When I first heard about this miniseries and its premise, my first question was simply “Why?” I mean, is there a critical necessity to restore the pre-Rayner status quo, bringing everyone back to life and continue on as if nothing has ever happened? I never really cared for the Hal Jordan character, simply because he never seemed all that interesting a character until he went “whacko”. Of course, there are those who disagree with me… so here’s the mini that brings him back to the role he’s familiar with and returns everything back to the way things were.
Questionable intentions aside, the one thing that isn’t questionable is the fact that the Rebirth miniseries has been a fairly entertaining and pretty good read thus far and really, isn’t that the only thing that matters in the long run? Although this fourth issue does advance the story a little further somewhat, it wasn’t as fulfilling as the previous issue, which had some nifty plotpoints such as the reasoning behind the old GL rings’ yellow impurity and why Rayner’s ring doesn’t have it. But who’s complaining?
The bit where Green Arrow strains himself to shoot an arrow with the power ring was a nice touch, going to show how much of a toll it takes to use the ring to create things as simplistic as a mere arrow and that it’s not easy to bear it. Of course, no one’s ever had a problem with this sort of thing before, but those were “special” cases for lack of a better excuse. Visually, the art’s consistently good as the three issues before this one. The choice of coloring and darker shades goes well with the book and really emphasizes the overall tone of the series.
Other than that, there’s not much else to say that you’ve probably haven’t heard elsewhere. Simply put, Rebirth, so far, is good stuff, regardless of your preferred ringbearer. Of course, if you’re patient, you’ll probably wait for the inevitable TPB that’ll come out in a few scant months, but why bother? Just read it now.
dtm666 