Grant Morrison's The Green Lantern: Finale Coming

[Bruce Wayne]

Didn't Johns do 2-3 crossovers himself before Venditti replaced him? Or you are thinking that something like Third Army was Johns idea, while Godhead was pushed by editors?

Yes the crossovers that followed under Venditti I think were more guided more by the priorities of DC editorial such as using Godhead to give more attention to the Fourth World stuff. It was less dictated by the direction of the books and more by what the publishers/editors wanted.

[EmeraldGladiator]

Yes the crossovers that followed under Venditti I think were more guided more by the priorities of DC editorial such as using Godhead to give more attention to the Fourth World stuff. It was less dictated by the direction of the books and more by what the publishers/editors wanted.

ah the bane of all good storytelling. You either have to take a property that is popular enough to be published but unpopular enough so you will be left alone OR become big enough in the industry that they will give you carte blanche.

[Sodam Yat]

I think it's relevant to think about "Publication Hal's" expendability. I mean even The Guardians literally are like "we're using you to solve this Living Bad Idea Conundrum because you're expendable". Morrison actually turns it into diegetic context. I think peak "Sagaic" GL has been told with Hal at the center, and peak "Prestige" GL has now been told with him as a capstone to sort of moving on from him. I don't think he's irrelevant. Not in the slightest.

I do think John Stewart should be the head-line Lantern. Ironically this isn't to knock Hal. I think it's more in his character AND better for representation (and publication optics) for John to be the Main Guy, because I think he has a more stalwart, rock-steady character and personality. He works better with others. Comes up with solutions. Has the Animated generation of viewers fandom built-in. Has a great look. He's the clear choice for the JLA and should probably headline the "Corps Affairs" in the main title. Keep Kyle, Simon and Jessica in his orbit and things should be pretty great.

I think Hal would actually - and this run, the proof might be in the pudding - fare better doing the more far off, weird adventures. The same way Guy Gardner's star rose and grew and became something special by perennially being the third-rate tertiary GL character. Hal really ought to be wandering the stars doing weird, weird ass stuff. I think Hal Jordan should be the avant-garde Green Lantern book. This is ironic, because you'd tend to think "I mean, Kyle Rayner is an artist shouldn't he have the avant-garde book?" and to that I say no. No, you need that archetypal masculine man basic guy to filter the completely weird and abstract sci-fi through, so that Hal Jordan is your entry point as well as hero.

But these aren't necessarily analysis of this story, just kind of reflections about what a direction for the GL books could look like going forward. I'd rep two books - John Stewart: Green Lantern Corps, and Hal Jordan: Space Age Weird. Every once in a while you can throw in a "Guy Gardner: This Is The Angry Man-Child Fun Book" but as a solo character I feel like he never worked better than when he was a fish out of water in the Red Lanterns. He works better with a group, even though he's often getting mad and going off on his own.

I agree with this 100%

[The Cheat]

Thanks for this Rikdad, always enjoyed your writings on Morrison's works. While I wouldn't put this series down as anywhere near his best, it's been an interesting ride.

[FFJamie94]

Haven't got the latest issue yet (I usually get my comics at the end of the month), but I've loved every issue so for of this run.
It's been fun from beginning to end, it was also my first green lantern book and introduction to Grant Morrison (I've since read New X-Men and Final Crises, all of which have solidified Morrison as one of my favourite writers).

Anyway, I look forward to the conclusion. Also this book has made me a fan of Sharpe's art. Especially on the last few issues, but he has done an amazing job across all 24 issues he worked on (and those 3 Blackstar covers).

It is a shame we never got an annual for Season 2 however. But regardless, 2 seasons of 12 issues, a 3 part mini and an annual is a nice healthy amount of Morrison Lantern.

[K. Jones]

Couldn't disagree with you more, but to each their own.

Feel free to disagree! Hal is my favorite Green Lantern by a long shot (in spite of personally being a lot more of a "Kyle") and his relationships with Barry and Ollie are important to me and his presentation, but I still don't think he needs to be the showpiece for the every-day-gotta-have-a-Green Lantern-on-the-team stuff. I think he's a perfect guy for exploring - new worlds, new interactions and new frontiers, and of course the exploration of wild ideas and post-humanist high concepts. (After all his secret origin is that he was a test pilot! Pushing the limits of humanity.) The rest of the characters more naturally fit into exploration of the current human condition, by way of allegory and such. Of course Hal's relationships like Sinestro and his Earth villains can always pop in.

I think this two season run actually compares favorably to the entirety of the War of Light saga (which I gobbled up).

That said, I do tend to see the Earth Lanterns as akin to the whole ensemble of like, a Star Trek crew. So there should be room for all of it - a "what might humanity become?" exploration one week then a civil rights or "problems with war" allegory the next. I mean when you've got a successful and ex-military but no less touched by issues of race guy like John headlining, then a kind of free speech/free spirit artist college type like Kyle, a bravado-fueled former police officer like Guy, an American muslim guy like Simon and a latina with some serious phobias like Jessica you can really run the gamut with this stuff and I'd love to see the GL books as a whole become about discovery and discussion of common humanity using alien worlds as cautionary tales.

Which is starting to sound like a pitch. The spaceship Earth voyages of the H.M.S. Fearless. Captain Hal Jordan. Security Officer Gardner. Communications Officer Rayner. Engineer Stewart. Navigator Baz. Counselor Cruz. Ensign Teen Lantern.

[mrumsey]

Feel free to disagree! Hal is my favorite Green Lantern by a long shot (in spite of personally being a lot more of a "Kyle") and his relationships with Barry and Ollie are important to me and his presentation, but I still don't think he needs to be the showpiece for the every-day-gotta-have-a-Green Lantern-on-the-team stuff. I think he's a perfect guy for exploring - new worlds, new interactions and new frontiers, and of course the exploration of wild ideas and post-humanist high concepts. (After all his secret origin is that he was a test pilot! Pushing the limits of humanity.) The rest of the characters more naturally fit into exploration of the current human condition, by way of allegory and such. Of course Hal's relationships like Sinestro and his Earth villains can always pop in.

I think this two season run actually compares favorably to the entirety of the War of Light saga (which I gobbled up).

That said, I do tend to see the Earth Lanterns as akin to the whole ensemble of like, a Star Trek crew. So there should be room for all of it - a "what might humanity become?" exploration one week then a civil rights or "problems with war" allegory the next. I mean when you've got a successful and ex-military but no less touched by issues of race guy like John headlining, then a kind of free speech/free spirit artist college type like Kyle, a bravado-fueled former police officer like Guy, an American muslim guy like Simon and a latina with some serious phobias like Jessica you can really run the gamut with this stuff and I'd love to see the GL books as a whole become about discovery and discussion of common humanity using alien worlds as cautionary tales.

Which is starting to sound like a pitch. The spaceship Earth voyages of the H.M.S. Fearless. Captain Hal Jordan. Security Officer Gardner. Communications Officer Rayner. Engineer Stewart. Navigator Baz. Counselor Cruz. Ensign Teen Lantern.

If we could get them on the Interceptor with Aya as the ship's AI.... :-)

[TheBatman]

Hal's definitely not on the same level of the Trinity, so that does explain why he's more of a target for people to consider him expendable.

However, I still think considering him expendable or having no worth is a load of BS. It's usually a kneejerk reaction to a shallow reading of the character and springs from favoritism for others. And it's more than fair for Hal to take a step back once and a while and for other GLs to get focus considering the nature of the franchise. But "expendable" is too much.

I also don't know if any other GL would cement themselves as big consistent sellers even if John had JLU (off the air for a decade or so). Nobody except Batman, Spider-Man or Superman really is at that level, but he has periodically gotten there like other characters

I agree with pretty much everything you said. To me, Hal should be the face of the franchise, and it's bizarre how DC/WB treats him. But due to bad luck and weird perceptions, Hal is seemingly in a weird spot right now. At the end of the day, though, he tends to end up back where he belongs, so there's that.

[Johnny]

I don't mind weird tales but they should happen more sparingly. The "Silver Age wonder" flavor is fine as long as you don't overdo it. Hal has too many Earth connections to keep doing weird stuff in outer space for too long. He's already been away from Earth for too many years.

I'm fine with stuff like this and beats him not being featured in regular publication at all, but I don't need every Hal story from now on to be an odd space adventure. They don't need to pigeonhole him as "the Silver Age guy doing the Silver Age stuff" just because they want him away from the core GL/DCU events, especially when none of his Silver Age peers are doing that.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

If we could get them on the Interceptor with Aya as the ship's AI.... :-)

The fact that no one has introduced Aya and Razer into the comics yet is outrageous.

[silly]

If we could get them on the Interceptor with Aya as the ship's AI.... :-)

Now that's something I would follow.

The fact that no one has introduced Aya and Razer into the comics yet is outrageous.

I agree.

[Rikdad]

Here's my last (well, maybe) say on a Morrison monthly comic on the week that it comes out. Some of these, I woke up at 6am to start writing. This time around, it took a few days, many re-reads. I think we all see the basic picture already and it's a fun, kick-ass read on every level.

Hal: "Kill Jordan," huh?
Ring: I was only translating his mental commands into words.
Hal: Sure you were…

It ends with a laugh and a tear.

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2021/03/t...on-two-12.html

[HsssH]

Best line that has been written about this run:

Hal wins because he’s a winner and this is his story.

So, whats next for your blog Rikdad?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Excellent work, Rikdad. I'm curious how this series is going to read in a little while once the new DC regime has better established itself.

[Johnny]

Here's my last (well, maybe) say on a Morrison monthly comic on the week that it comes out. Some of these, I woke up at 6am to start writing. This time around, it took a few days, many re-reads. I think we all see the basic picture already and it's a fun, kick-ass read on every level.

Hal: "Kill Jordan," huh?
Ring: I was only translating his mental commands into words.
Hal: Sure you were…

It ends with a laugh and a tear.

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2021/03/t...on-two-12.html

Every now and then a Morrison story has a line that doesn’t seem to fit – something jarring, out of character, or otherwise defying the expected logic – and, not seeing the reason for them, I read on, but there’s usually a very good explanation for them in the end. And in #12, that line is Hector Hammond saying, “I was an ordinary person once. Ordinary like you. Like all of us.” And then later, “I get to kill a superhero. Admit it! Wouldn’t you want to kill a superhero?” And the simple question is: Who is “you”? To whom is Hector Hammond narrating? And the answer is, us. Some of us, at least. And it’s Hal talking back to those who want to see his style of superhero destroyed when he asks Hector, in rage, “You did all this just to kick over my sandcastle?”

That’s Hal, the erstwhile man of the future, now a man of the past in certain ways, talking back to those – fans and creators – who want to see Athmoora destroyed. For what is Athmoora? The answer is way back in Season One #9. On Athmoora, the ring sassily says to Hal, “I don’t know why we come here” and Hal answers, “Don’t know about you. I came for a vacation.” And that, 18 issues back, is the simple answer to the simple pleasure that Morrison is standing up for in this parable. Why the hell does anyone pick a comic book up, anyway? Hal came for a vacation. An escape. Didn’t you?

The Young Guardians (recent DC writers), the Golden Giants of the Nomad Empire (the corporate control of creativity and “change for no sake other than change itself”), and Hector Hammond (the creators and fans who have nothing but disdain for this sort of comic) are ready to kick over the sandcastle, end the vacation, end the escape, and move on for no sake other than change itself. This is why Morrison showed Earth-15 with its dead Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. This is the Depressoverse. This is the ugly revamp of Fekk and Samandra into gaudy video game characters (they drop terminology from World of Warcraft).

Who is the real villain here? Hyper-Woman was a Silver Age character ruined by adultification. Morrison dismisses the Young Guardians (his colleagues, until now) as “knowing everything, understanding nothing” (Season 1 #7). The chattering online fans (“i h8 u!” “terf!”) represent the Ultrawar of everyone against everyone else. Hammond is their leading voice, but he’s just a pawn. The artwork seems to pin down the answer. The latest Quing of the Nomad Empire – a mispronunciation of “king”… “Long live the Quing!” (Season Two #4) – is depicted as an infectious virus – the perfect symbol for the Coronavirus era. From his first appearance he’s looked like a particular type of virus called a bacteriophage, but now we see him land on Hammond’s overdeveloped cranium and infect him, leaving him babbling gibberish like a virus-infected cell.

This story is the encounter between Hal – good old fashioned superhero comics… a vacation – and those corporate interests, but he doesn’t crush them, kill them, or eliminate them. He makes them a deal. Morrison’s message is that Hal’s style of superhero is the real, pure thing. They’re the kind of heroes that people are really looking for. Not itchy-looking brutes like Draatha (who goes down hard after bragging of his superiority) or the World of Warcraft downgrades of Fekk and Samandra (who becomes a franchise in comics, movies, and games). Superheroes. That’s the Cosmic Grail that they had and lost. They lost it because of change for change’s sake. And Hal makes them a deal. They can just have it back and profit off it forever. And all he has to do to consecrate the deal is to summon up his will and say the oath, and let it sound all over the Multiverse. Love and will. And when he’s done saying his oath, the war is over.

In the epilogue, the Young Guardians confess that Hal was right. They were wrong to want to end his tenure. Letting Athmoora grow and advance seems to be compatible with what Hal asked – it can still be a place for vacation. Hal asks the Young Guardians – Morrison speaking of the new new crop of DC writers – “the next generation of artificial Guardians will learn from your [the 2016-2020 writers] experiences, right?” Morrison’s hoping, but also preaching.

My sincerest apologies but I just had to re-post all those. lol Some great stuff here, Rikdad.