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Underground > Comic Books >

Morrison on Green Lantern?

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13:40 / 11.11.03

For fans of Morrison's JLA run, remember in the Star Conqueror story where the Sandman (who Morrison got permission from Gaiman to use for a few pages) tells Kyle that he will "surpass" Hal Jordan, because Kyle knows fear and Hal didn't (I guess saying that Hal could be too arrogant or blindly courageous - maybe even not having healthy fears about the consequences of his actions, like when he became Parallax/evil to "fix" the world after Coast City).

It was something like:

SANDMAN: "You will surpass him."

KYLE: "...Me? Why? How can I?"

SANDY: "You know something he did not."

KYLE: "What?"

SANDY: "Fear."

"You will surpass him."

I thought this was kinda cool and showed that Morrison saw (or the powers that be at DC told him to write) that Kyle had the potential to be just as great, even greater, a hero than Hal. (Hard to believe for die-hard Hal Jordan fans, I know, but I was willing to go with it.) I wonder if Morrison will reference this little exchange in his run.

And what will happen to Kyle? Will Hal be GL for a limited time and then it'll go back to Kyle? And who will be the Spectre and be the living embodiment of God's Wrath and Justice in the DCU if Hal becomes human again?? Seems to me Grant's got some nice cosmic plot threads to play with as well as very human character stuff. Ahh, the questions abound.... should be FUN!!!

14:10 / 11.11.03

IIRC, Hal Jordan could literally feel no fear, not even healthy fears. Something about the Ring itself suppressing his fear responses, as Abin Sur had told it to seek out a fearless host. Or somesuch. I seem to remember a couple of stories in the late 80s wherein Hal discovered that the Ring was tampering with his emotions, and was fairly horrified. I couldn't tell you where or when I saw them,though--they were my roommate's comics.

So, there you go. Although I always thought it was Daredevil who was The Man Without Fear...

17:54 / 11.11.03

I think this "ring supresses fear" thing was an 80s addition to the GL mythos, but I'm hardly an authority on GL. I think a silver age phrase about Hal being 'fearless' was soon seen as an opportunity to give him more dimension by saying he was an adrenaline junkie or something like that. Mark Waid played on this reckless streak in Hal Jordan in his BRAVE & THE BOLD (Barry & Hal) 6-issue miniseries (which is really good), and his JLA:YEAR ONE 12-issue series.

Plus, if the ring had to seek out a fearless host, why then would it need to supress the host's fears?

09:43 / 12.11.03

The corruption of Hal Jordan and his instantiation as The Spectre was one of DC's worst ever moves in my book. It's that total collision of space opera and atmospheric soul-searching spirituality that is the curse of attempts to create strong continuity between books with totally different purposes and aspirations, and it diminishes both. It would be like Buffy showing up halfway through The Godfather series and kicking Mafia vampire butt. Grotesque.

12:02 / 12.11.03

yeah, i have to admit to having let my GL reading slip, and i came back into the fold to the tune of green arrow's Quiver.

what a fucking terrible way to find out about a terrible piece of storytelling. honestly, it just seemed plain wrong having jordan be that powerful, like they had overstepped the bounds of what disbelief i am able to suspend.

23:52 / 12.11.03

I thought the spectre series with Hal was quite good. There were a few really good stories. And I thought the whole spirit of redemption idea worked quite well. I mean it wasn't brilliant, but it was better than a lot of trash out there.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

13:46 / 13.11.03

Although I don't really care about the DCU any more it depresses me as an idea if Kyle is getting dumped and they're bringing back Hal. It's a retrograde step and frankly, stories with an old trooper like Jordan are going to be extremely dull. I quite liked his transformation into the Zero Hour baddy but got increasingly annoyed everytime he reappeared, killing him off for The Longest Night was a relief, though I suspect at the time they did it intending to bring him back as The Spectre. If Hal couldn't be left dead and buried then having him as a dead hero was at least a decent compromise. But it sounds as though they're going to undo the whole Emerald Night thing, bring back the GLC, maybe Oa and the Guardians too? It's a relief that I don't get the comics any more...

15:12 / 13.11.03

Although I like Hal Jordan, I like Kyle too, and I feel that since Winnick's pretty decent run, he's been saddled with a very mediocre writer, so he hasn't been written well in his own book, and he's no longer in the monthly JLA book.

I feel similar to Our Lady in the sense that making Hal earth's permanent, full-time GL again might come off as kind of backpedaling. What does this do to the whole "DC legacy", third generation heroes like Wally West, Kyle Rayner and others? What will happen to Kyle when Hal takes over?

For people who want a Hal fix while waiting for the new stuff, I really liked the Ron Marz-written 6-part story a few years back where, through some sort of time travel thingie, Kyle has an adventure with Hal - Hal is plucked from time before he goes beserk. It's well-drawn, well-written, just a very solid story, and even kind of touching.

So what we've heard, in summation, is:

A Ron Marz-written story arc (no artist announced yet) that gives Marz' final word on the Kyle character.

Then, a Grant Morrison-written story arc (no artist announced yet) where Hal and GL Corps return.

THEN, Geoff Johns writes and Carlos Pacheco draws.

Plus a John Byrne-written, possibly Byrne-drawn "GLC" series starring John Stewart.

I love Pacheco's art, Geoff Johns is a very strong and occassionally excellent (but sometimes only just decent) superhero writer.

Ron Marz told very good, solid superhero stories in his many-year GL run with Kyle, and I thought he always balanced the superhero action out with solid characterization. I look forward to seeing his story arc.

This brings up something - what's with the trend for books (esp. DC books, lately) to have big A list talent committed to a story arc or two but not be the regular creators on the book? I know people are busy, but I sort of miss the days when you would have A-list talent as the REGULAR team/creators on a comic, and not just a 6-issue or 12-issue "event." But you see more 'A-list talent as the regular creators on books' lately at Marvel rather than DC, it seems.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

18:49 / 13.11.03

Yeah, it really seems like they're becoming showcase books, with one arc having nothing (see Hush to Broken City) to do with the one before it. I guess it makes things easier if your only interested in one and not the other. It's sort of the inevitable Frankenstein's Monster of the writing for the trade trend. Why write for the trade when you can just literally write a trade instead?

I'm curious how this will work with Grant's seeming desire to take everything and weave the continuity together again. Should be interesting.

20:27 / 13.11.03

I've wanted to see Grant write GL for a long time, so despite my reservations about the advisability of bringing Hal back I'm looking forward to Morrison's run. Can't say I'm likely to read Johns' subsequent run, though. IMO DC may be blowing it by putting someone like Johns on Hal so soon after the re-debut. Johns is a very solid writer, but you know exactly what to expect from him, namely well-written but entirely non-edgy/non-groundbreaking/non-challenging old-school superhero comics. Given the prevalence of the "Hal is stodgy and boring" meme, particularly amongst younger fans, DC would be better served by sticking (or keeping) someone on the title who'll do something more interesting and unpredictable than that, and generate a some real excitement beyond the "Hal's back!" honeymoon. Otherwise I see the character gradually returning to his basic pre-death status quo popularity-wise, ie. low second string, perpetually middling sales.

21:44 / 13.11.03

could somebody please give me a brief summary of the GL premise..like who is Hal, Kyle, etc...
I did read some GL when I was about 5 but i forgot pretty much everything except that there is some cool ring that has psychadelic powers...
I would like to be somewhat prepared when Morrison's run will hit the stores...
any trades anyone can suggest that are worth checking out?
thnx, excuse my ignorance

02:52 / 14.11.03

kyle is young, has black hair, and is the current GL.
hal had brown hair with white temples, a trademark haircut, and is now dead.
he was the one that started the whole GL popularity kick way back when, but as has been mentoioned, he got boring.
there is a Golden Age green lantern, and he ponces about in a cape and tights. he even has a flouncy shirt. oh, and blonde hair, IIRC.
on what to read... that depends.
what other superhero stuff do you like?
do you like it cosmic and world shattering, or up close and brutal?

03:32 / 14.11.03

maybe try the two 'emeral dawn' ones and 'the road back', if you're looking for old storyline info? 'emerald twilight' and 'baptism of fire' do that for kyle, placing the chracter quite well in the world he's found for himself.

i should warn you that i didnt think 'emerald dawn 2' was all that special, but it does flesh out the folks involved a bit, and it has sinestro in it.

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