COMIC BOOKS Hal Jordan character to return as Green Lantern

The decision to turn the iconic character bad caused an uproar among fans.
By TERRY MORROW
SCRIPPS HOWARD
The Green Lantern is getting rehabilitated.
Nearly 10 years ago, Hal Jordan, the character's alter-ego since 1959, went mad, killed some fellow Green Lanterns and turned against his good-guy nature.
Now, writer Geoff Johns will put the character back on the path of the straight and narrow with a six-issue comic book miniseries titled "Green Lantern: Rebirth."
Issue One is out Wednesday.
"I go in there with guns blazing," Johns says of the momentous task.
As well he should. When longtime hero Jordan went bad in the pages of his own comic, fans were divided. Sales went up, but the change of character was met heatedly.
In fact, fans around the world united to form an online protest group called Hal's Emerald Advancement Team (HEAT). They wanted DC Comics to redeem Jordan immediately.
"For most of us, he was our favorite comic-book character," says William Brackeen, a Little Rock, Ark., member of HEAT. "We felt the story [of his madness] was not told for good storytelling, but for shock value."
Replacement
To appeal to younger readers, DC introduced Kyle Rayner, a younger, hipper man who took over the identity of Green Lantern and became a reluctant superhero.
Rayner also assumed the prominence of being Green Lantern.
He was featured in the hero's self-titled monthly comic and was even made a member of the Justice League of America, whose lineup is a collection of the company's iconic characters.
Meanwhile, Jordan became a villain named Parallax, was killed and then brought back to life as the ghostly hero named the Spectre.
Never got over it
Though sales of Green Lantern's comic have remained fine with the introduction of Rayner, Jordan's fans have never let go of their obsession with the character.
"When Hal Jordan was removed as Green Lantern, there was uproar," says Brian Cunningham, editor of Wizard magazine, which covers the comics industry.
"It was considered blasphemy. The reason the change was made was because sales were slipping, and this is a business. This was such a drastic move. It completely dismantled all the good qualities that made Hal Jordan into Green Lantern."
"Rebirth" has the arduous task of reforming Jordan and also making him the Green Lantern again.
"If Hal Jordan is to come back as a hero, it's my job to look at everything that has happened ... and make it work," Johns says.
"The whole goal is to tell a great superhero story in the DC Universe while bringing Hal Jordan back."
Explaining his actions
Doesn't sound easy. Johns spent more than a year combing over scenarios that could explain Jordan's actions and then redeem him.
"We can't just snap our fingers and make some lame story," he says. "If we did that then who would care? I had to look at what the smartest and most exciting way to bring him back would be.
"I had to put him in a place where he can be a hero, and he can be the Green Lantern."
Jordan's past will come back to haunt him, but "Rebirth" will also explain what caused him to go over the edge in such a dramatic fashion.
"All that stuff will play a big part in the miniseries," he says.
"The whole point is to really get beyond [his past] and find out what it all means and how it all makes sense."
Johns can empathize with the pro-Jordan fans.
"His whole breakdown seemed pretty random and pretty fast," Johns admits.
"At the same time, you can't say he didn't do all these things. He did, and you have to go from there."
HEAT isn't taking credit for DC's decision to restore Jordan.
"We knew if we stuck it out long enough," Brackeen says, "that eventually somebody would be in a position to [restore] him."