Originally Posted by
Bored at 3:00AM
I think it's a bit of both. With Barry, it's clearly a case of DC wanting to do right by Wally fans, who've been treated terribly for more than a decade now, but also wanting to give that character something meaningful to do that suits his roots as the character that first introduced the DC Multiverse.
For Hal, it's a trickier matter because, unlike the Flashes, there's far more than one protagonist vying for the spotlight. I think Barry & Hal both being on Justice League Incarnate works due to their past experiences without overshadowing President Superman, who is a strong enough character in his own right. Putting him side by side with A-listers only bolsters his status as one of DC's next big deals in my view. Clearly, there's plans for Hal, but they can't talk about them yet, which makes me suspect he'll be a part of the Infinite Frontier event, but I could be wrong.
I am pretty satisfied with how Morrison/Sharp gave Hal a grand finale (while also keeping him available whenever a great creative team wants to use him), but I don't know where he necessarily fits within the larger DCU at this exact moment. He's got a large enough fanbase that the character is money in the bank for DC (which is all AT&T cares about at this point), but I wouldn't be surprised if Hal Jordan disappears for a little while. I'm sure he'll pop up in the next big event and make occasional guest appearances and cameos, but I think DC will be putting him on the back burner so that the other Lanterns don't get overshadowed and to generate anticipation for whatever they do with Hal next.
It's an old trick with geek properties. Withhold giving fans what they want so that when you give it to them, it feels like a bigger deal than it is. I can only hope that whatever DC does do with Hal next, it isn't a disappointment because Morrison & Sharp have raised the bar substantially. I don't think anyone in the industry is particularly interested in trying to follow that up given how poorly it went for Venditti when he tried to follow up Johns.