"Sinestro Corps War" is an American comic book crossover series published by DC Comics in its Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps titles. Written by Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons and drawn by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, and Ethan Van Sciver, the 11-part saga was originally published between June and December 2007. In addition to the main storyline, four supplemental "Tales of the Sinestro Corps" one-shot specials and a Blue Beetle tie-in issue were concurrently released.
The story centers on the Green Lanterns of Earth—Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart and Guy Gardner—and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps as they fight an interstellar war against the Sinestro Corps, an army led by the former Green Lantern Sinestro who are armed with yellow power rings and seek a universe ruled through fear. A 1986 Alan Moore "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps" story was the thematic basis of the storyline. Many characters were changed, killed off, or re-introduced as a result of the event.
Critical and fan reception to "Sinestro Corps War" was highly positive. Many reviewers ranked it among the top comic books of the year, and the storyline's first issue garnered a 2008 Eisner Award nomination for Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team. The storyline was also a financial success, and several issues underwent multiple printings. "Sinestro Corps War" is the second part of a trilogy in the Green Lantern storyline, preceded by the 2005 miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth. The conclusion of "Sinestro Corps War" sets up the third and final part of the trilogy, Blackest Night, which was published in 2009.
Plot
Following his defeat in Green Lantern: Rebirth, the events of Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1 see the supervillain Sinestro retreat to the planet Qward in the Antimatter Universe. There he amasses an army, the Sinestro Corps, that he selects based on their ability to "instill great fear". Each member is armed with a yellow power ring, mirroring the green ones of the Green Lantern Corps. Amongst Sinestro's allies are Parallax and the resurrected Anti-Monitor. The Sinestro Corps then launched an all-out assault against the Green Lantern Corps and the universe itself.
During the assault on Oa, the Sinestro Corps manages to inflict heavy casualties and free Superman-Prime and the Cyborg Superman from their imprisonment. Kyle Rayner is captured and transported to Qward, where Sinestro manages to separate Kyle from the symbiotic entity Ion. This allows Parallax to possess Kyle.Geoff Johns (w), Ethan Van Sciver (a), Moose Baumann (col), Rob Leigh (let). "Sinestro Corps, Prologue: The Second Rebirth". Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1 (Aug 2007), DC Comics. In Green Lantern (vol. 4) #21, the heroes Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Guy Gardner attempt to rescue Kyle, but are themselves entrapped, with Hal transported to face Sinestro and his allies.Geoff Johns (w), Ivan Reis (p), Oclair Albert (i). "Fear and Loathing". Green Lantern (vol. 4) #21 (Sept 2007), DC Comics. A failed bid to rescue Hal depicted in Green Lantern (vol. 4) #22 sees surviving members of the Green Lantern Corps forced underground and split into two groups.Geoff Johns (w), Ivan Reis (p), Oclair Albert (i). "Running Scared". Green Lantern (vol. 4) #22 (Oct 2007), DC Comics. While one group attempts to free Hal only to find themselves ambushed, the other successfully rescues Ion. They then re-unite with their ambushed comrades and together they escape from Qward back to the positive matter universe. Hal, John, and Guy return to Earth to warn the Justice League of the Anti-Monitor's return.
As the Sinestro Corps spreads out to ambush Green Lanterns across the universe, Green Lantern (vol. 4) #23 sees the Guardians decide to rewrite their sacred text, the Book of Oa. They remove a section devoted to a prophecy concerning the "Blackest Night", against the objections of two of their number, Ganthet and Sayd. They then add ten new laws, the first of which authorizes the use of lethal force against the Sinestro Corps, while Ganthet and Sayd are expelled from Oa. As the Green Lanterns gather on Oa in preparation for a Sinestro Corps assault, the Sinestro Corps teleport themselves and their Central Power Battery instead to a new Warworld, their objective revealed to be Earth.Geoff Johns (w), Ivan Reis (p), Oclair Albert (i), Moose Baumann (col). "Broken Laws". Green Lantern (vol. 4) #23, DC Comics. Events in Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #16 show Hal informing the Green Lantern Corps of Sinestro's plans.Dave Gibbons (w), Patrick Gleason (p), Prentiss Rollins (i), Guy Major (col). "The Battle of Ranx". Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #16, DC Comics.
Green Lantern (vol. 4) #24 continues the story, with Green Lanterns and Sinestro Corps members battling across Earth. Hal manages to free Kyle from Parallax before the entity is imprisoned in their power batteries by Ganthet and Sayd.Geoff Johns (w), Ivan Reis (p), Oclair Albert & Julio Ferreira (i). "Home Invasion". Green Lantern (vol. 4) #24 (Dec 2007), DC Comics. After John and Guy arrive, the former Guardians reveal to them the prophecy of the "Blackest Night", seen in Green Lantern (vol. 4) #25. It foretells five more Corps arising, each based on a different color and emotion. After the five corps are established, a "War of Light" will ensue, in which all the corps are destroyed, leading to the "Blackest Night".Geoff Johns (w), Ivan Reis & Ethan Van Sciver (p), Oclair Albert, Julio Feirreira, & Ivan Reis (i), Moose Baumann & Rod Reis (col). The Sinestro Corps War part 11. Green Lantern (vol. 4) #25, DC Comics.
The Guardians arrive on Earth and appoint Sodam Yat to be the new Ion. After a lengthy struggle in New York City, the Sinestro Corps are defeated by the overwhelming numbers against them. One of the Guardians sacrifices himself to send Superman-Prime to an alternate universe, and another, Scar, suffers a major wound at the hands of the Anti-Monitor, while Hal and Kyle subdue and arrest Sinestro in Coast City. It is learned that 440 Green Lanterns were killed during the course of the war.Green Lantern Corps #19 (Feb. 2008)
As seen in Green Lantern (vol. 4) #25, the Guardians decide to establish the second of the new laws into effect allowing the Green Lantern Corps to overpower the Sinestro Corps. After realizing that the "Blackest Night" prophecy will come to pass, Ganthet and Sayd depart after creating a blue power ring with the intention of creating their own corps, based on the spreading of hope to the rest of the universe. The Anti-Monitor's remains, having been blown across the vacuum of space at the battle's climax, land on a dark planet, where they are transformed by an unknown force into a black power battery.
Origins
"Sinestro Corps War" was based on concepts introduced by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill in the short story "Tygers", published in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 (1986). Writers Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons incorporated several ideas from Moore's stories into "Sinestro Corps War", including the prophecy of the Blackest Night, Sodam Yat, Ranx the Sentient City and the Children of the White Lobe. Leezle Pon, a minor character only mentioned once in Moore's "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" story from 25 years prior, also makes an appearance in Green Lantern #25.
Work began on "Sinestro Corps War" in September 2006. The structure was fluid, at one point becoming a few issues with two bookends to one longer issue. The title was originally just "Sinestro Corps", but during development the creators added the word "War". Eventually, the structure finalized into a one-shot special for release in June, after which the story would alternate between Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps until November. After the crossover's initial publishing successes, DC added four Tales of the Sinestro Corps one-shots to the publishing schedule.
Johns and Ethan Van Sciver first announced the crossover during the DC "Big Guns" panel at the 2006 Fan Expo Canada, with Johns calling it "the next level of Rebirth". By January 2007, Johns, Gibbons, and editor Peter Tomasi had planned out most of the storyline. Sterling Gates, whom Johns had met at a convention, was brought in to write a backup story for the Superman-Prime one-shot and co-write Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps Secret Files #1.
The creators called "Sinestro Corps War" "World War II with the entire universe". In a September 2007 interview, Johns compared "Sinestro Corps War" to the Star Wars trilogy, with Green Lantern: Rebirth as A New Hope and "Sinestro Corps War" as The Empire Strikes Back. References to other science fiction stories were made by artist Ivan Reis, who inserted characters such as E.T., ALF and a Predator into large two-page illustrations. The writers also included the sound "EPA" in Green Lantern #25 as a direct reference to a scene in The Simpsons Movie where Comic Book Guy says it is the sound Green Lantern made when Sinestro threw him in a vat of acid.
Format The main story consisted of 11 parts running through the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps books. Expanding upon the overall story are four one-shots labeled Tales of the Sinestro Corps, as well as one tie-in with Blue Beetle #20. Part One, the one-shot Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1, was released in June 2007. Parts Two through Ten were released between August and December, alternating between Green Lantern #21–25 and Green Lantern Corps #14–18, with an epilogue in Green Lantern #26. The content of Green Lantern Corps #19 was changed to illustrate the battle between Sodam Yat and Superman-Prime in response to the fans' reaction to the story. The conclusion of Green Lantern #25 was delayed by two weeks. After the storyline concluded, Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps Secret Files and Origins #1 was released in December. The issue further explored the back story of the opposing groups and listed every member of the Green Lantern Corps and Sinestro Corps.
There was much internal discussion at DC about how the storyline would be collected. Eventually DC decided to release two hardcover volumes (a February 2008 release containing the first five parts of the story and a June 2008 release containing the last six issues) and a June 2008 hardcover collecting the tie-in issues and backstories. This follows DC Comics' recent trend of releasing durable hardcover collections initially, followed later by softcovers.
Tales of the Sinestro Corps In addition to the main story, DC released four Tales of the Sinestro Corps one-shots in September, October and November 2007. The issues were late additions to the crossover that DC added after the initial successes of "Sinestro Corps War". A hardcover collection of the four issues was released in June 2008. The Tales of the Sinestro Corps one-shots focused on: Parallax, written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Adriana Melo and Marlo Alquiza. Cyborg Superman, written by Alan Burnett and illustrated by Patrick Blaine and Jay Leisten. Superman-Prime (previously solicited as about the Anti-Monitor), written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Pete Woods. The issue also featured the backup story "Fear is a Baby's Cry" written by Sterling Gates and illustrated by Jerry Ordway. Ion, written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Michael Lacomb.
Story and character changes