"Beware Their Power" - Green Lantern Mythos Appreciation 2021

[Anthony Shaw]

Green Lantern is a franchise that has done both a main character and an ensemble.

Up until the 80s, it was about one main guy, Alan or Hal. But, once John took over, then Guy got added and Hal came back, it was an ensemble franchise and that proved pretty successful for several years until DC editorial decided to go back to one main guy again with Kyle. When Hal returned, they tried to split the difference between making Hal the main guy, but also giving almost everyone else else an ongoing series. Unfortunately, that wasn't sustainable when the franchise's popularity dimmed with the failure of the movie and the further addition of more and more human GLs.

Currently, DC's still trying to manage the main/ensemble hybrid, but with Hal once again handing the baton to John as the main GL with the other GLs getting lots of attention.

Morrison/Sharp look to be delivering a banger of a finale for Hal Jordan, so him getting put on the shelf for a little while is only going to make his inevitable return that much sweeter.

Unfortunately, there are simply too many GLs for everyone to get equal attention, but I think the spotlight is getting pretty well distributed.

I can see fans of Kyle being a little miffed. Nobody's figured out what to do with him for years. He's burned through the everyman, and messianic martyr stuff. I don't know what role he has to play these days, but I am sure some 90s kid weaned on Morrison's JLA will come up with something.

Right, it's been done before.

[Twice-named]

Not a thing! They're my favorite, hence the Hal comparison...

My bad. I read it wrong.

[Gaius]

All their first appearances - nice! Can you imagine the event story that could actually feature them all equally as a team?? Since they're all earthers, it might be a thing where the GLC is willing to let the earth be destroyed "for the greater good" kinda thing but the Earth GLs aren't havin' it. (or something...)

If I were to ever get into writing comics that'd be dream project I'd like to do.

Of course at the current rate, there'd probably be at least double the amount of current Earth GLs by the time I do.

[Anthony Shaw]

My biggest gripe is that these two have a lot of history, yet no one seems interested in exploring it at all.

I think a character-driven writer could do an excellent limited series on these two.

I mean, with their partners, they lived under one roof for a time. The set-up of two humans with alien paramours could have been a live action rom-com.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I think John vs Hal is one of my favorite Versus at DC. I would love to see their relationship nowadays more.

[Johnny]

I can see why Hal Jordan fans are concerned and it’s the same reason John Stewart fans have been so angry with Dc for years. Green Lantern, despite having multiple characters going by that name, isn’t much of an ensemble franchise, historically at least. There’s always been one main Lantern who got all the outside media, team up stories, video game appearances and attention, all others played support. Historically Hal Jordan has been the face of the franchise, even with Kyle getting the franchise to himself for the 90’s. At one point Hal fans were trying to make him a part of the Trinity instead of Wonder Woman (yes I remember old school DC comics and CBR forums), but back then the franchise was at its peak in popularity (animated show, animated movies, live action movie, multiple comics...etc). Fast forward to 2021, Hal is no where near Trinity status anymore (Geoff is gone, no movie appearances, gets traded out in animated movies now, 1-2 comics...etc) and there is now 10 Earth based Green Lanterns with a huge company wide push for diversity! Guess which franchise is the most diverse, outside of the Titans... yup it’s Green Lantern!

But let’s be real here, as cool as Tai, Keli, Jo, and Simon are they’re too new to lead a franchise and haven’t really taken off in the same way Jessica did. Alan and Guy are two White guys (remember the push for diversity) and aren’t as popular as Hal. Kyle lacks the outside media exposure of John and thus doesn’t have the fan support. Jessica, despite soaring in popularity, is taking on the female counterpart role in the franchise (ala Batgirl, Supergirl...etc) and not the lead role. That just leaves Hal and John, the former is the one that has historically always been the face of the franchise, while the latter has a huge fan base due to outside media exposure and is DC’s most popular Black hero (sorry Black Lightning and Cyborg). In 2021, John is getting a huge push, he’s the star of the current comic, he’s appearing in outside media more (got the death in Apokolips War, was the GL in Harley Quinn and TT:Go, has the JL membership, appeared in Red Son and will likely be the GL of the new animated movie universe going by box art...etc) while Hal just has a solo comic that’s ending and an appearance in Red Son. Suddenly Hal’s no longer being treated as the face of the franchise, John is! Hal is being treated more like John was in the 2000’s, support character who wasn’t guaranteed to show up every issue. Hal fans are now feeling what John fans felt in the past, and that feeling always sucks! I should know! It’s never a good feeling when your favorite character’s prominence dwindles! As a John fan I am extremely happy about his new found push, but I will say I am sympathetic to Hal fans and their current predicament. Though I will end by saying I’m going to fight tooth and nail for John’s push to continue!

I think it's not the same. This is beyond "I'm just disappointed that my guy doesn't get any attention anymore". I never imagined that Hal will forever be treated like he was back in 2008, nor was I ever against the idea of him being pushed aside. He's been "replaced" before, it was always a matter of time before it happened again. I don't mind him not being in regular publication or not in the Justice League. It's the circumstances in which they "gave up" on him that bothers me because WB made him the butt of the jokes with that movie, then hopped on the Ryan Reynolds bandwagon to mock the character and then without even trying to somehow "rehabilitate" him, just stopped promoting him altogether. I know that DC, WB and their overlords will always look after their corporate interests, I get that this is a different time as opposed to back when GL Rebirth came out, but it's one thing to just replace a character and another to do so after DC proceeded to shove him into the same hole that previously took them decades to dig Aquaman out of. And unlike with Arthur, they don't need to look for a Jason Momoa to "fix" Hal, since they can just use other Lanterns instead that can be perceived to have broader appeal. I think Hal fans simply don't want the character to be remembered by the general public like this. Hopefully that gives more insight into why I believe Hal fans are disappointed and it's not as simple as just because he's being pushed aside.

[SecretWarrior]

Could be worse-- They could start to push him as a villain more in outside media.

[SecretWarrior]

[SecretWarrior]

[Johnny]

Could be worse-- They could start to push him as a villain more in outside media.

Ah good point. What better way to try to artificially prop up other GLs than have them beat up the former GL turned villain. Very 90s, but it works.

[Johnny]

[j9ac9k]

I love Arisia. She had moved on from that creepy aged-up storyline in GLC but then she fell through the cracks and only exists as background decoration these days. (Lost Army almost gave her a shot, but then that got screwed up)

[Gaius]

I liked they made Arisia the leader of the revived Corps in GL: Earth One.

[SecretWarrior]

I think the diversity of the human Lanterns makes the franchise more relevant than ever.

John Stewart was DC's first black character to adopt a superhero identity. While Mal and Karen debuted as civilians before him and worked alongside the Teen Titans, they weren't superheroes until after. Tyroc and Black Lightning debuted several years after.

That's a huge step forward in comics, and since anyone of any background can wear a ring, the franchise makes a statement in the same way that Wonder Woman and the Amazons make a statement about feminism and the LGBTQ+ community.

Superman and Batman have the "first paragon" and "dark hero" archetypes on lock. Wonder Woman rises on that level due to female and queer empowerment. GL can rise to that level on diversity.

As of now, Flash and Aquaman don't have the same cultural potential. Aquaman was race-swapped in one live action interpretation, but he's not a symbol of indigenous peoples all of a sudden, since he's the same guy in the comics he's been since 1940.

[skyvolt2000]

I think it's not the same. It's the circumstances in which they "gave up" on him that bothers me because WB made him the butt of the jokes with that movie, then hopped on the Ryan Reynolds bandwagon to mock the character and then without even trying to somehow "rehabilitate" him, just stopped promoting him altogether.
I know that DC, WB and their overlords will always look after their corporate interests, I get that this is a different time as opposed to back when GL Rebirth came out, but it's one thing to just replace a character and another to do so after DC proceeded to shove him into the same hole that previously took them decades to dig Aquaman out of. And unlike with Arthur, they don't need to look for a Jason Momoa to "fix" Hal, since they can just use other Lanterns instead that can be perceived to have broader appeal. I think Hal fans simply don't want the character to be remembered by the general public like this. Hopefully that gives more insight into why I believe Hal fans are disappointed and it's not as simple as just because he's being pushed aside.

When did this happen???

Last time I checked I have seen more stuff with HAL's FACE than the rest excluding Cartoon Justice League John Stewart.

He was still on merchandise WAY more than Justice League Cyborg, Aquaman & Wonder Woman.

Did he not have books starring him as the lead in New 52, Rebirth and now?

They never buried or stop promotion Hal Jordan.


If we want to talk about giving up Jaime Reyes & Jason Rusch want a word.