Hal Jordan: The Green Lantern Appreciation 2023

[Johnny]

I have no idea who Joan is.

I think it's supposed to be Joan Colby, who I believe was Hal's first girlfriend after breaking up with Carol. But I don't think they lasted long together.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

What is bad about Arisia? I just remember seeing her in the big GLs shoot their ring beams group shots. Her, Katma, the Wog, and Salaak all caught my eye

Arisa was created to explicitly be an underage character who had an unrequited crush on Hal. After Englehart turned Carol into a full villain, he decided to make Arisia into Hal's new love interest by having her use her ring to age up her body and mind so that she was no longer underage. Hal initially refused her advances until he was eventually convinced she was actually an adult.

It was a really bad idea, compounded by Gerard Jones later reverting Arisia's mind to that of a child but with her adult body. Jones would later go to prison for possession of child pornography.

As a result, Geoff Johns retconned the whole mess away by explaining that Arisia's planet orbits its sun much more slowly so she was never actually underage, but was hundreds of years old by Earth years.

None of this removed the stink from this story and it is repeatedly brought up again and again by fans who don't like Hal as proof that he's a pedophile or something similarly nonsensical.

[Stanlos]

....
I did ask for this information. It is true. I did indeed ask.

I feel like that guy in Hellraiser 2 getting pushed into the very unhappy makeover box when the skinless lady issues that line.

But moving on, the explanation brought up something that was an insane problem for me when I was little. How does the ring "age up" her mind and her body? It sounds like rather than sci-fi or tech, it's a Anything Ah Want plot device. Especially if their is no green glow or energy signature. Wouldn't it just be like a genie?

[StarSpangledMan]

Well yes, that is essentially the function of the power ring - it's a magical wishing ring with a sci-fi coat applied. It can do almost anything its wearer can imagine and force into being through the power of their will. Typically, they manifest functions through constructs - for unique visuals against other heroes - but they don't have to and uses can be permanent. Around the Geoff Johns run, the rings were nerfed considerably and GLs basically ran with only constructs as their powers.

[Stanlos]

So if a GL created a steak or water, you could eat it?

[Johnny]

I imagine you could but it probably won't have much of an effect.

[j9ac9k]

So if a GL created a steak or water, you could eat it?

Aside from the early days where there were no rules at all governing the rings' abilities,(Hal once turned Tom into a bird by accident when he was dreaming) I don't know if the rings were ever shown to be able to create actual objects down to the molecular level from just the green energy. So, you could eat, it but it would be eating green energy. I think one could fabricate the taste by replicating certain chemical processes, but it would likely not have the same nutritional content. Just a guess... I mean, DC has been wildly inconsistent with what a ring can do over the years.

[Stanlos]

Aside from the early days where there were no rules at all governing the rings' abilities,(Hal once turned Tom into a bird by accident when he was dreaming) I don't know if the rings were ever shown to be able to create actual objects down to the molecular level from just the green energy. So, you could eat, it but it would be eating green energy. I think one could fabricate the taste by replicating certain chemical processes, but it would likely not have the same nutritional content. Just a guess... I mean, DC has been wildly inconsistent with what a ring can do over the years.

So the constructs are forever things??? That is probably too much but that is how my brain works and I think that is kinda why so-called dry sci-fi like THE EXPANSE is so my jam. When it veers too much into fantasy it breaks. When we got DVDs of the famous Superfriends I noted early episodes had things like I am intangible ...#Because! But in the books at the time, the Scary Emerald Twilight thing was happening where Hal kept grabbing more and more energy and was used by the red guy (Extance? Exfiltrate?) and moved to reset the universe amid the time wave issues.

[j9ac9k]

So the constructs are forever things???

No. It's been established on plenty of occasions that constructs require concentration to maintain cohesion. I'm sure there have been exceptions, but that's how it's usually presented.

[Anthony Shaw]

Aside from the early days where there were no rules at all governing the rings' abilities,(Hal once turned Tom into a bird by accident when he was dreaming) I don't know if the rings were ever shown to be able to create actual objects down to the molecular level from just the green energy. So, you could eat, it but it would be eating green energy. I think one could fabricate the taste by replicating certain chemical processes, but it would likely not have the same nutritional content. Just a guess... I mean, DC has been wildly inconsistent with what a ring can do over the years.

Never use the restroom after a GL.

[silly]

I think it's supposed to be Joan Colby, who I believe was Hal's first girlfriend after breaking up with Carol. But I don't think they lasted long together.

Amazing how Morrison knew that.

[EmeraldGladiator]

....
I did ask for this information. It is true. I did indeed ask.

I feel like that guy in Hellraiser 2 getting pushed into the very unhappy makeover box when the skinless lady issues that line.

But moving on, the explanation brought up something that was an insane problem for me when I was little. How does the ring "age up" her mind and her body? It sounds like rather than sci-fi or tech, it's a Anything Ah Want plot device. Especially if their is no green glow or energy signature. Wouldn't it just be like a genie?

Wasn't it implied that Guy used his ring to keep his body buff and young in the Gerard Jones Era, just before he and Hal fought over Earth and his ring?

[SiegePerilous02]

Amazing how Morrison knew that.

Lol nothing too obscure for Morrison.

The third volume of Wonder Woman Earth One was full of obscure one-off characters from the Golden Age, Joan making a cameo is on brand for them

[Thor-Ul]

Amazing how Morrison knew that.

Check MorrisonSubstack. There are several sets of annotations of interest there.

[j9ac9k]

Amazing how Morrison knew that.

Why is it amazing that a writer read up on a character they were writing? It might be surprising, but that's only because most people forgot her. I'd expect the writer to know the character's history.