Hal Jordan: Green Lantern Appreciation 2020

[Johnny]

[SJNeal]

^ ^ ^

Ignorance is bliss, Hal...

[K. Jones]

in space, no one can hear you tweet.

[K. Jones]

So yeah we could probably start talking about Season 2 Issue # 1 here, yeah?

I'm not quite sure what to make of this issue. There's certainly tempting kernels that are intriguing me, recurring characters who I didn't expect to be recurring characters who I like seeing recur. Maltus is surely an interesting thing that I can't quite believe I've never read up on more. But I'm still not sure what to make of the issue as a whole. The pacing wasn't off it was just ... I dunno, kind of unsettling. But I don't mean unsettling in the "downplaying something horrifying" sense, I mean it succeeded in making me feel as unsettled as Hal Jordan is ... like, things are off-kilter, some new things are happening, new questions, new quizzical things, then wham, you're stuck back on Earth the one place you just like visiting, not staying at. Like, unable to settle down.

Obviously as a Morrisonophile, the notion of the Old Guardians, who are ... uh, the Templar Guardians, but whatever ... ascending to some Ultra-War in some higher sphere, the Earth-15 weirdness, the Cosmic Grail, all that stuff is what's really driving me nuts for more, because Blackstars ended up tying into it more than I thought it would, there's something going on here, something at play that's been there for a while now, and I'm like ... oh come on give me a deeper hint!

[HAN9000]

I wonder if Morrison's rewriten his script due to the reduction because issue 1 is too tense and substantial. It feels like compressing 3 issues into one.
Anyway it's a good one.

BTW, I'm curious about one thing. Is Hal's marital status widowed now?

[HAN9000]

I don't think I've seen Hal wear ceremonial clothes before.

He should've done that more often. He looks great in them.

[Johnny]

BTW, I'm curious about one thing. Is Hal's marital status widowed now?

I doubt the "marriage" to Belzebeth is considered "official". Or at least Hal wouldn't seem to think so.

[sifighter]

I doubt the "marriage" to Belzebeth is considered "official". Or at least Hal wouldn't seem to think so.

Yeah I mean what kind of legal holding would a rewritten alternate dimensional marriage with an alien vampire even have on earth, let alone this comic universe.

[Johnny]

Seeing Hal being this irritated about going back to Earth feels kind of strange, but I guess it could be a start for him to reconnect to his old life in a way.

[jetengine]

Did anyone else get the feeling Jess appeance and dialogue was a vague shot at her ? Like Hals giving this big chunk of text about his issues with earth then she LITERALLY appears out of nowhere and goes "I'm so different lol".

Now maybe I'm reading too much into this, but considering how Superman effectively shredded Snyder and Bendis work in BlackStars I'm curious whether this is Morrison going "Ugh she's so corporate mandated" in a sly manner.

Now I myself have no real issue with Jess btw so this isnt a hate thing, just an odd thing I noticed is all

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Did anyone else get the feeling Jess appeance and dialogue was a vague shot at her ? Like Hals giving this big chunk of text about his issues with earth then she LITERALLY appears out of nowhere and goes "I'm so different lol".

Now maybe I'm reading too much into this, but considering how Superman effectively shredded Snyder and Bendis work in BlackStars I'm curious whether this is Morrison going "Ugh she's so corporate mandated" in a sly manner.

Now I myself have no real issue with Jess btw so this isnt a hate thing, just an odd thing I noticed is all

And then there's John sporting his original uniform (or rather, the updated version like Hal's) and afro, worlds apart from his current look:

[AMAZINGTFL]

And then there's John sporting his original uniform (or rather, the updated version like Hal's) and afro, worlds apart from his current look:

Maybe they aren't this universe's John and Jessica but from another multiverse.

[sifighter]

I was more confused by the new powers Hal had then Jessica and John. I mean, I guess Hal just has a shrink ray now and a whole host of other odd powers. Can’t tell if that will carry over past Morrison.

[j9ac9k]

Did anyone else get the feeling Jess appeance and dialogue was a vague shot at her ? Like Hals giving this big chunk of text about his issues with earth then she LITERALLY appears out of nowhere and goes "I'm so different lol".

Now maybe I'm reading too much into this, but considering how Superman effectively shredded Snyder and Bendis work in BlackStars I'm curious whether this is Morrison going "Ugh she's so corporate mandated" in a sly manner.

Now I myself have no real issue with Jess btw so this isnt a hate thing, just an odd thing I noticed is all

FWIW, I did not get that at all... I'm sure Morrison was playing off of Jessica's history of agoraphobia and he probably wanted to show other earth GL's to contrast Hal's attitude to his life on earth - John, who is currently happy in the League, and Jessica who might be out in space right now, but would rather be home. (not sure how this jibes with how she's being depicted in JLO, but I think it was more about wanting to say something about Hal than taking a shot as Jess - that's how I see it, anyway. I was curious to see how Morrison treated the other earth GLs since a lot of what he was saying about Hal, comparing him to astronauts, etc applies to them as well. I still want to see him bring in Kyle for a guest shot, since he wrote Kyle for so long.

I was more confused by the new powers Hal had then Jessica and John. I mean, I guess Hal just has a shrink ray now and a whole host of other odd powers. Can’t tell if that will carry over past Morrison.

Seems like stuff the ring used to be able to do in the silver age. (and we know Morrison likes to embrace silver age wackiness) It makes a GL, or Hal really OP though so I doubt it will stick around. Although, remember when Hal took out an army of Red Tornado robots in one shot? Yeah, he didn't really need extra powers to take down a bunch of cyborgorillas anyway...

[Bruce Wayne]

I think this issue really showcases all the flaws of Morrison's run on GL. None of his story ideas are really innovative or original either to the GL mythos or in regards to his own work. The idea of a hyperaccelerated world giving rise to superhumans has been done before by Morrison likewise the latest batch of Guardians stepping away or getting replaced is a perennial story trope that probably started back in the 80s. Much like season 1, Morrison is just reusing the same ideas that previous writers has already done with and bringing nothing new to the table.