1994
History is unraveling, and the heroes are running out of time.
Start here without the ending: The premise and reading plan below avoid the resolution. Plot history and later continuity changes are in a closed section.
A DC-wide continuity event after Crisis on Infinite Earths. For Lantern readers it continues the consequences of Emerald Twilight. It is not Hal’s final appearance as Parallax.
People and events from incompatible histories begin appearing together as time collapses. The heroes investigate a threat that affects the past and future at once. Extant is the visible enemy early in the story; the larger plan emerges as the countdown proceeds.
Watch for: the competing ideas of repairing history and controlling it. This is useful if you want the 1990s Hal/Kyle transition or the wider DC timeline. It is less direct as a first Green Lantern book because much of the cast comes from other series.
The 2024 Zero Hour 30th Anniversary Special is a later revisit, not a missing sixth chapter of the 1994 series. DC’s anniversary-special description identifies that distinction.
Parallax is revealed as the force working with Extant to remake the timeline. Hal wants to restore what was lost, but his plan would replace everyone else’s history with his own design. Oliver Queen helps stop him, and Damage provides the spark that restarts the universe.
The reset changes parts of continuity rather than erasing every prior adventure. The Justice Society suffers severe losses, and the Legion of Super-Heroes receives a new beginning. DC’s subsequent “Zero Month” issues supply fresh starting points. DC’s Zero Hour explainer distinguishes the story’s resolution from these publishing consequences.
Defeat here does not conclude Hal’s Parallax period. The Final Night later places him in a crisis involving the Sun-Eater, while Green Lantern: Rebirth eventually reframes his fall as possession by the fear entity. Read those as subsequent developments, not explanations the 1994 event itself supplied.
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time (1994) #3 — main cover. Dan Jurgens (cover pencils); Jerry Ordway (cover inks). Artwork source & details.
Reading priorities and commentary are our editorial guidance. Issue ranges and publication context are checked against the linked publisher records. Reviewed November 4, 2026.
Credits refer to the illustrations shown here. Open a record for sources, adaptations and unresolved details. Some artwork and source pages contain story spoilers.
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