it's extremely frustrating not being able to answer a lot of your issues about all this.
But I literally cannot answer most of the questions because the answers are also spoilers and 1) I hate spoilers 2) there's this thing called a Non Disclosure Agreement precluding any answers.
here is some math.
over 6 years i made 28 comments related to what is now this subject,
that averages out to roughly 4 comments a year (a little more). Each comment was made in response to a question like "What is is your MOST CONTROVERSIAL opinion about the DCU" or "What is the opinion that will have other fans come at you with knives?" to which the answer was always the same because it's the only such notion I really hold about DC comics.
Recently a couple of people compiled these comments, once again, spread over 6 years, as if they were a tirade or a rant and some people are freaking out about it.
That's their right, I suppose. But, frankly, there's nothing I can say that will put to rest the sort of paranoia that has been engendered here (and which I believe was intentionally created by the people in question). People will believe what they want, regardless of facts and regardless of assurances.
This is rumor control, not damage control. No damage has, as yet, been done.
Here, once again, are some facts:
I don't lie. Ever.
I don 't dissemble. Ever.
I don't equivocate. Ever.
When he appears under my pen, Hal will be the Hal you recognize.
Is Hal "safe?" I can't answer that.
Do I have an agenda towards diminishing or in any way tarnishing Hal? Nope.
I'm a writer of adventure fiction. No character, not the ones I "love" and not the ones I "hate," is safe with me. NO one is "safe" in my stories. No one. It wouldn't be an adventure if they were. Stakes are high. Pain is real. Injury is real. Death is very, very real.
Otherwise there's no risk and without risk there's no adventure.
Future State drops in a few weeks. A month after it's done, GREEN LANTERN #1.
I think most of you will dig it.
EDIT: If this helps, here is a link to a FREE indie comic I did that is sort of Green Lantern-ish.
THE RETURN OF CADRE ONE