Zero Hour 30th Anniversary Special #1: The DC Problem With Pocket Universes

Zero Hour 30th Anniversary Special #1 revisits both the line-wide event that attempted to clean up the DCU and the iconic Emerald Twilight event in Green Lantern continuity that had Hal Jordan go crazy trying to rebuild Coast City and introduced Kyle Rayner as the new and only ring slinger.

Kyle Rayner finds himself pulled into a DCU where Superman died, Batman never healed from his encounter with Bane, and he never existed. Like this event did 30 years ago and other stories that deal with the DC continuity the story aptly starts with the death of The Flash. Marz and Jurgens then reveal that Parallax-Hal is once again up to his old tricks of tying to create the “perfect universe,” with a reconstructed Coast City at the center of it.

Readers are treated to favorite ’90s characters like Azrael, Jack Knight Starman, Warrior Guy Gardner, The Ray and more as the story, told from Kyle’s perspective unfolds and he learns that a version of Parallax-Hal survived and created a pocket universe in which he is trying to make permanent. Much like the original Zero Hour. the heroes face the question of who decides which timestream lives and which dies, so the other can exist.

Not only was this anniversary a chance to revisit the DC event that is hugely unrated and appreciated, but it also has what seems to be future story jumping-off points for Kyle and the rest of the Green Lanterns of 2814 and beyond. It was also a nice touch to see a certain Liner Man reappear, meaning the possibility for future storylines involving them.

The collaboration of many artists who contributed to the book works seamlessly and also provides nostalgia for the ’90s era from which the original story takes place.

While some characters from the original Zero Hour don’t make an appearance, forgotten characters such as Viking Prince, Shining Knight, and others make cameo appearances, adding a certain Je ne sais quoi that will delight long time readers and hopefully spark interest in newer ones.