They say all good things come in threes. In our third installment of POINT OF ORIGIN, we’re going to be taking a look at my favorite series, and its return to glory. Oh, and you better believe this is going to be jam packed with art.

Moderate Spoilers Ahead.

It starts with a crash. His story always did.

 
Discovered inside is a mysterious man clad in green, and his strange cargo. His words now will come to mean more as his story is laid before us.

 
It’s here DC’s saga GREEN LANTERN REBIRTH begins. The long running GREEN LANTERN regular series had ended months before. Buzz indicated a radical reboot of the series, and its mythology. With DC golden boy Geoff Johns handling writing chores, and fan-favorite Ethan Van Sciver on art, there was no way this story would misfire.

The story opened with Kyle Rayner crash landing in a New Mexico desert. His ship’s cargo: a casket emblazoned with the Green Lantern insignia. For the rest of the opening chapter mysterious events occur to people closely associated with the former Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, who had been deceased for nearly 8 years.  None more bizarre than the sudden resurrection of his decimated hometown, Coast City, after being destroyed during the “Death of Superman.”

Johns presents this story at a breakneck pace, inviting new readers, as well as paying respect to what came before. The third chapter, though, is where the Green Lantern mythos would get a real kick in the ass. Not only that, but the mastermind behind all the terrible and strange things happening is revealed. Remember when I told you “Sinestro Corps War” was the storyline of the past year? The groundwork for that amazing story was laid here.

As each of the final three parts of this six issue series came out, Johns and Van Sciver delivered a tour de force that delighted Green Lantern fans, new and old. Of course, this story is called REBIRTH for a reason. When I mentioned “his” story always beginning with a crash, I was referring to Hal Jordan. His origins came from an alien crash landing on Earth, and passing his Green Lantern duties on to Hal. The moment he fires up the ring, and dons the traditional garb of the Green Lantern is a powerful one. Johns and Van Sciver do not disappoint when Hal returns at the close of issue four.

Of course, the series isn’t all action. There are some great character moments Johns scatters throughout, reminding everyone why he gets the good jobs. Whether it’s Batman being called out:

Or a quiet moment after battle explaining just how difficult it is to be a Green Lantern, Johns never misses.

Perhaps my favorite moment in the entire series owes as much to Johns as it does to fine artist, Ethan Van Sciver. While entrenched in battle, taking the time to explain the differences between the active Green Lanterns could’ve been a throw away scene, but in these deft hands, you see their might for all it is worth.

I could spend more of your time hyping this story, but I’ve rattled on long enough, and it’s better to read it yourself. I’ll have more GREEN LANTERN stories for you to look up some other time. For now, enjoy this one for what it is, and hopefully you’ll see what it is in these characters that makes them so compelling that I do.

See you next week.