Times are tough for Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro and his ever-evil band of Sinestro Corps have won. Sector Zero, the once home to the Guardians of the Universe and the central home of the Green Lantern Corps, is now controlled by Warworld – the yellow powered planet ruled by the diabolical Sinestro. For all intents and purposes, Sinestro has defeated the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps are now the universe’s police force.
This is the state of things as we enter into Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Rebirth #1.
What a terrific and desperate beginning it is, too. This is exactly what a kickoff comic is all about. Our heroes are all but dead and buried. Evil reigns and there is no hope in sight – nothing but a small green flicker on the edges of the universe.
That spark is Hal Jordan. He has one final trick up his sleeve to reignite his Green Lantern powers, in a way that has never been tried before. But that’s the good thing about Hal – he’s one to break the rules. On the dead world he’s residing, he’ll need to summon all the imaginative might he can to escape Space Sector 563 and say the Green Lantern oath one more time.
Writer Robert Venditti does a terrific job with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Rebirth #1. With great prowess, Venditti gives the reader enough background information with regards to how things ended up for the Green Lantern Corps. This is done through weaving in and out of our hero fighting to exit the dead world. We are told that all the Green Lanterns (Kilowog, John Stewart and Guy Gardener,) have all vanished. Even the Guardians Immortal are gone. For a first issue, the stakes are high – one mistake will plunge the universe into eternal yellow chaos.
This is storytelling at its peak. The audience is not only flung into the action, but tossed into the most critical moment in the universe. It’s exciting, thrilling and evokes a sensation that all truly great superhero stories can – it makes us believe in the impossible.
Compounding Venditti’s superior storytelling is the artwork of Ethan Van Sciver. Van Sciver brings out Venditti’s larger-than-life script and makes it fresh and bold. The combination of both writer and artist lead us along a masterfully paced sequence of panels – leading up the crescendo of splash pages where we can feel Green Lantern’s light.
Dark times for our heroes are the most exciting times for the audience. We want the hero to win, to vanquish evil. But it can’t be easy. The hero must suffer – he or she must rise above their own weaknesses and become a better version of themselves. This is what is at stake with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Rebirth #1. Not only does Hal have to take on the now all powerful Sinestro Corps, he also must travel into the deep recesses of his very soul and do something that’s never been done. Something even the Guardians told him is impossible.
To find out what that is, you’ll have to pick up a copy of the comic. As you can tell from this review, I recommend you do.
