Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro Prep

[PyroSikTh]

Not sure what to say about that. I read Rebirth first (about a year after it was published) and genuinely feel that it's the logical jumping on point. It's almost like the bedrock everything else is built on. I accept there's plenty of history already embedded in there and that some parts might seem confusing, but you could say that about practically any volume. People shouldn't be afraid of jumping in on classic runs like this. They aren't rocket science. Maybe you're right though. Maybe Secret Origin would read better at the start. Have we been here before??

Rebirth was my first read too and it put me off Green Lantern before I'd even begun. Everyone I ever spoke to told me Rebirth was the best place to start. I picked it up and I was just completely lost. I felt like I had jumped on in the middle of a story. I didn't have a clue who anyone was, I didn't have a clue what was happening, and I certainly didn't understand all the references to the decades of continuity. I literally shoved it away in a dark drawer for a few years until last year when the combination of the Green Lantern movie making me hungry for more, and my discovery of Blackest Night, encouraged me to go back and fill in the gaps. If I had started with Secret Origin, I'd have been a Green Lantern fan much earlier, and actually been able to follow it every month rather than coming in right at the very end of Johns' run.

Ultimately though, that's why I always suggest them as a tandem starting point. If you're familiar with DC, it's characters and it's history, by all means go right ahead and jump on with Rebirth. But if you're anything like me; a complete newb with no idea, Secret Origin is, hands down, the best place to start.

Furthermore, now that I've read the whole run two or three times, I still find putting Secret Origin at the beginning enhances the reading experience. Rebirth is the official opening of the story, but Secret Origin acts as a great establishing flashback before No Fear, especially seeing as it sets up Sinestro and Blackest Night so early (which let's be honest, is the crux of the whole run).

[WillieMorgan]

Yeah, that's probably the main difference. I was well aware of stuff like Zero Hour prior to that (for my sins). They're all good.

Furthermore, now that I've read the whole run two or three times, I still find putting Secret Origin at the beginning enhances the reading experience. Rebirth is the official opening of the story, but Secret Origin acts as a great establishing flashback before No Fear, especially seeing as it sets up Sinestro and Blackest Night so early (which let's be honest, is the crux of the whole run).

Oh aye. Especially when you consider how 'The End' played itself out. I also feel that was the logical point for Johns to move on. It felt like the right time, before everything got stale

[The Doctor]

Not sure what to say about that. I read Rebirth first (about a year after it was published) and genuinely feel that it's the logical jumping on point. It's almost like the bedrock everything else is built on. I accept there's plenty of history already embedded in there and that some parts might seem confusing, but you could say that about practically any volume. People shouldn't be afraid of jumping in on classic runs like this. They aren't rocket science. Maybe you're right though. Maybe Secret Origin would read better at the start. Have we been here before??

Also on reflection, I may have been tough on Tales Of The Corps. It's fundamentally similar to Tales Of The Sinestro Corps, in a sense that it's a collection of short stories relating to secondary characters, but is actually better. The Superboy Prime stuff is tedious, as the character himself had got by that stage, but the pages from the Book Of The Black and Bleez stories are quite good. There are some good universe maps and other explanatory stuff in TOTSC too.

I agree Rebirth should definitely be read first or along with Secret Origins, which also should be read early. I'm thinking there are teeny tiny points that might tie into stuff going on at the time it was coming out, but nothing that spoils anything (well except it now mentions the Blackest Night prophecy or whatever it is, which I'm not sure was there until now).

The reason I think Rebirth is essential even if it's confusing is it talks a lot about Parallax and his possession of Hal, which is similar to what happens to Kyle in SCW and the GL/GLC books constantly reference Hal's time as Parallax.

Secret Origins is a must especially for newbies.

[PyroSikTh]

but nothing that spoils anything (well except it now mentions the Blackest Night prophecy or whatever it is, which I'm not sure was there until now).

The whole run is full of teases and easter eggs of things to come. Secret Origin, read at the beginning, acts as much the same. It sets up Blackest Night well before Blackest Night is even on the agenda, without being really obvious and noticeable. Once you go back to after reading Blackest Night, loads of things just click together.

[The Doctor]

Anybody know of good trades and stories from before Johnsrun? Is there one for Henshaw's destruction of coast city and Hal's death?

[MykeHavoc]

All of Winick's stuff leading into Johns' run is excellent. Bringing back John Stewart, the Guardians and reigniting the corps battery were all done there first. His building of Kyle into Ion, the most powerful being in the universe, and having him selflessly give all that power to get the GLC going again gets far too overlooked.

The coast city destruction starts in the aftermath of Death of Superman. The Parallax stuff goes through Zero Hour and his death is in Final Night. His ascension to Spectre is in Day of Judgment.

[The Doctor]

All of Winick's stuff leading into Johns' run is excellent. Bringing back John Stewart, the Guardians and reigniting the corps battery were all done there first. His building of Kyle into Ion, the most powerful being in the universe, and having him selflessly give all that power to get the GLC going again gets far too overlooked.

The coast city destruction starts in the aftermath of Death of Superman. The Parallax stuff goes through Zero Hour and his death is in Final Night. His ascension to Spectre is in Day of Judgment.

For some reason I can't find the trade on the Supermen storylines (Cyborg Superman, Steel, Eradicator, etc I believe). Do you know what the name of it was?

[The Doctor]

I need to make a short companion list of important trades to help one understand Parallax Hal Jordan better. I'd say the Death of Superman fallout (whatever it is called where Cyborg Superman destroys Coast City), Zero Hour (evil Hal storyline), and Final Night (Hal's death) are pretty important. I also think someone recently listed some important Spectre Jordan trades?

What about some trades with a lot of solid info for some of the main GL death's or big players like Kilowog, Tomar-Re, etc. ?

[MykeHavoc]

Its one issue thats in the massive Return of Superman trade (which follows up on Death of Superman and World Without a Superman trades). All the other stuff you are looking for are the books written by Ron Marz (Emerald Dawn/Emerald Twilight for example). And the Hal Spectre stuff starts in Day of Judgment. He pops up in various stuff, like Kevin Smith's Green Arrow (maybe Johns' Flash stuff, can't remember). Winick's GL and Meltzer's GA arc Archer's Quest set up Rebirth.

[The Doctor]

I went ahead and added Zero Hour and Final Night to my tentative list for important/good pre-Johns stories. Looking for more. Since I know very little about this stuff I guess I'll ask for opinions or storylines I'm looking for.

In trade mind you:

Hal Jordan/John Stewart/Guy Gardner/Kyle Rayner/Kilowog/Sinestro Origin stories?

Any trades of good stories involving Sinestro/Kilowog/B'gd/Tomar-Re?

I kind of want to read the original or alternate stories of Hal and Sinestro's time together and whenever in the books Hal takes Sinestro down after he showed him how he subjugates Korugar.

Oh just remembered is their a trade for when Hal destroyed the central power battery, guardians, a bunch of the Green Lanterns?

[The Doctor]

So I found a very good copy of final night at the used book store for $6