For countless eons, The Green Lantern Corps have sought to fight evil and maintain order throughout the cosmos. The Corps was made up of the bravest souls in existence, chosen by the oldest race in the universe – the so-called Guardians of Oa. Empowered by lanterns which drew upon the collective willpower of all sentient life, The Corps wielded fantastic rings which granted them phenomenal powers. And so as it was willed, so it would remain… until recently.

Now the fortress planet known as Warworld has come to stand amid the asteroid belt that is all that remains of Oa. The Guardians are a dead race. And the Green Lantern Corps itself has vanished from the universe, either having died out or fled in disgrace. It matters little to Sinestro – the former Green Lantern who established his own army with their own rings, drawing upon the power of Fear rather than Will. Though it has cost him his youth and vigor, he has finally accomplished all that he sought to do and the Corps that bears his name shall police the universe far more efficiently and brutally than his former masters.

What Sinestro does not realize is that his greatest enemy, Hal Jordan – former Green Lantern Corps leader and the being regarded by many as the greatest Green Lantern in history – still lives. And Jordan is just as ignorant of what Sinestero has accomplished as Sinestro is about his former pupil’s activities. For in the depths of space, Jordan seeks to do the impossible and forge a new Green Lantern Ring on his own. Yet Jordan has done the impossible before and if there is any one being who can discover what happened to the rest of the Green Lantern Corps and save the universe, it is Hal Jordan.

Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth #1 is everything a first issue should be – gripping, exciting and accessible. The Green Lantern books have one of the most complex continuities in all of American comics and it would have been all too easy to Robert Venditti to craft a story catering to long-time fans of The Corps while ignoring the needs of new readers attracted by the DC Rebirth line.

Thankfully, Venditti provides just enough detail of what came before to develop the vaguest scope of the universe for new readers without getting bogged down in continuity. We don’t need to know exactly how Sinestro became so decrepit or how Hal Jordan came to be transformed into a being of pure will. Venditti’s script provides just enough backstory to establish the players on the board, the facts at hand and the mysteries and conflicts that will fuel the upcoming issues.

There is a reason Ethan Van Sciver is regarded by a generation of comic fans as the definitive Green Lantern artist and a reader only need flip through this issue to see why it is so. Van Sciver’s artwork exhibits some amazingly intricate imagery, presenting a unique appearance that is divinely detailed while still presenting itself with a focused sense of clarity. Jason Wright finishes the artwork perfectly, utilizing color palettes that truly glow upon the page. And letterer Dave Sharpe deserves praise for crafting word balloons that showcase both Venditti’s dialogue and Van Sciver’s artwork.

Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps might not be everyone’s cup of tea. For those readers who love the space opera genre and art aficionados who enjoy something lively and unique, however, it will prove a welcome slice of epic science-fiction.