Alan Scott: The Green Lantern by Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey (New Golden Age)

[MajorHoy]

Since we already have separate threads for the upcoming Jay Garrick limited-series (https://community.cbr.com/showthread...eremy-Adams!!!) and Wesley Dodds limited-series (https://community.cbr.com/showthread...pcoming-Series), we might as well make sure Alan also gets his own thread.

from https://aiptcomics.com/2023/05/05/dc...en-age-series/

DC ‘New Golden Age’ series for Sandman, Green Lantern, and Flash coming October 2023
Golden Age DC Comics heroes Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and Wesley Dodds score miniseries this October.

DC Comics continues to announce new series, all part of their Dawn of DC initiative, and today three new titles were announced, spinning out of Geoff Johns’ The New Golden Age banner. The three, six-issue miniseries launch in October, including Alan Scott: The Green Lantern by Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey, Jay Garrick: The Flash by Jeremy Adams and Diego Olortegui and Wesley Dodds: The Sandman by Rob Venditti and Riley Rossmo.
“It’s long past time that the heroes of the Justice Society had their own titles again,” said Geoff Johns. “At the same time, they had to be special, important, and emotional stories, each one exploring character, revealing secrets, and introducing new heroes and villains to the DC Universe.”

---------------------------------

. . . Alan Scott: The Green Lantern by Tim Sheridan (Flashpoint Beyond) and Cian Tormey (Superman: Son of Kal-El) will be Alan Scott’s first solo title since 1949. Through a twist in the timeline, Alan Scott: The Green Lantern revisits and recontextualizes the origins of the first Green Lantern through the lens of our modern understanding of the man. The story, which begins in the 1930s, is about an old flame – the kind that burns eternal – and the sometimes head-on, single-track collision of our personal and professional lives. This is Alan’s coming-of-age, in which he must embrace the man he is, to become the hero he’s meant to be. In the end, he’ll have gained a greater understanding of himself and his gifts – as he unlocks a new, previously unknown ability that could make him the most powerful Green Lantern in existence!

“Tim has crafted a beautiful and shocking origin story for Alan’s greatest enemy, the Golden Age Red Lantern, that is both heartbreaking and inspiring,” added Johns. “Jeremy has created a fun, emotional adventure celebrating the reunion of Jay Garrick with his long lost daughter, Judy, set firmly in the DC Universe of today and Rob will present a mystery tale of The Golden Age Sandman’s earliest days through the lens of Oppenheimer. These three series will all tie back into Justice Society of America and a few other titles we’ve got brewing.”

From that same article,

Fans will get their first look at Alan Scott: Green Lantern in DC Pride: Through the Years available at local comic shops on June 13. DC Pride: Through the Years is a journey through over 30 years of fan-favorite LGBTQIA+ characters in the DC Universe that not only remembers and celebrates three landmark issues of days past but also teases exciting new stories yet to come! In addition to the Alan Scott story, DC Pride: Through the Years collects:

* The Flash #53 (1991), in which villain-turned-hero Pied Piper comes out to his friend the Flash and helps thwart a dastardly villain
* Detective Comics #854 (2009), the thrilling beginning of Batwoman’s first solo series, which would launch her into stardom
* Supergirl #19 (2018), which tells the story of Lee Serano—a nonbinary teenager who befriends the Girl of Steel

All three of the first issues will be available in October at local comic book shops.

[OBrianTallent]

As excited as I am about Alan getting his own series, I am just as trepidatious about Sheridan writing it. I've only read Titans Academy and Shazam and neither really left me wanting more. Maybe this will be where he excels though....

[Timber Wolf-By-Night]

I remember getting into a, shall we say, spirited discussion with another board member over the Pied Piper's coming-out story. The other board member was outraged that WML didn't have Wally immediately accept Piper as gay and condemned the story through his modern-day lens, while I argued that, however imperfect that story looks through said modern lens, it was completely believable for the time it was published and was in fact one of the breadcrumbs that led to modern-day LGBTQ+ acceptance, and that one couldn't just ignore that.

[The Darknight Detective]

I remember getting into a, shall we say, spirited discussion with another board member over the Pied Piper's coming-out story. The other board member was outraged that WML didn't have Wally immediately accept Piper as gay and condemned the story through his modern-day lens, while I argued that, however imperfect that story looks through said modern lens, it was completely believable for the time it was published and was in fact one of the breadcrumbs that led to modern-day LGBTQ+ acceptance, and that one couldn't just ignore that.

Just wait when some of the things those people believe in get the same modern lens treatment years from now. They might not like the reaction.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I think Sheridan worked better in Shazam than in TTA. So a smaller cast with a limited focus would be better for him.

[Ascended]

I remember getting into a, shall we say, spirited discussion with another board member over the Pied Piper's coming-out story. The other board member was outraged that WML didn't have Wally immediately accept Piper as gay and condemned the story through his modern-day lens, while I argued that, however imperfect that story looks through said modern lens, it was completely believable for the time it was published and was in fact one of the breadcrumbs that led to modern-day LGBTQ+ acceptance, and that one couldn't just ignore that.

Comics offer such a unique twist on that kind of thing. The characters have been around for generations, what was normal and acceptable then isn't necessarily so today, so do you interpret that through a modern lens, or take into account the era the story was written? Do we condemn Superman for saying it was 'okay to slap a Jap' back in the 40's, or simply accept that times have changed for the better and Clark's characterization has likewise evolved?

Literary analysis has to deal with this when looking at old writing, but to my knowledge nothing crosses the bridge between past and present like comics do and it causes all kinds of interesting things to happen, and questions that no other form of literature can ask.

Just wait when some of the things those people believe in get the same modern lens treatment years from now. They might not like the reaction.

They won't. But today's progressives are tomorrow's conservatives. Here's hoping we never reach the point where the limits of what is acceptable today are still the limits on what's acceptable years from now. That'll mean we've stagnated as a culture.

[The Darknight Detective]

They won't. But today's progressives are tomorrow's conservatives. Here's hoping we never reach the point where the limits of what is acceptable today are still the limits on what's acceptable years from now. That'll mean we've stagnated as a culture.

I will definitely second that. It just drives me crazy that the younger generation (just like mine and all the other ones before) think they have all of the answers when they don't even know all of the questions yet.

[Captain Nostalgia]

As excited as I am about Alan getting his own series, I am just as trepidatious about Sheridan writing it. I've only read Titans Academy and Shazam and neither really left me wanting more. Maybe this will be where he excels though....

Me, to I love Alan Scott, but....not overly enthused about the writer.

[NathanS]

Comics offer such a unique twist on that kind of thing. The characters have been around for generations, what was normal and acceptable then isn't necessarily so today, so do you interpret that through a modern lens, or take into account the era the story was written? Do we condemn Superman for saying it was 'okay to slap a Jap' back in the 40's, or simply accept that times have changed for the better and Clark's characterization has likewise evolved?

Literary analysis has to deal with this when looking at old writing, but to my knowledge nothing crosses the bridge between past and present like comics do and it causes all kinds of interesting things to happen, and questions that no other form of literature can ask.

Superheroes also have the issue that well these are meant to be heroes and are traditionally presented as such, along with not necessarily completely simplistic morality, (though obviously at times it has had that too!) but there is a tendency to go with a fairly binary morality. This is not an issue in and of itself! Fiction has room for all sorts of stories, from the very nuanced to straight up goodies vs baddies. But it means there are people looking to their heroes to embody what they see as good. If they have character flaws its more, is gruff, or cares too much. Which again is fine! But well Wally was not always written to be just a straight up good person. Oh he always did the hero thing and acted heroically, but he early on in his time as The Flash was a jerk, and harsher was frankly more than a bit sexist. And not in a "fine for his time" sort of way, but as a character flaw he had to overcome. And its understandable if you grew up with a hero later to look back at that were is being actively characterized as sexist, hell in a way that maybe you could have experienced, and go "No! I know Wally! I grew up with him and he would never be like that!" You don't want your hero to have such a mark on them. Its complicated stuff to process.

[Rakzo]

I remember getting into a, shall we say, spirited discussion with another board member over the Pied Piper's coming-out story. The other board member was outraged that WML didn't have Wally immediately accept Piper as gay and condemned the story through his modern-day lens, while I argued that, however imperfect that story looks through said modern lens, it was completely believable for the time it was published and was in fact one of the breadcrumbs that led to modern-day LGBTQ+ acceptance, and that one couldn't just ignore that.

I mean, how else were they expecting a guy from the early 90s to react? The way how Wally was portrayed in that issue was fairly realistic for the time and he ultimately realized that Piper was still his friend and accepted him for who he was in that same damn issue. In fact that issue was probably one of the most progressive introductions of a Gay character and was way ahead of its time, especially compared to how most comic writers handled the same exact topic in the rest of that decade. Plus, Messner-Loebs did even better by introducing Piper's boyfriend at the end of his run and Wally just being happy for them.

On-topic, Alan deserves better than being handled by the worst comic writer in recent years.

[Timber Wolf-By-Night]

I mean, how else were they expecting a guy from the early 90s to react? The way how Wally was portrayed in that issue was fairly realistic for the time and he ultimately realized that Piper was still his friend and accepted him for who he was in that same damn issue. In fact that issue was probably one of the most progressive introductions of a Gay character and was way ahead of its time, especially compared to how most comic writers handled the same exact topic in the rest of that decade. Plus, Messner-Loebs did even better by introducing Piper's boyfriend at the end of his run and Wally just being happy for them.

On-topic, Alan deserves better than being handled by the worst comic writer in recent years.

That's the problem with "the modern lens." It looks back at the past, not to understand how things used to be and how they changed to become what we know as "the way things are now," and instead angrily dismisses things for not being "the way things are now" already.

[The Darknight Detective]

That's the problem with "the modern lens." It looks back at the past, not to understand how things used to be and how they changed to become what we know as "the way things are now," and instead angrily dismisses things for not being "the way things are now" already.

Not only that, but that people were somehow more evil then (whatever "then" was) instead of being born no different than we are today. It's not like cave people (the most "evil") were given a manual how to behave thousands of years ago.

[Dougbauer]

https://www.thepopverse.com/enter-th...an-cian-tormey

[clonegeek]

Are they finally doing something with the retcon of him being gay, because wasn't he married to a woman before New 52?

[MajorHoy]

Are they finally doing something with the retcon of him being gay, because wasn't he married to a woman before New 52?

He had been married to Molly Mayne (the Golden Age Harlequin) back during Roy Thomas' Infinity Inc. run. And before that, he had fathered two children: Jade and Obsidian.

I believe James Robinson (the initial writer for the New52 series Earth 2) said that version of Alan Scott was made gay partly in tribute to Obsidian, who was essentially erased by the change to the New52. Though I'm not sure who was responsible for retconning the original version of Alan into having been a closeted gay man for all these years.