What, if anything, bothers you about the return of Hal Jordan?

[Person Man]

This is inspired by a thread on the Avengers board about the Winter Soldier storyline. Obviously, we're talking about the return of a pair of characters of old, but there are differences. To me, I think what was important was that "Rebirth" was a shoddy story. Others may take issue with Hal coming back and being completely absolved, while there are some who may just not like bringing back dead characters. I didn't make a poll, so as to leave it open-ended. Go!

[Brandon McKinnis]

He wasn't needed strikes me as the biggest problem, kyle had been GL for roughly ten years, and John was the cartoon GL...hal would have been better off just left in the past.

[David Atkins]

The suckage of Rebirth is pretty much MY biggest problem. Yep. It was so bad I still can't look at Hal sometimes without trying to strangle the person closest to me.

[Gingold]

I'm glad that Hal's back. On balance, the new GL series has been more good than bad. The only problem I really have is the general shodiness of Rebirth, and pushing Kyle off to become Ion instead of leaving him as a GL.

[herozero]

No problem with Hal being back. New series isn't bad stuff. Just hate to see Kyle get tossed. I mean, I really dig Guy and all, but why would the Guardians leave Guy with a ring, and not Kyle, when they passed over Guy for Kyle when Hal went crazy.

[shaxper]

I'm really tired of Hal having to pay his dues all over again - needing to constantly prove himself to every GL he meets, and often still bearing guilt. It's over. It's been over for nearly three years. It's time for Hal to move on.

Other than that, I'm quite glad to see him back.

[Patient Boy]

No problem with Hal being back. New series isn't bad stuff. Just hate to see Kyle get tossed. I mean, I really dig Guy and all, but why would the Guardians leave Guy with a ring, and not Kyle, when they passed over Guy for Kyle when Hal went crazy.

Guy Gardner refused to take the ring when Ganthet offered it to him.

[Gozwald73]

I really don't get why ppl can't let go of Hal:

Kyle did freaky Manga dinos & robots, gizmos, fantasy creatures, horror movie monsters, etc etc etc

Hal did bubbles. Err... woo-hoo?

C'mon ppl, willpower = good GL; but willpower + imagination = great GL!

:p

[90'sCartoonMan]

No problem with Hal being back. New series isn't bad stuff. Just hate to see Kyle get tossed.

My thoughts exactly. I kept worrying Kyle would be killed in either Rebirth or IC just because he didn't seem to have a place in the DCU anymore. The end of his series was just depressing.

Good thing we have Ion now.

[Tony Starkz]

I love Hal.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

My problem is that it took about five years longer than it should have.

While Hal's departure was botched because they didn't give it enough issues to breath or enough depth to be plausible for the character, Kyle introduction was very well handled. However, after a few years, the character started to repeat itself and run out of steam (much like Hal did in the late sixties).

DC kept trying to drum up interest in the comic by teasing the return of either Hal or the Corps or both, but then would chicken out and go back to Kyle being the last GL again. Then they brought Hal back as The Spectre in quite possibly the worst relaunch of a character I've ever seen. Which wasted another five years.

[Will.S]

I didn't like it because while I like a good deal of Geoffrey Johns's work, it was total fan service on top of creating excuses for the bad stuff Hal's done on top of the whole yellow fear monster sillyness. I could care less about Kyle as Ion now too which seems wrong.

That said, what's done is done so he's back in the DCU as the main Lantern again. Plus the OYL Lantern hasn't been too bad with the return of Cyborg Superman.

[PastePotPete]

It bothers me that a lot of people are bothered by it.

[Babylon23]

Absolutely nothing bothers me about Hal's return. I loved Rebirth, and I'm loving the new series. Plus, Kyle is still alive, and appearing in his own series, written by the guy that created the character. So fans of both characters can be happy because DC is giving us the best of both worlds.

[Carter Hall]

Absolutely nothing bothers me about Hal's return. I loved Rebirth, and I'm loving the new series. Plus, Kyle is still alive, and appearing in his own series, written by the guy that created the character. So fans of both characters can be happy because DC is giving us the best of both worlds.

Well said. My thoughts exactly. Rebirth was great, the new GL ongoing is great, and Ion is very good. While I understand DC bringing people back from the dead is annoying, other than that, what's the problem?

[Hush Little Batman]

I don't think Hal should've been brought back at all and certainly not in the way he was. Personally I thought he was infinitely more interesting as Parallax than he ever was as a GL but I could've accepted his return had Geoff not nullified and absolved him of everything. Hal should've been brought back as someone who now has to live with the hard truth that to the families and loved ones of the people he killed, they view him exactly the way he views Cyborg Superman - as a madman who murdered innocent people in his quest for power and in Hal's case, it would've been worse because he killed friends.

That's something that instantly separates Hal from the rest of the DC heroes because it's something no other major character has gone through. Nobody else went crazy, murdered their friends and tried to recreate reality. Instead of being another cookie-cutter mask with a cool day job, he'd stand unique amongst a group of unique individuals while simultaneously being injected with much needed depth. The level of emotional areas to explore - from redemption to forgiveness - could've driven the series for a long time. Even if Geoff wanted to use the 'yellow fear demon' nonsense as a way of explaining why Hal went nuts, he should've made the crimes Hal committed count for something, but no; he loves Hal too much so instead he writes everything away.

I understand Hal fans felt ripped off at how he was turned into a villain, but he's not an irreplaceable staple of the DCU because if he were, he'd never would've been discarded by editorial to begin with. There are only three "untouchables" in the DCU and that's the Trinity; everyone else is fair game to be replaced or killed and, IMO, they should stay dead. I believe this is also a bigger problem within the industry where deaths and "turns" lack real emotional impact anymore because we know that the character will return down the road and after a few issues dealing with it, everyone will act like nothing happened and they'll be no long lasting effects.

[Rylon]

The only thing that bothers me is that Hal isn't the Spector anymore. I loved that. When I read his first Spector story in Legends of the DC Universe, I fell in love with the idea. It was a great use of Hal with a great writer. I really enjoyed the early issues of the series. Finances kept me from continuing to buy it, or any comics, for a while.

I haven't read Rebirth, so I can't comment on that particular story. But I've liked how DC's handled Kyle. Hal isn't an interesting character to me as GL. I read issue 10 after IC. I just don't like him in that role.

[MythicBrawn]

Hal coming back is the problem. He should have stayed dead. And, I'm talking not returning as the Spectre. DC used the Spectre as a placeholder for Hal until they decided to bring him back completely.

[Kid Kyoto]

I agree that Paralax was a much more interesting charater than Hal with a lot of untapped potential. fans and creators live too much in the past, Hal had 30 years green lantern, we could always go back to him for flashback stories, there was no need to retcon history and bring him back happy and healthy and sane.

Additional retcons to 'clean up' his image have added that his grey hair was part of an evil plot and the teen girl he was seeing was actually 200+ years old. It's like fans can't handle a bit of grey in their character.

[Taskmaster]

No problem with Hal being back. New series isn't bad stuff. Just hate to see Kyle get tossed. I mean, I really dig Guy and all, but why would the Guardians leave Guy with a ring, and not Kyle, when they passed over Guy for Kyle when Hal went crazy.

Actually they didn't pass over Guy, he turned them down


I have no problems with the return of Hal, I've been routing for it from day one, they only problem was the way they got rid of him in the first place

[Taskmaster]

It bothers me that a lot of people are bothered by it.

Ha ha ha too true, it's over, Hal's back, Guy's back, Kyle's still around and so is John, it's over can we just move on and enjoy the awesomness in the Green Lantern Universe

[Alan2099]

I always thought Hal was as dull as dirt before he became Parallax. He actually became intresting. Here was a hero that used to be one of the big noble guys and now he had fallen further than anyone, and despite that, he really didn't seem too intrested in actually redeeming himself as much as he did trying to make things right in hiw own now bitter and cynical view point. He was almost like a cosmic Punisher.


Of course then every other apperance of the character boiled down to either, "This is where Hal redeems himself," or "HAl is the greatest GL ever." Which got old realy quick.

To make things worse, when they finally did bring Hal back, they basically just used the magic reset button. Nope. None of that stuff about hal going evil and trying to destroy reality or anything actually happened. It wasn't his fault at all. Oh, and he's not getting older either. Hal is back and perfect, aren't you all happy?

Well, except for you fans of Kyle or John, they just suck. Seriously, everytime I see Hal in a comic with those other since his return, it seems to be hitting us over the head with how much better a GL that Hal is.

[JamesJesse]

Personally, I wished they kept him dead. His legend and tragedy was cool. But bringing him back wasn't as bad as I thought.

I don't think Hal himself still feels that guilty. But I like the new dynamic about people not having as much confidence in him as they used to. WE know he's as good as ever, but it makes for great stories if people question him. Hal doesn't seem to be the type to let that bother him... but the character dynamic of his self-assured, confident demeanor versus his dealing with people expecting him to be still repentant.

I am loving that they found a role for Guy. An EXCELLENT role at that.

But John seems lost in the shuffle. He's supposed to be Earth's other GL right? And Kyle got the short end by becoming ION. I think those two could have been given better roles. Also disliked the killing of Kreon but having the Hal hating GLs around would make for nice drama and discord in the dynamics of the GL Corps. (Factions are sure to form...)

Also, Rebirth was handled ok... not great. Not really anything good but I wouldn't call it garbage. Definitely wasn't Geoff's best revamp though (and he's done a lot of great ones)

[MadroxTMMan]

The thing that bothers me the most is how the writing of Hal since his return to his GL role seems to be a whole lot like the pre-Parallax material. He's a test-pilot-by-day, ladies man, fearless square-jaw superhero. Just like He was 20 years ago. Except that since then, he's been possessed by Parallax, lost his mind, killed all his friends, relit the sun, turned into the Spectre...etc, etc, etc. A hundred incredible things have happened to this guy, and the lasting effect it seems to have had on his character is nil. In the age of "Ultimates" and "All Star" books, is no one guarding the doors of continuity? Maybe any monkey can be an editor these days.

[Chris Says]

I have no problem with Hal Jordan back in the land of the living, but all the excuses and retcons Mr. Johns keeps coming up with to make him guilt free and a b@d@$$ is starting to get out of hand.

I wont use the word bother, but what also annoys me is the jobbing of other characters to put Hal Jordan over as " The Man. "

Take Rebirth and the recent Green Lantern #13 for example, John Stewart and Kyle Raynor, usually stand up confident guys, turn into Hal's watchdog/ bootlick ( John ) and number #1 fan ( Kyle ). As for the original b@d@$$ Guy Gardner, he takes Hal's fault / disobedience as his own so " The Man " wont get into trouble. ( I wont go into issue #9 cause Batman went out like a punk! )

But my biggest beef with Hal particluarly as to do with DC almost to a point forcing Hal Jordan on everyone as " The Green Lantern. " of the DCU.

Seriously, if DC really cared about the GL franchise, why are they doing everything in their power to make Hal better than every other ring slinger ( i.e. Kyle, John, Guy, etc. )?

Sorry about the rant, but that's just my $2.99 worth...

[Person Man]

You can say badass.

[The Mirrorball Man]

I think Kyle is a much better character - that's a matter of personal preference of course - in my opinion, there's room for a Green Lantern - Hal Jordan series for those who like the character, and a Green Lantern Corps series starring Guy and Kyle. Kyle has earned his stripes, let him be a Green Lantern for a while. We all know that in superheroes comics, becoming a cosmic entity is usually lethal in the short term.

[Thnikkaman]

The relegation of John and Kyle to second-class-citizen status really annoys me.

[Shem the Penman]

The relegation of John and Kyle to second-class-citizen status really annoys me.

I think it's really weird how far down the ladder John has been kicked given his prominence in other media. If I didn't read comics, and all I knew about Green Lantern came from video games or cartoons, I'd assume that Green Lantern was supposed to be black, and probably be startled if I did pick up a current GL comic and found a completely different person in the role.

As for Hal-as-Spectre: I thought it was a neat way to keep the Spectre active without having to drag poor ol' Jim Corrigan out of heaven. But as nice as the idea may have looked on paper, I'd be the first to admit it stank out loud in execution. Seeking redemption is a hard concept to make work in a superhero comic (as opposed to exacting vengeance, which is nice and straightforward and usually violent), and letting J. M. DeMatteis, at his most loopily mystical, write the Hal Spectre series was just a terrible decision. Ending Hal's tenure as Spectre was very much a mercy killing.

I stayed the heck away from Rebirth and from Hal's new series. I hate reset buttons. Sometimes they're necessary -- I don't think anyone could have saved Hawkman without a reset -- but most times it's just lazy, self-indulgent writing.

[JulianPerez]

Nothing at all bothers me about the return of Hal as a GL. I'm an old-school HEAT guy that says the greatest period in the character's history was under Englehart in the 1980s, so I would say that, wouldn't I? :D

Yeah, it's annoying to bring a character back from the dead, but there isn't anything wrong with undoing a mistake that shouldn't have been done in the first place. The explanation for Hal being under mind control by a monster makes perfect sense because Hal was behaving in an out of character way. The only real reason Hal was kept as dead as long as he was, was because editorial was unwilling to admit they pulled a boner.

Hal Jordan is a really, really interesting character with an interesting and unpredictable personality and the DC Universe is stronger with him than without him. Kurt Busiek once said that if Hal Jordan was confronted with no way out but a cliff, he would jump off the cliff...and come up something on the way down! No other character is like that.

I loved some of the intriguing elements Johns brought out for the return: the idea that there is an emotional spectrum, with Green as the color of willpower and yellow as fear. Suddenly, the very arbitrary weakness to yellow makes SENSE in this context.

As far as returns go, Hal's return should have left everybody happy. Kyle gets to be a hero in his own comic (though why anyone would celebrate Ron Marz writing ANYTHING is beyond my comprehension), and nobody's taking Guy or John's ring away, either.

[phicks]

I love Hal, but Rebirth was muddy and confusing. I 'm still not quite sure HOW he came back.

The biggest thing that bothers me about Hal's return is how a top 10 selling book has been slipping down the sales charts because of ongoing lateness problems. 52 has shown the world that a good story will sell books very well, without big name artists like Jim Lee drawing at a snail's pace. We shouldn't have to wait on Ethan Van Sciver or whoever is the flavour of the month to get the next issue of GL out. The next time somebody's going to miss deadline, just have one of the 52 artists step in and "git er dun".

[Taskmaster]

It's funny, we're getting the best GL situation in history and people are still complaining, Hal's book is a top seller so they are doing something right, Kyle's got his own book if you like him support it, Guy is starring in GLC if you like him support that, the only one that an argument can honestly be made for that he isn't getting supported is John and he's still a heck of alot better off that he was before the Rebirth wagon started rolling, if it wasn't for all that's happened in the last few years with Hal and Rebirth John would still be a powerless guy in a wheelchair

[Green Gardner]

Bother is a good word I guess, because for the most part, I'm quite happy with the situation. However, I have to echo the sentiment that Johns is missing out on some interesting storytelling opportunities by undoing the Parallax thing so completely. And I'm not even talking about the yellow fear monster thing itself. That SOUNDS silly, but it worked for what the story had to accomplish. But subsequent material has almost made it seem like the Parallax thing was a full on possession, and anything Hal did while under its influence doesn't reflect on the man at all.

Originally, Hal snapped when his city and its 7 million inhabitants were incinerated, right? No, I don't see Hal then proceeding to brutally tear through his friends without Parallax's influence, but he wouldn't be human if a tragedy like that didn't screw him up. His anger at the Guardians wasn't baseless; Ganthet even admitted they screwed him over. Some of that SHOULD linger. Basically, establishing that the villain known as Parallax was a warped version of Hal Jordan rather than not Hal Jordan at all would help add a few new layers to the character, I think.

[Will.S]

It's funny, we're getting the best GL situation in history and people are still complaining.....
That's the thing, it ended up being almost too perfect for Hal.

[Taskmaster]

That's the thing, it ended up being almost too perfect for Hal.

How so? Kyle's got his own book, Guy has a book, like I said the only one without a book is John, is it just because Hal has a better creative team and people like him more that he got a "too perfect" situation? I really don't see that as his fault as much as the fault of the other characters to be able to carry their own books and/or draw the best creative teams:confused:

[Alex L]

As far as returns go, Hal's return should have left everybody happy. Kyle gets to be a hero in his own comic (though why anyone would celebrate Ron Marz writing ANYTHING is beyond my comprehension), and nobody's taking Guy or John's ring away, either.

I'm thinking that Ion (Kyle) will no longer be an active player in the DCU at the end of his miniseries.

In his new role as the Torchbearer (almost like a backup hard drive) pretty much any absence can be explained away by saying the Guardians didn't want to risk losing him.

[mandog]

I'm glad Hals back. I never liked Kyle much, Hal will always be Green Lantern to me.

[SKETCHSANCHEZ]

I'm perfectly happy with the way things are, with three green lantern books out right now, I'm in heaven.

The thing I liked most about Rebirth is that Kyle and his own mythos are that much stronger than before. I've always liked Kyle, he's my GL, so dont take this as me saying he wasnt a strong character before.

Thing is, now his whole concept is that for a long time (how long is it, exactly in comic book time? Has it ever been stated?) he was the LAST green lantern, basically doing the job that took an entire force to get done by himself. When people wanted GL, they came to him, and he couldnt say no even if, deep down, he wanted to. He did this incredible duty, kept the light burning all by himself and eventually brought about the return of the Green lantern corps.

For a long time he was just the last green lantern, but I really believe thay just by adding "but he brought them back" and becoming the "torch bearer" has really made him that much stronger.

[Will.S]

How so? Kyle's got his own book, Guy has a book, like I said the only one without a book is John, is it just because Hal has a better creative team and people like him more that he got a "too perfect" situation? I really don't see that as his fault as much as the fault of the other characters to be able to carry their own books and/or draw the best creative teams:confused:
I was referring to the Parallax,Yellow Fear Monster, Redemption angle not the actual set up of the title itself.

[geordiesteve]

I like the character, love the new series, but agree with a previous poster, why just kick our Kyle and brush past him? I too predict that Kyle will all but disappear from the DCU after the mini series and will only be rolled out for big events like the next crisis.

I used to be a huge DC fan but am really having trouble connecting with any of their characters nowadays, maybe it's just my age or my tastes have changed, but I'm struggling which is reflected in the number of ongoing DC titles I have in my standing order.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I like the character, love the new series, but agree with a previous poster, why just kick our Kyle and brush past him? I too predict that Kyle will all but disappear from the DCU after the mini series and will only be rolled out for big events like the next crisis.


People have been claiming Kyle was going to get killed off or sent to comic book limbo for a couple years now.

Y'know what? Still hasn't happened yet. He's still appearing every month, sometimes twice, like he has been for the past ten years. Yet people keep thinking he's going away.

[Alex L]

People have been claiming Kyle was going to get killed off or sent to comic book limbo for a couple years now.

Y'know what? Still hasn't happened yet. He's still appearing every month, sometimes twice, like he has been for the past ten years. Yet people keep thinking he's going away.

They weren't likely to do that when he was the Last Green Lantern In The Universe. There would have been no more franchise.

Now that Hal, Guy, John, and the Corps are back, though...

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Now that Hal, Guy, John, and the Corps are back, though...

Yeah, I can see how Kyle might seem a little redundant these days, but as long as he keeps bringing in the readers, he'll continue to appear. Same goes for Hal, John and Guy. That's likely the main reason John doesn't have his own comic yet. He's percieved as selling poorly.

[kel25]

I think my problem is that Hal really did get a free ride when he came back. This guy slaughtered friends but because he was mind controlled he is forgiven for all of his crimes. Then he goes back to his old city and pretty much gets the same job he had before.

There was so much story potential for his comeback and so many different directions they could have taken him. Instead we pretty much get a reset that makes it seem like everything that has happened to him over the years meant nothing.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I think my problem is that Hal really did get a free ride when he came back. This guy slaughtered friends but because he was mind controlled he is forgiven for all of his crimes. Then he goes back to his old city and pretty much gets the same job he had before.

There was so much story potential for his comeback and so many different directions they could have taken him. Instead we pretty much get a reset that makes it seem like everything that has happened to him over the years meant nothing.

You really should read the last GL storyarc, because it shows that there are still plenty of people who don't think Hal should be given a free ride and haven't forgiven him in the slightest for anything he did while infected with the Yellow Impurity. In fact, they try to kill him over it. And this is after five years of him trying to make amends for all the crap he did.

While I agree there were a lot of different directions they could have taken with Hal upon his return, I think the feeling at DC was that it had taken so damn long to get this point, they might as well just take the character back to his roots instead of messing around with the formula too much. Keep in mind that the spectacularly unsucessful Hal as Spectre idea had just fizzled out completely. Although, to be fair, making Hal an Air Force pilot again isn't something we've ever seen before, so they didn't just hit the reset button. The character was very much changed by his experiences as Parallax. That will always be a part of who he is now.

[captain_unimpressive]

I'm glad I haven't read Rebirth or ION, since apparently it would ruin my favorite GL for me.
In fact, that previous statement about all the returning GLs makes me wonder why Green Lantern Corps is focusing on a two-dimensional guy who makes Batman look likable and a random assortment of aliens including the four-armed monkey which looks like Grampa Simpson, and isn't taking all the mainstream GLs from Hal to John and giving them their own series.
Of course, they should keep "Red" and Kilowog, who is like the Miracle Whip of tertiary DC heroes: never paid attention to on his won, but sorely missed when taken away.
GLC would be a dry sandwich indeed without the Big Pig's potential.

[Shellhead]

Yeah, I can see how Kyle might seem a little redundant these days, but as long as he keeps bringing in the readers, he'll continue to appear. Same goes for Hal, John and Guy. That's likely the main reason John doesn't have his own comic yet. He's percieved as selling poorly.

The redundancy is a real problem. Green Lantern should be a cautionary tale for both DC and Marvel... if you do too many major changes for short-term boosts in sales, you divide the fanbase, over and over again. Eventually, it will be impossible to please a majority of fans, because there will be too many factions.

In addition to all the Hal fans and the Kyle fans, there are quite a few John Stewart fans now, especially thanks to the cartoons. And there are even some Guy Gardner fans. My favorite is Alan Scott, but he has a secure place with JSA plus this Checkmate gig now.

So now that Hal is GL again, sales are lower than they would have been years ago, because so many Kyle fans are alienated. But the Kyle fans aren't enough to make Ion successful either. Maybe the best way to go would be to make Green Lantern a title with rotating arcs featuring all the Green Lanterns, alone, in pairs, or even as groups when a big menace comes along.

[Super Buddies Forever]

I had a problem with the idea of Rebirth but not with the execution. If you HAD to bring Jordan back to life and absolve him of his sins, then Johns came up with a hell of a solution. It adds to the Green Lantern mythos, doesn't undo the impact of Emerald Twilight and the ten years of Kyle Rayner, and in theory allows all fans to have their favorite aspect of GL.

However, I do think DC is beginning to focus on Jordan a bit too much. They've got their favorite toy back and are now beginning to neglect John Stewart. They were on the right track by giving Hal the GL solo title, giving Kyle his own ongoing (which I'm still hoping Ion will achieve), letting Guy be the star of the Corps monthly, and retaining Alan Scott in the JSA. However, that leaves out John. His logical place would have been in the JLA (especially given the cartoon tie-in), but Meltzer opted to use Hal instead.

Truthfully, I'm also not to fond of side stepping the pathos that surrounded Jordan following Zero Hour. While his role as the Spectre may be largely spat upon, I really dug it when he would show up as a ghostly mentor to Kyle during Winick's run on the book. He had returned to his right state of mind but was still haunted by what he had done and was doing his best to prevent the same madness from overtaking Kyle. I do like how Johns retconned Parallax, but it's now nowhere near as interesting. Jordan going mad, in essence, proved the Joker's theory right: Anyone can go insane after one really bad day.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I would rather Green Lantern be more of a team book myself. I think all the characters are unique enough that throwing them all together into one big book and letting the spotlight move around constantly between different sets of characters would be fun. Do a Hal/John story, then a Guy/Kyle story, then an Alan/Hal story, which occassional solo stories sprinkled in between. This way, you can put different artists on the book as well to solve the lateness issues.

[SKETCHSANCHEZ]

I would rather Green Lantern be more of a team book myself. I think all the characters are unique enough that throwing them all together into one big book and letting the spotlight move around constantly between different sets of characters would be fun. Do a Hal/John story, then a Guy/Kyle story, then an Alan/Hal story, which occassional solo stories sprinkled in between. This way, you can put different artists on the book as well to solve the lateness issues.

I think thats what Green lantern Corps should be for. Not that I dont like the new recruits...

[Hush Little Batman]

However, I do think DC is beginning to focus on Jordan a bit too much. They've got their favorite toy back and are now beginning to neglect John Stewart. They were on the right track by giving Hal the GL solo title, giving Kyle his own ongoing (which I'm still hoping Ion will achieve), letting Guy be the star of the Corps monthly, and retaining Alan Scott in the JSA. However, that leaves out John. His logical place would have been in the JLA (especially given the cartoon tie-in), but Meltzer opted to use Hal instead.

The sad thing is that DC's slight of John Stewart comes off as very racist to many minority comic book fans (keep in mind I said many and not all or majority). What is a minority fan to think when they see (or read or hear) that every other major GL of the past 20-30 years is currently starring in his own book except for the "black guy". John was the face of GL's for the past five years in a major cartoon series; you'd think it'd warrant a solo series, a mini or even a one shot special, but apparently it doesn't. Whether it's a fair critique or not, this reflects very poorly on DC and anyone who thinks they're making strides by including Black Lightning in the JLA is nuts. I'll tell you right now, as someone who grew up and still resides in the inner city, most African youths have never heard of BL. Besides John Stewart, the most popular minority comic/cartoon character among young African-Americans is Static Shock.

[Raker616]

I love the fact that Hal is back, long live HEAT for all of their hard work. The only travesty was the fact that a hack like Marz pretty much tried his best to take a dump on one of the greatest characters in the DCU then he replaces him with a spider-man wanna be "artist" like Kyle. What DC and Marz did to Hal was a discrace, Hal would have never done what he did it wasn't in his character and the fact that people are actually stupid enought to think that ET wasn't anything but the worst piece of garbage that any comic company has ever produced makes me sick. GJ did exactly what I would have done and that is wipe Hal's slate clean and return him to the role he was born to be THE GREEN LANTERN. Rebirth was not only writen well but it is one of the greatest GL stories of all-time fleshing out who parallax really was and tying it to the yellow impurity was genious and having Sinestro be the one who pulled all of the strings together was very fitting. The only problem I had with it was that piece of crap Kyle wasn't killed off because everytime I see him I think who could like this Gen-X metrosexual punk as a hero/man he should be six feet deep and hopefully after ION is cancelled he will. Green Lantern has never been better and the sales prove it, Hal has been returned to prominence and is once again in the JLA and he's become one of DC's top dogs. While the Corps has been Recharged and most of the travasties that happened during the 90's have been retconned and thank god. GL and it's mythos is now stronger and more popular than ever and thanks to GJ and co. and myself as well as all of the fans of the one and only true green lantern will continue to enjoy what has been a long time coming and that is Hal Jordan saving the gallaxy and showing why no matter how much time passes, how many crappy writers try to destroy Hal, or how many flash in the pan wannabe replacements show up Hal is and will always be THE GREEN LANTERN.

[Alan2099]

Raker, if you want people to read what you type, don't make it a huge wall of text. Go back and hit enter a few times to space things out a bit.

[Gozwald73]

Raker, if you want people to read what you type, don't make it a huge wall of t3ext. Go back and hit enter a few times to space things out a bit.

Ahh yes - but then it wouldn't be an angry little rant, would it?

[SKETCHSANCHEZ]

hahaha, and here I thought getting Hal back would be the end of that kind of rhetoric, silly me.

[Alex L]

I love the fact that Hal is back, long live HEAT for all of their hard work. The only travesty was the fact that a hack like Marz pretty much tried his best to take a dump on one of the greatest characters in the DCU then he replaces him with a spider-man wanna be "artist" like Kyle. What DC and Marz did to Hal was a discrace, Hal would have never done what he did it wasn't in his character and the fact that people are actually stupid enought to think that ET wasn't anything but the worst piece of garbage that any comic company has ever produced makes me sick. GJ did exactly what I would have done and that is wipe Hal's slate clean and return him to the role he was born to be THE GREEN LANTERN. Rebirth was not only writen well but it is one of the greatest GL stories of all-time fleshing out who parallax really was and tying it to the yellow impurity was genious and having Sinestro be the one who pulled all of the strings together was very fitting. The only problem I had with it was that piece of crap Kyle wasn't killed off because everytime I see him I think who could like this Gen-X metrosexual punk as a hero/man he should be six feet deep and hopefully after ION is cancelled he will. Green Lantern has never been better and the sales prove it, Hal has been returned to prominence and is once again in the JLA and he's become one of DC's top dogs. While the Corps has been Recharged and most of the travasties that happened during the 90's have been retconned and thank god. GL and it's mythos is now stronger and more popular than ever and thanks to GJ and co. and myself as well as all of the fans of the one and only true green lantern will continue to enjoy what has been a long time coming and that is Hal Jordan saving the gallaxy and showing why no matter how much time passes, how many crappy writers try to destroy Hal, or how many flash in the pan wannabe replacements show up Hal is and will always be THE GREEN LANTERN.

http://forums.clubel.ca/images/smilies/blink.gif

It's just a comic book. Nothing to get your blood pressure raised this high over.

[Will.S]

Maybe the best way to go would be to make Green Lantern a title with rotating arcs featuring all the Green Lanterns, alone, in pairs, or even as groups when a big menace comes along.


I would rather Green Lantern be more of a team book myself. I think all the characters are unique enough that throwing them all together into one big book and letting the spotlight move around constantly between different sets of characters would be fun. Do a Hal/John story, then a Guy/Kyle story, then an Alan/Hal story, which occassional solo stories sprinkled in between. This way, you can put different artists on the book as well to solve the lateness issues.
Those are actually cool ideas.

[Tony Starkz]

I love Hal.He will always be THEE Green Lantern to me.

I never understood the appeal of John Stewart.Just seemed like a prick with a stick far up his ass.

[David O Burcham]

I'm bothered by the loss of the grey temples.

No joke.

It gave the character the look of the veteran superhero in the DCU other than the "Big Three". It was a dignified look, much like Reed Richards over at Marvel. Plus, it also helped tie the color scheme together with his white gloves.

[Raker616]

Ahh yes - but then it wouldn't be an angry little rant, would it?

My thoughts exactly, I know that it's a comicbook but i've grown up on Hal since I was young it's the first thing that I ever read. My dad used to read me Hal stories when I was young and ever since then i've been a long time fan. To me what Ron did to Hal was personal and even after all of this time it still bothers me, but I feel better know that he is back as The Green Lantern.

[phantom1592]

Nothing at all bothers me about the return of Hal as a GL. I'm an old-school HEAT guy that says the greatest period in the character's history was under Englehart in the 1980s, so I would say that, wouldn't I? :D

Yeah, it's annoying to bring a character back from the dead, but there isn't anything wrong with undoing a mistake that shouldn't have been done in the first place. The explanation for Hal being under mind control by a monster makes perfect sense because Hal was behaving in an out of character way. The only real reason Hal was kept as dead as long as he was, was because editorial was unwilling to admit they pulled a boner.

Hal Jordan is a really, really interesting character with an interesting and unpredictable personality and the DC Universe is stronger with him than without him. Kurt Busiek once said that if Hal Jordan was confronted with no way out but a cliff, he would jump off the cliff...and come up something on the way down! No other character is like that.


Agreed on everything. Hal is a very interesting character. He's really one of the last true "real" heroes they have left. In order to make everyone more "relatable" they have heroes second guessing themselves, squabbling amongst themselves, giving them emotional problems.

Hal is one of the last who do what they believe is right. No second guessing, Thought and Deed as one. I love the cliff example :)

Rebirth was a very good story. I love the way it worked INSIDE continuity. It mentioned the yellow weakness. It explained why kyle never had one. It commented on Gardners "warrior" powers. It explained the out of character behavior, and even why Hal was aging faster than the rest of the DCU. Most writers would have just glossed over things like that. The only thing I think that could have been added, was the fact that Sinestro didn't release the yellow impurity.... HAL did. When he was fighting Sinestro inside the battery. It was why there were only 5 rings and no corps when Vol 2 started up. The only other way to clear Hal, would have been to bring back Malvolio. And THAT would have been too obscure for all but the true die-hard fans.

If I had to pick something I don't like it would be tough. As much as I hate the idea of updating Hal's Costume, the new one works. Its updated... but it didn't change enough to matter. That's cool. I guess there were a couple of things I don't care for.

1) No yellow weakness. Actually they can get around the weakness by "remembering Fear", which to me makes no sense. Having Fear was what let Parrallax get into Hal in the first place, but whatever... This isn't much of a complaint as long as Yellow still hurts them if they aren't expecting it. If they have to focus themselves to fight Sinestro that's fine (techniquely they've been doing that for years, Think of all the times Hal and Sinestro "armwrestled") , but a sniper two blocks away with a gold bullet should punch right through their shields. Time will tell if they go that route.

2) Time limit/ limited energy: I miss the 24 hour limit. It gave the Lanterns a sense of omnipotence. The whole concept was the ring could do ANYTHING if you have the willpower to do it. Now it seems like everything is limited by Percentage numbers. If you make a nuclear style explosion, then you may fall out of the sky. it seems to take something away for me.

3) This has nothing to do with Hal as much as the GLCorps book. Why are the lanterns so pansyish? I understand that Guy is supposed to be on Call to help bail out people, but seriously. he's a little too much in demand. Most of this crap should be able to be handled by a single lantern. most sectors have two. In the last issue I read Guy was called to help someone in a kidnapping case. C'MON! A Green Lantern can't handle a kidnapping?!?! Or what about an invading ship? These sectors are pretty big places people, and even with two lanterns per sector, You BETTER BE ABLE TO HANDLE SOMETHING YOURSELF! You have the most powerful weapon in the universe on your finger. Again Not seeing this in Hal's book. He's taking care of business like a Lantern should be able to do. :)

As for the Spectre Idea. He made some GREAT guest appearances in JLA, GL, and JSA as the Spectre. His solo series however sucked beyond belief. I sat through 5 years of Daredevil under Bendis cause I love the character, but I don't think I made it through 8 issues of Spectre. NEVER would have thought something could stop my supporting Hal, but that did it.

[SKETCHSANCHEZ]

3) This has nothing to do with Hal as much as the GLCorps book. Why are the lanterns so pansyish? I understand that Guy is supposed to be on Call to help bail out people, but seriously. he's a little too much in demand. Most of this crap should be able to be handled by a single lantern. most sectors have two. In the last issue I read Guy was called to help someone in a kidnapping case. C'MON! A Green Lantern can't handle a kidnapping?!?! Or what about an invading ship? These sectors are pretty big places people, and even with two lanterns per sector, You BETTER BE ABLE TO HANDLE SOMETHING YOURSELF! You have the most powerful weapon in the universe on your finger. Again Not seeing this in Hal's book. He's taking care of business like a Lantern should be able to do. :)



Wasnt it a kidnapping case in a living city that HATES Green Lanterns? Sounds like a job for Guy to me.

[moonlight_night78]

Personally, I think that wasn't really anything wrong with his returning, but more the execution. Why in the world did they think that the "yellow-fear monster" was a good idea for explaining everything when they could have written a story exploring a more psychological side of Hal Jordan.

Here's a guy that lost almost everything in a short amount of time while fighting for the Guardians (he was fighting with other Corps members, Darkstars and L.E.G.I.O.N. during the Trinity crossover). He's basically been the Guardians "yes-man" for years, and the one time he wants something, he gets denied. But instead of just saying that that was the straw that broke the camel's back and caused him to have a breakdown, it's all the "yellow-fear monster's fault" :rolleyes:

It would have been a lot easier for him to just say that he feels he has found personal redemption, seperates from the Spectre, and gets reborn. He still comes back as a Green Lantern, but also as more human and flawed and taking full personal responsibility for all of his actions.

But then again, HEAT probably wouldn't have stood for his having such a blemish on his character, being they want a perfect Hal Jordan that doesn't make mistakes or has any flaws...

But this is all just my humble opinion

[phantom1592]

Wasnt it a kidnapping case in a living city that HATES Green Lanterns? Sounds like a job for Guy to me.

Yeah. But it wasn't a golden city or anything. It still doesn't seem like something a Green Lantern "Honest, Brave, and with the most powerful weapon that can do anything" shouldn't be able to handle.

It just seems like the Corps used to be full of the best the universe had to offer, and now nobody can do anything without a whole squad with them.

[Magneto_X]

Retconning Parallax into a yellow fear monster.

Having Jordan being responsible for Parallax's crimes would make him a lot more complex a character, unique in the DCU and have him constantly trying to redeem himself for what he's done. Kinda like Silver Surfer or what the Spectre series dealt with (they were definitely on the right track with Hal IMHO).

[Magneto_X]

I'm really tired of Hal having to pay his dues all over again - needing to constantly prove himself to every GL he meets, and often still bearing guilt. It's over. It's been over for nearly three years. It's time for Hal to move on.

Other than that, I'm quite glad to see him back.

"Zero Hour" & "Emerald Twilight" ring a bell?

[dreyga2000]

Yeah but if they left Jordan responsible for all his crimes wouldn't there be the obvious issue of why the JLA or the GLC don't stuff his a$$ jail or somehting similar?

[Magneto_X]

Yeah but if they left Jordan responsible for all his crimes wouldn't there be the obvious issue of why the JLA or the GLC don't stuff his a$$ jail or somehting similar?

That's what plot devices are for. :D

The other alternative is for him to be a fugitive who gets a new GL ring.

[Alex L]

1) No yellow weakness. Actually they can get around the weakness by "remembering Fear", which to me makes no sense. Having Fear was what let Parrallax get into Hal in the first place, but whatever... This isn't much of a complaint as long as Yellow still hurts them if they aren't expecting it. If they have to focus themselves to fight Sinestro that's fine (techniquely they've been doing that for years, Think of all the times Hal and Sinestro "armwrestled") , but a sniper two blocks away with a gold bullet should punch right through their shields. Time will tell if they go that route.

2) Time limit/ limited energy: I miss the 24 hour limit. It gave the Lanterns a sense of omnipotence. The whole concept was the ring could do ANYTHING if you have the willpower to do it. Now it seems like everything is limited by Percentage numbers. If you make a nuclear style explosion, then you may fall out of the sky. it seems to take something away for me.

I read the yellow-weakness retcon as Parallax the Fear Monster weakening the GL's power over the color yellow, so it simply takes more effort to overcome it.

They can still stop the gold bullet, but they would need to focus on it pretty much to the point of not being able to do anything else; all their willpower would be on stopping the bullet.

And the percentage-thing makes just as much or as little sense as the 24-hour limit.

Actually IMO it makes more sense than the 24-hour limit. Kyle's GL ring has a maximum charge, and the usage will take it down to zero. Kyle has also observed that when he gets closer to empty, it takes more concentration to keep the constructs together.
The older rings apparently would expire after 24 hours whether you've fought off an alien invasion or used the ring to get yourself a cold beer from the fridge never made that much sense to me.

[SKETCHSANCHEZ]

Yeah. But it wasn't a golden city or anything. It still doesn't seem like something a Green Lantern "Honest, Brave, and with the most powerful weapon that can do anything" shouldn't be able to handle.

It just seems like the Corps used to be full of the best the universe had to offer, and now nobody can do anything without a whole squad with them.

I see what you mean, but could you explain what you mean by "Golden City"? That just flew right over my head heh

Also, I got the impression that sending him on that mission was a vehicle to screw with Guy. Since the rebirth it seems that Salaak has had it in for Guy, I mean the only reason he was on that vacation was because Kilowog let him sneak off, Salaak (that's his name, right?) kept denying it to him and then over in GREEN LANTERN he had his assigned to "prime duty"

[phantom1592]

I see what you mean, but could you explain what you mean by "Golden City"? That just flew right over my head heh



If the city was all yellow and hated Lanterns, then I could see the need for backup ;)