Summary

• Hal Jordan's fall from grace in Zero Hour reshaped both the DC Universe and the Green Lantern mythos for decades.
• DC's Zero Hour: 30th Anniversary Special commemorates a pivotal moment in Green Lantern history.
• DC's iconic creators, such as Dan Jurgens and Ron Marz, return to Zero Hour through an 80-page special edition.

Green Lantern’s darkest moment was during Zero Hour, and now DC is returning to it in a special commemorating its 30th anniversary. Zero Hour saw Hal Jordan, as the evil Parallax, nearly destroy the DC Universe, in a bid to restore his lost Coast City to life. Zero Hour was a shocking event, full of triumphs and tragedies, and now DC is returning to it for a special anniversary celebration.

Zero Hour: 30th Anniversary Special, as reported on Comicbook.com, takes fans back to Green Lantern’s lowest moment. The 80-page special features contributions from a number of iconic DC creators of the 1990s.

Original writer/artist Dan Jurgens returns, as does Ron Marz, Jerry Ordway and others. DC’s solicitation for the book reads as follows:

30 years ago, one of the DCU's brightest heroes fell from grace, driven over the edge by his failure to save Coast City and millions of people. In the famed EMERALD TWILIGHT storyline, Hal Jordan became PARALLAX in the wake of Coast City being annihilated. After that, he almost succeeded in refashioning the entire DC timeline and resetting reality to restore his home in the ZERO HOUR event. Luckily, the heroes prevailed and destroyed this villain and timeline for good...or so we thought. Green Lantern Kyle Rayner is about to discover Hal and his vision have survived, and they're willing to do whatever it takes to make sure their world prevails!

Writers Dan Jurgens and Ron Marz return to the world of Zero Hour with an art team comprised of all-star DC talent to celebrate this landmark anniversary. What repercussions will their story today have for those of tomorrow?

The book will ship with a number of variant covers, shared above.

Zero Hour Saw Green Lantern Hal Jordan Fall From Grace

Zero Hour Also Laid the Foundation for Hal Jordan's Epic Redemption

Zero Hour graced comic stands in the summer of 1994, although the build-up for it began almost a year prior. In the landmark Reign of the Supermen story, Mongul and the Cyborg Superman destroy Green Lantern’s home of Coast City. This drove Hal over the edge, allowing the Parallax entity to gain control. Hal attempted to use his powers to bring Coast City back. The Guardians reprimand Hal, and in response he massacres the Corps. Hal/Parallax then uses his powers to destroy the timeline, and create a more favorable one. The heroes were successful in stopping him.

Zero Hour was a turning point for both the DC Universe and the Green Lantern mythos. Prior to Zero Hour, Ganthet awarded the last Green Lantern Ring to Kyle Rayner, who would go on to become one of the greatest members of the Corps. Zero Hour also redefined Hal Jordan. While DC editorial intended to leave Jordan a villain, he began his redemption arc by decade’s end, and would return to the Green Lantern Corps nearly 10 years after the events of Zero Hour. Hal’s arc, from good guy to villain to good guy again, helped make his character even better.

What Has Become of Hal Jordan's Vision for Zero Hour?

Zero Hour Still Continues to Resonate To This Day

Now some of DC’s best creators from that era are returning to explore this defining moment in Green Lantern history. Although it was retroactively revealed that Hal was under the influence of the Parallax entity, it still needed an “in” to control him–and it used one of the most heart-breaking tragedies in DC history to do so. However, Green Lantern was able to come back from it and take his rightful place as a hero once again. While it may be tempting to read Zero Hour as Green Lantern’s darkest hour, it laid the foundation for making him relevant again.

Zero Hour 30th Anniversary Special is on sale August 28 from DC Comics!

Source: Comicbook.com