GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #1.
© DC Comics

Mania Grade: B-
Issue: 1 (of 6)
Authors: Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.95

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GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH

An injured Kyle Rayner returns to Earth in a green ship containing a green coffin. Guy Gardner's Vuldarian powers go haywire on him, causing his body to reject itself. A skeletal form of Coast City is back, in which the only actual building is Hal Jordan's old apartment complex. And Hal Jordan, in his role as the Spectre, appropriately yet frighteningly enough, transforms the villain Blackhand's right hand into coal. Something is happening to the Spirit of Vengeance, and it may mean true death or life for Hal Jordan.

Of course we all already know where this is leading the question has always been how Geoff Johns and company were going to take us there, and whether the circumstances would be reasonable or far-fetched. The jury's still out on that last question, as one might expect this is only the first of six chapters, after all but there are already elements that are worrisome. I find it hard to swallow, for instance, that even a show-off like Guy Gardner would transform into his "Warrior" form just to make a point, especially while he and John Stewart are walking into a ballgame. That leads to Hard-To-Swallow Point Number Two: that even a nice guy like John Stewart would invite the departed Hal Jordan to a ballgame in the first place. (And while we're talking far-fetched, what's with opening the book with a couple of kids discussing whether or not they believe in UFOs when we're, what, only three years past OUR WORLDS AT WAR? Did they fall down a rabbit hole or something?)

Despite the slightly over-the-top nature of these moments, they're equally balanced out by some terrific character building moments, and sometimes within the span of a page. Before Guy's transformation, for instance, Johns gives him a speech that makes me genuinely like him for the first time in years. And just after Hal arrives for the aforementioned ballgame, the Spirit of Vengeance causes everyone around him even Guy to begin confessing their sins, which is a surprisingly heartbreaking moment. And finally, there's the scene in which John says to the Batman what all of us, even though who think that Hal should remain in the grave, have always wanted to say. In short, whatever faults this miniseries may end up having, characterization isn't going to be one of them.

Neither will artwork, as one might expect from Ethan Van Scriver. Van Scriver can't be blamed for the ridiculous Gardner transformation scene, for instance that's all in the script. In fact, he minimizes the cheesiness of that moment, making it more of an anomaly in an otherwise decent script than the painfully inserted info dump that Johns seems to have intended it to be. Every other scene in the book Kyle's shocking arrival, Ollie's fight with Blackhand, the Batman's angry tirade about Hal (delivered in gorgeous silhouette) is masterfully done, lifting the material far higher than it probably even deserves.

Not to say I'm not hooked, mind you Johns has managed in this first issue to present a mystery which will keep us all on tenterhooks, even though we know what the final outcome will be. Or do we? We know Hal's returning, but do we know what it has to do with that strange green coffin that's returned with Kyle from inside the sun, or Hal's appearance to Carol Ferris in the final scene? Not yet but we'll all be reading religiously every month to find out.