Hal Jordan: Green Lantern Appreciation 2020

[HAN9000]

Agreed about Hal being pansexual, but I think it's unlikely that DC is going to pursue that much, particularly when they've now got Alan as a closeted gay man in the 1940s, which might be a little more compelling than Hal hopping galaxies bedding every sentient being he sees

Well, maybe as the main universe Alan was brought back in Doomsday Clock, they still have a chance to put him back in the closet... If they don't want a golden-age role model like Alan Scott to become a gay fraud who lied to two women into marriage...

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Well, maybe as the main universe Alan was brought back in Doomsday Clock, they still have a chance to put him back in the closet... If they don't want a golden-age role model like Alan Scott to become a gay fraud who lied to two women into marriage...

Life is a little more complicated than that, particularly for gay people born and raised during the mid-20th Century. I'm sure there's going to be more nuance to Alan's past relationships with women than he was simply lying to them. Given the nature of both of those romances, I think there's lot of potential there to be explored. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how they handle Alan's time with both Rose and Molly.

As for Hal, expanding his already well-established ladies man tendencies to more and more alien species of women is just the first step towards establishing that Hal Jordan has no sexual boundaries whatsoever, beyond the age of consent, of course--which even the ill-advised Englehart Arisia/Hal romance took pains to emphasize.

[HAN9000]

Life is a little more complicated than that, particularly for gay people born and raised during the mid-20th Century. I'm sure there's going to be more nuance to Alan's past relationships with women than he was simply lying to them. Given the nature of both of those romances, I think there's lot of potential there to be explored. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how they handle Alan's time with both Rose and Molly.

As for Hal, expanding his already well-established ladies man tendencies to more and more alien species of women is just the first step towards establishing that Hal Jordan has no sexual boundaries whatsoever, beyond the age of consent, of course--which even the ill-advised Englehart Arisia/Hal romance took pains to emphasize.

I don't think so. Yeah gay people were unacceptable in society back then, but that's not an excuse to drag not one but two women into predicament with him. I mean, even if he was confused or ignorant of his orientation when the first marriage happened, why did he choose to have children with her, even marry to another woman after that? He married to the women he didn't love, couldn't love. He ruined their lives with his lies. That's not what heroes do.
I don't think I can ever forgive Alan Scott as a character if they do this.

BTW, I've always thought people who don't read comics are misguided by the media or gossip chain network about the Arisia/Hal relartionship. In comics, Hal was not attracted by Arisia when he thought she was a girl. That romance only happened after 1) she grew herself up 2) he finally admitted she was a fully-grown woman mentally strong enough to be his equal, even protect him.

[liwanag]

If anyone picked up The Earth one book today, how is it? Have mine preordered, will get it soon.

gl earth one is already out? totally lost track of it, i thought it was supposed to be by the end of august.

i need to check it out soon. hopefully it's as good as the first volume.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I don't think so. Yeah gay people were unacceptable in society back then, but that's not an excuse to drag not one but two women into predicament with him. I mean, even if he was confused or ignorant of his orientation when the first marriage happened, why did he choose to have children with her, even marry to another woman after that? He married to the women he didn't love, couldn't love. He ruined their lives with his lies. That's not what heroes do.
I don't think I can ever forgive Alan Scott as a character if they do this.

BTW, I've always thought people who don't read comics are misguided by the media or gossip chain network about the Arisia/Hal relartionship. In comics, Hal was not attracted by Arisia when he thought she was a girl. That romance only happened after 1) she grew herself up 2) he finally admitted she was a fully-grown woman mentally strong enough to be his equal, even protect him.

To be fair, the whole storyline that Englehart wrote was ill-advised from the get-go for precisely the reasons you just mentioned. Unless a person actually read the story of Hal & Arisia's romance, it makes him sound like a pedophile. There's no way that this kind of story would have been allowed these days.

As for Alan, I was impressed enough with how they handled Alan's story in the 80th Anniversary Special that I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in regards to how they handle Alan's previous relationships with women. Hopefully, it's handled well.

Given the circumstances of both of his primary relationships with women, I don't think it'll be too hard to make it work without diminishing Alan, Rose or Molly.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

gl earth one is already out? totally lost track of it, i thought it was supposed to be by the end of august.

i need to check it out soon. hopefully it's as good as the first volume.

I've only read the beginning and I'm very impressed. For those who didn't like the less traditionally heroic Hal from Volume 1, this is very much superhero Hal so far in Volume 2. It's also interesting to see Hal as the only superhero on Earth, which is something I've never seen before. Even the Ryan Reynolds movie didn't commit to him being the only costumed hero because they were hedging their bets on that film being the beginning of a shared universe that would have included Superman, Batman and the rest.

[Anthony Shaw]

Who was the writer for this story?

I'm sorry for the late response. The story was written by Cary Burkett, and drawn by Joe Stanton from Adventure Comics #459 (1978).

[Gaius]

Honestly, I never think of Hal as straight... He is clealy pansexual in the way how writers like Morrison or Johns portray him. Besides, how pathetic it is to remain straight after seeing all those different extraterrestrial life forms...
I guess DC might consider it too radical to let A-lst male characters come out of the closet. On the other hand, IMO, Alan, the family man, should never be gay.

Reminds me of an interview Morrison gave where he viewed Hal coming across so many distinct and varied alien life that the differences between individual humans comes off as either minuscule or unnoticeable to him.

[silly]

I'm sorry for the late response. The story was written by Cary Burkett, and drawn by Joe Stanton from Adventure Comics #459 (1978).

Thanks. I'm not familiar with the writer, but I get the feeling he has some crazy ideas.

[HAN9000]

Green Lantern Earth One Volume 2 is great. I hope the management shakeup at DC wouldn't impact a volume 3 coming out in the future.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Green Lantern Earth One Volume 2 is great. I hope the management shakeup at DC wouldn't impact a volume 3 coming out in the future.

Given DC's shift towards more stand-alone, bookstore-friendly OGNs, I think it's a forgone conclusion that we'll get a Volume 3 as long as Hardman has the time and interest in making one.

However, once Morrison & Sharp wrap up The Green Lantern Season Two, I don't think there's any guarantee that we'll have any comics where you can count on regular appearances of Hal Jordan anymore now that the monthly books are getting severely cut back.

Justice League's GL spot will no doubt go to John or Jessica, and I'm not sure if the Green Lantern franchise is going to make the cut for a monthly book, at least until the HBO Max series gets going and is as successful as we're all hoping it is.

If there is a monthly GL book, I suspect it'll be a team book rather than a Hal solo.

[HsssH]

I'm not sure about that, if they'll cut the line down and will focus on titles that sell then I think Hal as a lead takes priority over other GLs. I see other GLs being in Justice League and the like.

[HAN9000]

Given DC's shift towards more stand-alone, bookstore-friendly OGNs, I think it's a forgone conclusion that we'll get a Volume 3 as long as Hardman has the time and interest in making one.

However, once Morrison & Sharp wrap up The Green Lantern Season Two, I don't think there's any guarantee that we'll have any comics where you can count on regular appearances of Hal Jordan anymore now that the monthly books are getting severely cut back.

Justice League's GL spot will no doubt go to John or Jessica, and I'm not sure if the Green Lantern franchise is going to make the cut for a monthly book, at least until the HBO Max series gets going and is as successful as we're all hoping it is.

If there is a monthly GL book, I suspect it'll be a team book rather than a Hal solo.

You are saying John or Jessica will have more exposure than Hal only because they provide diversity? That's really not a wise commercial decision as AT&T has just shrinked its workforce to save money...
Well, the Green Lantern is the third best-selling solo of DC. If they think it's not good enough and cancel the title after season two ends, maybe it is what it is. And I have to say, a GL team book always sold less than a Hal solo in history.
For my part, I grow tired easily and I've been a DC fan and kept buying DC comics for this long only because monthly books give regularly new excitement. If they cancel GL monthly book, maybe I will turn back to play video games (and disappear from this forum) very soon.

[chachi]

Green Lantern Earth One Volume 2 is great. I hope the management shakeup at DC wouldn't impact a volume 3 coming out in the future.

Sounds good. I will have mine tomorrow. Looking forward to reading over the weekend.

[Anthony Shaw]

I'm not sure about that, if they'll cut the line down and will focus on titles that sell then I think Hal as a lead takes priority over other GLs. I see other GLs being in Justice League and the like.

This is what I'm thinking.