Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps is a 2016 biweekly comic book published by DC Comics as part of their Rebirth initiative, written by Robert Vendetti with art duty shared between Ethan Van Sciver, Jordi Tarrogona, and Rafa Sandoval.
The Green Lantern Corps, protectors of the universe for untold eons, has vanished. In their absence, the Sinestro Corps has taken control of the universe. It's up to Hal Jordan, disgraced after his leadership of the Corps, to find and restore the Corps to its rightful place.
The book serves as a continuation of the previous series of Green Lantern, Sinestro, and the Green Lantern Corps books Lost Army and Edge of Oblivion. Despite the name, it features a huge cast of characters, though mainly focused around the primary Earth Lanterns. The series is published concurrently with Green Lanterns, which focuses on the Earth adventures of Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz.
The series ended publication in 2018 with issue #50. It is followed by The Green Lantern by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp.
This series provides examples of:
- Asshole Victim: Tomar-Tu's descent into villainy begins when he murders Xudarian Sinestro Corpsman and serial child killer Romat-Ru. Given that Romat-Ru murdered thousands of children, it's not hard to see why Tomar-Tu did it.
- Bait-and-Switch: Issue #3 ends with Hal defeated by a squad of Sinestro Corpsmen, ready to take him to Sinestro. The next issue begins with Sinestro about to gloatingly welcome Hal... only it turns out that the Green Lantern brought before him is Guy Gardner, who'd been captured offscreen.
- When Sinestro figures out that Soranik took Hal, it cuts to her apparently torturing Hal. The next issue reveals this was actually the beginning of the surgery needed to save his life.
- Bait-and-Switch Boss: At the beginning of the second arc, the Green Lanterns and Soranik's Yellow Lanterns work to repel Starro from the planet Xudar, only for all three parties to be captured by Brainiac.
- In turn, Brainiac is being controlled by Larfleeze.
- Beyond the Impossible: In the Rebirth prologue, Hal manages to forge a Green Lantern ring from his own willpower. He and Soranik both point out that this feat was thought to be impossible for anyone but the Guardians of the Universe. Ganthet, one of said Guardians, is at first surprised, but quickly gets amused at how long it took for Hal to do this.
- The Bus Came Back: Ganthet and Sayd, not seen since Wrath of the First Lantern, finally return to help bring Hal Jordan back to life.
- The Twilight of the Guardians arc brings back the Templar Guardians after an absence of over two and half years, the Controllers and the Darkstars on the final page, the army Kellic, leader of the Controllers, intends to use against the Green Lantern Corps.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Surprisingly enough, Parallax-powered Sinestro is no match for Hal in his pure-willpower form. Sinestro's constructs don't even affect Hal, and he can't stop the Earth-Shattering Kaboom of his base.
- Deadly Upgrade: Hal's usage of Krona's Gauntlet in the previous volume has started turning him into a being of pure willpower. He's far more powerful like this, but if he stays in it for too long, he will fade into the emotional spectrum. By forging a ring, he gains the ability to turn it on or offnote , but he isn't sure how long that will last for. Plus, the power starts to creep in even when he's trying to avoid using it, resulting in Hal's loss to some Sinestro Corps Mooks, when he can't go all out for fear of killing nearby civilians. Eventually, his fight with Sinestro allows him to pull an Earth-Shattering Kaboom on Warworld, intending on taking Sinestro with him.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After Guy Gardner defeats Arkillo in a fight without either of them wearing their rings, they become Bash Brothers, and even after the Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps alliance ends, they still meet up for monthly drinks.
- Defector from Decadence/Renegade Splinter Faction: Soranik Natu leads the defection of several Sinestro Corpsmen, who didn't want to be involved in the whole "terror and kidnapping" thing. They ally themselves with the Green Lantern Corps.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Soranik, exasperated by the Green Lanterns' continued distrust (and an accidental shot nearly hitting her), angrily asks that they look past their color and help the civilians. Bonus points for saying this to John Stewart.
- Dramatic Irony: In the Prism of Time arc Kyle suggests he and Soranik watch Terminator because of the time travel in the arc. The Big Bad of the arc, Sarko, is the child of Kyle and Soranik from the future, not unlike the time-tangled Conner family of the Terminator franchise.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Upon being informed that the Corps is trapped by an ultra-durable, glass-like material, and not an energy barrier like previously thought, John immediately puts the dots together to figure out their captor is Brainiac.
- Face–Heel Turn: Tomar-Tu snaps, murders Romat-Ru in cold blood, and is arrested for it. Later, he escapes and joins the Darkstars, eventually becoming their leader and the Big Bad of the Darkstar arc.
- Heel–Face Turn: When Soranik breaks the alliance between the Sinestro Corps and The Green Lantern Corps, Space Ape, Raynnun, Fanta-M, Subject-82, Two-Lobe, C.H.A.D., Combo, and Skurry, decide to leave the Sinestro Corps, becoming Green Lanterns.
- Honor Before Reason: Invoked. When the Green Lanterns return to the universe, Guy is sent to recon their position, as their systems are still being repaired, but doesn't return. In a speech to the rest of the Corps, John states that the smart move now would be to wait and repair everything, get a clear picture of what's going on before rushing out.John: Or we can do what Guy would - Say "To heck with it" and follow him into the black.
- John makes it clear he's going to do the latter, and asks for the rest of them to join him. Every single one of the Lanterns agrees.
- Internal Reveal: Upon learning about Hal's apparent death, Kilowog tells the rest of the Corps about Hal's Taking the Heat scheme, undoing his "traitor" reputation".
- Ironic Echo: Soranik angrily confronts Sinestro about how he used her, but he retorts that she's trying to blame him for something that she really should have expected.Sinestro: Take responsibility for your failures, Soranik. Or you will never learn from them.
- Shortly afterwards, they receive word about Hal Jordan resurfacing and opposing the Sinestro Corps. Sinestro starts ranting about how he was always a disappointment, and Hal can never single-handedly oppose him.
Soranik: Take responsibility for your failures, father. Or you will never learn from them. - It Is Not Your Time: After Hal's Heroic Sacrifice, he finds himself in the mysterious Emerald Space. Abin Sur appears and tells him that it's the afterlife for the bravest of Green Lanterns, but also that Hal doesn't belong there. Sure enough, Ganthet and Sayd soon pull him out using Kyle Rayner's White Lantern powers, but not before Abin tells Hal to help restore the Blue Lanterns.
- Kid from the Future: Sarko, a Sinestro Corps fanatic of the far future, turn out to be the son of Kyle and Soranik Natu. Kyle is devastated after his death. Kyle unable to tell Soranik this not only ruins any chance at a relationship, but leads Soranik to break the alliance between the Greens and the Yellows.
- Last Dance: Hal searches the universe for the Green Lantern Corps, only to find the Sinestro Corps in control. Due to his Deadly Upgrade above, he decides that he can't risk waiting any longer to find the Green Lanterns. He storms Warworld to try and thwart Sinestro's scheme one last time, fully aware that, win or not, he's almost certainly going to die. Hal does manage to destroy Warworld and apparently kill Sinestro, but he doesn't survive.
Though considering the title, it doesn't stick for long. - Lethal Joke Character: Rot Lop Fan, a Green Lantern whose species has no concept of light or color, is usually remembered for his unique variationnote on the Green Lantern creed, and has had little to no speaking appearances since his first story in 1987. However, in #9, Rot uses his sensitive hearing to find and sever Starro's connection to the mind-controlling spawn. He even recites the oath will doing so!
- Naked People Are Funny: Guy's ring runs out of juice, and it turns out that he doesn't wear anything underneath his ring-generated uniform. Sinestro pauses mid-rant to Face Palm.Sinestro: Gardner, how did the Green Lantern Corps ever accept you into its ranks?
- Not Brainwashed: Soranik's current affiliation with the Sinestro Corps is viewed with much suspicion by the Green Lantern Corps, with John Stewart assuming she was brainwashed right off the bat. She has to explain the whole story for Corps to accept that this trope is in play.
- Subverted with Tomar-Tu. He chooses to join the Darkstars, and claims that the Darkstar mantle isn't affecting his mind, but it's later revealed that the telepathic link between the Darkstars allows them to share eachothers' anger, creating a kind of riot mentality among them. When Tomar-Tu is finally stripped of his armor, he's overcome with remorse.
- Poor Communication Kills: Soranik Natu spells this out to Kyle Rayner:Soranik: Kyle... you... should have... TOLD ME! We had a son.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: In order to cement his control of the universe, Sinestro creates the Fear Engine, a gigantic machine inside Warworld. Thousands of captives are shown their greatest fears, which would fuel the Sinestro Corps' fear rings indefinitely. However, Sinestro actively avoids the "child" part of this trope. He believes that only the best and brightest can provide enough fear energy, and children certainly don't fit the criteria.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Soranik Natu delivers a particularly scathing one to Kyle Rayner in issue #24 for hiding from her that Sarko, the villain that he'd killed earlier and whom she was just done autopsying, was actually their son from the future. Also doubles as a What the Hell, Hero?Soranik: You forget that I'm a Natu by name, but a Sinestro by blood. Fear is the family gift. I feel it throbbing inside you. The fear that made you keep your secret. Fear that I wouldn't want to be with you. Fear that I'd be the love you let slip away. You fear a wounded heart! You can't hide from your fear, alley rat.
- The Remnant: At the beginning of the series, the Green Lantern Corps has been reduced to this. The events of Lost Army and Edge of Oblivion depleted the ranks of the Green Lanterns to just ~400 out of 7200, or roughly 5% of their full strength. None of the major Lanterns died, but they're still badly outgunned against the full-strength Sinestro Corps.
- Season Finale: The Fracture arc (#22-#25) is this, after a year of publication and showing the end of the the alliance between the Green Lantern Corps and Soranik's reformed Yellow Lanterns.
- Sequel Series: To Venditti's preceding New 52-era run on Green Lantern, picking up Hal's storyline and the Corps' in the wake of Green Lantern: The Lost Army.
- Survival Mantra: When Guy is put into the Fear Engine and tortured, he starts reciting the Green Lantern oath over and over to keep going.
- Take That!: In issue #12, Guy Gardner attempts to break one of the bottles of Larfleeze and the 80s Brainiac that holds the New 52 Lobo. Hal Jordan shows up before Guy can spike it, claiming "Not that one. Trust me. Better to leave him on the shelf."
- Vigilante Man: Tomar-Tu and the Darkstars. They enforce "Lethal Justice" by slaughtering criminals wherever they can find them.
- We ARE Struggling Together: The Green Lantern Corps and Soranik's Yellow Lanterns barely get along, mainly due to the Greens' massive distrust and suspicion of the latter. During the Bottled Light arc, the tension culminates into a full-on brawl between the two, though it turns out to be a ploy to trick Larfleeze into freeing them.
- We Need a Distraction: Hal's single-handed assault on Warworld turns out to be this, buying time for Soranik and the good Yellow Lanterns to evacuate the Fear Engine captives. Once that's done, Hal pulls a Taking You with Me on Sinestro and the entire planet.
- Also how the Corps manages to get away from Larfleeze. The Greens and the Yellows were being overpowered by his Orange Lanterns, until John gets the idea to start freeing all of his collection. Larfleeze subsequently panics, and leaves the other Lanterns to try and get his "stuff" back.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Back in the Sinestro series, the titular villain had been gravely wounded, resulting in his daughter Soranik taking over the Sinestro Corps. Under her leadership, the more-benevolent Corps was accepted as the new protectors of the universe. However, it turns out that Sinesro was counting on her good nature for the Corps to install order. With that accomplished, he heals himself by absorbing Parallax, and re-takes command to start keeping order.
