In Brightest Day, in Blackest Night....

Geoff Johns is likely in my top 3 comic book writers of all time. He understands how to make characters sympathetic and really brings them down to earth with having them deal with the same issues we deal with everyday.

One day in February this year, I went to the comic book store and asked what was good. One of the clerks started talking about Geoff Johns' run on Green Lantern. He was a little baffled that I had not read them yet. I asked, "where should I start"? He said you need to start at the beginning with "Green Lantern: Rebirth"(2005), the first in the long running series by Johns. So, after the first volume, I was hooked. Hal Jordan is reborn and the back story of his disappearance explained. Not only did they establish Jordan as a relatable character, but they effectively showcased what makes being a Green Lantern so great. Look, this was a lot of reading and it was definitely worth it.

This of course led to the Blackest Night event in 2009 and went on until the Brightest Day in 2010 and closing out in 2011. The biggest take away for me was the idea that there were other colors of the emotional spectrum in the Green Lantern universe. They range from red (rage), orange (avarice), yellow (fear), green (will),  blue (hope), indigo (compassion), violet (love), black (death), and white (life).

Johns really played with the idea of the different emotions in how they interact and how they react when put together. With this, we also get to see Green Lantern's greatest fear when he uses the yellow ring, his greatest hopes with the blue ring and so on... Even the extremely detailed artwork of Doug Mahnke makes this a treat. I would put Mahnke in my top 5 comic artists of all time.

It is with all of the rich storytelling and epic scale of the comics by Johns that spearheaded a movie adaptation. Of course, those of us that wasted money to see the film in 2011 were met with much disappointment by the lack of creativity, direction, writing, etc. that went into it. It may not be until 2017 until the public can sort of forget/forgive the movie treatment. That's what essentially makes it difficult to get non-readers of the particular comic to read the series -- because of their exposure strictly through the film.


I highly suggest that you stop by your local comic book shop and get "Green Lantern"(2005-2011) by Geoff Johns. If anything, just read "Green Lantern: Rebirth" and decide from there if you should continue reading. Grade: A+