Green Lantern by Geoff Johns, Book One

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns

by Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, Ethan Van Sciver (Illustrator)

It’s been years since the death of Hal Jordan and the end of the Green Lantern Corps. But as the torchbearer Kyle Rayner is about to find out, an adventure of epic and mythological proportions is about to begin as the former Lantern returns to the land of the living to atone for his sins. Collects Green Lantern: Rebirth #1-6, Green Lantern #1-3, Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #1-5 and Green Lantern Secret Files 2005 #1.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Fiction

375 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2019

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Green Lantern universe is one of the most interesting sandboxes for DC to play in, and whilst Johns understands the lore and worldbuilding, he hasn’t managed to craft the most engaging of stories in this collection. On a personal note, Hal Jordan has never been my favourite Green Lantern, but even with bias aside, it’s a jumbled experience which doesn’t aid readers, especially newer ones, in understanding what is happening. It struggles to flow, especially in terms of how it has been compiled. There is a lot of jumping around due to how many titles have been included, yet it is Darwyn Cooke’s simple and short one shot that is the best of the bunch. Those who are already heavily invested will appreciate what Johns has done for the character and franchise (myself included), however, if I were to recommend a place to jump on, this may be a tad too complex and bloated to fulfil the needs of newbies.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hells yes! The return of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps for the first time in over a decade. This is one of Geoff Johns best runs ona character. It's top notch. Johns manages to fix Jordan's character assassination of the 90s in 6 issues. The addition of Parallax was genius. I also loved seeing the return of the Green Lantern Corps and I loved the setup there for future stories. Just all around goodness for the best era of Green Lantern in its history.

[Lukas Sumper · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cool way of using the past to form the new, now I get why so many people speak so highly of this run!

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johns writing was a step above Gibbons. When it got thr gibbons rebirth issues I really struggled to maintain interest.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts off by clearing away and explaining the last Paralex storyline. Nice and quick and wraps up the last ten years of Green Lantern. Quick and witty writing, nice art and really jumps in with this new era. I have read these stories before but years ago, back in middle school, so reading this again with a lot more background knowledge, I can safely say this is a top tier run. One of the best lantern runs ever and a must read for any DC fan.

The second story explains who Hal is and what he’s been dealing with. He’s ready to BE green lantern again. The new Cowgirl pilot is a bit corny, but it’s okay to be corny, it makes comics fun. Lots of good space battles and the stakes feel high, which is hard to do when the stakes are so monumental - how can a writer make me care about epic changes? This is how, show us the small beings affected, the heroes in the battle and wrap it up with some bad ass lasers and green imagination.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty well done reboot of the Green Lanterns part of DC. Read Rebirth a ton of times as a kid but it wasn’t as perfect as I remembered. Still, it gets the job done of Hal Jordan coming back and the Green Lantern Corp starting up again. Didn’t love the Corp mini series but the book picks up again when we get back to Hal’s story. Enjoyed the explanation of what makes each Green Lantern so special. Excited for book two.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pretty lukewarm on the new Lanterns show, but if I can say anything, it and the conversations around the characters that it spawned were enough to get me to return to the comic series. I read a fair bit of John’s run up through Blackest Night when they came out, but I’ve long forgotten most of it.

Rebirth holds up pretty well I think. The retconning going on is very much felt, but all of the overwrought exposition allows this continuity-heavy comic to still be a fine jumping on point.

The next issue is probably the highlight of this collection. It’s a short story illusions Darwin Cook and Dave Stewart, and it’s why I’ll be revisiting New Frontier soon.

I do not think I had read the next chunk, a Green Lantern Corps story co-written by Dave Gibbons. It was a solid introduction to some new members and managed to spend some time with the other Earth Lanterns.

The final few issues are just Hal trying to return to his old life, and with that brings the return of the manhunters. This was probably my least favorite bit, but it was fine.

Overall I dug this, and I’ll check out the next collection.

[Brett Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first real introduction to Green Lantern. I went into it thinking it would be kinda lame because I generally think Green Lantern is kinda lame but wowee the corps is filled with a bunch of badasses. Definitely glad I picked this up. 4 stars because I'm kinda tired of reading comics about space and aliens but obviously that's just a personal thing.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it more than when I read different bits individually. The order of the stories is a bit confusing, though, with a big Green Lantern Corps story coming before a story where Hal is discussing whether to revive the Corps.

[Clay Bartel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already wrote a review for Rebirth Green Lantern #1-6 for that publication. Geoff Johns Book One opens with those issues. So read below for that.

---------------
Green Lantern by Geoff John Book One

I really enjoyed this book over all. I especially enjoyed the issues GL Rebirth 1-6...

The other big stories are Corps Recharged 1-5 and Green Lantern 1-3, and Secret Files and Origins.

All the art thoughout is amazing but I especially loved Rebirth 1-6.

Recharge is about the Guardians calling in all new trainees and rebuilding the Corps, as a huge attack on OA happens from an alien races who are creating black holes.

The other big story is GL 1-3 and this is about the return of an old adversary and is a story that leads into Book Two, based on how this one ends.

I felt Book One opens strong with the story of Parallax and then felt the story was interesting enough to keep me reading but not amazing.

Will I collected Book Two? Yes but only because Book One was on sale used and Book Two is on sale dirt cheap at my local book store.

This is a situation where if Book Two is awesome it will elevated Book One... and if Book Two isn't good, then I can only really say I loved the Rebirth 1-6 issues and everything else was just serviceable.

This is a sold 4 though.

Read my 1-6 review below
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebirth Green Lantern #1-6 Review

Note: I did not read the Absolute version which this Goodreads entry apparently is about. I only read the standard Rebirth Green Lantern which is only issues #1-6
... it appears the Absolute edition may have a lot of the other issues you need to make sense of the Parallax story.

Note 2: I've since bought Green Lantern Book One by Geoff Johns which collects
Rebirth 1-6
GL Secret Files and Origns 1
GL Corps Recharge 1-5
Green Lantern 1-3

Note 3 so clearly they have frustratingly collected this story arc 3 times as Rebirth, Absolute and Book One.



The Review Green Lantern Rebirth 1-6
Not the Absolute Edition Review
--------------------------
So this is Rebirth #1-6... some people may purchase this book as their jumping in point... I dunno if it will really have the same impact to a new reader opposed to someone who has actually read key Parallax books.


I became aware of Parallax for the first time from a 90s book when I was a teen called Green Lantern vs Silver Surfer. Part of the DC vs Marvel Cross Over battle extravaganza...

I don't really collect Green Lantern books, at least I didn't. I'm a Superman collector mostly.

In the late 90s the Blue Superman run kicked off with the Superman Transformed story (generally hated by fans, but I love this run.)

On the first pages of that story Clark Kent stands on a roof top trying to soak in the suns rays, his powers lost in the recent events of Final Night.

Course I had to read this story, only I discovered it was more of a Green Lantern and Parallax story then a Superman story, and a good one at that.

I became super interested in Parallax when I read the Final Night event...

So I collected and read the main books he appears in.

The Return of Superman (destruction of a certain city and the beginnings of Hal's fall)
Green Lantern Kyle Rayner Vol 1 (featuring the Emeral Twilight story, Hal Jordan's fall)
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time (rewrite history)
Green Lantern Silver Surfer (cyborg conflict)
Final Night (redemption)
Some Spectre stories I haven't read.
Green Lantern Rebirth (return)



Basically breaks down to, the catalyst, fall into madness, attempt to make things right, redemption, and finally Rebirth's explanation of these events... this story spans like 30 years from the time its started in 94s Return of Superman until Rebirth finally lays out all the details...

So was I satisfied with the explanation...?
Yeah it's a fun book!

And could you say, start with Rebirth as the entry point....? Hmmm maybe but....

You could start with Rebirth but without all the history of Hal Jordan and Parallax I really feel like while the book would still be good, it'd be sort of like watching the last 15 minutes of Lord of the Rings Return of the King without having seen the fellowship or the two towers... just wont have the impact it deserves.

I loved Parallax, misguided notions of righting the wrongs of the past, he was so interesting, was he good or was he bad?

Well Rebirth flat out gives you the answers before you could even imagine the questions... fine for a long time reader, but not sure how impactful for a newbie.


As for my satisfaction... yah... yah it was pretty cool how they tied in all this Green Lantern history. The yellow color weakness, Sinestro's death, the truth behind Hal's madness... it was all wrapped up well.

I may explore Vol 2 of GL Rebirth, but my reason for buying this book was to see where the Parallax story was going.

So if it's just about wanting to get started collecting Green Lantern Rebirth books, go for it, if your a completionist type, you'll wanna avoid this book and grab the ones I listed.



This was a 5 star book for me as someone who knows the Hal Jordan/Parallax history.

Maybe a 3 star book if you haven't read Parallax past stories.

This book is good, but for new readers as I've warned, if you dont know the history it may just seem like a lot of exposition of what happened in the past, a summary of events in this book would be far better to have been experienced by reading the books I've listed... then what you get here.

Why DC wouldnt create a Road to Rebirth type book that collects these key stories so new fans could easily read the lead in to this book... I dunno...

Overall as a solid fan I loved it. Beginners beware.

[Tristan Landreneau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge Green Lantern fan, was never much into comics but this was awesome. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

[Ryan Kindred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, the narrative raised many questions about willpower, individuality, loss, community, and corruption. The flashbacks on Hal’s childhood looked to a fallen idol for inspiration. Several moments were evocative and profound. I love when the Geoff Johns has the courage to write tender lines rather than sardonic or glib ones.

Still, the book was visually overwhelming. The pages are flashy and busy, requiring headache-inducing discernment or else cluelessness. Even the most readable images would still pose challenges for Green Lantern—the open-ended nature of the power is dynamic and unpredictable. It’s especially important to telegraph the visuals well, and this is the primary reason Im choosing to discontinue this run.

One interesting aspect of Green Lantern narratives is the nature of the community of Lanterns. They exist in a context of others who uphold the same vow, and they work together in many of the chapters despite clashing personalities. Unfortunately, this space epic becomes frenetic, and the reader does not spend enough time with many of the characters who are supposedly important. The sprawling nature brings additional elements of the background into focus, while moving the most interesting characters out of the spotlight.

[F. P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've finally finished this, and I enjoyed most of it. Across the issues inside it, the overall feel kind of goes all over the place, showing a bunch of different scenarios in both the past and the present. But that’s okay because it’s created a comprehensive story that really gave me a feel for what the Green Lanterns are about, like what they have to do, how they do it, and how dangerous being a Green Lantern can be.

And I've just gotta say…they’re back lol! I won’t say who is back, but it doesn’t happen till this volume's story is nearing the end. And now I’m glad that I didn’t finish reading this the first time, because back then, I hadn’t first read some other comics and so wouldn’t have known who “they” are.

But what an exciting ride all those ending battle scenes and that substory in this are. And how odd that it ended on a bit of a sad note; still, what specifically happens makes me think there is hope….

There are a few things in this volume that I didn’t like: for example, Hal and the repeated references to him being promiscuous, especially in light of something disgusting in the distant past between him and someone else, something disgusting that I’ve been trying to forget since I recently learned of it.

Supposedly, since then, it’s been written out of existence in Hal's overall arc. But, this collection showing him as a womanizer just keeps reminding me of that old crap. And now there are suggestions of him and yet another female getting involved after this comic, and she looks young, which is especially problematic given that past stuff, and which is also stereotypical in general, because he ain’t young.

Hal, instead of flying planes when you’re not Lanterning, go join a monastery already.

My favorite male Lanterns so far are Kyle and John. Guy’s full of himself and makes too many salacious, suggestive comments to and about women. But, some other times he’s funny and spunky--I’ll give him that.

I’ll try the next volume in this series, but I don’t know if I’ll keep reading it if there isn’t any monastery-ing with the Lantern-ing for Hal.

--

My initial review:

I can't physically go the distance on this loooooong comic. It is too tiring for me, and the story's gotten a bit repetitive--not that it isn't a good read. It is, in my opinion. I just don't have the stamina to continue, at least not right now.

I'll probably look at it more over time, and maybe skip to the end. But then I think there are other volumes...oy.

Just imagine that I'm looking at this occasionally, the way I still look-at re-read Ulysses occasionally....

4 stars from me on the parts of this comic that I have read.

[Rocco Ricca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eye-rolley and boring. The Darwyn Cooke issue though, absolutely beautiful.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading just the original Rebirth mini series from 2005, my first experience with Green Lantern, I felt somewhat confused and disappointed.
Many have said that Geoff Johns' run is the place to start, and is often quoted as being the best run on the character.
If his Aquaman was anything to go by, I was in for a treat. But Rebirth didn't blow me away. It took some extensive Wikipedia-ing - wikipeeding? Wikiing? - to get some more context. And it all felt like standard superheroic smashing.

But this collection (which I read digitally) allowed for a much better reading experience. It collects not only the Rebirth series, but also the accompanying Corps issues and a hugely important intro page with an extra issue, adding a great deal of characterisation and history for Hal Jordan. Geoff Johns' is so skilled at honouring the continuity and history of a character, while still being able to write with accessibility for new readers.
Much like Aquaman, this was a character I had little to no interest in, but this seems like the perfect starting point for anyone willing to expand their horizons out to the expansive cosmos of the DC universe.

And now that I have Volume One of the Omnibus in my hands I can delve deeper into this world.
As Geoff Johns' confidently tells us through Half Jordan, "You've never flown with me before".

[Mohamed Metwally · Rating 3 out of 5]

After being exposed to Green Lantern, first in Geoff Johns' Justice League and then mainly in the Metal and Death Metal arcs, I decided to give the man a try, and this was the start, and this was a good vantage point for me to start reading into the Lantern corpse.

I am still intrigued by the fact that there are more than one lantern for Earth, but I guess this will be revealed upon reading more.

One thing I learned though about DC, is that you can never read in a linear manner, the briths, rebirths and intertwining events makes it a vicious loop to unfold, but the more you read the more you will be able to grasp more the complete picture.

What I'm trying this time, is taking in the whole run of Geoff Johns' Green Lantern, and see if it would be linear enough with a complete start/ end sequence or not.

MiM

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say I understood a damn thing, but it was never less than interesting

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall great. Good to gorgeous artwork throughout. Writing is inspired with a morally grey streak theme surrounding the Green Lanterns. Great entry into the Green Lantern books.

Rebirth is great. Hal Jordan's return send ripples through the Superhero community. The monster grafted onto his soul, Parallax, brings devastation. The ongoing mystery is gripping with huge set pieces in every issue. Every page with Parallax looks terrifying and beautiful. All 4 Lanterns get their chance in the spotlight.

Recharge is about Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner aiding with the reconstruction of the Lantern Core. It's good, but not as good as rebirth. I liked the new lanterns. Their stories are small, but effective showing how the Core is not always in the right. Kyle doesn't have that much to do here other than be there for Guy to talk to.

No Fear is about Hal readjusting to life on Earth. It's extremely Top Gun and I don't like that movie.
However, it manages to pull everything into a nice thematic bow by the end that resonated with me. The story doesn't ask Hal to be brave enough to face giant monster. It asks him to have the will to reach out the people from his old life and connect to them. The end with the brother is what makes this better than the average book.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been looking forward to reading Geoff John's run of Green Lantern (other than Sinestor Corps Wars which I've already read) and I wasn't disappointed. The first half of this volume is the redemption of Hal Jordan and the second half is the adventures of the green lanterns after he returns.

Although it does retcon the Hal's state of mind in the events of Zero Hour, I loved it. The inclusion of Sinestro and Parallax playing on Hal's psyche was an interesting twist. Johns also includes Green Arrow, emphasizing the importance of Oliver and Hal's friendship in both their lives. As a big fan of both characters, I appreciated it. I also really liked the art, especially in one specific point when it visually depcits the various ways Earth's green lanterns use their rings.

The stories after Hal's redemption are also good. Since Hal and Kyle are my favorites Lanterns, Hal taking his successor in flight on a plane was nice. It also gives some updated information about Hal's backstory. Overall I really enjoyed this issue and look froward to when I get the chance to read the next one.

[Ferdzso · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the perfect start to reading Green Lantern by Geoff Johns, mainly because it has GLC Recharge next to GL Rebirth.

GL Rebirth is the obvious start for Johns' run but on its own it is a bit dense with history, hence it is really good to have GLC Recharge which not only feels like a proper fresh start of something new, but it also is the start of a completely different comic series with a vastly different tone to Johns' GL.

The ordering is a bit weird after Rebirth and they do cut the first GL run half to continue in the next book, but nothing that cannot be followed easily.

[Krystelle (based on the novel by Stephen King) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent restart to the Green Lantern arc that brings with it the full corps as well as the Justice League. There’s some decent stories in here, especially Hal’s rebirth. The way that the Lantern Corp makes their way through so many new recruits is laid out well too, and there’s also a nasty edge that tees us off to Infinite Crisis. Not the top of the line in DC Comics but a reasonably good compendium. I wouldn’t suggest using it as your springboard into the Green Lantern universe, but it’s good for more established comics fans.

[Tony Raju · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best Green lantern book of all time.Geoff Johns' Greatest work.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprints Green Lantern: Rebirth #1-6, Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #1-5, Green Lantern: Secret Files and Origins #1, and Green Lantern (4) #1-3 (May 2005-September 2005). When Hal Jordan went insane and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps, he began a path of atonement. Sacrificing himself to save the Earth’s sun, Hal found himself as the Spectre and charged with doling out vengeance. Hal blamed himself for what happened to Corps, but Hal is about to discover that something darker was working in Oa, and it could change the course of the Green Lanterns forever…and give Hal the opportunity to get back the life he lost.

Written by Geoff Johns (with additional writing by Dave Gibbons), Green Lantern by Geoff Johns—Book 1 (sometimes called Green Lantern by Geoff Johns—Book 1: Hal Jordan Returns) is a DC Comics superhero collection. Featuring art by Ethan Van Sciver, Patrick Gleason, Carlos Pacheco, and Darwyn Cooke, the comic relaunched the Hal Jordan character and was reprinted in multiple formats including Green Lantern: Rebirth, Green Lantern: No Fear, Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Omnibus—Volume 1, and Green Lantern Corps: Recharge.

Green Lantern was always one of my favorite DC superheroes once I realized that superheroes were more than just Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. I watched Super Friends! and liked the character and his powers (though the yellow flaw was always irritatingly stupid). I just found the character more fallible and relatable than the big three DC characters. While I liked John Stewart and Kyle Rayner (not a huge Guy fan), Hal Jordan was always my Green Lantern…and it is good to have him back.

Geoff Johns really took the character down an interesting path, but this collection of Green Lantern doesn’t feel indicative to the bigger Green Lantern stories that Johns later told. The reason being is that the story feels like a bit of clean up. The Green Lantern Corps was destroyed and Hal was dead and the Spectre (still a horrible idea)…Johns had to reset it all. While the stories in the collection are solid Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps stories, they don’t have the weight of later stories.

While Green Lantern: Rebirth is the larger series, Green Lantern Corps: Recharge also has an importance. Part of Green Lantern has always been that it was a cosmic book combined with a standard superhero comic book. While Hal was battling villains on Earth with the JLA and other heroes, he also is in space, and with few Green Lanterns left, Hal would have to be in space a lot. There have been a plethora of Earth Green Lanterns and everyone has their favorites…by reestablishing to Corps, Johns kills two birds with one stone by allowing characters like Guy Gardner and others to handle the space stories. It also is a good set-up for future crossover storyline in the Green Lantern Corps book.

Geoff Johns has a real hold on the characters that I always associate with DC and which DC neglects. If it isn’t one of the Big Three characters, DC seems to waylay them and doesn’t boost the character to the level that they deserve. Following his Flash run, it felt like Johns was the right person for Green Lantern…and it turns out that was right. Green Lantern by Geoff Johns—Book 1 is followed by Green Lantern by Geoff Johns—Book 2.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects Green Lantern: Rebirth issues #1-6, Green Lantern Secret Files 2005 #1, Green Lantern Corps: Recharge issues #1-5 and Green Lantern issues #1-3

For years I've been interested in reading Geoff Johns' run on "Green Lantern," and the fact that my library has the first four of these collections may mean that I'll finally get to it. Below are my reviews of "Rebirth" and "Recharge:"

REBIRTH:

Eight years ago, I decided to read through Geoff Johns' entire "Green Lantern" run. I had heard so many good things about it, and thought it would be a fun initiative. Shortly after that, DC started releasing omnibuses with the run, and I ended up buying all three giant tomes (the complete run). I first read this "Rebirth" miniseries as an individual collection, and then when I got the omnibus, I started it over. Unfortunately, because the omnibuses are so unwieldy, I didn't get much further than "Rebirth" during that second attempt. Now, here I am again to try reading through this run, this time in some smaller editions that I found at the library. I still own the omnibuses, but I might sell them now, because I'm flying through this smaller collection (comparatively-speaking).

"Rebirth" is a good kick-off to the "Green Lantern" relaunch starring Hal Jordan, and it is much needed to reset things in the DC Universe. I don't have a lot of experience with DC circa 2005, so there will be a lot of new material for me here.

I gave this collection a 5-star rating when I read it for the first time in 2014, but here in 2022, I'll have to lower it, just a bit, to a 4-star rating.

RECHARGE:

In the aftermath of "Green Lantern: Rebirth," the Green Lantern Corps is reformed, and recruiting new members. I enjoyed the new characters and this story.

Final rating = 3.5 stars

THE END OF THIS COLLECTION:

The first three issues of Geoff Johns' official "Green Lantern" series are included at the end of this book, and they start to set things up for future stories. The Guardian-created Manhunters are prominently featured here.

[Lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always thought I hated Green Arrow 'cause of the time he cheated on Black Canary and then was a complete prick about it, but it turns out I should have been hating for him daring to denigrate my blorbo, Sinestro 😤

Despite Blackest Night/Brightest Day being my fave DC crossover event and Sinestro being a big fave in that, I've never really delved into the Green Lantern comics. But I wanted to see the whole runup to that event, get more Sinestro into my veins, and understand Hal, John, Kyle, and Carol Ferris better.

I see now why people love Geoff Johns' run so much! There are three arcs in this collection, one that leads into the next volume. The first arc was the most tasty, full of the emotional weight of Hal having died in the run before this (now v curious to check that out, too), and coming back as the ghost of vengeance itself. Lots of soul-searching over what Hal means to the characters, what it means to be a Green Lantern at all and also a lot of snark between Batman and Guy Gardner & John Stewart. Which, didn't think I was a Guy fan, but he's a lot more fun than I remembered.

The second arc was more action-packed, delves more into the greater universe and more than just Earth's Lantern drama. Lots of Kilowog content too, which I'm not gonna complain about. He fucking rules.

The third arc was less satisfying, but still was Terminator, but make it Green Lanterns, which is kinda fun. That arc is clearly leading somewhere bigger, even if it still ends on a satisfying note in the last issue of this volume. We go back to more up-close-and-personal with Hal, inc. his relationship with his brother, which was interesting to explore. I really liked that subplot, anyway.

Overall, really fun, lots of high stakes and Lanterns overcoming crazy odds, some good interpersonal drama too. There's a lot of heart in these issues and I'm excited to keep reading.

[Richard Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following my epic journey up to Final Crisis, I'm finally doing something I've been meaning to do for years: go back and read all of Geoff Johns' GL stories in some kind of order. Revisiting Rebirth is worth four stars alone. It's an arc I last thought about back in 2015 when I had the pleasure of talking about it live on stage for Free Comic Book Day at Good Games Hurstville. The rest of the book is an interesting presentation: a sliver of the late, great Darwyn Cooke with a Secret Files piece, the 'rebirth' of the Green Lantern Corps in Green Lantern Corps: Recharge (written by Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons with art by Patrick Gleason) and the first few issues of Johns' eight year run with the character. It doesn't always gel in the best reading order, but I do appreciate splitting the stories into complete arcs. This collection is great as a primer for his take on the character, but from here I'm going to break it into smaller trades because the Omnibus editions are a bit unwieldy.

NB: Read as part of my Geoff Johns and Beyond Green Lantern Journey: #1

It's a sidebar on my NB: Read as part of my DC Crisis and Beyond Journey.

[Jack "THATLegoRobber" Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10

My first proper GL run and it is so far a very enjoyable read. This first volume is split up into three runs with the first being focused on Hal Jordans Resurrection, the second was some of the GLs helping the Guardians of Oa rebuild the Green Corps (Probably my favourite of the runs) and the third was the start of Hal Jordan focused run where he dealing with threats to the earth.

I am familiar with the controversial nature of the 90s Parallax Hal Jordan storyline which basically killed the character for a decade, but I think this does a pretty great job in fixing the issues from that storyline. A major change they made was making Parallax an actual entity of fear and not just evil Hal Jordan, which makes sense.

I really enjoyed getting to know some of the other Green Lanterns such as Kilowog, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner, the latter of which I've learned to respect as why he's dick sometimes he's a real leader and a ride or die for his friends.

Will definitely be getting Book Two.

[Riley Pilgrim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well. I finally made it. The most iconic and well regarded Green Lantern run. Geoff Johns rebuilt the entire mythos of this character, and brought back Hal Jordan. I thought this first volume was pretty alright, and I think the way Johns brought back Jordan was about the best way he could’ve. I appreciate him actually using all of the lore, and previous lantern stories to build off this one. However, that doesn’t mean this was perfect by any means.

My biggest issue with this book is that I feel like Hal is pretty much just forgiven immediately. I would’ve enjoyed more conflict with him joining the core again, and how many lanterns don’t trust him. Another problem is that the stories in this book didn’t really grab me. The arc after Hal came back was cool, I really liked seeing all the new lanterns. However, the Manhunter storyline was pretty whatever.

I hope this run gets better and way more interesting. As of right now, it’s just alright. Far Sector is still my favorite Green Lantern book I’ve read, and I hope this Johns run grips me like that one did.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH moves along at a very fast pace. Which is good, because if you stop to think about any of it for more than a minute or two, the whole thing collapses under its ridiculousness. It also doesn’t help that you have to endure some awful figure drawing that also doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

At least once you get past that, you’re treated to a very nicely illustrated Darwin Cooke story, and then Dave Gibbons does his best to elevate Johns’ writing. (It doesn’t work, but it’s a noble effort.)

I know this is supposed to be the beginning of a new golden age for Green Lantern, but it fell flat for me. It just doesn’t seem like that big of an accomplishment to come up with half-assed reasons to reset the series back to its pre-EMERALD TWILIGHT state, as fans had been clamoring for for years. It’s reputation feels more like a right-place-right-time scenario, after years of some truly misguided departures for the character and series.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been interested in the Green Lanterns with the reprint of this collection it was a good chance to check out this widely acclaimed run without the commitment of an omnibus.

Unfortunately I don't think think this starts well as a new reader with the rebirth issues. Some context is given but I think there's too much missing to fully enjoy the story being told. I was also not really into Van Sciver's art.

Luckily things pick up immediately with the one shot that is absolutely new reader friendly with fantastic art by Cooke. That is followed by the recharge issues that again offer a way in as someone new and I'm a fan of Gleason's art.

The initial Green Lantern issues were also great fun and I really liked Pacheco's style here.

I wasn't sure I'd want to continue after the first third of of this collection but I definitely want to read more after the remainder.