Hal Jordan: The Green Lantern Appreciation 2022

[NathanS]

Though I mostly recall O'Neil's 'couldn't get a handle on the character as being brought up by Dooley as proof of how awful and nothing a character Hal was during the whole post-Emerald Twilight period. O'Neil did seem to like blowing up the GLC which has since become an editor favorite move for some reason.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Though I mostly recall O'Neil's 'couldn't get a handle on the character as being brought up by Dooley as proof of how awful and nothing a character Hal was during the whole post-Emerald Twilight period. O'Neil did seem to like blowing up the GLC which has since become an editor favorite move for some reason.

Yeah, O'Neil helped plot Emerald Twilight along with Paul Levitz, Mike Carlin, and Kevin Dooley.

[phantom1592]

I'll never understand why people have such a problem with a drunk Hal. It didn't become a standard depiction... it's not like he was passed out all the time or a raging alchololic like Stark was during his 'drinking' storyline.

Hal had just gotten fired/grounded (been awhile now since I read it) and blew off some steam. I remember a lot of times before that he and Ollie would be holding a bottle while eating chili dinners or something... and as a completely fearless, sometimes overconfident character he strikes me as EXACTLY the type who would be insisting 'he can still drive'. He was wrong, it was stupid... but it was the kind of wrong and stupid that feels legit for the story. And he took responsibility and paid the price for it.

Which honestly, anytime someone says 'He wasn't drunk'.... I don't buy it. He woke up in a hospital with a nurse giving him the stink-eye because she lost someone in a drunk driving accident... and he was immediately convicted of being drunk. As he woke in the hospital I'm pretty sure they have a solid read on his Blood/alcohol level... and he was convicted.. so yeah, it happened.

Most important part... he didn't ever do it again. He learned from his mistake, took responsibility, and grew as a person.

As a huge Hal fan since silver age... I'm fine with this. I'd prefer a character who makes mistakes and learns than someone who never bothers to make mistakes in the first place.

I definitely don't see why it's such a debacle. Was it ever even referenced after Emerald Dawn II? 12 issues total in his history is hardly a deal breaker... there are a LOT of character additions that I think are much bigger sins than that throwaway addition.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'll never understand why people have such a problem with a drunk Hal. It didn't become a standard depiction... it's not like he was passed out all the time or a raging alchololic like Stark was during his 'drinking' storyline.

Hal had just gotten fired/grounded (been awhile now since I read it) and blew off some steam. I remember a lot of times before that he and Ollie would be holding a bottle while eating chili dinners or something... and as a completely fearless, sometimes overconfident character he strikes me as EXACTLY the type who would be insisting 'he can still drive'. He was wrong, it was stupid... but it was the kind of wrong and stupid that feels legit for the story. And he took responsibility and paid the price for it.

Which honestly, anytime someone says 'He wasn't drunk'.... I don't buy it. He woke up in a hospital with a nurse giving him the stink-eye because she lost someone in a drunk driving accident... and he was immediately convicted of being drunk. As he woke in the hospital I'm pretty sure they have a solid read on his Blood/alcohol level... and he was convicted.. so yeah, it happened.

Most important part... he didn't ever do it again. He learned from his mistake, took responsibility, and grew as a person.

As a huge Hal fan since silver age... I'm fine with this. I'd prefer a character who makes mistakes and learns than someone who never bothers to make mistakes in the first place.

I definitely don't see why it's such a debacle. Was it ever even referenced after Emerald Dawn II? 12 issues total in his history is hardly a deal breaker... there are a LOT of character additions that I think are much bigger sins than that throwaway addition.

Had the story been done in the early 70s to mid-80s, I think it would have played better as the hard-drinking antics of American test pilots were a little more acceptable, but by the time Emerald Dawn rolled around, that kind of behavior was no longer something that readers wanted to see from a heroic character. I will give the subsequent writers credit for dealing with it head on by having Hal take responsibility and serve time for his mistakes.

However, I think it was an unnecessary addition that did little to improve the character's origin, so I wasn't sad to see it retconned away by Infinite Crisis. I think the tweaks that Darwyn Cooke made to Hal's formative years were much more interesting. The idea that Hal spent time in a military sanitarium after being forced to kill when he'd tried so hard to fulfil his oath without taking a life was an interesting wrinkle to his military background.

[j9ac9k]

Aside from it being difficult seeing one's favorite hero go through a tough time and act out of character, (which is fine dramatically - he was having a bad time and made a bad decision) I have no problem with the idea that he got into an accident because he had been drinking. (buzzed driving is drunk driving, kids) The issue I have is that some people used that event to say it showed that Hal was a drunk, or that he was an alcoholic.(even from those defending him) It doesn't help that GL was always compared to Iron Man a lot back in the day, and Iron Man was famous for his battle with alcohol and being an alcoholic. For some, it wasn't just one incident, it was an indication of his character - that his origin was retconned to him being a drunk.

FWIW, while not canon I much more appreciated Hal's origin from "New Frontier" where he was shown as struggling, but for different reasons that were still in character and were much more interesting, and which lead to a dramatic payoff when he gets the ring. His earlier struggles gave a point to the story, whereas Hal's DUI in "ET" seemed to just be an incident to bring Hal low before his heroic rise.

[Anthony Shaw]

If I recall correctly, Denny & Priest destroyed the Heroes for hire team at Marvel.

Damn, those two were brutal.

[Frontier]

By Doc Shaner. No idea what this is about. Can't wait to see the finished piece.

A satellite era collection?

[Johnny]

A satellite era collection?

It's possible, they often have Shaner draw the covers of Golden/Silver/Bronze Age collections.

[Frontier]

It's possible, they often have Shaner draw the covers of Golden/Silver/Bronze Age collections.

That's the only thing I can think of that would fit the characters included (Classic Ollie and Dinah, J'onn, Atom).

[Johnny]

So it seems like the final(?) issue of the current GL book is delayed a month. It was supposed to come out in a few weeks, but now it's slated for April 12.

https://www.dccomics.com/comics/gree...een-lantern-12

[Johnny]

I'll never understand why people have such a problem with a drunk Hal. It didn't become a standard depiction... it's not like he was passed out all the time or a raging alchololic like Stark was during his 'drinking' storyline.

Hal had just gotten fired/grounded (been awhile now since I read it) and blew off some steam. I remember a lot of times before that he and Ollie would be holding a bottle while eating chili dinners or something... and as a completely fearless, sometimes overconfident character he strikes me as EXACTLY the type who would be insisting 'he can still drive'. He was wrong, it was stupid... but it was the kind of wrong and stupid that feels legit for the story. And he took responsibility and paid the price for it.

Which honestly, anytime someone says 'He wasn't drunk'.... I don't buy it. He woke up in a hospital with a nurse giving him the stink-eye because she lost someone in a drunk driving accident... and he was immediately convicted of being drunk. As he woke in the hospital I'm pretty sure they have a solid read on his Blood/alcohol level... and he was convicted.. so yeah, it happened.

Most important part... he didn't ever do it again. He learned from his mistake, took responsibility, and grew as a person.

As a huge Hal fan since silver age... I'm fine with this. I'd prefer a character who makes mistakes and learns than someone who never bothers to make mistakes in the first place.

I definitely don't see why it's such a debacle. Was it ever even referenced after Emerald Dawn II? 12 issues total in his history is hardly a deal breaker... there are a LOT of character additions that I think are much bigger sins than that throwaway addition.

Personally I don't want alcohol or any kind of substance abuse anywhere near the origin story of superheroes, least of all prominent ones.

[Frontier]

I'm pretty happy with Secret Origins and New Frontier as my go-to Hal origins.

[HsssH]

So it seems like the final(?) issue of the current GL book is delayed a month. It was supposed to come out in a few weeks, but now it's slated for April 12.

https://www.dccomics.com/comics/gree...een-lantern-12

Maybe some rewrites happened?

[Redjack]

Maybe some rewrites happened?

nope.

script has been locked for several weeks.

[phantom1592]

Personally I don't want alcohol or any kind of substance abuse anywhere near the origin story of superheroes, least of all prominent ones.

Captain America and Hourman are a bit more blatant. Heck, in the 70's TV Captain America movies they even referred to their version of the Super Soldier Serum as a 'Super Steroid'. I remember Punisher shooting up some Heroin when he was in massive pain because he couldn't find any Morphine...

And at least Hal didn't get his powers FROM booze. It was just a thing put in there for backstory.