Welcome to the second edition of Team Venom’s Greatest Graphic Novel Guide. For today’s spotlight. I’m going to be talking about DC Comics’ Green Lantern: Rebirth. As usual, let’s hit that key info:
Published: 2004-2005 by DC Comics
Original Format: Green Lantern Rebirth #1-6
Writer: Geoff Johns Artist: Ethan Van Scarier
History / Overview: For the previous decade (real-time) Hal Jordan had been disgraced. Events that took place in the iconic “Death and Return of Superman” event of the mid-90s saw Hal’s home town, Coast City, destroyed as well as the millions of citizens that inhabited it. Hal went on a rampage, killing most of his fellow Green Lanterns in a bit to gain enough power to bring an entire city back from the dead. This turned him against his fellow superheroes, led to him calling himself “Parallax” and cementing himself as one of the DC Universe’s top villains of the 90s.
Hal would attempt to return to his heroic routes and saved the Earth from the Sin-Eater which led to his soul being tethered to The Spectre – DC’s Spirit of Vengeance.
Still with me? Good. Green Lantern Rebirth set out to right the wrongs of the 90s and reposition Hal Jordan back at the center of the Green Lantern Corps and DC Universe. The story is incredibly well-written and Geoff Johns shows how much he loves the character and his history by packing it full of Easter eggs and references from the “One Punch” moment, Hal’s tragic origin, the long-forgotten Hector Hammond, Black Hand and much, much more.
Influence In Other Media: Since Rebirth resulted in Hal Jordan recieving a huge surge in popularity, DC Comics/Warner Brothers decided to make a movie based on the character, starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. While the movie was an origin story and therefore didn’t adapt Rebirth it did use Rebirth’s version of Parallax, the fear entity.
Our Verdict:
Rory Bailey “I had always been a fan of the character and absolutely loved the 80s hard traveling heroes era GL stuff, which saw Hal travel across America with Green Arrow and Black Canary. I remember reading about this event happening in an issue of Wizard magazine and getting subsequently hyped. I remember having to jump on a train to Derby to try and pick up issue one (as the internet was nowhere near today’s standard so ordering online was too unreliable) and managing to snag the last two copies from the shelf at Forbidden Planet. This title gave me a new-found love and interest in DC Comics (up to that point I’d only been interested in Batman but didn’t follow regularly) and I still follow the ongoing exploits of Hal Jordan to this day as a result.”
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