Come one, come all to the Countdown before Countdown! We are post Identity Crisis, the powder keg paving the way for the event to end all events. I will stand here and say that this era of the DCU might be the most unified and exciting it has ever been (though a close second would have to be 2016-2017 Rebirth era). I would even dare call Countdown itself an event with how much impact it has line wide. With Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, and Judd Winick at the helm maneuvering all the power players into the places they need to be, there's not much that can go wrong!
[Green Lantern Rebirth]
- Green Lantern Secret Files & Origins 2005 - "The Day Before" = Something I never noticed before this reread were the snowflakes around Kyle's ring that look exactly like the other Corps symbols. Crazy foreshadowing by Johns. From the Spectre sequence, we get a nice summation of Hal's arc since Day of Judgement, as well as the developments we got during the JSA arc Redemption Lost. We see that Parallax persona is still swimming in Hal's soul, and the Spectre is somehow containing or controlling it.
- Green Lantern: Rebirth #1 - "Blackest Night" = Pieces are set in motion for a storm to come, but who will make the first move? Who are the knights and who are the pawns!?! Johns does an excellent job of getting you up to speed on the GL status quo, and the tension building with each passing sequence is a feat to behold! So many mystery boxes planted in every panel: Why did Kyle crash with a coffin? What did he learn about the true meaning of fear? Why did Guy's Vuldarian Warrior powers go crazy? How did Coast City return? Why did Spectre-Hal maim Black Hand? What's the deal with Hector Hammond? Finally, is Hal Jordan responsible for all of these questions!?!
- Green Lantern: Rebirth #2 - "Enemies Within" = It hits the fan! We learn what's inside the coffin: the preserved corpse of Hal Jordan! This definitely makes sense since the opening scene from last issue had Kyle's ship emerging from the sun, which I'm sure is where the body had been since the events of Final Night. Hal claims that he only brought back the airfield for Carol, but I can't help wondering if he is unknowingly causing all of these mini-crisies with his reality warping Spectre powers. Not sure if it's Ganthet or Kilowog that emerged from Oa in the opening, but it doesn't really matter since both end up finding Kyle and standing off for an epic showdown next issue. The mysteries fester and multiply: How is Parallax coming? Why is Kyle refusing to use the ring? What does Kyle need to show them? What is poisoning Hal Jordan's soul? Why is Alan Scott under the weather? What has possessed John Stewart? Why did Arrow's ring duplicate itself? And why did Guy attack the heroes?
- Green Lantern: Rebirth #3 - "Yellow" = ENTER SINESTRO! Crazy dense loredump that redefines the entire Green Lantern mythos forever? Check! And we get so many answers, even to some questions nobody even asked for! The burden Kyle has been carrying emerged from his adventure at the edge of the universe, fear has a name: Parallax lives! Parallax is the reason why Guy and John and Kilowog have gone bananas, but Ganthet explains that Kyle maintains immunity due to knowing the secret giving him some ability to overcome it. Parallax proclaims that he's responsible for the random occurrences since the start of this book, though some of the stuff like Guy losing the Warrior powers and Coast City returning might have been Hal's subconscious. As for Korugar's #1 jerkoff, it's implied that he's the reason that Jordan was selected as the host for Parallax along with waking the big bug up from hibernation. Was Sinestro the reason Kyle crashed on Earth? Or was it the possessed Kilowog? Or did he just lose control because of Parallax's influence on the rings? Some interesting mysteries surrounding the Guardian's mindwipe of the Parallax secret; was it a lie or did they really purge the memory to prevent any chance of his escape?
- Green Lantern: Rebirth #4 - "Force of Will" = GAHD THIS IS SO GOOD! Hal's final monologue before his reborn reveal was brilliant: this is undoubtedly Geoff Johns at his apex. I loved Ganthet guiding Hal's soul away from the afterlife and back into his preserved body as the backup ring Ollie used becomes his own. Sinestro was awesome in this issue, though we do get some Reverse Flash "IT WAS ME BARRY" with the reveal that he was a key factor behind Hal's fall from grace during "Emerald Twilight". Sinestro explains how Parallax woke up due to him acquiring the Qwardian Power Ring from the Weaponeers, with the ring unknowingly tapping into the sentient fear of the electromagnetic spectrum. During Parallax's confrontation with Ganthet, it is implied that the Guardians actually mindwiped themselves of the truth behind the yellow impurity, and I hope we get to explore that in Johns' upcoming run. Alan Scott's malaise is revealed as Parallax's failed attempt to possess him as well.
- Green Lantern: Rebirth #5 - "Rings" = An entire issue of Hal and Sinestro fighting across space? Count me the heck in! I always appreciate when good writers tackle fight sequences since it's so easy to make it boring while putting all the pressure on the artist to sell the scene. Morrison and Moore have done it dozens of times and Priest did it recently in his Black Adam run. Hal and Sinestro clashing maintains so much weight and gravitas due to their history and the recent revelations regarding the cause of Hal's descent. The final page is pretty funny to me since it's something you would never see in a comic today. With the amount of bat-wank that has permeated across most of DC's titles in the last decade, something like this would never fly (but then again, it was a different time, and Johns had been setting this confrontation up in both JSA and Flash).
- Green Lantern: Rebirth #6 - "Brightest Day" = Freaking awesome. This is what happens when you put the biggest fanboy on a collision course with his favorite character. Geoff Johns loves Hal Jordan and the GLC so much that every word and every panel in this issue actively infects me with that love. The descriptions of how each Lantern manipulates and manifests their willpower constructs is one of the coolest things ever done with the GL's, and I fail to understand why this isn't used more often. Best line of the book has to be Hal's response to Parallax-Ganthet: "I don't know how." Hal-Bats stuff was hilarious, Guardians foreshadowing, Hector Hammond foreshadowing, and a Hard Traveling Heroes moment to cap it off. Phenomenal book, phenomenal ending, and easily one of the best DC Comics ever, and in my opinion THE best Green Lantern story ever.
