Hal Jordan: Green Lantern Appreciation 2019

[SebastianS]

I think what you said is full of contradictions.
Events don't happen themselves. They are driven by the characters. I can't see how the story overshadows character.

Well, there are the plot-driven events, too. Most of Geoff's late work seemed like that to me.

God Of Light special is great but it is not as symbolic and meaningful in building Hal as The End which I prefer. That's OK. That's just personal taste. However, God Of Light special is included in Darkseid War which should be counted as an event story you prejudice against.

Seems like I am not being too clear here, so I should clarify. First, I am not against events. I am against constant, non-stop, one event after another cycle. Second, as I said, I prefer God of Light over The End because God of Light is not related to the Emotional Spectrum, which I do not like at all.

First, you said "I think the last 15 years Hal is a bland Hal." and then you emphasize "I did like Geoff John's run on GL all the way to Sinestro Corps War, and a little after that." Which one is true?

Considering Sinetro Corps War around 11 to 12 years old, and after, to me, the quality of the book left a lot to be desired, it is not a stretch to claim "the last 15 years have been bland." However, I can rectify my statement to read: The last 10 years have been bland.

Well you really shocked me. I can't see why a Hal fan is opposed to Secret Origin. It's one of my favorite stories all the time. Do you prefer Emerald Dawn?

I prefer Showcase #22.

BTW I love rainbow lanterns. That concept added more potential and enriched the GL franchise.

Well, we will have to agree to disagree here. I really can't stand the rainbow lanterns.

Oh and I forgot to say, about romantic interest, Hal is a strong, independent male character. He doesn't need romantic interest. Just kidding. I think Geoff Johns wrote a pretty decent Hal/Carol relationship. As in, one of the best portrayals of their love in GL comic history.

I think it had its ups and downs. A lot more could have been done in that regard. But hey, this is simply my opinion.

[SiegePerilous02]

I have seen people complaining about those characters (or certain iteration of those characters) too. I guess it all depends on personal preferences. For example, while I admit that for most of his recent history Batman has been ... well, Batgod, I prefer whenever he is actually more of a detective, and less of a all time strategist/brawler. To me, Bruce is a mix of Zorro and Sherlock Holmes. And Superman, for as much as he always see the best in everyone, seems to resort to his fist more often than not. But perhaps it is the medium, which doesn't allow for a different type of stories in a monthly format.

Which leads to my preference over the 90s heroes, with that mix of "FRIENDS" and daily struggle added to their superheroics.

Speaking of Hal, I think that whenever I call him bland, it is because the characteristics you mentioned, in Hal, don't add to anything new. I guess it is hard to pinpoint, exactly, because I do like the character, and I think there is AMAZING untapped potential, and hence, why I think the last 15 years Hal is a bland Hal.

I think I'm the opposite. The 90s heroes having their daily struggles mixed in soap opera style is kind of boring to me. I think Marvel perfected it back in the 60s, but DC has been a mixed bag when they try to apply the same formula to their larger than life characters and mythologies. FRIENDS isn't a show that appeals to me, so when they mix it into Green Lantern (or whatever) is an instant no sell.

And I think Hal and Superman and others are difficult to add anything new to, but the same can be said for pretty much any character published by the big two who have been around for so long. Or even if the newer characters, who are going to reach that point eventually. I never found the characters introduced in the 90s as necessarily more complex than what came before, just different.

[SebastianS]

I think I'm the opposite. The 90s heroes having their daily struggles mixed in soap opera style is kind of boring to me. I think Marvel perfected it back in the 60s, but DC has been a mixed bag when they try to apply the same formula to their larger than life characters and mythologies. FRIENDS isn't a show that appeals to me, so when they mix it into Green Lantern (or whatever) is an instant no sell.

And I think Hal and Superman and others are difficult to add anything new to, but the same can be said for pretty much any character published by the big two who have been around for so long. Or even if the newer characters, who are going to reach that point eventually. I never found the characters introduced in the 90s as necessarily more complex than what came before, just different.

Totally agree with you here. I don't think the characters introduced in the 90s are more complex. It is just a matter of personal taste. I would like to see Hal either protecting Coast City permanently, or based on Oa, I am fine either way, as long as I can see him having some sort of personal life besides the ring.

[Johnny]

I think Hal not being in Coast City or his supporting cast being neglected all the time boils down to DC just not wanting him to be the Earth Lantern. He only seems to go back to Earth or shows up with the Justice League in case some kind of event story is taking place. There are too many Lanterns and DC seems to think that giving Hal something to do in general is more important than him being on Earth in particular. I doubt it was a coincidence that Morrison had Hal being so bored when he was stuck on Earth in the first issue. The irony is that different DC writers have said before that the main difference between Hal and most of the other GLs is that they're franchise outlets while he is more of a solo operator, yet they hardly ever seem to emphasize on his solo material.

[liwanag]

Totally agree with you here. I don't think the characters introduced in the 90s are more complex. It is just a matter of personal taste. I would like to see Hal either protecting Coast City permanently, or based on Oa, I am fine either way, as long as I can see him having some sort of personal life besides the ring.

i would love to see Coast City elevated to the status of Metropolis or Gotham, or even Central City.

They have fleshed out characters that have sometimes held books on their own. Like Gotham Central (wasn't there a Metropolis SCU title too?).

Sure would like to see Hal interact more with his city.

[Mutatis_Mutandis]

Do we have a preview for TGL #4 yet?

[liwanag]

[Anthony Shaw]

I totally understand why a lot of readers aren't fans of Hal Jordan after what Denny O'Neil did to him. He completely neutered any nuance that John Broome had established in order to make Hal the stuffy white guy square to Ollie's rich kid turned hippie. Because of how much attention these stories got, this characterization stuck for a lot of people who never bothered to look further.

You broke it down far better than what I was trying to convey, and in far fewer words, too.

[vartox]

Do we have a preview for TGL #4 yet?

Yes! https://www.avclub.com/a-cosmic-crim...-la-1832326125

[Johnny]

The art is out of this world. Sharp tweeted that he thought this issue had some if his best work and judging by the preview pages I can definitely see why.

[HAN9000]

Well, there are the plot-driven events, too. Most of Geoff's late work seemed like that to me.



Seems like I am not being too clear here, so I should clarify. First, I am not against events. I am against constant, non-stop, one event after another cycle. Second, as I said, I prefer God of Light over The End because God of Light is not related to the Emotional Spectrum, which I do not like at all.



Considering Sinetro Corps War around 11 to 12 years old, and after, to me, the quality of the book left a lot to be desired, it is not a stretch to claim "the last 15 years have been bland." However, I can rectify my statement to read: The last 10 years have been bland.



I prefer Showcase #22.



Well, we will have to agree to disagree here. I really can't stand the rainbow lanterns.



I think it had its ups and downs. A lot more could have been done in that regard. But hey, this is simply my opinion.

I feel quite the opposite to you. I can always see vivid and impressive characters in Geoff Johns' events. Geoff is very good at shape characters in details. Plot-driven events to me is like Metal. And I don't think constant, non-stop, one event after another cycle is a wrong thing if it is done right. The last half of his run is coherent and smooth and always include moments to loosen up. Agreed there are some examples done wrong, like Venditti(sorry I bring up him with a disapproving tone again).
Showcase #22 actually is not an origin story. It just introduced the new Green Lantern to the readers. We know nothing about his family, how he grew up, how he became who he is, and how he got his ring. You think Hal should stay as an unexploited land for 60 years? While you think Geoff Johns's rebuilding made Hal "bland"? That's just unreasonable to me.

[HAN9000]

i would love to see Coast City elevated to the status of Metropolis or Gotham, or even Central City.

They have fleshed out characters that have sometimes held books on their own. Like Gotham Central (wasn't there a Metropolis SCU title too?).

Sure would like to see Hal interact more with his city.

I agree with this. I hope Morrison's prepared something for the city without fear.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

You broke it down far better than what I was trying to convey, and in far fewer words, too.

The upside to Morrison's already stellar run is that he'll hopefully be able to finally show readers who didn’t appreciate Hal why he's so interesting

[Mutatis_Mutandis]

Yes! https://www.avclub.com/a-cosmic-crim...-la-1832326125

Oh wow, that makes me really excited. The art is amazing. I remember some review mentioning how Morrison's GL felt like the wild west in space and a "man with no name" is definitely a western trope. Wonder who that is.

[liwanag]