Hal Jordan: Green Lantern Appreciation 2019

[j9ac9k]

In Justice League Origin/War, that was true because one of the main character arcs of that story was Hal's growth from being a cocky hot head. Other than that story and overtly comedic takes like LEGO and DC Super Hero Girls, when has Hal been portrayed as an idiot or dumb jock?

Venditti in his first run on GL when he made Hal the leader made him out to be a bit clueless (not a good leader, and definitely clueless about women) Maybe more a "dude" than a "jock" per se, but it helped feed into that mentality - specifically that Hal's "act first, think second" later attitude was seen as a detriment or that he lived his entire life that way, as opposed to that just being how he operates as a man of action during life-and-death situations.

[Johnny]

After the failed movie, making Hal an "idiot" simply became the cool thing to do. WB embraced that, especially after Ryan Reynolds kept mocking the character in the Deadpool movies, so that's where we're at now. That's why the showrunner of DCSHG chose the easy way to make Hal look like a fool, rather than portray him in a way that's still consistent with the tone of the show, but without making him look bad. The Hal Jordan character seems to have little value in WB/DC's eyes so there's no reason for them to try to protect him in outside media.

[Vordan]

They basically have written Hal as Guy in most outside adaptions nowadays. Abrasive, thick headed, arrogant, the stereotypical jock. However I think Hal has been getting portrayed better over in the DCAMU.

[liwanag]

[Frontier]

They basically have written Hal as Guy in most outside adaptions nowadays. Abrasive, thick headed, arrogant, the stereotypical jock. However I think Hal has been getting portrayed better over in the DCAMU.

Also in Justice League Action.

If he's voiced by Josh Keaton, it's usually safe to assume he isn't going to come off all that badly.

[Johnny]

Yeah, we all need some of that resolve in the current state the franchise finds itself in.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Well, hopefully Grant Morrison & Liam Sharp's work with Hal will start moving the pendulum the other way again.

Long running characters often go through these kinds of swings in characterization. For much of the 90s, Hal was kind of a sad sack. After Emerald Twilight, he was a one dimensional Magneto, then as Spectre he was kind of a morose blank slate for DeMatties to bounce his tired New Agey philosophizing off of. When Johns restored Hal to his more traditional GL status quo, I enjoyed the brash hot shot persona he'd gone with because it was a lot more fun than what we'd been stuck with for too many years.

[Johnny]

The "brash hot shot" character is great, the "frat boy being the constant butt of jokes because of one bad movie from a decade ago" thing is detrimental to the character's legacy in my opinion, especially with the way WB and DC has embraced it.

[Vordan]

Also in Justice League Action.

If he's voiced by Josh Keaton, it's usually safe to assume he isn't going to come off all that badly.

Keaton or Fillion are my “Hal” voices.

[liwanag]

Well, hopefully Grant Morrison & Liam Sharp's work with Hal will start moving the pendulum the other way again.

Long running characters often go through these kinds of swings in characterization. For much of the 90s, Hal was kind of a sad sack. After Emerald Twilight, he was a one dimensional Magneto, then as Spectre he was kind of a morose blank slate for DeMatties to bounce his tired New Agey philosophizing off of. When Johns restored Hal to his more traditional GL status quo, I enjoyed the brash hot shot persona he'd gone with because it was a lot more fun than what we'd been stuck with for too many years.

That's what I was hoping.

At the same time, hoping that Hal is able to reach a much more wider audience than what's just available to comic books.

Hopefully, WB gets to read Grant's run in TGL.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

That's what I was hoping.

At the same time, hoping that Hal is able to reach a much more wider audience than what's just available to comic books.

Hopefully, WB gets to read Grant's run in TGL.

With so many GLs to choose from, on top of the dozens of other great DC characters, I think there's only so much we can hope for on that front. New characters like Jessica who not only check the diversity boxes, but also have a great hooks like suffering from anxiety issues, are pretty tempting for creators. Unfortunately, more traditional heroes like Hal have already gotten plenty of exposure for decades now, which means there's less new ground to cover with them.

Hopefully, Morrison & Sharp's run will show just how much juice there's still left in a guy like Hal, who's odder than he may appear upon first glance. However, like my other favorite, Superman, that's often a tough sell for both creators and the general public because they like easy to digest flaws and problems everyone can relate to, which more aspirational heroes like Supes & Hal simply aren't examples of. Both of them are pretty tough nuts to crack and they require talented creators willing to craft great stories that utilize them properly.

In the comics right now, thankfully Hal & Supes are being very well served by Morrison & Bendis. With any luck, that will spur others to follow their example in other media.

[Johnny]

[WestPhillyPunisher]

And that's all you need to know about Hal and why his fearlessness makes him a legendary hero. "Give up" is not in the man's vocabulary and he'll fight to his last breath. Plenty damn cool!

[HAN9000]

hoping that the show will eventually portray hal in a better light...

looks like hal and jess are good friends here.

snapshot20190306220255.jpg
That friendship doesn't look very healthy.

[Johnny]