Grant Morrison's The Green Lantern: Finale Coming

[Rikdad]

This finale is something I am literally counting the hours until I get the chance to dive into. I think both Morrison and Sharp are going to leave it all on the field.

Ditto. This is similar to how I felt about Batman #680 and #681, which each had a huge build-up in advance. #680 was Batman walking into the Black Glove trap in Arkham. Meanwhile, as Hector Hammond has the power to get inside Hal's head, this might also be like the Last Rites story in Batman #682 and #683 where the Lump was inside Batman's head. But, those were four issues of Batman and we only have one (though it's 40 pages) left in this series. So, I think we can expect it to be packed.

[Thor-Ul]

I finally read it. It was good.

I will read it again, because there is a lot of messages there beyond the pure superhero/sword and fantasy action.

Two aspects to meditate about:

spoilers:

Well, not spoilers per se, but a pair of thoughts about what happened in the book, only if you read it: "We thought we were different from those who came before". Every generation should keep that as a mantra. and The Intelligence Engine: time to let things to developt and grow. And left somethings behind. Seems like Gran is saying goodbye to the DCU and fantsy in his way. Or maybe is an avice than there is a time to left fantasy behind. or not.

end of spoilers

[golgi]

Who was the big bad in season 2?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Who was the big bad in season 2?

The Golden Ones

[charliehustle415]

Who was the big bad in season 2?

The Warner Brothers

[Adset]

TGL is one of the rare runs in comics where I had sky-high expectations from the moment it was announced and it lived up to the impossible standard I set for it. Bravo, Morrison and Sharp.

[Mutatis_Mutandis]

Rikdad's last writeup has really made me appreciate season 2 a lot more. Cool finale (and the ending was funny lol). Will have to give it all a re-read to gather my thoughts. Hoping that RIkdad will share his thoughts with us on the finale soon.

[K. Jones]

I finally read it. It was good.

I will read it again, because there is a lot of messages there beyond the pure superhero/sword and fantasy action.

Two aspects to meditate about:

spoilers:

Well, not spoilers per se, but a pair of thoughts about what happened in the book, only if you read it: "We thought we were different from those who came before". Every generation should keep that as a mantra. and The Intelligence Engine: time to let things to developt and grow. And left somethings behind. Seems like Gran is saying goodbye to the DCU and fantsy in his way. Or maybe is an avice than there is a time to left fantasy behind. or not.

end of spoilers

Certainly using 'startlingly progressive but still somehow a mid 20th Century "man's man"' like Hal Jordan to tell this story factors strongly. Not just a passing of the torch ... oh hell in a way oh so literally - what better character to pass the torch with - but an acceptance that even cats like Morrison have to move aside and make way for a new generation to tell stories and grow and learn that they too aren't so different from the generations preceding them. But they might be able to capture relevancy for a minute and learn some things and teach some things and play with the 'toys' in interesting ways. Represented by the Guardians themselves of course.

Then there's the meta-narrative of the Nomad Empire itself ... Cosmic Freelancers who want to come in there and build up these huge toyboxes but which corrupt the hell out of the true nature of the characters themselves. I don't think it's a surprise that they're all jacked out Neo-Nineties (almost New 52 on steroids) versions of upgrades ... using Omega Level, or "thought beings" explains the entire narrative of why Hal's willpower is the ultimate weapon against them, why they'd use Hammond, and why the Guardians had to resort to a newborn Next Generation to try to think creatively to fight the Ultrawar and why things like Hal and Spectre-Hal and "Beyond Death Thought" were relevant in defeating them, to be sure. As well as the cycle of Hal's various loves being a factor in his being the one able to marry love and willpower into solving the problem, and Athmoora and the Intelligence Engine and a setting of High Fantasy that mirrors the super-hero toybox but "From an older Generation" representing something that can be considered both "stagnant, or defunct ideas" lacking progress (think of the general "Whiteness" or "Maleness" of High Fantasy and how that's changing but still sticks to it a bit) but also just you know, clearly ADORING that iconography. I don't even think it's a coincidence that cool damn Prince Vespero the Wasp is you know ... a W.A.S.P.. So it's not just about Hal the Space Man moving on and letting the others take the spotlight, it's about Grant doing it too. And it doesn't feel sad, it feels triumphant. And ties up a couple of loose ends from ... man, from Countdown to Final Crisis and the Multiversity Guidebook, while it's doing so. And casts the Nomad Empire as a whole previous generation of out-of-touch comics editorial and writers who shouldn't get comebacks, and only ever come back to return to stagnant, unmoving dallies in the toyboxes that they find comfortable but won't allow to progress.

But in typical Grant fashion it's not just casting villains out of a negative reflection or a kind of dark riff on his peers, including himself in the mix ... because the good characters and positive constructs come from him, too, as does that autobiographical element and passing of the torch. And in perhaps most typical Grant fashion of all ... he doesn't just leave things "quite" back in the toybox where he found them. There are good ideas to be found and played with.

Because Hal Jordan is now powered by the Cosmic Grail Sum Total of ALL MULTIVERSAL BATTERIES (I thought he was just going to send them to Earth-15, the abandoned Universe and fix the Grail there). And he takes off for parts unknown, a vagabond freelancer once more, who could turn up anywhere to help out, pitch in, and kick ass using magic idea plasma. The Silver Age ideal of Hal is still the strongest idea, the ur-idea that the new generations spin off from (although of course he himself is derivative) but it's not about him being the center of the universe. It's a co-op. It's a Corps. And he can't be tied down. And Super-Heroing isn't a dead-end narrative ... and neither is High Fantasy. They just have to be ALLOWED to evolve by better stewards. Hector Hammond is cast in the role of Fanboy here in a way that would make Superboy Prime raise an eyebrow, because he's being used as a patsy for economic factors and corporate interests that use "what's profitable" as a shield to prevent creativity and growth, ironically stifling their own self-interest, stoking fandom and gate-keeping, when a broader spectrum of ideas actually grows your customer base. Naturally Hal Jordan sees it and recognizes his own role in it and he wants none of it. He grows when he grows - when he's confronted by something.

There's a deep read in here but it'll be some time before I get back to it.

[K. Jones]

The Warner Brothers

I mean ... AT&T, yeah. At least gatekeeping cis-males are presented as misguided, misdirected, "used". All that intellect and insight aimed in the wrong direction by the dark forces of corporate synergy and marketability. But Hector is just a mirror of Hal. Your typical, oh let's say "fanboy" but tweak it to "fan-man" and remove the connotations, is represented by both virtues and openness as well as those negative traits. And Hal emerges victorious. Our love and willpower WILL defeat our obsessiveness and stubbornness. It's inevitable. Frankly our braver better angels will outshine our cowardly impulses.

[Mutatis_Mutandis]

Certainly using 'startlingly progressive but still somehow a mid 20th Century "man's man"' like Hal Jordan to tell this story factors strongly. Not just a passing of the torch ... oh hell in a way oh so literally - what better character to pass the torch with - but an acceptance that even cats like Morrison have to move aside and make way for a new generation to tell stories and grow and learn that they too aren't so different from the generations preceding them. But they might be able to capture relevancy for a minute and learn some things and teach some things and play with the 'toys' in interesting ways. Represented by the Guardians themselves of course.

[...]

That's a great summation of Morrison's Hal and I hope that characterization sticks going forward. Also, great post!

[K. Jones]

That's a great summation of Morrison's Hal and I hope that characterization sticks going forward. Also, great post!

I've used more or less the same line to describe James T. Kirk. I think the virtues of a figure like this endure even as tastes change because even in dated stuff like Sixties Trek - because while the times have changed and some of the things which we didn't expect to become dated have become dated ... these two guys from the Sixties still on paper are more progressive than even some of the most well-read and ardently 'intellectual' readers that idolize them. Some of this of course by virtue of being ... idealized fictional men. They don't actually have emotions to reconcile and like the Guardian said ... their detachment is ironically their strength.

Neither of them were ever actually "womanizers", for instance. Lady's Men, yes. But lovers, not wolves. The wish fulfillment of a dozen writers' ideas for romance falling on one character doesn't make the character an *******, it makes the creative team. This idea ad infinitum for whatever progressive value - and the clear distinction that the masculinity itself isn't the toxic part in various toxic fandoms and toxic creative arts 'industries' or for-profit-storytelling. Hector ... poor Hector ... gets the distinction of being the Final Chapter Representative of being a toxic male, or rather a male who has been toxified by outside forces.

This is shaping up to be a banger of a series once we really start breaking it down.

The Quing on Hector's head STRONGLY resembles the "between-the-frames" creature that was on Bat-Mite's back, I have to say. Spidery creature motifs in these instances aren't uncommon for Grant. My god, the examples are myriad - the Sheeda are rife with spider riffs. Doctor Dedalus. Spyral. It goes on and on. But this one more strongly than usual, and these Nomad Empire "omega level idea enemies" certainly fall into that Fifth-Dimensional category of imagination that Bat-Mite referred back to. The ideas "behind" the living ideas who are living out their adventures on the page, and things from between the panels, in the bleed, often in Morrison's trips directly represent the "Real Life Concerns" that are plaguing things, none so overtly as the Empty Hand (Shallow Consumerist Publishing) and the Gentry (Bad Ideas). We've of course seen Quing before, or Quings, and recognize that they're some tool-form working for the greater Idea Beings. Even the use of Shakespearean rhyme and Old English riffs speaks to the usage of the toys themselves - using these Idea Fantasy Sandboxes, childish things full of toys, to attempt to tell Shakespearean-level morality plays and tales ... for profit? Tricky thing to coexist. But it works sometimes!

[HsssH]

I'm not entirely sure where is this cis-males thing coming from?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Certainly using 'startlingly progressive but still somehow a mid 20th Century "man's man"' like Hal Jordan to tell this story factors strongly. Not just a passing of the torch ... oh hell in a way oh so literally - what better character to pass the torch with - but an acceptance that even cats like Morrison have to move aside and make way for a new generation to tell stories and grow and learn that they too aren't so different from the generations preceding them. But they might be able to capture relevancy for a minute and learn some things and teach some things and play with the 'toys' in interesting ways. Represented by the Guardians themselves of course.

Then there's the meta-narrative of the Nomad Empire itself ... Cosmic Freelancers who want to come in there and build up these huge toyboxes but which corrupt the hell out of the true nature of the characters themselves. I don't think it's a surprise that they're all jacked out Neo-Nineties (almost New 52 on steroids) versions of upgrades ... using Omega Level, or "thought beings" explains the entire narrative of why Hal's willpower is the ultimate weapon against them, why they'd use Hammond, and why the Guardians had to resort to a newborn Next Generation to try to think creatively to fight the Ultrawar and why things like Hal and Spectre-Hal and "Beyond Death Thought" were relevant in defeating them, to be sure. As well as the cycle of Hal's various loves being a factor in his being the one able to marry love and willpower into solving the problem, and Athmoora and the Intelligence Engine and a setting of High Fantasy that mirrors the super-hero toybox but "From an older Generation" representing something that can be considered both "stagnant, or defunct ideas" lacking progress (think of the general "Whiteness" or "Maleness" of High Fantasy and how that's changing but still sticks to it a bit) but also just you know, clearly ADORING that iconography. I don't even think it's a coincidence that cool damn Prince Vespero the Wasp is you know ... a W.A.S.P.. So it's not just about Hal the Space Man moving on and letting the others take the spotlight, it's about Grant doing it too. And it doesn't feel sad, it feels triumphant. And ties up a couple of loose ends from ... man, from Countdown to Final Crisis and the Multiversity Guidebook, while it's doing so. And casts the Nomad Empire as a whole previous generation of out-of-touch comics editorial and writers who shouldn't get comebacks, and only ever come back to return to stagnant, unmoving dallies in the toyboxes that they find comfortable but won't allow to progress.

But in typical Grant fashion it's not just casting villains out of a negative reflection or a kind of dark riff on his peers, including himself in the mix ... because the good characters and positive constructs come from him, too, as does that autobiographical element and passing of the torch. And in perhaps most typical Grant fashion of all ... he doesn't just leave things "quite" back in the toybox where he found them. There are good ideas to be found and played with.

Because Hal Jordan is now powered by the Cosmic Grail Sum Total of ALL MULTIVERSAL BATTERIES (I thought he was just going to send them to Earth-15, the abandoned Universe and fix the Grail there). And he takes off for parts unknown, a vagabond freelancer once more, who could turn up anywhere to help out, pitch in, and kick ass using magic idea plasma. The Silver Age ideal of Hal is still the strongest idea, the ur-idea that the new generations spin off from (although of course he himself is derivative) but it's not about him being the center of the universe. It's a co-op. It's a Corps. And he can't be tied down. And Super-Heroing isn't a dead-end narrative ... and neither is High Fantasy. They just have to be ALLOWED to evolve by better stewards. Hector Hammond is cast in the role of Fanboy here in a way that would make Superboy Prime raise an eyebrow, because he's being used as a patsy for economic factors and corporate interests that use "what's profitable" as a shield to prevent creativity and growth, ironically stifling their own self-interest, stoking fandom and gate-keeping, when a broader spectrum of ideas actually grows your customer base. Naturally Hal Jordan sees it and recognizes his own role in it and he wants none of it. He grows when he grows - when he's confronted by something.

There's a deep read in here but it'll be some time before I get back to it.

Excellent analysis! I really enjoyed how this story felt like both a celebration of Hal Jordan, but also a strong commentary about how it's time for the industry to move on and evolve into something new that doesn't cling so tightly to old ideas, no matter how much we may love them. I'm not sure if that's what a lot long-time readers want to hear necessarily, but using a character like Hal Jordan was a particularly good choice for this given his long history of helping kickstart advancements within the superhero genre, from Broome & Kane's original sci-fi space cop turned beatnik to O'Neil & Adam's social commentary to Cooke's neo-classicism.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I have to wonder if anyone will follow up on Morrison pretty much confirming that Hal is indeed pansexual in this issue with that kiss. Like Kirk, I've always thought Hal Jordan will sleep with anything that looks good in lipstick and Morrison did not disappoint

[K. Jones]

I'm not entirely sure where is this cis-males thing coming from?

Broad generalization on my part, but I think the root of some of the presentation, particularly of Hammond's "Carol should have been MINE" possessiveness contrasted against Hal's "Carol is my true love, maybe we could give marriage a shot now? No? Okay moving on to the next star system and the next love interest." Both of them are straight (and white, but I don't think it's a factor in this story particularly) men and can be seen as opposite ends of the sort of 'virtue vs. villainy' argument that's often lobbied toward men, and that includes the mistrust in, or curiosity of, constant re-labeling of things where men who just went by 'men' and could assign their own virtue or villainy to what it means to be 'men' now have extra appellations like 'cis-' added to the thing that assign meaning and context that might not be asked for nor called for, but I was using it specifically to draw a comparison between how Hector falls into this mess versus how Hal solves it, and how that reflects upon the nature of what it means to be masculine nowadays and that ongoing discussion in the ethos. It's certainly clear that Hal, imperfect, still represents strength while Hector (who once Hal lectures him about how it's really going to go down and the Quing abandons begins pleading for mercy but also awakening to the mind-control) represents weakness.

That's not to say this issue is a treatise on gender identity specifically. I think it's a treatise on an invasion of existential powers that flood the idea-scape with bad ideas that seem profitable or lucrative but cause wars, conflicts, monarchic power-brokering, breakdown of communication and everything else. (Frankly having just read Wonder Woman: Earth One # 3 there's a parallel narrative there about Femininity.) Love and Willpower all over these books today.