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Review: Green Lantern: Rebirth

     Green Lantern: Rebirth is a 2005 six issue mini-series written by Geoff Johns with penciling by Ethan Van Sciver. The series was published by DC Comics. The series chronicles the rebirth of not only the deceased Green Lantern Hal Jordan, but the rebirth of the Green Lantern Corps. as the galaxy’s premier law enforcement agency.
     Bringing Hal Jordan back from the dead could have been done in a variety of unoriginal ways. When Hal Jordan was killed off in the mid-nineties in the Emerald Twilight story arc, it was in a fashion that fans deemed less than satisfactory. Jordan, the most celebrated Green Lantern in the galaxy, became a mass murdering villain after his hometown of Coast City was destroyed by the supervillain Cyborg Superman. In one final act of heroism, Jordan sacrificed his life by plunging himself into the sun in order to reignite its dying core. The fans were right to be outraged by this cheap gimmick to drive up sales short term (something that comic books in the nineties were notorious for). Hal Jordan becoming a mass murderer made no sense from a narrative standpoint. Geoff Johns corrects this problem by not giving the typical comic book explanation like “my clone did it” for Jordan’s resurrection. Johns’ explanation for why Jordan went mad is not only original, but easily grasped by the reader.
     Johns also brings other Green Lanterns into the fold. As stated before, this is not just Hal Jordan’s rebirth, but the Green Lantern Corps. rebirth. These characters include John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kilowog, Ganthet, who is one of the Guardians of the Universe, and Kyle Rayner, who Ganthet chose to be Hal Jordan’s replacement. These characters help Hal Jordan as he battles his archenemy Sinestro. After reading the Rebirth trilogy, I am convinced that Sinestro is one of the greatest supervillains in all of comics. Sinestro genuinely thinks that he’s the hero in this story and that his authoritarian actions will restore peace to the universe. The little details for all of these characters are truly one of the series highlights.  Guy Gardner’s ring actually sparks because his power ring can barely hold his will power (which fuels the Green Lanterns’ power ring). John Stewart’s uses his ring like an architect would by carefully designing all of his constructs. Kilowog’s power ring sounds like a bomb going off. Kyle Rayner’s uses his ring like an artist would by drawing his constructs. Hal Jordan, on the other hand, prefers to keep his constructs simple yet effective.
     Another issue Johns had to deal with was the relationship between Hal Jordan and his replacement Kyle Rayner who prior to Rebirth, had yet to meet. Johns solves this problem in just one page and does it in such a simple fashion that it’s brilliant.
     Johns not only pays tribute to the Silver Age of Comic Books with Green Lanterns: Rebirth, but he also paves the way for the future of the Green Lanterns. The color of power rings, for instance, have a much deeper meaning. They represent an emotional spectrum that their respective users tap into. This has since become a core part of the Green Lantern mythos. Rebirth also hints at other major future storylines in the Green Lantern mythos such as Sinestro Corps. War.
     Ethan Van Sciver’s artwork in this series compliments Johns’ writing perfectly. These two are one of comic’s greatest teams in terms of writing and artwork. Van Sciver’s art is a fantastic mix of not only superhero comics, but science fiction, which is perfect for the Green Lantern because it is as much a sci-fi comic as it is a superhero comic. The way Ethan Van Sciver draws Hal Jordan is how that character should look. If Geoff Johns is the definitive Green Lantern writer, then Ethan Van Sciver is the definitive Green Lantern artist. 
     Now that you’ve finished my review, I should probably be honest here. I’m incredibly biased toward the Green Lantern: Rebirth trilogy. Geoff Johns run on the Green Lantern turned me into a fan for life. Hal Jordan and the other Green Lanterns will always be my favorite comic book characters. They are some of my favorite comics and in my opinion the storytelling from these books represents the best of the comic book medium.  These stories will stand the test of time because the themes discussed are universal. Green Lantern: Rebirth is a story of good triumphing against evil and in this day and age where it seems like evil is winning, this comic is needed more than ever because evil will never escape our sight.
          Overall Rating:  *****

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