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

[j9ac9k]

And one that was completely beside the point I was making, so much so that it's nearly a non sequitur.

How is it a non sequitor? Your defense was that Alan is doing typical superhero stuff, and I was saying that he's not doing one of the biggest things superheroes do.

[thwhtGuardian]

How is it a non sequitor? Your defense was that Alan is doing typical superhero stuff, and I was saying that he's not doing one of the biggest things superheroes do.

He is doing it though, it may be at a slower pace than you might enjoy but decompressed storytelling is a legitimate storytelling style and it's been used in mainstream superhero comics for a while now. Which is why pacing is a completely separate issue that has nothing to do with my refutation that book was too focused on being "gay" rather than just telling a typical superhero story.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern is very much in the lane of a modern superhero comic, it's not as if it's some slice of life book focusing solely on Alan's daily life and sexual preferences with only the barest of superhero trappings as if DC was trying to do their own Love and Rockets(I'd read that actually though)

[j9ac9k]

I agree -- badly paced comic book stories have nothing to do with the lead character being gay. But I don't think it's a matter of pacing, but of balance.

Also, I don't think the storytelling is decompressed at all -- a lot of stuff has happened.

[postfutureshock]

Is Alan a major player in the current JSA book?

[Refrax5]

He is doing it though, it may be at a slower pace than you might enjoy but decompressed storytelling is a legitimate storytelling style and it's been used in mainstream superhero comics for a while now. Which is why pacing is a completely separate issue that has nothing to do with my refutation that book was too focused on being "gay" rather than just telling a typical superhero story.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern is very much in the lane of a modern superhero comic, it's not as if it's some slice of life book focusing solely on Alan's daily life and sexual preferences with only the barest of superhero trappings as if DC was trying to do their own Love and Rockets(I'd read that actually though)

Well, there was an entire issue that dealt with him being institutionalized for being gay and where he did little in the way of the superheroic. Much of the plot has hinged entirely on his homosexuality and most of his personality has been about him feeling ashamed of his homosexuality.

As I've said, I think the most recent JSA issue (and even Robinson's Earth 2 series) did a much better job dealing with Alan's sexuality while still depicting him as this tough, cool superhero. He still feels like Alan in those books, just a gay version, whereas this version feels like anything that Alan is and Green Lantern is outside of being gay is entirely irrelevant to the story. There's virtually nothing of the character in this story. It feels almost like it could have been written from a template made for any superhero.

I don't mind Alan being gay. I just want him to still act like Alan and to read him being the badass superhero I'm a longtime fan of.

[Mantis-Ray]

Is Alan a major player in the current JSA book?

He was a heavy focus in the last JSA issue having him deal with Ruby, Red Lantern's daughter.

[Hol]

We don't really know what kind of interactions he's even had with his children, it's never been really shown on page and as per Infinite Frontier he didn't even know them until they were nearly adults, perhaps making that moment his first real quiet moment with them where it felt natural to tell them.

.

I think it is safe to say it has been years since he has had relationships with his adult children. How many? Who knows? Current continuity is sketchy. But I think he has had more than enough time and moments to open up to Jade and Obsidian. Todd being a gay man too, this should have come up. This is one of the reasons people take issue with the book.

[andersonh1]

I'm trying to figure out how this version of Alan Scott has the willpower to light his ring, let alone fly and create constructs. He's not confident, he's filled with regrets and self-loathing and is certainly not sure of himself. Where is the confidence and willpower that is "the flame of the Green Lantern?"

And since when does the Spectre hug anyone? He may be even more out of character than Alan here.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I'm trying to figure out how this version of Alan Scott has the willpower to light his ring, let alone fly and create constructs. He's not confident, he's filled with regrets and self-loathing and is certainly not sure of himself. Where is the confidence and willpower that is "the flame of the Green Lantern?"

And since when does the Spectre hug anyone? He may be even more out of character than Alan here.

Sadly, I agree. This doesn't feel much like an Alan Scott story.

[j9ac9k]

I'm trying to figure out how this version of Alan Scott has the willpower to light his ring, let alone fly and create constructs. He's not confident, he's filled with regrets and self-loathing and is certainly not sure of himself. Where is the confidence and willpower that is "the flame of the Green Lantern?"

And since when does the Spectre hug anyone? He may be even more out of character than Alan here.

Is willpower meant to be a defining trait for using Alan's ring? I thought that was more of a GLC thing. I could be wrong, I just don't recall that being emphasized with Alan.

[Johnrevenge]

Is willpower meant to be a defining trait for using Alan's ring? I thought that was more of a GLC thing. I could be wrong, I just don't recall that being emphasized with Alan.

Yeah I agree.Willpower wasn't that much important for Alan's ring to work. Only obstacle for Alan's ring to work is wood.

And about the Spectre, I think that as it's the early years of Corrigan as Spectre, he still has some empathy and hadn't become extremely bitter for years working as God's Wrath (he basically began as the Spectre around the same time than the other JSA founders), so I more or less find some sense in that he would hug Alan in that stage of his story as he hadn't been bittered by years as the Spectre seeing the worst of humanity.

[andersonh1]

Is willpower meant to be a defining trait for using Alan's ring? I thought that was more of a GLC thing. I could be wrong, I just don't recall that being emphasized with Alan.

It's right there in All American #16, willpower is the flame of the Green Lantern. The ring requires willpower to work. There are numerous times in those early Golden Age stories where Alan talks about willing something into happening, or fights to put more willpower into whatever he's doing with the ring. The original Alan Scott is a bold, confident man, with plenty of determination. This new version is not.

power.jpg

[exile001]

I'm trying to figure out how this version of Alan Scott has the willpower to light his ring, let alone fly and create constructs. He's not confident, he's filled with regrets and self-loathing and is certainly not sure of himself. Where is the confidence and willpower that is "the flame of the Green Lantern?"

It's almost like the entire point of the story is him becoming Green Lantern or something...

[andersonh1]

It's almost like the entire point of the story is him becoming Green Lantern or something...

He already has the ring, and the costume, and the powers... somehow. And everyone refers to him as Green Lantern. But he's not Green Lantern? Really?

[krazijoe]

He already has the ring, and the costume, and the powers... somehow. And everyone refers to him as Green Lantern. But he's not Green Lantern? Really?

Just because he has it doesn't mean he instantly turns into a badass. Kyle Raynor gets a ring and he's not the White Lantern yet. It took him years to become a top tier GL. Alan is not Hal, Alan is Alan and we really didn't know much about him before he got the Lantern. This whole Storyline is showing who Alan is and how he his life before the Lantern and when he first received the Lantern shaped him into the total Badass he is now.