Hal Jordan: Green Lantern Appreciation 2020

[j9ac9k]

Not to say he'll actually write Hal, but he did a great job with him during his Brave and the Bold run.

He also wrote "JLA:Year One." While I liked those series, and Waid's Hal wasn't the worst, he didn't present the best Hal Jordan for me. Granted, in Y1, Hal was young, so he was presented as arrogant (and a bit petty) rather than self-assured or confident. (a slight difference, but it's the difference between a likable Hal and one who's a jerk) And in "B&B" I wasn't thrilled with Hal as a guy who can't get his personal life together. Again, not too different than how Morrison depicts him, but it's the difference between "Hal can't hold a job and never has money" and "Hal isn't tied down to anything on earth because his head is in the stars."

Of course, both of those were a long time ago, so as with anything else, I will wait and see.

[Gaius]

that would have been a treat. an interview or something, just to promote the series the creators were working on.

Especially since Earth One's case it just came out and still technically GL's 80th anniversary, so something to promote it maybe.

[Mutatis_Mutandis]

He also wrote "JLA:Year One." While I liked those series, and Waid's Hal wasn't the worst, he didn't present the best Hal Jordan for me. Granted, in Y1, Hal was young, so he was presented as arrogant (and a bit petty) rather than self-assured or confident. (a slight difference, but it's the difference between a likable Hal and one who's a jerk) And in "B&B" I wasn't thrilled with Hal as a guy who can't get his personal life together. Again, not too different than how Morrison depicts him, but it's the difference between "Hal can't hold a job and never has money" and "Hal isn't tied down to anything on earth because his head is in the stars."

Of course, both of those were a long time ago, so as with anything else, I will wait and see.

This isn't the impression I got from Waid's Hal tbh. It was more the impression of those around Hal who couldn't make head or tails of his lifestyle. But yeah, Morrison's take on Hal's "wandering" is pretty much the definitive one for me now and if Waid does write Hal, I hope we don't go back to the self-pitying "I can't hold a job" Hal of the mid/late 80s.

[SJNeal]

Honestly, I kind of miss the mature, reflective Hal of the early 90's. He was confident - not arrogant - and had learned from his past mistakes while also not being afraid to make new ones if it meant doing the right thing.

Unfortunately that take came from he-who-shall-not-be named... :/

[Frontier]

Honestly, I kind of miss the mature, reflective Hal of the early 90's. He was confident - not arrogant - and had learned from his past mistakes while also not being afraid to make new ones if it meant doing the right thing.

Unfortunately that take came from he-who-shall-not-be named... :/

This reminds me of GL:TAS Hal.

[Gaius]

This reminds me of GL:TAS Hal.

I got the sense in GL: TAS, Hal hadn't been a Lantern that particularly long.

Though that's probably because it was meant to be vaguely tied into the movie.

[silly]

Grant's TGL has a confident, capable Hal. Hopefully DC does not diminish Hal after this.

[Frontier]

I got the sense in GL: TAS, Hal hadn't been a Lantern that particularly long.

Though that's probably because it was meant to be vaguely tied into the movie.

I never really got that sense. He seemed fairly experienced, if not a vet on par with Sinestro. Maybe about year 2-3.

[j9ac9k]

Honestly, I kind of miss the mature, reflective Hal of the early 90's. He was confident - not arrogant - and had learned from his past mistakes while also not being afraid to make new ones if it meant doing the right thing.

No to be disagreeable, but with the sole intent of simply discussing the nuances of a great character and the various changes he's been through: while I liked that version of Hal (as I like most versions of him to varying degrees), but the thing about that Hal that I did not like so much was the "mature" aspect. The grey temples, and the elder statesman role he had was nice in terms of respect and acknowledgement of his experience, but it also made him "the dad" in many situations. The JLI always wished that Hal was there instead of Guy, but Hal ended up in situations where he had to tell the "kids" to behave. He ended up rolling his eyes at Guy or lecturing him and he kinda lost that "hotshot pilot" fun aspect to his character. Even compared to John, Hal became the more old-fashioned, straight-laced guy. And then the worst of it was when Hal "maturely" refuses to be goaded by Guy into a fistfight for the right to be on earth, only to fight him anyway two pages later. As with most things, balance is key, and Hal is actually a complicated character with many facets and if those facets aren't presented in the right ratios, you end up with "arrogant jock" Hal sometimes or "old fuddy-duddy Hal" other times.

And yeah, GL: The Animated Series is one example of what I consider to be a perfectly balanced depiction of Hal's characteristics.

[SJNeal]

No to be disagreeable, but with the sole intent of simply discussing the nuances of a great character and the various changes he's been through: while I liked that version of Hal (as I like most versions of him to varying degrees), but the thing about that Hal that I did not like so much was the "mature" aspect. The grey temples, and the elder statesman role he had was nice in terms of respect and acknowledgement of his experience, but it also made him "the dad" in many situations. The JLI always wished that Hal was there instead of Guy, but Hal ended up in situations where he had to tell the "kids" to behave. He ended up rolling his eyes at Guy or lecturing him and he kinda lost that "hotshot pilot" fun aspect to his character. Even compared to John, Hal became the more old-fashioned, straight-laced guy. And then the worst of it was when Hal "maturely" refuses to be goaded by Guy into a fistfight for the right to be on earth, only to fight him anyway two pages later. As with most things, balance is key, and Hal is actually a complicated character with many facets and if those facets aren't presented in the right ratios, you end up with "arrogant jock" Hal sometimes or "old fuddy-duddy Hal" other times.

I hear ya! I think they could have continued presenting Hal the way I described without making him "old". The grey temples and dad-lectures really worked against him after a few years, and probably (definitely?) contributed to the "fuddy-duddy" vibe a lot of readers were starting to get around that time...

[Mutatis_Mutandis]

No to be disagreeable, but with the sole intent of simply discussing the nuances of a great character and the various changes he's been through: while I liked that version of Hal (as I like most versions of him to varying degrees), but the thing about that Hal that I did not like so much was the "mature" aspect. The grey temples, and the elder statesman role he had was nice in terms of respect and acknowledgement of his experience, but it also made him "the dad" in many situations. The JLI always wished that Hal was there instead of Guy, but Hal ended up in situations where he had to tell the "kids" to behave. He ended up rolling his eyes at Guy or lecturing him and he kinda lost that "hotshot pilot" fun aspect to his character. Even compared to John, Hal became the more old-fashioned, straight-laced guy. And then the worst of it was when Hal "maturely" refuses to be goaded by Guy into a fistfight for the right to be on earth, only to fight him anyway two pages later. As with most things, balance is key, and Hal is actually a complicated character with many facets and if those facets aren't presented in the right ratios, you end up with "arrogant jock" Hal sometimes or "old fuddy-duddy Hal" other times.

And yeah, GL: The Animated Series is one example of what I consider to be a perfectly balanced depiction of Hal's characteristics.

It's also kind of weird because in the early issues of that run (issue 3 or 4 I think - not sure), Hal giddily takes up the challenge to physically fight Guy without rings (as he should imo). But yeah, midway through volume 3, Hal had very much become a bland "fuddy-duddy" type. I don't think Hal being "mature" needs to translate into him being bland and doing the conventionally sensible thing. Morrison's Hal imo is perfectly mature even if it's not something that may be read that way by his earth peers. I think early volume 3 Hal was still rougher-around-the-edges and more interesting than whatever he became by the time they brought him back to earth.

[Gaius]

I hear ya! I think they could have continued presenting Hal the way I described without making him "old". The grey temples and dad-lectures really worked against him after a few years, and probably (definitely?) contributed to the "fuddy-duddy" vibe a lot of readers were starting to get around that time...

Yeah, I still come across people on sites I used to go to who think that's Hal's default to this day.

[HAN9000]

He also wrote "JLA:Year One." While I liked those series, and Waid's Hal wasn't the worst, he didn't present the best Hal Jordan for me. Granted, in Y1, Hal was young, so he was presented as arrogant (and a bit petty) rather than self-assured or confident. (a slight difference, but it's the difference between a likable Hal and one who's a jerk) And in "B&B" I wasn't thrilled with Hal as a guy who can't get his personal life together. Again, not too different than how Morrison depicts him, but it's the difference between "Hal can't hold a job and never has money" and "Hal isn't tied down to anything on earth because his head is in the stars."

Of course, both of those were a long time ago, so as with anything else, I will wait and see.

I agree with this.
Hal had some interesting moments in JLA:Year One but overall I don't think Waid has a strong record on portraying Hal. And I've never liked his Brave&Bold.
Also, though Waid's done many great works and his Flash is one of my favourite runs, he never strikes me as a very imaginative writer. And I always think imagination is a necessary quality as a GL writer.
But I don't think Waid taking over GL is the most likely outcome. He will definitely choose Superman over GL if he gets a chance.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

No to be disagreeable, but with the sole intent of simply discussing the nuances of a great character and the various changes he's been through: while I liked that version of Hal (as I like most versions of him to varying degrees), but the thing about that Hal that I did not like so much was the "mature" aspect. The grey temples, and the elder statesman role he had was nice in terms of respect and acknowledgement of his experience, but it also made him "the dad" in many situations. The JLI always wished that Hal was there instead of Guy, but Hal ended up in situations where he had to tell the "kids" to behave. He ended up rolling his eyes at Guy or lecturing him and he kinda lost that "hotshot pilot" fun aspect to his character. Even compared to John, Hal became the more old-fashioned, straight-laced guy. And then the worst of it was when Hal "maturely" refuses to be goaded by Guy into a fistfight for the right to be on earth, only to fight him anyway two pages later. As with most things, balance is key, and Hal is actually a complicated character with many facets and if those facets aren't presented in the right ratios, you end up with "arrogant jock" Hal sometimes or "old fuddy-duddy Hal" other times.

And yeah, GL: The Animated Series is one example of what I consider to be a perfectly balanced depiction of Hal's characteristics.

This is why I’m headstand with Waid. A lot of that elder statesman stuff stemmed from using Hal in his Flash run and putting him on a similar plane as Jay Garrick. Having Hal getting the “old vet” hero function in stories made him primed up for Parallax so a new young fresh character could take the reigns.

After all that’s been done with Hal, I’m not interested in watching Waid and his affinity for legacy come in and mess the line back up to pre 2004 levels where it lacked focus and nobody cared about GL because it was experimented on too much. If he wants to make it a family book with the other GL’s fine, but I could easily see him picking a favorite and forcing everyone else into roles that aren’t good for them longterm to do it.

[liwanag]