The Highlight Reel: Rebirth

The early to mid-1990's was a rough time for DC's top tier of iconic characters.

First Superman "died", got better, then started sporting a mullet. Batman had his back broken.  Wonder Woman started wearing biker shorts. Aquaman got a fishing hook for a hand. Green Arrow blew up.

And Green Lantern?  Oh, Green Lantern got the worst of DC's collective nervous breakdown. He not only went crazy and destroyed the entire Green Lantern Corps, but became a universe-threatening supervillain on top of it! Some time later, after he sacrificed his life to reignite Earth's sun (long story), Hal Jordan's wandering spirit was named the new host for a near-omnipotent supernatural entity named the Spectre. What a mess, huh?

Well, DC eventually came to their senses and began repairing the damage wrought by their 1990's fever dreams and restored most of the fallen heroes to their former glory.  But what about Hal Jordan, an eternally doomed traitor moping around the DC universe in his ill-fitting role as the Spectre?  How could anyone restore him to his former glory?

Enter writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver.  These two guys accepted the Houdini-like challenge of freeing Hal Jordan from years of editorial incompetence in 2005's Green Lantern: Rebirth mini-series...and succeeded spectacularly! 

Using compelling dialogue, a carefully constructed plot, and cleverly retro-fitted continuity, Geoff Johns made Hal Jordan's return to life a thrilling, touching, and....surprisingly logical tale!  Somehow, against all odds, Geoff Johns pulled it off, restoring both Hal's life and (incredibly) his good reputation...made all the more triumphant with Van Sciver's amazingly cinematic visuals. With echoes of masters like Neal Adams, Irv Novick, and Brian Bolland, Van Sciver's gritty realism pushed an already compelling story into "instant classic" territory.

Without going into too much detail, it's revealed that Hal Jordan's corpse had been preserved all these years by the Guardians of the Universe, ready and waiting for Hal's spirit (now residing within the Spectre) to one day rejoin it.  Hal-Spectre and his loyal friends battle the forces of a demon named Parallax and his old foe Sinestro, resulting in Hal's spirit being freed from the Spectre, while his friends faced a certain death from the renegade Green Lantern.  Now...time for me to shut up, get out of the way, and let Johns and Van Sciver blow your minds as the power ring Green Arrow has faithfully safeguarded is reunited with the greatest Green Lantern of them all (from Green Lantern: Rebirth #4).

(click on the pages for larger views)

Now THAT'S a triumphant return!

Interested in checking it out?  Here's the Amazon link:

Comments

[Greg Walter]

Amen and amen.

Rebirth also features some fine Green Arrow love. As an appropriate prelude and build-up to such restoration of Hal, I found chilling GA's use of Hal's ring against Sinestro. Will *and* love, baby!

[Mark Engblom]

Right on! (sticking with the Green Arrow slang theme)

I liked how Johns tied into Brad Meltzer's Green Arrow run by building on his possession of Hal's ring, which had been addressed early in Meltzer's story arc. So, in a way, the groundwork was being laid (whether by design or coincidence) for Hal's return several years before Rebirth...and it's that kind of organic storytelling that I really appreciate.

[Brian Disco Snell]

Sorry, gotta disagree with you on this one. Having Jordan not be responsible for any of his acts during Emerald Twilight or Zero Hour (while somehow, he gets credit for the good acts of the Long Night)is a pretty reprehensible cop out, in my book.

Johns' story was probably the best possible method of rehabilitating a mass murderer...but "yellow is the color of fear"??? Puh-leaze.

[Mark Engblom]

Oh, come on. I thought the yellow fear thing was a clever way to finally, finally explain what in the world the "yellow impurity" was (an element dating back to Hal's very first appearance). Yeah, the "demonic possession" aspect of it has the whiff of cop-out about it, but in the hands of a skillful writer like Geoff Johns, it somehow held together and served its purpose...which was to bring back a character whose only crime was getting caught in the crosshairs of DC's "throw the baby out with the bathwater" panic attack of the mid-90's.

[Dr. Retro]

Now I remember why I quit reading comics in the 90s. I came back when Johns started doing the JSA. To a large extent, Geoff Johns is DC comics!

[Mark Engblom]

I think you're right. His star seems to have dimmed a bit recently, but that may be due more to DC's overall lack of focus and desperation as they plod through this Countdown disaster, and not necessarily Johns running out of gas (although, God knows, the guy's writing enough books to burn out the best of them).

However, he shows no sign of letting up in his epic Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps War, so hopefully he can keep the energy going past the upcoming Final Crisis conflagration.

[cinephile]

Aquaman got a hook for a hand?? You're making that one up, right? Did he also terrorize some teens over the summer?

Anyway, great post. I have to admit, aside from the O'Neil-Adams stuff in the early 70s, I've never been a big GL reader, but I might have to check out the volume you linked to.

[Mark Engblom]

"Aquaman got a hook for a hand?? You're making that one up, right?"

Unfortunately not. In an effort to make him fall in line with all of the other EXTREEEME! superheroes, they radically altered Aquaman's look, which included a nasty hook-hand (that could also...I kid you not...shoot grapple lines and spin like a drill) and a scraggly "Nick Nolte arrest photo" hair and beard combo.

[Ivan Wolfe]

It was a great return/comeback, but -

"yellow fear monster" just sounds so silly that I'm surprised Geoff Johns did so well with it.

But then, the concept of a guy wearing tights and a green ring to avenge the innocent sounds silly out of context as well.

[Rich]

Aquaman looks totally primed for a team-up with Cable, circa the Liefeld Era.

[Mark Engblom]

"But then, the concept of a guy wearing tights and a green ring to avenge the innocent sounds silly out of context as well."

That's right...at the end of the day, none of this stuff can really be taken at all seriously.