Rating:  -
Hal Jordan, the once-dead Green Lantern, is an interesting road-map of comic trends. Early in his career, Hal was portrayed as the perfect hero - most comic characters were. He was fearless, heroic, fit, and ceaselessly noble. But, as time wore on and America became less confident, Hal became a less confident character. No longer a 'golden child', his hair began to gray a little at the temples, and in one of his more touching stories, he travelled across America with his friend, Green Arrow, experiencing firsthand the problems with race, poverty, and drugs that he had never really paid attention to previously.
Time passed, and Hal Jordan eventually died in disgrace, after becoming the monstrous Parallax and tearing apart the Green Lantern Corps in his quest to rewrite time and save his home city from destruction. Comics moved on, but for once, managed to look back and try and salvage the wreckage of Hal's madness - they made him into the Spectre, and thus began a long period in which Hal tried to reign in both his own destructive impulses and those of the Spectre.
Enter Geoff Johns, more than a decade later. Geoff Johns is an unabashed Hal Jordan fanboy, and he starts his now-epic Green Lantern run by reviving his favorite character and relaunching the franchise as a whole. Green Lantern: Rebirth is Geoff Johns' love letter to Hal Jordan, and while many of the ideas that are birthed in this series are fascinating and go on to provide some of the most compelling cosmic adventures in comics today, this book is, as a whole, disappointingly juvenile.
Johns has never been shy about admitting his fandom of Hal Jordan, but even if you've never read a single interview with him, his allegiance shines clear in this book. Every mistake Hal Jordan made is corrected - not through the redemption he sought for the past decade, but by the sudden, shocking reveal that Hal was possessed that whole time. Not only that, but his hair is now golden brown again - it didn't gray because he was aging, but because he was possessed. The killings? Because he was possessed. Even Hal becoming a more thoughtful, caring hero in his trek across America is blamed on his being possessed.
Throughout the book, Johns carefully crafts every anti-Hal argument that people might throw, and concocts a number of ridiculous straw men throughout the book to represent them, each of which is debunked as Hal's true goodness (or physical prowess) shines through and wins them over. Characters recognize him as 'the greatest Green Lantern', the only one they've ever trusted, and more.
All that said, if you are interested in the Green Lantern mythos, the book is definitely worth it. As utterly idiotic as the 'But I was possessed!' excuse is, Johns makes excellent use of it as a part of the greater setting, and the book sets up a number of elements of Johns most recent masterpiece, the Sinestro Corps War. The concepts introduced would be cheesy beyond tolerance in the hands of a less skilled writer, but Johns introduces them all with a confidence that would make his best bud Hal proud.
The book is, essentially, one long, well-illustrated piece of fan fiction by someone who really likes Hal Jordan, and the Agenda - make him as AWESOME as possible - is almost blindingly bright at times. And while it's undeniably well-written, Johns is so focused on making Hal look cool that he forgets to make him look human.
Rating:  -
this is a great story to bring back hal jordan. I don't want to give anything away, just a fun, great, exciting read from beginning to end. anyone who likes green lantern will love this book. don't pass it up. you will not be dissappointed..
Rating: -
"Green Lantern: Rebirth" tells the story of how Hal Jordan returns from the dead. the writing is superb and Johns' succeeds in explaining how things happened that have been unanswered for so long such as why the Green Lanterns rings have the "yellow impurity". Van Schiver's art is some of the best that I have seen, all of the charecters and landscapes look photo -realistic but still have a "comic-book" like feel to it. I reccamend to all.
Rating: -
With hindsight being 20/20 and considering the current popularity and elevated stature of Green Lantern, the title of this trade could not have been more fitting. Rebirth is actually too mild a word; regenesis has loftier connotations, but whatever the moniker, thanks to Geoff Johns and Ethan van Sciver, this is where the phoenix rose from the ashes and soared again. Fortunately due to the rich tapestry of the GL mythos, they had plenty to work with, and Johns uses much of it here to full effect. There are some things however, including past events involving Parallax, the Spectre, and the destruction of Hal's hometown of Coast City that may be unfamiliar to new readers and thus confusing to them. Even casual fans though should know of his arch-nemesis Sinestro, and no monumental Hal Jordan epic would be complete without him. The rationale connecting Sinestro and Parallax is well conceived and a convincing way of uniting these two evil forces. Another fascinating aspect and one that goes beyond the scope of this particular story is Parallax's relationship to the GL rings' historical weakness against the color yellow, and kudos to Geoff for originating this intriguing new addition to the GL lore. Hal returns in all of his fearless glory to atone for his past transgressions which, we finally learn, were not entirely his fault. Batman is thrown in to add some extra star power and to play the requisite foil and heavy. Yes, this was during the peak of his dark period and many Batfans may find it a bit overplayed, but it does give Halfans the opportunity to gleefully see their hero knock Bats on his butt. The story naturally concludes with a feelgood finale that may have been somewhat heavy on the cheese, but what did we expect. Just add some wine, relax and enjoy. Welcome back, Hal.
Rating: -
This is a very nice graphic novel and definately one to add to your collection. A must for Green Lantern lovers.
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