Hal Jordan: The Green Lantern Appreciation 2021

[Gaius]

I liked her Earth One version.

[Frontier]

I personally prefer her classic look with the skirt and hair...

[Vordan]

I personally prefer her classic look with the skirt and hair...

I like the classic look as well but her Earth One outfit was a better fit for the kind of story they were telling.

[Frontier]

I like the classic look as well but her Earth One outfit was a better fit for the kind of story they were telling.

True. I get that they were going for a more gritty hard sci-fi take, and it worked in that respect, but that's why I prefer the main version .

Earth One probably would have been a good premise to do a GL TV show, like on Sy-Fy.

[EmeraldGladiator]

I thought Arisia was great. She was a top GL and I liked her relationship with Hal because unlike Carol at the time, she didn't make Hal feel conflicted about what life to chose.

But yeah, the whole "she aged herself up to be with him and he was okay with it" was weird, despite how they tried to retcon her as being older than Hal in the first place. It's probably what ultimately doomed the character, imo. (even though she showed up quite well in "GLC" where she was mostly paired with Yat)

I love Arisia, I liked her with Hal for the same reason j9a noted, a younger person eventually landing someone they carried a torch for when they were younger isn't the cringiest thing even that DC has glossed over. I like Hal with Arisia in general though I never read the crappy writing in that Action Comics weekly until recently so I can see how that would turn some off to the idea of it.

[EmeraldGladiator]

Because the nature of that relationship was rather disturbing, as j9ac9k described above. It's usually seen as a black mark on both characters' history. Probably didn't damage Hal as bad as, say, Marvel turning Hank Pym into a wifebeater damaged him, but Hal fans usually try to avoid that topic.

Not I, I like Hal and Arisia and comparing them to Hank Pym character assassination is a bit much, Hank was never the same after that. Hal has headlined multiple well selling books and became the 2nd biggest character at DC since the Hal/Arisia relationship. Arisia was introduced as the ingenue character but she is a completely fully matured character now, she is not longer the "kid" so who she chooses to hook up with now is between two consenting adults. She has been at least implied to be paired with people that are of Hal's generation without much hullabaloo. Wasn't it hinted at that she and Guy were possibly a thing yet I never see that brought up, and Guy is a Hal contemporary. This just seems like a favorite stick of AntiHalistans to pick up but just like the boring one it really doesn't have much merit. To say Hal likes em young would be on oversimplification, Hal likes em ALL.

[Johnny]

Not I, I like Hal and Arisia and comparing them to Hank Pym character assassination is a bit much, Hank was never the same after that. Hal has headlined multiple well selling books and became the 2nd biggest character at DC since the Hal/Arisia relationship. Arisia was introduced as the ingenue character but she is a completely fully matured character now, she is not longer the "kid" so who she chooses to hook up with now is between two consenting adults. She has been at least implied to be paired with people that are of Hal's generation without much hullabaloo. Wasn't it hinted at that she and Guy were possibly a thing yet I never see that brought up, and Guy is a Hal contemporary. This just seems like a favorite stick of AntiHalistans to pick up but just like the boring one it really doesn't have much merit. To say Hal likes em young would be on oversimplification, Hal likes em ALL.

That sure turned out great in the long run, didn't it. What's the bigger tragedy, a character who never made it that big, or a character who did and then ended up in the place he's currently in.

[SJNeal]

I feel like we're so far removed from the Hal & Arisia relationship in real time it's become a non-issue (that and the fact that DC has glossed over/ignored it for the most part). Most readers who became fans in the last 20+ years probably have no idea they were ever a thing, unless they're hardcore enough to go track down issues from the 1980's.

[EmeraldGladiator]

That sure turned out great in the long run, didn't it. What's the bigger tragedy, a character who never made it that big, or a character who did and then ended up in the place he's currently in.

oh Johnny that is another issue altogether. DC has done it multiple times. Once upon a time DC decided to enter the premium format of baxter books in comic shops and what books did they choose to use? The Teen Titans and the Legion of Super Heroes! The idea that it wasn't a bat book seems impossible now but not back then, yet DC through editorial mandates have reduced both franchises to not even shadows of their former selves. The JSA under Roy Thomas was a solid 2nd tier property between All Star Squadron/JSA books and Infinity Inc. It went to even greater heights under Geoff Johns to where it was a top seller over at DC. Now none of the three titles once heavy hitters at DC even have a monthly among them. So that along with Hal are just examples of failed directives leading to distressed properties at DC. I have no doubt if handled right, the LSH, JSA, GL and New Titans franchises could be hits for DC but instead of giving out the versions of the properties that would make money there are other agendas that have them doing other things with them. Which of course has nothing to do with Hal and Arisia at all.

[ducklord]

I feel like we're so far removed from the Hal & Arisia relationship in real time it's become a non-issue (that and the fact that DC has glossed over/ignored it for the most part). Most readers who became fans in the last 20+ years probably have no idea they were ever a thing, unless they're hardcore enough to go track down issues from the 1980's.

I agree. That relationship is pretty well and truly filed under "weird stuff that happened that we don't talk about anymore," like "that time Superman totally fell in love with a Supergirl doppleganger," or "Kyle Rayner dating Carol Ferris."

[EmeraldGladiator]

I feel like we're so far removed from the Hal & Arisia relationship in real time it's become a non-issue (that and the fact that DC has glossed over/ignored it for the most part). Most readers who became fans in the last 20+ years probably have no idea they were ever a thing, unless they're hardcore enough to go track down issues from the 1980's.

True but Arisia is a valuable/popular Lantern apparently slaughtered for effect during a run that I don't imagine being canon 5 years from now. However killing and unkilling characters shouldn't be so easily done it lessens the effect. I remember as a child the Crime Syndicate dying in Crisis on Infinite Earths shook me because it hadn't been done before, they have been done in and brought back several times since. Editorial shouldn't have allowed the current writing team to kill off popular character/properties for a writers initial arc. If 3 years into Johns' run he spelled out why it would be necessary to kill off Salaak then fine, and even then write in a back door to possibly bring him back, but to indiscriminately kill dozens of lanterns off panel shouldn't be allowed unless their return is already written in.

[Superboy-Prime]

I agree. That relationship is pretty well and truly filed under "weird stuff that happened that we don't talk about anymore," like "that time Superman totally fell in love with a Supergirl doppleganger," or "Kyle Rayner dating Carol Ferris."

I like that last one!

[HsssH]

Yeah, lets talk about Superman doing porn with Big Barda instead.

[ducklord]

I like that last one!

That's cool, but we're not talking about it anymore

[ducklord]

Yeah, lets talk about Superman doing porn with Big Barda instead.

I could go on at length about John Byrne's, shall we say, "eyebrow-raising" handling of female characters in his books. Suffice to say, it's often lacking.

As far as the infamous porn issue goes, my recollection is that Sleez was having difficulties getting Superman to actually perform (boy scout that he is), whereas Barda (who had been captured earlier) had actively been compelled to perform in several pornos (which Darkseid showed to Scott, 'cause he's a dick). Arguably, this makes the comic even worse.