Ah, "Rebirth"; the second-most controversial Green Lantern story in the title's history, and the catalyst for Geoff John's entire run with the character. To some, it's an epic action adventure about a hero returning to glory, and to others, it's an unnecessary retcon by an author trying to revitalize his favorite character. Who's right? Well, both sides have a point, to be honest.
To quickly recap the story: Hal Jordan is still the Specter, but lately, he's been accosted by images of himself as Parallax. John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and the alien GL Kilowog are acting...odd. And Kyle Rayner's returned from the far corners of the galaxy, having discovered something so important that it necessitated retrieving Hal Jordan's body.
The Justice League becomes concerned when Hal starts acting...odder than usual, first brutalizing minor Green Lantern enemy Black Hand, then by using the powers of the Specter to revive Coast City once more. In one of the more controversial bits of the story, Batman is the first to cast stones, declaring that he never trusted Jordan.
I'm not going to deal with the Jordan/Batman dynamic at this time, because it comes to a head in a later story. I will note, however, that I don't think Johns entirely "gets" the character of Batman, if any of the fictional events are reflective of Johns' actual thoughts on the character. I should also point out, however, that this is still pre-Infinite Crisis, so this is the same Batman who built the Brother Eye satellite and was generally a hyper-paranoid jerk.
When confronted by the Justice League, Jordan protests that he didn't revive Coast City; he just restored Ferris Airfield to impress his on-again-off-again girlfriend Carol Ferris. The Justice League is then attacked by Stewart and Gardner, clearly under some sort of outside control. Elsewhere, Rayner is attacked by Kilowog, but risks injury rather than use his power ring to defend himself. Hal Jordan is teleported away from the action, and is confronted by...himself. Or rather, himself as Parallax.
With the help of one of the Guardians, Kyle gets Hal's body to the Justice League's Watchtower, explaining the situation to Green Arrow. While exploring the distant corners of the galaxy, Kyle discovered the secret history of Parallax; Parallax isn't really an identity that Hal Jordan took when he went rogue. Rather, Parallax is an independent entity, an emotional parasite that operates as the sentient manifestation of Fear. It had spread terror throughout the galaxy until the Guardians of the Universe finally contained it. They stored it in the Central Power Battery; surrounded by physical manifestations of Willpower, Parallax was starved and comatose, until it somehow was able to bond to Hal Jordan, corrupting him.
The Specter is explaining this same story to Jordan, noting that he'd wanted to purge Jordan's soul of this infestation, and that's why Hal was chosen to be the Specter's human host. Unfortunately, this has opened up the Specter to corruption by Parallax as well; the parasite takes control of both of them, and goes back to destroy the Justice League. Ganthet, the Guardian who aided Kyle, frees the other three Lanterns of the Parallax infestation, and in a truly awesome scene, Parallax is faced down by them. And the Justice League. And the Justice Society. And the Teen Titans.
Back in the Watchtower, Kyle and Green Arrow are attacked by the mastermind of Jordan's downfall, a surprisingly-not-dead Sinestro. Sinestro reveals that he made contact with Parallax when he was imprisoned in the Central Power Battery, and hatched the plan to make Jordan a renegade Green Lantern just like Sinestro himself had been. Sinestro easily slaps Kyle and Green Arrow around, until, back on Earth, the Specter is finally able to separate Jordan's soul from Parallax. With his job done, the Specter departs, and Jordan's soul is sent back into his body. Alive again, Hal and Kyle double-team Sinestro, who escapes into the Anti-Matter universe. The two join the other Green Lanterns on Earth, defeat Parallax, and after earning Batman's tacit approval, Jordan returns to the land of the living.
Looking back, it's interesting to note that Rebirth puts onto the board every element or idea that Johns would play with in the next five years on the title. You've got the Black Hand's rather innocuous re-introduction. You've got Sinestro, of course. You've got Parallax, and Kyle even mentions the emotional spectrum. And, of course, you've got the first of several flashbacks to Hal's life that would eventually be replayed again and again until they're properly drilled into your head and the first two issues of Secret Origins are completely redundant. But we'll deal with that when we get to SO.
Unfortunately for my purposes, because so much of what's introduced in this story won't reach its thematic conclusion until a later story, there's surprisingly little to analyze without jumping ahead in the narrative. Just a quick run-down:
- Hal's conflict with Batman
- Coast City's reconstruction
- Hector Hammond's return
- Sinestro's relationship with Hal and the GLC in general
- The Specter's relationship to the emotional entities
- Hal's relationship with Carrol
But we can certainly look at the most controversial part of the story: the retcon that allowed Hal to return, absolved of "Parallax's" crimes. Does it really work? Well, yes and no. If Rebirth had been a stand-alone story with no follow-up, the nature of Parallax would be a rather large pill to swallow; Rebirth doesn't justify the effort put into it to return Jordan to the land of the living.
However, in the context of the larger narrative Rebirth kicks off, I think the retcon works rather well, Of course, it sets the stage for the later emotional beasties that would be introduced in Sinestro Corp War and Blackest Night, and makes the Green Lanterns more cosmically significant than mere space cops.
Unfortunately, it was a long-term payoff in its initial form. Rebirth was published in late 2004/early 2005. Sinestro Corp Wars was published in 2007, and would introduce Ion, the Green Lantern's answer to Parallax. It wouldn't be until 2008 that Johns would start teasing the idea that there were other emotional beasties out there. As such, the "Parallax is a fear-based space bug" retcon would leave a bad taste in the mouths of many readers, particularly those who weren't keen on Jordan's return to begin with.
And, frankly, with the direction the book would take for the next year and a half, Rebirth still sticks out as an oddity. Johns made the perfectly reasonable decision to keep Jordan mostly Earthbound for the first few stories, re-establishing him back into both his civilian life and into the superheroic community. I agree with the decision, but it does make Parallax seem all the more out of place.
On the other hand, as we'll soon see, a lot of the work Johns does to establish Hal Jordan's civilian identity essentially becomes moot by 2007 and the Sinestro Corp Wars.
So next week, we'll check out "No Fear", the official kick-off to Hal's revitalized Green Lantern series. Manhunters, Gremlins, and Sharks, oh my!
Don't worry, Hal; there's still a Green Lantern who's come back from the dead more than you.
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