Green Lantern – “Emerald Twilight / New Dawn”

Exit Hal Jordan. Enter Kyle Rayner.

General Information

Title: Green Lantern:
Emerald Twilight /
A New Dawn
Author: Ron Marz
Pencils: Darryl
Banks, Bill
Willingham, Derec Aucoin, Steve Carr, Fred Haynes,
Craig Hamilton,
Jamal Igle
Original Publication Date: 2003
reprint of material
first published in 1994
ISBN: 1-56389-999-X

Cover Price:
$19.95 US, $30.95 Can
Buy from: Amazon.com
or Amazon.ca

Past comic reviews, including this review
of the “Emerald
Twilight” portion
, can be found here.

Premise

In the fallout from The
Return of Superman
, Hal Jordan loses his mind
when trying to cope
with the loss of Coast City. He destroys the Green
Lantern core, and
all but a single Guardian and power ring, which is
passed on to Kyle
Rayner, a new Green Lantern.

DC originally published “Emerald Twilight” (issues
48-50) in one
collection, and “A New Dawn” (issues 51-55) in
another collection.
Now, they’ve decided to make a single collection of
both story arcs,
which is mildly irritating, since I had one, and now
have to buy it
again if I want a new copy of the other.

High Point

The “intimate detail” bit.

Low Point

We see Hal Jordan’s tranformation into Parallax, and
then the next
time we hear from him, it’s from Alan Scott, who had
dealt with him in
some other time and place. Had these still been
individual volumes,
that wouldn’t bug me so much, but in a single
collected volume, it
just feels like something’s missing. (Incidentally,
if anyone knows
of a trade collecting that story, I’d like to know
which it is.)

Also, where is the original cover art? I understand
not wanting to
interrupt the story, but it could at least be
collected at the back.

The Scores

This strikes me as original. The idea of a
superhero
completely snapping and destroying so many allies is
rarely used. The
Dark Phoenix Saga had elements of this, but that was
driven by an
outside villain, while this was just a hero with bad
timing. The
origin of the new hero is fresh, too. It seems Kyle
is the only
person not fully aware of the Green Lantern history.
I give it 5 out
of 6.

The artwork is good, but a bit inconsistent.
(We’ve got
seven pencillers and eight issues, after all.) Any
of these
individual artists does good work, but seeing the
artist obviously
change from one page to another in a single issue is
a bit jarring. I
give it 4 out of 6.

The story is entertaining, and with the
exception of the Low
Point, feels like it holds together quite well. I
give it 4 out of
6.



The characterization of Hal has a few
uncomfortably sudden
shifts, particularly in his “I can’t go back” speech.
Kyle is clear
and likeable from the outset, though. (I can
completely understand
why some people would prefer other Green Lanterns,
but the people I’ve
heard from online who have detested him from his
first appearance
would, I suspect, have been willing to accept him if
it weren’t for
the changes to the Green Lantern that he is
associated with.) I give
it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response in the first three
issues is good,
even though they feel a bit rushed. (I think the
“Emerald Twilight”
story might have been compressed to make sure it
ended at issue 50.)
The next few issues work a lot better for me in some
ways.
I’m not that familiar with Hal, so I’ll just
naturally get more
out of a story that builds a new character than one
that destroys one
I’m not particularly attached to. There were a
couple of happy
coincidences, though, including Superman filling us
in on the normal
limitations of the ring. These just seemed a bit
forced. I give it 4
out of 6.

The flow works well, with the exception of
the seemingly
missing chunk. I give it 4 out of 6.

Overall, this is a nice collection for new
Green Lantern fans
(although rumour has it that Kyle’s own Twilight
begins in April, when
Ron Marz returns to the title.) I give it 5 out of
6.

In total, Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight / New
Dawn
receives 31
out of 42.

Additional Notes and Comments

I’ve got copies of Green Lantern: Baptism of
Fire
and
Green Lantern: New Journey, Old Path sitting
unread, along
with Essential Captain America Vol. 1 and 2.
I’m about a
quarter of the way through Essential Avengers
Vol. 3
, and my
copies of Daredevil: Lowlife, Daredevil:
Hardcore
,
Alias, Alias: Coming Home, and
Alias: The Secret
Origin of Jessica Drew
could very well show up
before the end of
the month. (The last Alias volume was
solicited for March
31. The other DD and Alias volumes are being freshly
reprinted.
DD: Lowlife even showed up on the
preliminary shipping list
for March 17 before a delay, so I suspect that one at
least will be
here soon.) So, these reviews are coming, and likely
won’t be
finished by the time new Essential books
start shipping again
in April. If you have any preferences about which
order I review
these in (knowing that I want to review them in
publication order, and
that I’ve got a copy of Daredevil: Echo – Vision
Quest

waiting unread for the others to come in) let me know.
The list of all
possible upcoming reviews is here,
now
with convenient Review Request links.