I have never read any Green Lantern comics, and I believe the best way to start would be to start with Johns run. However, I don't know whether to start with Rebirth or Secret Origin. Rebirth was written first, and I know it details Hal becoming a Lantern again after the whole Parallax fiasco, but would Secret Origin be a better to read first even though it was written later?

I would go with Rebirth, if you're going to read the Johns run anyway.

Rebirth. Secret Origin wasn't that great IMO.

I would say start with "Secret Origin."

Since this is your first post in Comic Book Talk (yeah, I checked because I'm just that much of a dork), I assume you're not the Michael Allred who works in comics. But just in case you are, let me say that I absolutely love your stuff. I just finished reading X-Force/X-Statix and it was amazing.

As for GL, Rebirth was the mini that set the stage for the current take on Hal Jordan after the character had been largely out of the spotlight and/or mucked with for the previous 15 or so years. It was really about setting up a "new" status quo for the character, i.e. Returning him to something very close to the status quo of the 1960s through the early 1990s. It's a good place to start reading.

Secret Origin was a story arc from 2-3 years later and it takes a step back and looks at Hal Jordan's early days as a Green Lantern. It's not a bad place to start reading per se, but it's not the kick-off of the whole series. I'd start with Rebirth.

what did you end up choosing? its prolly too late to vote but i would say just start at the start of the GJ run on GL and then if you dont understand something going on just ask us. you could also ask wikipedia but you may see spoilers that way.

I discovered a copy of the Blackest Night collected edition hardcover at my library a couple weeks ago, so I checked it out. I'd heard for a few years that it was some kind of "epic masterpiece" or whatever. I read it for free and I still feel like someone owes me a refund. I thought the art was terrific, the premise was mildly interesting (I'm pretty much always up for zombies), but it read like fan fiction.

I don't say this just to complain, but rather to address the OP that if you find yourself wondering what all the fuss is about with the Johns GL work, you're not alone. If you like it, great. Either way, unless you're only interested in the Johns-era, here are some other GL suggestions:

Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vols. 1 & 2 by Dennis O'Neil & Neal Adams - the whole reason anyone even cared about GL for much of the last 40 years
Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Vols. 1 & 2 - some of the best work Alan Moore did for DC is here

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn - the post-Crisis origin story of Hal Jordan
Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight/New Dawn - the story of Hal Jordan's fall from grace and the origin of Kyle Rayner

I won a lot auction on ebay that has the Rebirth miniseries plus all of Green Lantern Vol 4 from #1 up to the beginning of War of the Lanterns. I got it for $55 with free shipping. I haven't started reading it yet though.


I am looking to get Green Lantern Vol 3 next. I check ebay for lot auctions every few days.

When I finally bailed on comics a decade ago, I sold my GL library in one big auction. It was about 100 comics, and it went for about $100. It wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped, but it was still better than the local shop would have paid at that time for a bunch of back issues they already had. Anyway, yours truly sent the whole damn thing to the wrong buyer. Fortunately, the recipient was gracious enough to own up to it and to even ship it to the correct buyer (I sent them the money via Paypal to cover it, of course). That remains tied with the time another bidder contacted me and warned me to "back off" an auction for a Babs Bunny ornament as my favorite eBay story.

i didnt think the volumes with green arrow held up well today, although i did really value their friendship before the new 52.

i though the sinestro corps war was a lot better than the blackest night. dont let that experience push you away from geoff johns, his GL work is so good!

I need to return The Middleman: The Complete Series Indispensability! to the library. I've got two other inter-library loan requests to make, but if they'll let me make a third, I'll check out The Sinestro Corps War.

is that a middleman book or dvd? if book i didnt realize it existed! if so, i love the show, does it continue from there or what?

I actually checked out both! It was originally conceived as a TV pilot, but no one bought the script so Javier Grillo-Marxuach instead made it as a comic book which was then picked up by ABC Family for the TV show. Here's the breakdown:

The Middleman: The Complete Series Indispensability! contains

1. The Middleman: The Trade Paperback Imperative - collects The Middleman #1-4 (adapted as "The Pilot Episode Sanction")
2. The Middleman: The Second Volume Inevitability - collects The Middleman, vol. 2 #1-4 (adapted as "The Sino-Mexican Revelation")
3. The Middleman: The Third Volume Inescapability - graphic novel

There was also a graphic novel, The Middleman: The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse, based on a "lost" teleplay by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Hans Beimler that was published after the TV series was canceled. It's part of the TV show continuity.

All you need are The Complete Series Indispensability! and The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse to have the whole shebang as it stands to date. Given how long it's been since anything has happened with the comic, I suspect this is all we're gonna get. A shame, too, because it's fun (and ends on quite a cliffhanger!).

thanks! i ordered Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse since the rest just sounds like the same plot as the show, right? or do i need to read some of it.

The first and second volumes were adapted as episodes, but the third volume was not. You'll find they mined it for several different plot points in the last several episodes, but the story itself is pretty unique. You can order the third volume by itself, but if you go through Viper Comics directly, the entire collected edition is only $12.95 right now. I enjoyed Les McClaine's artwork enough that I didn't mind the familiarity of the stories, but that's just me.

Back to Green Lantern, it occurred to me that I've also got a cache of Silver Age GL comics, from around #90-120-ish. Some of that, I think, includes the stuff with Green Arrow. A friend inherited them from his aunt and I wound up with them. I seriously need to make time for those!