Zero Hour 30th Anniversary Special #1 – Dan Jurgens, Ron Marz, Writers; Darryl Banks, Kelley Jones, Tom Grummett, Norm Rapmund, Jerry Ordway, Paul Pelletier, Howard Porter, Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Artists; Alex Sinclair, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: DC has been on a great streak of paying tribute to its most iconic 90s storylines in recent years (with the notable exception of Knightfall, likely because it’s not possible to bring back any of the creators for various reasons). But none might be more challenging to recapture the magic of than Zero Hour, an epic cosmic crossover that saw a mad Hal Jordan harness cosmic powers to try to remake the universe and undo all the great tragedies of the DCU. He was a compelling, tragic antihero, ultimately undone by his closest friends – but not before he created ripple effects causing countless alternate realities to emerge. Of course, now we know this was Parallax at work, not truly Hal – but that version may not be 100% gone.
Into the void steps Kyle Rayner, then a rookie Lantern alone in carrying the GL legacy and now a trusted member of the Corps. Unable to return to Earth due to the UP blockade, he’s swept up into a strange cosmic effect where he winds up in an alternate world still stuck in the 1990s. But this one is…different. Superman never returned from the dead. Bruce Wayne never recovered from his broken back. The GLC don’t exist. Donna Troy – Kyle’s ex-girlfriend – is Wonder Woman. And the Fatal Five from the future have invaded – backed by Parallax, or at least a fragment of him, as he seeks one last-ditch attempt to capture the last Lantern ring and gain the power to remake the world.
If all this sounds like a lot – the original mini was too! It was basically the epitome of complicated cosmic 90s storytelling, but with a strong emotional core that made it work. The same goes here, co-written by the creator of Kyle Rayner and the original writer of the event. There are so many great cameos in this issue, from one of the most beloved 90s blue-collar heroes to a key figure from many events during the era. There’s a melancholy edge to the epic 80-page story, and while it does have a whole host of artists, it tells one straight narrative unlike the previous Superman one-shots. The cliffhanger promises to have some bearing on future Green Lantern stories, but at its core this is just a love letter to the era more than anything.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
