Hal Jordan: The Green Lantern Appreciation 2021

[liwanag]

I guess it's the notion of someone like Batman being a decade younger than Hal that just does not compute with me.

i agree. doesn't make a lot sense really.

[Johnny]

[Frontier]

I guess it's the notion of someone like Batman being a decade younger than Hal that just does not compute with me.

Yeah, all the founders should be around the same age range (give or take Diana considering she didn't age on Themyscira and J'onn since he's a martian) in my opinion.

[silly]

More stories of young Hal please.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I guess it's the notion of someone like Batman being a decade younger than Hal that just does not compute with me.

They were also trying to retain Hal's roots as a war veteran, which was becoming increasingly difficult in 1990. The sliding "15 Years Ago.." timeline of the DCU meant that Hal's Korean War vet origins were a no-go, and the Gulf War was too recent, meaning that the only possible warfare Hal could have been a part of was Vietnam, which necessitated him being older.

Of course all that went out the window when Zero Hour truncated the DCU to a "10 Years Ago..." timeline, but Carlin had $#!+canned Hal by then along with the other "olds" that bothered him so much.

These days, it's less of a problem now that America has a decades long bloodbath in Afghanistan to slot its war vets into, but it's still not the same for Hal, as aerial warfare in the Korean and Vietnam Wars were substantially different than the bomb the living $#!+ out of tribal villages in the hopes of killing a terrorist cell routine of modern combat pilots.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I love this scene so much, even if it makes no sense whatsoever given the timeline of New Frontier, which had Hal joining the Air Force in peace time before the Korean War broke out in 1950, which would mean Hal would have to be 16 years old during his meeting with Chuck Yeager. It's one of those instances where my heart completely overrides my head because that scene is so perfect.

[HsssH]

These days, it's less of a problem now that America has a decades long bloodbath in Afghanistan to slot its war vets into, but it's still not the same for Hal, as aerial warfare in the Korean and Vietnam Wars were substantially different than the bomb the living $#!+ out of tribal villages in the hopes of killing a terrorist cell routine of modern combat pilots.

Yeah, I figure that Hal would be a bit different person if he participated in Afghanistan or Iraq. I guess it is time for DC to invent their own fake war that isn't a shit show and can be used for various hero origins?

[j9ac9k]

Yeah, I figure that Hal would be a bit different person if he participated in Afghanistan or Iraq. I guess it is time for DC to invent their own fake war that isn't a shit show and can be used for various hero origins?

I never saw Hal as war veteran being a big part of his backstory. It seems more important for John. If DC wanted to they could just say Hal got into a few skirmishes with random hostile nations during his time in the Air Force without him having participated in a war.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Yeah, I figure that Hal would be a bit different person if he participated in Afghanistan or Iraq. I guess it is time for DC to invent their own fake war that isn't a shit show and can be used for various hero origins?

Well, DC is certainly not lacking for fictional countries to set wars in

However, there's not really any way for them to recreate the circumstances that made being a fighter pilot in the Korean and Vietnam Wars so much more impressive. Modern fighter pilots aren't really engaging in dogfights anymore. Nobody else has the jets to compete with the American military in the air anymore. They're mostly being hopped up on pills to keep them awake and being sent on bombing missions 24/7, which doesn't quite have the mystique that the fighter jocks of old had.

Johns tried to update it by having Hal, Rocketman & Cowgirl get shot down by Ex-Soviet rebels during a bombing run and being POWs for six months, but that never quite resonated with me. It felt like Johns read a profile of John McCain and thought he could just graft it onto Hal and his Air Force buddies. Unfortunately, it just came off as trite because there was no way that Johns could actually explore what being a POW would do to Hal mentally and physically. They put Rocketman in a wheelchair, sure, but they never really did anything in regards to Hal & Cowgirl, who absolutely would have been repeatedly raped during that time. But, like I said, Johns didn't really want to explore anything that dark, so the whole thing felt shallow and artificial.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I never saw Hal as war veteran being a big part of his backstory. It seems more important for John. If DC wanted to they could just say Hal got into a few skirmishes with random hostile nations during his time in the Air Force without him having participated in a war.

It never felt like a big deal, because Hal rarely brought it up, which I thought was one of the best choices writers made with the character. All the guys I know who've been in combat don't really talk about it, but it's still there under the surface. I think Darwyn Cooke dealt with it best by showing that Hal's experiences in war were extremely formative to who he became, but was not something he ever wanted to define him. He joined the Air Force to fly, not to be a soldier, and certainly not to kill.

[Frontier]

I always assumed Hal got himself kicked out of the Air Force before he could see any actual action.

[liwanag]

would hal be better off flying planes for the navy?

[liwanag]

[Frontier]

would hal be better off flying planes for the navy?

Would Hal look good in a Navy uniform?

[Gaius]