After the Crisis On Infinite Earths event (in 1985), the DC Universe was a bold place, with the company having no qualms whatsoever in changing the status quo and or even the identity of any of their characters, even the ones fans considered “untouchable”. It started with Wally West replacing the “dead” Barry Allen in Crisis #12. Then came the unimaginable in 1987, when Superman was killed off and “substituted” by four other Supermen; followed by Wonder Woman being replaced with Artemis.
These replacements resumed in 1993 in more dramatic fashion. Not only did they make Azrael the “new” Batman, they also had Bane breaking Bruce Wayne’s back and crippling him. With four of their biggest names “altered”, it was only a matter of time before they came for Green Lantern.
After all, no one was deemed untouchable now, and Hal Jordan has been protecting Sector 2814 aka Earth since the Silver Age. Being on the job for far too long had made him susceptible to many blind spots, with the main one being his undivided loyalty to his “masters” – the Guardians of Oa. When Hal wanted to use his power ring to resurrect the population of Coast City after it was destroyed by Mongul ( Green Lantern , Vol.
3 #46), he was brushed off by the Guardians, so he decided to go rogue and turn on them. 'Green Lantern' (Vol. 3) #48 saw Hal Jordan resurrect Coast City with his power ring, and also featured the first appearance of Kyle Rayner.
In that epic 1994 Eternal Twilight stor.