm (a character I have very little familiarity with) was forced to kill his own girlfriend under the control of BL Firestorm.  That art served to really show you how huge a deal it was that The Spectre was corrupted, the grotesquery of Black Hand, the ugliness of death personified by the BL's, and the fear in that moment when Nekron comes to Earth.

Then there is the moment where the tablecloth is really pulled out from under the heroes with the line "Bruce Wayne of Earth...




In that moment every hero who had ever been resurrected, every one who had every cheated death, fell victim to the Black Rings.  Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Kid Flash, and more all succumb to the power of the Black.  Hal Jordan & Barry Allen figure out a way to break the tether between themselves and the rings by jumping just slightly ahead in time.  Meanwhile out in space...



The scope of just what is heading for Earth is amazing, and once again the art just captures the stark terror of how much death is on the way.  The moment where Ganthet makes himself a member, followed by his splitting of the rings, provided some great moments as well in which each of the rings find another host.  The Scarecrow getting the Yellow Ring was a great nod to a moment earlier in the GL series, Lex Luthor getting the Orange Ring was perfect, and Mera as a Red Lantern was awesome.  Much like Deadman, she was a character that truly benefitted from this series in terms of exposure and generated interest.  Hell, I bought her action figure...in part due to it containing a Dex Starr to be honest...


How can you not love that Kitty Face?

Anyway, the ultimate reveal of Nekron's desire to destroy The Entity...the source of existence itself...and the immediate reactions of Sinestro to take on the White Lantern responsibility as his own was epic.  Here is a man who has strived to bring order to the universe (at least his version of order), had been evicted from the GLC, formed his own Corps, sought to expose the Guardians as frauds, and now thinks he can use the power of the WL to justify his belief that he is the greatest Lantern of them all.  It's no wonder the power abandoned him, thankfully cause it allowed for a supercool visual of the resurrected heroes (Superman et al) to become WL's for a moment to win the day.  Oh yeah, the Anti-Monitor comes back too...big stuff, just like a mega event-wide crossover should have! 

And as if that wasn't enough...we get the resurrection of 12 of the heroes who were dead prior to BN (well the Hawks died in the first issue but you get the idea), and set the table for the Brightest Day to come with the White Lantern popping up on the very last page of the very last issue.   The immediate future of the DCU was established and damn if I wasn't interested.  Oh yeah, and to bring everything full circle...Hal Jordan & Barry Allen (this time in civvies) meet once again over the Wayne grave to discuss how they now accept Tim Drake's belief that Bruce is alive! 

Damn did this story have some great moments, and damn is it so much better to read it as a whole than it was to read it monthly...with delays...with that month gap, and with a lot of negativity from the internet if I recall correctly.  No worry about reading a thousand tie-in issues, no concern with breaking the bank just trying to follow the story, just me and the comics.  I applaud Geoff Johns and company for their work on this mini-series because you can see how much of their heart & soul was on the page.  This book piqued my interest in Deadman, in Mera, in the fate of a dozen characters that I didn't really care one way or the other about prior to BN.  It set-up the next year of DC comics, and with the background resurrection of one Reverse Flash (as well as some time travel), it set-up this year's story in "Flashpoint".  The tease of Bruce Wayne's fate and the purpose of the 12's resurrections set up the larger DCU, and the intro of the various Corps laid the groundwork for the next year of GL-centric books as well. 

If I recall correctly, BN got a lot of flack because fans felt like the end was nothing more than set up for another story.  Well that is still true upon reading it again one year later, but that is by no means a bad thing.  The DCU is one cohesive universe, and the events of one thing...especially something as major as BN...should lay the foundation for what comes next.  The story of the Blackest Night has its conclusion in these pages, and a satisfying conclusion at that.  But of course there is going to be fallout from the event, hell if there wasn't than fans would just complain about that instead.  Gone, long gone at that, are the days where a comic book event happens and there are no lasting repurcussions.  I don't know if that day every truly existed....maybe in the Marvel Comics Annuals like "Atlantis Attacks" or "Evolutionary War".

Now despite all my praise, there are negatives to the book as well.  Chief among them, the tie-ins and their importance.  There are certain parts of BN that just don't read so well unless you have knowledge of the events within Green Lantern & Green Lantern Corps in particular.  Now, that's not entirely surprising given that this was born as a GL-centric story that enveloped the DCU as a whole, but it doesn't make the reading any smoother for someone unfamiliar with GL who only picked up the book because of its line-wide influence. 

Still it is the mini-series (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Titans, & JSA) that are the most irritating and in particular the Bats, Supes, and WW ones.  In an event like this, you just want to scream "where are they?" and I frequently feel it becomes a neccessity in DC crossovers to find ways to write them out for extended periods (in particular Superman due to his power levels).  But to answer the question of where they are, you have to read their mini, or in the case of Wonder Woman to see what happened with her, Mera, & the black ring.  If you want to know why Donna Troy is half a BL, or what's up with Dove, read the Titans mini.  Reverse Flash (who is barely acknowledged in the main series) then go to Flash's mini.  So on and so forth...you can claim it only fleshes out the core story, but in reading ONLY the core story, it certainly feels like there are holes, very important holes. 

Most of my other complaints at the time of initial release just faded away with this read-thru.  Sure it felt like a Skittles commercial when there were multiples of every Lantern fighting Nekron, and to the cynical it probably felt like an advertisment for DC Direct when all these characters got rings (and in fact all the special lanterns did get figures), but it was cool as all hell to see Orange Lex & Blue Flash!  Hell if I had the opportunity to write such a universe-spanning saga as this, I would definitely have my fair share of geek-out moments like this:

I think, in hindsight, one of my favorite parts of BN was in fact how well it set-up the post-BN world.  The Brightest Day maxi-series & Justice League: Generation Lost (two generally excellent books IMO) both came directly from this, as well as a bunch of other books of varying quality (Titans probably being the worst) that expounded on the purpose of each resurrected character.  It laid the framework for the War of the Lanterns raging in the GL-centric books currently, it put the question of "Who's buried in Bruce's tomb?" out there for Grant Morrison to answer, and gave us the generally great Luthor-centric run on Action Comics! 

I think that the GL/GLC series as a whole has been one of the consistently best books on the shelves since I started reading it at "Sinestro Corps War" (after "Rebirth" was given to me), and upon reading what I missed, I can safely say it's been one of the best books out there since GL's return to the racks.  Hell, I think the reason GL & GLC has gotten so much grief from the intentionally bitter internet since BN is because of how awesome everything was on the road to Blackest Night.  It's hard to battle with your own success, especially success of such a high level as that which Johns achieved leading up to BN.  I for one have wholely dug everything that has come since BN, and am looking forward to what the future brings post-War of the Lanterns. 

Johns' Green Lantern is one of the books I encourage people to read, and BN is the culmination of the first four years of hard work he...along with Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke, and many many others...put into creating the GL-verse.  Pick up Blackest Night, pick up all of Johns' GL work for that matter, and experience one of the best sagas in comics today!  Click on the link below to invest in some quality reading material: Geoff Johns GL on Amazon.

And if you want to help me pay some bills, or are just looking for some older comics, including Geoff Johns' GL run from "Sinestro Corps War" to "Brightest Day" (which includes Blackest Night), check out my Ebay Auctions HERE!