We’ll look at Hal in threes, similar to the re-invention trilogy Geoff Johns gave him:
1 – Rebirth
After having been compeltely disgraced in Emerald Twilight and Zero Hour!, Jordan had become the Spectre. Many fans longed for him to return to his roots and be redeemed however, and Johns was the man to do it in a compeltely revitalizing manner called Green Lantern: Rebirth. Changing a bit of the reason Hal went insane and turning Parallax into something more than a new supervillain alias, Johns brought Green Lantern right back into the forefront of the power players again while not forgetting what he had done and forcing Hal to deal with the reprecussions of his actions, with storylines such as finding the Lost Lanterns as well as Hal and Batman attempting to reconcile their differences. We even saw great and uplifting moments, such as his reunion with Green Arrow and their taking on Mongul, as well as re-igniting Hal’s love life. Further more, Johns brought in classic villains who had not been used in quite some time and brought them back to life, such as the Black Hand, and who would have guessed that something so small in the beginning like that would end up being so important later? Johns also began integrating little things in issues that made no sense but left us incredibly curious, such as these little yellow rings floating around in the background. It was an incredible attention to little details that proved Geoff Johns is one of the masters of comics today.
2 – The Sinestro Corps War
With every great villain, we need an equally great villain, and for that Hal Jordan has always had Sinestro. Assumedly dead, most had presumed we had seen the last of him, but Johns knew better. If he was going to ressurect our hero, we had to have Sinestro back as well, and Johns did it seamlessly. Not only that, but in that moment he completely redefined how we looked at the Green Lantern Corps as a whole because now we had a brand new Corps, the Sinestro Corps, and they served a dastardly purpose. Penning an epic battle that effected everyone in the DCverse, the Sinestro Corps is what initially brought me to the Green Lantern books, and I am very thankful to that. I of course went and read through all that I had previously talked about, but the Sinestro Corps War.. wow. Talk about an event. It was explosive, it was well written, and it is possibly the best DC comic I’ve ever read. I still can’t believe how big of a scope it had, what with the Anti-Monitor and Cyborg Superman, as well as Superman-Prime, all fighting every hero in the DC Universe. The best part about it is that it didn’t limit itself. Since it was an epic crossover event, it took its time and was a well thought out crossover, unlike most which are short and to the point with no extra development. When reading it as a whole, it’s like watching a full blown movie, whereas most comic crossovers are more like watching a TV special. This was Johns first big move since bringing Hal back, and it still stands as one of the greatest events in modern comic history in my mind.
3 – The War Of Light/The Blackest Night
And here we are today. The Blackest Night looms ahead for our unsuspecting heroes, and everything since Johns first began his re-write of Hal Jordan is paying off. All the prophecies spoken of in whispers, all the characters we’ve loved and lost… it’s all happening now. This is arguably an event so big, it’s more important than Final Crisis. I think that’s very telling of the importance of Green Lantern and Geoff Johns. He has done something no one has ever expected from him, and it’s been incredibly rewarding for fans. I defy you to name a book that’s held this strong for over 40 issues and is as well constructed and written as Green Lantern, at least in the DC Universe alone. Johns has truly re-invented the character while also putting down some dogma and canon that’s as important as those that original wrote for DC in it’s earliest days. It’s not often that we can say something to that extent about a modern writer, but Geoff Johns is arguably the single most important at DC right now, and you need look no further than Green Lantern to prove it.
I’m not sure what else to say to convince you to read Green Lantern. If there ever was a band wagon to jump on, it’s this one. If you’re not currently reading Green Lantern, then I apologize. Normally I like to post a link to where you can start following, but in this all I can tell you is you better start hunting. Go to your local comic book shops and see if you can find the back issues and buy, buy, buy. Or hunt down a list of trades that now exist. This should be part of your collection though, and if it’s not, then I’m sorry.
