Well, Parallax is a parasite that needs a host body, so I guess the gray hair is supposed to be more of a sign of possession than anything else. In horror movies when a character is possessed by a supernatural entity, their physical state always starts to deteriorate so I'm thinking that's what Johns was going for to try to logically explain the gray hair.
Also the "hair going white from fright" thing and Parallax being the embodiment of fear. (and yes, it's a good visual cue) I believe Johns had Hal say he went white because fear had crept in. Invisible Kid II got that white streak just from looking Darkseid in the face.
speaking of Parallax do you think DC will ever bring back the other color entities like ION back one day?
With what seems to be coming up within the next year or so for DC, probably not anytime soon, but who knows. Green Lanterns' first arc had The Butcher regrowing/reforming (and tbh I was expecting Hal to become the new GL entity with Ion gone kinda like Black Hand). Not sure if the others are still dead or I missed a mention of them, but if a writer wanted I'm sure they can be brought back easily.
New 52 question:
Currently re-reading through New Guardians. There's a flashback scene during 'Rise of the Third Army' where Ganthet and rookie Kyle are on Oa, and Ganthet tells him that he needs to get to Kilowog "for training."
When this was originally released I either breezed passed it, or thought it was curious and then totally forgot about it. In #1, there's another flashback to Ganthet giving Kyle the ring for the first time, outside of a bar in NY. So... the New 52 timeline (screwy as it was) seems to both acknowledge his time as the Torchbearer, but also seems to gloss over it and put a young Kyle on Oa for standard rookie training, which of course he never got.
Am I totally reading that wrong, or did the New 52 try to edit his backstory on the fly? Since the GL universe didn't get the hard reboot that most of the rest of the DCU got, I assumed Kyle's origin was mostly intact from the Marz era.
I don't recall that scene, but is it possible Kyle was still the torchbearer but for a shorter time before bringing back the Guardians and Ganthet sent Kyle to Kilowog because he had never had formal GL ring training? Or did they explicitly state that he had just gotten the ring?
I hope the colored beings will return I think the concept really added to the myths and I miss Sodam as ION.With what seems to be coming up within the next year or so for DC, probably not anytime soon, but who knows. Green Lanterns' first arc had The Butcher regrowing/reforming (and tbh I was expecting Hal to become the new GL entity with Ion gone kinda like Black Hand). Not sure if the others are still dead or I missed a mention of them, but if a writer wanted I'm sure they can be brought back easily.
I don't know the context, but I have seen the page in question and while not explicitly stated, it seems implied Kyle is a rookie lantern here:
GLNG15.jpg
I do too. I like the concept, but I think they have lost quite a bit of their luster. Imo while the different colored corps were used a lot (to the point of it being too much for some), I feel like the entities themselves were underutilized.
Over-saturation. That's typically what drives things that were once popular into dormancy in entertainment. People eventually have their fill of something and get tired of it. That's what happened with the different colored Corps. Things are sometimes cyclical, though, so they may rear their heads again in major ways at some point down the line. Who can say when, though. It could be years and years.
Having been a fan of Green Lantern before that concept ever took root, I never cared for it. It was interesting and novel during Sinestro Corps war, but got completely banal and out of hand after that to me. Concept got old fast, and I didn't appreciate how it morphed Green Lantern into a near different thing with a completely different focus than what I was used to. Suddenly, it was ALL about emotions, colored rings, and Corps fighting each other nonstop.
^ Yeah, that's the scene I was thinking of. It just comes off very rookie-ish, and Kyle's "A girl Guardian!" kind of reinforces it. Having just re-read the Marz/Winnick stuff not too long ago, one minute he's bringing the Guardians back, and then the New 52 hits and he's Kid Novice. It only seems to fit if Hal is possessed by Parallax, destroys the Corps, Ganthet gives Kyle a ring, Kyle becomes GL/has his solo adventures/brings everyone back within, like, a month and a half of one another.
Ah well. I know the New 52 5-year timeline stepped all over continuity. That scene in New Guardians was just... weird.