Green Lantern: Rebirth #4

Force of Will

Geoff Johns – Writer
Ethan Van Sciver – Penciller
Prentis Rollins – Inker
Moose Baumann – Colorist
Rob Leigh – Letterer
Harvey Richards – Asst. Editor
Peter Tomasi – Editor

Our cover by former Impulse artist Ethan Van Sciver shows the Green Arrow wielding a Green Lantern ring to protect the injured Kyle Rayner. Spoiler alert: The two are fighting Sinestro. And I don't mind spoiling that because it has nothing to do with Kid Flash. This cover is alright — I like the shadows on Green Arrow's face — but the way Green Arrow is standing over Kyle is just ... odd. It's like some parts of his body are too big and long, and other parts are too small and stubby.

Well, we're jumping right into the middle of this story, so don't expect a comprehensive synopsis. Suffice it to say, former Green Lantern Hal Jordan, now the Spectre, still apparently had a piece of the entity of fear, Parallax, buried deep inside him. And now he's back and causing problems for everybody. So much so that the JLA, JSA and Teen Titans have all shown up to battle Parallax.

And all these heroes ... do absolutely nothing. Wonder Woman and Batman realize that Parallax's fear is affecting them all, causing them to hold back. Luckily, Hal Jordan and the Spectre fight against Parallax internally, splitting them all into three separate beings. The Spectre leaves to return to heaven, or whatever, and Hal Jordan comes back as the Green Lantern, apparently returned to the age he was before Parallax possessed him, I guess. And that's all we really care about.



I think Impulse was the perfect book for Ethan Van Sciver because it allowed him to pour detail into the backgrounds and "take it easy" on the more cartoony main characters. But now that he's trying to be incredibly detailed and realistic all the time, his flaws really start to stand out. I was shocked by how underwhelming that splash page was. When all the major heroes of the DC Universe show up, it should be an incredible, amazing image. But Van Sciver somehow managed to make almost every single character on this page look terrible. Kid Flash's legs are not connected to his body, Wonder Woman is grotesque, Superman looks 80-years-old, and Batman is just way too goofy-looking to take seriously.

I know I'm making a big deal out of one page, but this is clearly not Van Sciver's best work (for 2005). Some pages in this issue were quite nice. But others were also disappointing like this one, making the whole issue a frustrating hit-or-miss experience. As for the story, I really hate it when a writer wants to show off how powerful his villain is by bringing in all the most powerful heroes in the world and defeating them in half a second. Regardless of Parallax's powers, I think all these heroes should have been able to do something. Oh well.

Next time, we'll be introduced to a new teenage hero in Green Arrow #46.