Am I crazy or are GL fans completely irrational about this???

[Den]

I like all the Lanterns except Hal. He is a really boring character that lacks any kind of depth (IMO). That's why I roll my eyes whenever I see Hal being foisted up over the other, better Lantern characters.

See, this is a good example of our fractured fan base. You find Hal dull, I find him the most exciting and think he has plenty of depth and personality.
But they really do need to drop the 'greatest green lantern' talk inside the comics themselves . All it does is piss fans of one or another lantern off. And I really don't see any of our boys (Not even Guy nowadays) calling themselves that seriously.

[Trey Strain]

See, this is a good example of our fractured fan base. You find Hal dull, I find him the most exciting and think he has plenty of depth and personality.
But they really do need to drop the 'greatest green lantern' talk inside the comics themselves . All it does is piss fans of one or another lantern off. And I really don't see any of our boys (Not even Guy nowadays) calling themselves that seriously.

I very much agree. Hal isn't Muhammad Ali.

[lorddominicus85]

I'll tell you what happened. DC was supposed to bring back the Corps but not Hal in GL #150 of that series, but Geoff prevented it because he demanded that Hal come back at the same time. So the restoration was delayed for two and a half years so that Geoff could come up with Rebirth. Boo, hiss. They should have brought back the Corps and worried about Hal later.

Anyway, what big thing were they going to do for #150? Well, it was decided to make the allegedly stunning announcement that Kyle was half Latino! The fans rightly mocked this on the DC GL message board because having a Latino parent is no big deal, and Judd Winick came to the board and called the mockers "a bunch of racists."

True story, believe it or not.

Is there proof of this somewhere?

[Uncanny Mutie]

That doesn't mean he'd come in last either, I've read plenty of GL material and Hal is by far my favorite.

I don't think anyone said he would (I know I didn't). The point is that he probably wouldn't come out first, and DC knows that, and will never give that (another) chance to happen; that is the basis of all the GL fan fracturing, which is the entire point of this thread.

[Trey Strain]

Is there proof of this somewhere?

I'm sure there's documentation of it, if you'll look for it. Joe Kelly's Legacy: The Last Will And Testament of Hal Jordan was written to set up the return of the Corps in GL #150. The cover that was used for GL #150 was the one that was drawn for the Corps' return, even though the Corps didn't come back.

[lorddominicus85]

If I had to pick one lantern of the four I would pick Hal. Guy comes off as very one dimensional, he's a hot head for the sake of being a hot head. John has some great back story in the New 52 that Lost Army is mining very well and he is quickly climbing the ladder of my favorite characters. Kyle is an interesting concept on paper but I've never felt he was very interesting. He seemed redundant in a world with Dick Grayson and Wally West where he was supposed to be a modern re-imagining of a silver age concept. I'm sure people who grew up with him love him and I'm sure he has interesting stories he just never really appealed to me.

I can also agree that Hal hasn't really had much in the way of character development in some time. Johns started his run with everyone in the corp hating and not trusting him and Hal feeling a great deal of regret for killing everyone and then they eventually just sort of moved past that and left it by the wayside.

What it comes down to is putting a writer who is passionate about the character on the book and anyone can be a good read. Personally I'm happy with the shake ups as it gives everyone's favorite something to do and hopefully DC has a long term plan for the Lantern books that isn't just returning to the status quo.

[The Darknight Detective]

Honestly, I've heard people accuse accuse Hal, John and Kyle of being bland or boring at one point or another on this site.

Yep. In fact, what's really boring is when someone states that a character is boring because they are an obstacle for their own favorite character to be get the center stage instead.

[Sodam Yat]

Kyle is Latino because his father's real name is Gabriel Vasquez.

The name "Gabriel Vasquez" hasn't been mentioned since HOG ION era. Around the relaunch, his father goes by the original name before the retcon.

I know,i read about it,but some recently said that change later on in post-crisis and that he was not latino anymore and in the new52 some were saying he was not latino,but reading the recent info, it says he is latino.

Well writers never capitalize on the updated status quo in Judd Winick's run. During the start of the relaunch, DC has been promoting diversity led books. New Guardians hasn't been one of those books being considered as a minority title. If he was considered latino at the start, it would've probably been a wasted opportunity in a business sense to attract more readers of color to pick up the title by promoting the book as a minority led book. That's why some other readers didn't find Kyle as as minority character, not to mention his father's origns/history has seemingly been removed when Justin Jordan took over. Dick Grayson suffered a similar fate as well in Kyle Higgins run, when the Night of Owls story line his family tree was a bit explored, which there was no mention of Romani heritage.

Now recently it's clarified for both characters.

I don't think anyone said he would (I know I didn't). The point is that he probably wouldn't come out first, and DC knows that, and will never give that (another) chance to happen; that is the basis of all the GL fan fracturing, which is the entire point of this thread.

I don't think DC would never give it a chance, regardless whether they're skeptical about the competition of Hal not coming out on top, because they would look back and see that it would probably be a wasted investment on all of those years with a single character being the forerunner of the Green Lantern franchise.

[FishyZombie]

I don't think anyone said he would (I know I didn't). The point is that he probably wouldn't come out first, and DC knows that, and will never give that (another) chance to happen; that is the basis of all the GL fan fracturing, which is the entire point of this thread.

Actually, I'm think Hal is currently the most popular. Not by enough to overshadow the "competition", at least by what the sales show (though having the flagship title doesn't hurt). Anyway this is getting off topic.

[Frontier]

Actually, I'm pretty sure Hal is currently the most popular. Not by enough to overshadow the "competition", but that is what the sales show (though having the flagship title doesn't hurt). What makes you think he wouldn't?

Probably the fact that John has a very vocal fan base and likely is more known to general audiences thanks to JLU despite how long ago it was.

[FishyZombie]

Probably the fact that John has a very vocal fan base and likely is more known to general audiences thanks to JLU despite how long ago it was.

I was thinking more comic readers, since this discussion is about whether these characters are all being represented well or not in their current comic books. Anyway I don't think 99 percent of the general audiences even remember the names Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

[skyvolt2000]

I don't think 99 percent of the general audiences even remember the names Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

They do. It just varies on HOW they know them.

If you were to go by books only-Hal wins because I have YET to see any other GL lead book in trade in stores outside of comic book shops.

If we talk comic book stores only-Hal wins.

If we talk outside of comics book stores-John wins and it's not even funny. It's not so much HIM but the era that he gained popularity.

DC's domination at the time had Static Shock, Justice League, Legion, Teen Titans and Batman Beyond. DC was on everyone's mind in animation. All their stuff (except Static) was available everywhere outside fo comic book stores. You had John in games, toys, clothing, food, happy meals and even custom made John Stewart stuff like leather jackets. Even in the used market that stuff is still there.

Hal for all intend got SCREWED when he came back and that is not taking that movie into account. He came back as DC started to decline.

Hal got a tv series and a DVD-at least here in my city no ONE watched and the few stores that sold them still have them. Hal merchandise linked to New 52-if you SAW it outside of comic book stores. The few items I saw no one especially kids bothered with it.

Oh and the first of insults to Hal got-the Green Lantern Halloween costume Target kept putting out-was JOHN STEWART version.

The second one? At every comic con I go to-KIDS are buying Green Lantern comics (dollar bin or less) that star KYLE.

John was marketed to kids and families. Hal for the most part was not.

Now how do you solve I don't know.

[Trey Strain]

I agree free up the limits on the number of GLs running around and make it so having multiple lanterns from a planet isnt weird. Just say something like the Guardians recruit more lanterns from planets that our hotspots.

I agree with this, except that I'd have the Central Power Battery do it instead of the Guardians. Then you could have some mystery about the choices. Why was this particular one chosen? Who knows? But you can't question the Guardians and bitch at them about it because it's out of their hands.

[Trey Strain]

Actually, I'm think Hal is currently the most popular. Not by enough to overshadow the "competition", at least by what the sales show (though having the flagship title doesn't hurt). Anyway this is getting off topic.

I think he's the most popular because DC constantly tells the readers that he's supposed to be the most popular. That and his having the flagship title.

[Desh]

I was thinking more comic readers, since this discussion is about whether these characters are all being represented well or not in their current comic books. Anyway I don't think 99 percent of the general audiences even remember the names Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

If you want to talk about the divide between Green Lantern fans in earnest then you would have to approach the media outside of comics, because I think that is where most of the division stems from. Particularly which Green Lantern to showcase for future movies, and who to use in the Justice League.

John was marketed to kids and families. Hal for the most part was not.

Hal Jordan was marketed to kids and families within recent history, it's just that his stuff didn't go over that well. His movie tanked and when the cartoon came out (I agree with you) DC animation wasn't in the same position as it was during the DCAU, so he was at quite a disadvantage, and the failure of the movie certainly didn't help. But yeah, where he's most popular is with a hardcore audience of die-hards, who are, from what I can discern, mostly people who got into him during the Geoff Johns years of Green Lantern, or people who watched him long ago on Superfriends.