***Contains Spoilers***
I am glad that I read Zero Hour: Crisis in Time because it significantly impacts both Hal Jordan as a character and the DC Universe as a whole. It is worth a one-time read if you are a DC fan, but that is about as far as I would recommend the Zero Hour storyline and tie-ins.
Main Story
The storyline was very confusing and focused on a bunch of characters that I don’t follow and have never heard of, like the JSA, Hank Hall, Waverider, etc. The story was very choppy and required interest and knowledge of the ’90s universe that I just didn’t have. Unfortunately, from the research of DC, I knew that Hal Jordan comes into play as Parallax, but I was kind of expecting more. I thought he would be a bigger bad guy, crazier, etc., but only came into play towards the end.
The one part of the story that I did like was the ending. I thought that some of the deaths, especially Batgirl, were powerful. And I really could feel the emotion when Green Arrow had to shoot Hal, his best friend, and the turmoil it caused him afterward.
Tie-ins
In full transparency, I only read the Batman tie-ins since that is where I am focused in my reading at the moment. I will get to Superman when I come back around and catch up on that corner of the DC Universe. With that said, I felt the Batman tie-ins were uninspired. A required break from wrapping up Knightfall. The only interesting storylines were when Batgirl came back and met Oracle and when Tim Drake Robin teams up with young Dick Grayson Robin. The latter of which was a nice setup with the Drake/Robin and Grayson/Nightwing team up in Prodigal.
Zero Month
Again, I only read the Batman-related Zero Month issues. Zero Hour did not retcon the Batman universe much but origins are always interesting. They were nice refreshers and I did learn that Bruce applied to the FBI. The Catwoman origin was also new for me.
Overall, I understand what Zero Hour Crisis in Time was trying to do. I don’t plan to read the main story again but will visit the Superman-related tie-ins and Zero Month.
Feature Image Zero Hour: Crisis in Time – art by Dan Jurgens
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