DCU Comic Book Reviews

GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #6

Brightest Day

May 2005

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Ethan Van Sciver

Inks by Prentis Rollins

Cover by Ethan Van Sciver

Synopsis

Near the ruins of Coast City, Batman stands before Hal Jordan and demands an explanation but Jordan does not want to talk:  Parallax is infusing the Earth with thoughts of fear and Hal is ready to fight him.  When Batman tells Jordan, “we’re not done,” Hal turns and decks Batman to the ground.  Hal says they are done and the other Green Lanterns (Kyle Rayner, Kilowog, Guy Gardner, and John Stewart) head off to battle the Parallax-infected Ganthet.  Batman rallies the JLA to also join the fray but Allan Scott, the original Green Lantern, stops them by telling them it is the Green Lantern battle to fight.  All five Green Lanterns attack at once as they recite the Green Lantern oath.  Parallax fights back, telling Jordan to give up.  Jordan admits he does not know how and with renewed determination, the five Green Lanterns free Ganthet and send Parallax back in to the central battery power on Oa.  The Guardians watch and intone:  “It is time.”  Ganthet tells Jordan he did well and returns back to Oa.  In the aftermath, Batman and Hal Jordan face each other.  Batman is suspicious of the “possession” as the reason for Jordan’s past behavior, but Jordan does not care what Batman thinks.  Grudgingly, Batman accepts that Jordan is back.  Later, in Star City, Oliver Queen (aka Green Arrow) rifles through his stuff to find Hal’s power battery.  As he hands to Hall, Ollie admits he can’t remember the damn oath. With a smile, Hal tells him, “I’ll never forget it.”

Review

You knew at some point Hal Jordan and Batman would have a tussle.  Batman’s mistrust of dead heroes coming back to life makes sense and at least is consistent (see:  Green Arrow).  However, I like Allan Scott’s decision to step in and force Batman to back away. There is a symmetry involved there.  I also liked Hal’s description of the way each of the Green Lantern’s use their rings.  It is based on willpower, so naturally each use is unique, special to who they are. But what is the deal with the floating GL symbols over their chests?  It is a cool visual, but is this something everyone else can see?  Are they going to keep this up or is this just a touch from the art team on the book?

I am also not sure who take Guy Gardner’s revelation that he missed the ring and the earlier, when he said he did not miss it, he was lying.  I don’t know enough about his character to determine if this is accurate or just a writer’s fix to get him back into the Corp.  Speaking of which, it looks obvious to me that the Corp is coming back. 

Overall, this was a good end to the book that somehow managed to tie up a lot of loose ends and retconned a number of items and yet did not seem like a square peg into a round hole.  It all flowed well, a testament to Geoff Johns.  I think it is obvious he is a fan.  And he did the story justice, a feat considering how tough it is to do something like this. -- MRB

Okay, the story was good. I liked the way that they tied the whole "yellow impurity" together.  The story was done in an almost fast, action-paced way and it left a lot of questions. I wasn't sure when or how Kilowog came back...they never explained that.  They kind of explained Kyle Rayner going to retrieve Hal Jordan's corpse, but not well enough so you had to go back and re-read that part of the story again.  I love Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern and I thought that he was the best. I started collecting Green Lantern because of him!  I never liked Hal Jordan (it is easy to be fearless when you know you can't die).  Yeah I know that he was "fearless" before he got the ring, but without that ring I am sure that he would have messed his pants on several occasions when he went up against some of his enemies.  Kyle has messed his pants going up against some of the toughest bad guys and he HAD THE RING. That gave him a bigger and a lot more of a human element to him that I thought that the Green Lantern needed. I also do NOT like the idea of bringing back the corps. I loved that Kyle was unique in the fact that no one can be a Green Lantern but him. Now there are going to be millions of Green Lanterns all over the galaxy thus removing the awe that was once Green Lantern. 

Just a side note...everyone who read these books knows that Hal sucker punched Batman...great, wonderful (insert: sarcastic voice) and then Guy laughing about it -- even worse... Everyone knows that Batman would have grabbed Hal's hand and he would have removed the ring and he would have broken Hal's arm in two places before Hal could even blink...everyone knows this but this asinine writer...one word people:  CONTINUITY!!!  In one book Batman is the baddest man on the planet...(well, we all know that and if you don't you have an IQ of .00001) and if you do know this, well, you are at the top of the Mensa list! And in one book they make Batman look feeble and inapt...look, the writer's may not agree on everything (I am sure they don't see the sucker punch) but keep it within the continuity of the character!  Please!!! -- ADjr

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