“You have been chosen for one reason, among many others.
You are a man that will overcome great fear. Hal Jordan of Earth- do you accept
this duty?”
- Abin Sur, Green Lantern #1 (2005)
Geoff Johns, superstar comic book
writer, is renowned for his new interpretations on classic characters like
Barry Allen’s Flash, Aquaman and Hal Jordan. Johns’ Rebirth detailed the
rebuilding of the Green Lantern Corps, with two Lanterns stationed on a sector.
His most daunting task of all was to revive Hal Jordan; a character now lost,
literally, in the essence of the Spectre, the spirit of vengeance. Rebirth
begins where GL comics ended, with Kyle Rayner patrolling the 3600 known
sectors solo, as John Stewart remains on Earth as a member of the Justice League.
The Spectre is becoming more prominent in the story as Sinestro looks to
unleash his ultimate weapon.
Johns warped the origins of Hal Jordan’s descent into
darkness, explaining how it was an alien entity created entirely of fear
energy, which saw the revenge and loss in Jordan after Coast City was
destroyed, and decided to cash in on its opportunity. Overall, Johns created an
almost perfect story and an even better Green Lantern story and single-handedly
revived the greatest Lantern and displayed the importance of his presence in
the DC universe, comparing him to the greatest heroes and proving he is just as
good, if not better at saving the world.
Johns and artist Carlos Pacheco launched the new GL series
in 2005, continuing the plot from the end of Rebirth and returning the focus of
the series entirely on Jordan. Some alterations were made, especially to
villains like Hector Hammond and Black Hand. With other artists joining the
series, like Ivan Reis and Doug Manke, the series took off making Green Lantern
as well known and popular in the hearts of fans as Superman or Batman. The 2005
GL series created some of the best story arcs in modern comics.
After minor arcs like “Revenge of the Green Lanterns” and
Wanted: Hal Jordan”, Green Lantern joined the Green Lantern Corps comic series
to create a crossover event known as the Sinestro Corps War, in which Sinestro
creates an army of yellow power rings that seek out creatures who can instill
great fear. A war between the two corps begins with many casualties and ends
with even more. Geoff Johns and his tremendous creative team created an entire
new army of villains, which matched power with almost the entire DC Universe.
Even Superboy-Prime returned from Infinite Crisis, also written by Johns. The
creation of a corps made up of yellow fear energy lead to the Red Lanterns of
rage, the Orange Lanterns of greed, the Blue Lanterns of hope and eventually
the Black Lanterns of death.
The prophecy in the Book of Oa stated that the spectrums’
armies would wage war across the universe, resulting in the Blackest Night.
This one story arc expanded across all Green Lantern titles and all DC titles
as well. Superman, Batman, Flash and dozens more were integrated into the
Blackest Night storyline, as the many corps decide to work together to defeat
the Black Lanterns, leading into the Brightest Day story arc.
Like I said, this series featured some of the greatest
written, drawn, colored and well-known story arcs in modern comics. The series
ended with “War of the Green Lanterns” a story arc that questioned the
authority of the Guardians, pitting Lantern against Lantern. The series ended
with issue #67. Hal Jordan has been stripped of his ring by the Guardians and
cast out, back to Earth to live out the rest of his life as a normal human
being. Meanwhile, Sinestro is returned into the GL Corps, leading into the New
52 relaunch where Green Lantern is one of the few series to not get rebooted.
Check out the final part of Green Lantern's Light in a few days.
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