Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 1: Sinestro's Law (Rebirth)

This trade reignited my love for the world of Green Lantern. It could be the Van Sciver art or the return to the feeling that you are witnessing space opera on a grand scale. I hope Venditti can keep this momentum up. It takes me back to the Geoff Johns days.

After five years of the love-it-or-hate-it New 52 where DC’s pantheon of superheroes where altering into younger, edgier, and less experienced versions of themselves, DC is has ushered in a new era known as Rebirth. DC’s Rebirth is not about another reboot, but more about honoring and accepting the companies entire 75+ years in comics. This means many of the most loved aspects about these characters has returned in their more approved status. For the great GREEN LANTERN, the most established work on the character is thanks greatly to Geoff Johns revival of Hal Jordan in 2004’s GREEN LANTERN REBIRTH and lasting almost 10 years of his run on the character pushing the boundaries of the character like never before. After Johns left the title in THE NEW 52 with issue #20, Robert Venditti took over and has been there since. As much as Venditti did a reasonable job taking over, many readers left because it just wasn’t the same.

Thanks to REBIRTH, Hal Jordan is back to his former glory while sharing some page time with the Green Lantern Corps and this is a great return to at that.

HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS collects HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS: REBIRTH and issues #1-7. The whole Green Lantern Corps disappeared from the universe and it appears Sinestro and his Yellow Lanterns, The Sinestro Corp, have taken control of the whole universe in the former’s place. With the Sinestro Corp now in charge of the universe, it means spreading order through fear across the solar system and that means dark times. After spending time in self-exile, Hal Jordan has returned to save the universe by becoming a Green Lantern again to fight against Sinestro. Even if Hal is the only Green Lantern left to fight Sinestro and look for the missing GL Corps, he will push his limits to the max to take on his greatest nemesis from universal tyranny through fear.

The surprising thing about all this is returning writer Robert Venditti who’s been writing GREEN LANTERN since THE NEW 52 issue #20 from the former 10-year run from Geoff Johns. His NEW 52 work on Hal Jordan as Green Lantern is considered unfavorable by many who adored Geoff Johns former work on the series. There are things I really did like what Venditti did, yet there are plenty of things that bothered me as well. The surprise about this is you would never have guessed he would write this because it is so different from what he wrote during THE NEW 52 and far more in-line with Geoff Johns tenure. It’s big on cosmic-level action, pushing GL lore, and every character get their time to shine. If you’re one who dropped GL once Johns left, I strongly suggest you give this a try.

The REBIRTH line is about getting back to basics and seeing as Geoff Johns run on GL is one of the most herald within the character’s background, I can see why Venditti is going back to that template. Hal is back kicking ass and taking names as he is trying to find the Green Lantern Corp and figure out how/why Sinestro took control of the Universe. Vendittit spends a solid amount of time also giving Sinestro his page time as we see his evil nature being for the greater good to show the duality between Hal and Sinestro as reason why they two of DC’s best heroes and villain. It is simply good cosmic comics that feel as if Geoff Johns was writing this all over again and Venditti captures it beautifully.

Of course, seeing as Green Lantern Corps is part of the title, they do play a large part in the story. The GLC have John Stewart in charge, with Guy Gardner and Kilowag as second-in-commands. Venditti changes between the two plots of Hal taking on the Sinestro Corp and GL Corp trying to recoup their forces. Both stories shift between page time reasonably well, yet most of the better material hands down goes toward Hal taking back the universe from Sinestro.

The two-changing artist for this series include industry legend Ethan Van Sciver and Rafa Sandoval. Van Sciver’s already gave Hal the Rebirth treatment in 2004 with Geoff John both on [[ASIN:1401227554 Green Lantern: Rebirth]] and [[ASIN:1401230016 The Flash: Rebirth]], so it feels natural to have him here again doing the HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS: REBIRTH and issues #4-5. It’s highly detailed and cosmic that never hurts to have. The other rotating artist Sandoval interesting because him and Van Sciver’s artwork do not gel well at all because both styles are different, yet somehow, they both work. Sandoval’s art is hugely cinematic in the action scenes and still gives off proper amount of emotions when need be.

You know, I am tempted to give this a 5-star rating because I really loved everything about this book and feel truly like Geoff Johns run on Green Lantern, yet I am giving this a 4-star rating. While the love the return to form for the title, it isn’t doing anything new. Nothing wrong with that, as that is not the problem I have with it. The reason for the 4-star is because of the rough starting point for new (and even old) readers. You see, this series beckons back to much of the NEW 52 and if you’re not familiar with those old plots, this book is rough to start. Hal Jordan being some rogue throughout the universe? You need to read [[ASIN:1401261256 Green Lantern Vol. 7: Renegade]] and [[ASIN:1401265235 Green Lantern Vol. 8: Reflections]] to understand why. Where did the Green Lantern Corps disappear to and come back from? Read [[ASIN:1401261264 Green Lantern Corps: Lost Army Vol. 1]] and [[ASIN:1401265502 Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion Vol. 1]]. How and why did Sinestro Corps become the leading authority in the universe? And why is Sinestro on the threshold of dying? Read [[ASIN:1401264654 Sinestro Vol. 4: The Fall of Sinestro]]. Venditti doesn’t really catch readers up to speed regarding how these things happened, so it makes this series one of the roughest starting points in the REBIRTH line.

Aside from making a bad starting point for new readers, I really loved HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS VOL.1: SINESTRO’S LAW on most fronts. It may be Robert Venditti still at the helm, yet it feels like Geoff Johns spiritual hand is all over this and it is all for the better. It has big space action, great art from Van Sciver and Sandoval, and feels like the GL we are love. So it’s a 4 ½ star review, yet again since Amazon does not allow half stars, I’m rounding to 4-stars because of the difficult starting point to new readers. If you are new and can get the gist of the plot, you’ll enjoy this. For fans who left ship after Johns left, I highly suggest giving this a go again. Another REBIRTH title that shines for long time DC readers.

A love this book. Sinestro. Hal Jordan. A nice starting point for your reading enjoyment of future Green Lantern stories.

The other GL Rebirth book. One can really feel the presence of Geoff Johns in this work, even if he had nothing to do with it......oh yeah, except inspire the whole thing!

Story: I never read any New 52 GL books of any kind, though I am familiar with some of the plot elements from those stories. Many new readers will find that simply starting here with this volume 1 is quite a rough start. The book closes off at least most of the stories from the end of the New 52 GL books. I would recommend reading the last two GL volumes of the New 52 and Lost Army, and Edge of Oblivion, and the New 52 Sinestro solo title to understand how all the characters got to be where they are by the beginning of the book. BUT, if you don't want to spend the money, or have the time, or don't have the patience, do not let the yellow light of fear into your heart! The gist of it is Hal has been using Krona's gauntlet, has taken the fall for the Corps and been branded a criminal, is literally transforming into living will, the GL Corps went somewhere, many died, now they're back, Oa is destroyed and Warworld is in its place with Sinestro ruling over his Corps who rules the Universe through fear. Once we get past the opening, we get a slow setup for Hal eventually confronting Sinestro for the ultimate showdown! The book explores quite thoroughly the dichotomy of will and fear (as any good GL story does), but also dives into the personal relationship between Hal and Sinestro. I have the first two GL by Geoff Johns omnibuses and I've read quite a lot to really see just how deep the characters are of Hal and Sinestro and that their bonds are just as strong to each other as Superman and Lex Luthor, or Batman and the Joker! These two lanterns have so much history and emotions between them, so many feelings of resentment, being skeptical, hope, acceptance, disappointment, heartbreak, and anger and this volume explores all of that brilliantly. I feel as though we get some great dialogue with almost every character, but especially during the main event super fight at the end! Even though Venditti's New 52 GL run is...how do I say....not so revered, I think anyone who loves Geoff Johns' run will say that it appears now that Venditti absolutely understands these characters, or at least can write them in a way that calls back to Johns' legendary run. The book has a nice pace, switching between John leading the surviving lanterns to find out how to get back to the center of the universe, Guy Gardner being tortured and interrogated and prepared for a "baptism" by a servant of Sinestro and Lyssa Drak, and Hal finding his way to Warworld to face Sinestro and end his rule through fear. It's three plots in the same book that not only switches comfortably, but also comes together in the end nicely. I offer praise to Venditti for being able to handle three different situations happening at the same time and being able to make them all work in tandem. It's not hard at all to follow this story. This book made me do something I thought I'd never do: like Guy Gardner. How can one not root for him when he's being tortured, but refuses to talk? Guy really is a jerk most of the time so I'd imagine that it'd come as a surprise to longtime fans to see Guy actually inspire and rally his fellow captives into rejecting their fear programming by reciting the GL oath. This book shows just how tough Guy is as a man; perhaps John Stewart was right in saying that Guy is just too stubborn to die. One thing I found interesting about this volume is that it deepens the characterization of the Sinestro Corps itself by having Soranik, Sinestro's reluctant lackey daughter, describe how there are other members of the Corps, like her, who are genuinely good people. The book never establishes Sinestro as doing evil because he loves it. Maybe at one time, decades ago, he was that, but we can really thank Johns and Van Skiver for giving us the modern interpretation of the character. That is, one who genuinely wants law and order in the universe, but has a strong conviction that will is insufficient to fear. That's what makes Sinestro such a great character, especially as explored in this book. Of coarse, that's also why he's the villain and why he and Hal must be enemies. Hal, and the GL Corps, want to offer a helping hand, but not to force the universe to observe a universal government that the GL Corps mandates. There is an argument that could be made that this offers a greater amount of liberty and freedom, but also invites chaos. Quite oppositely, chaos disgusts Sinestro. His mindset is, "I know what's best for you, whether you like it or not". He'd rather rule as a dictator if it means total control, no crime, no chaos....and no choice. Yeah, if you think that way, GL books dealing with the Sinestro Corps always have that political undertone. I mean, the modern interpretation of Sinestro as given to us in 2005's GL: Rebirth is based on Hitler. I loved seeing Hal and especially Guy crack jokes. Venditti really chose great lines that work for each character. I could almost hear Nathan Fillion as Hal saying some of the quips during battle! The ending was epic in scale and I have no idea where this book is gonna go now. There is obviously going to be some mystery as to what happened to Hal and Sinestro; I mean, c'mon. It's comics. They're not dead. Not permanently.

Art: We get a return from industry legend Ethan van Skiver for the Rebirth one shot and he gives us a great work with two amazing splash pages! He's still got it! Rafa Sandoval does most of the art for the remainder of the book, with Van Skiver doing issues 4 and 5. I'm overall satisfied with Sandoval's style. His page composition really gives the book a movie feel, and Sandoval is quite liberal with the splash pages (at least I felt so). His splashes and double page spreads are AMAZING and really brings forth the epic scope and scale of the plot. At first I wasn't so sure about Sandoval being the main artist, but his style grew on me quickly and I'm looking forward to seeing more of that cinematic flair in future installments. Of coarse, we all want to see as much of Van Skiver as we can get. DC just needs to let him do GL books as long as he wants!

Overall: A rough, and possibly confusing start to new readers looking to jump on quickly falls away to a great book with incredibly deep characters with a lot of history and legacy behind them. The book was made fun with Hal and Guy's quips. We get another great cosmic adventure that really functions as DC's big "adventures away from Earth" book, and this seriously delivers! There's a lot of exploration of the themes of power, control, will vs. fear, and a deeply personal student/mentor relationship. Just as in the majority of DC's Rebirth books, there's a whole lot of heart in this book. This isn't the first Rebirth book I've read which seemingly opens the first volume of the line with what people would expect as a final act. We get a hell of a cliffhanger! I'm really looking forward to the next volume to find out what's next for Hal Jordan and what is to become of the Green Lantern Corps.

Great comic and deal

Hal has more lives than a cat.

I love Green Lantern, and this just made me want to read so much more. I absolutely loved it.

man the story and the art in this volume are so beyond my expectations, also this volume got me to love Guy Gardener a lantern i never cared for in the past.

In order to get the Green Lantern I love back from you millennials, I realize now that I must not only kill Geoff Johns, but wipe out all memory that he ever existed.

I had read the Green lantern series darkest night brightest day. This is a great start for readers wanting to get back into green lantern