I have debated a few people here recently about the overall merits of Hal as a Green Lantern. Some feel as though he is not such a great example of a hero seeing as he has disappeared at some important times and at others times turned downright villainous. I personally do not really see it like this, in my mind Hal is the best of all, even though he is not my favourite. I think the first thing to consider is what could be called the James Bond rule. A lot of James Bond fans have their favourite for one reason or another. I have even heard of people saying Timothy Dalton was the best. In all considerations though the role would not be popular or potentially even exist without Sean Connery having defined the role. The same here applies to Hal. While others may have gotten a better treatment as of late, he is the only reason why there are Green Lanterns to start with. It is no secret that Soranik is my favourite Green Lantern, but she would not exist except for Hal being so popular. In considering this it is important not to forget Alan Scott, but in terms of the characters, he stands somewhat alone in terms of the mythos of the character. The golden age favoured mystical elements and the silver age favoured science fiction ones, and there is therefore somewhat of a clean break between the characters (for instance there would be no Kyle Rayner with only an Alan Scott). The next consideration should go to what I call The George Lucas rule, that being that no matter how much you alter the perception of your artistic achievements, that your original story still stands. Many didn’t like the prequel trilogy of Star Wars, and while there is some legitimate reason not to, taken as they are it does not really ruin what made them great in the first place. So although Hal did fall from grace, he still had someplace to fall from. A final consideration could be called the Kanigher rule, for Robert Kanigher who seemingly did everything he could to make Wonder Woman so unpopular in the 1950s and 1960s. Every character, especially ones with such long publication histories go through periods both good and bad. While Emerald Twilight in some ways fundamentally altered his history, his actions later in the Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night mostly redeemed him. In terms of a character being published in comics and as a hero featured in stories within them, I therefore don’t see how Hal can be considered anything but the best Green Lantern.
Hal Jordan
Character » Hal Jordan appears in 5295 issues.
With the ability to overcome great fear and harness the power of will, test-pilot Hal Jordan was chosen to be the Green Lantern of Sector 2814 inheriting the ring of the dying alien Green Lantern, Abin Sur. He later on went to creating his own power ring from his own will power. Through sheer will power and determination, Hal has established an impressive record of heroism across the galaxy with the help of his fellow Green Lanterns as well as his peers in the Justice League.
Is Hal the best Green Lantern?
I think Hal is a good GL, but he's only second best, imo. Kyle Rayner has done more good for the GL Corps than Hal has. I realize that you've brought up the events of Emerald Twilight and how the SCW and Blackest Night redeemed him, but no matter what events followed after that, you can't deny that Hal played a key role in destroying things as Paralax.
@RazzaTazz: you didn't say who made them popular you said that he was the reason they exist which he isn't
Interesting part you mention of James Bond here because it totally applies to Hal and addressing his worthiness as a GL. Personally for me Timothy Dalton was two things to me when he played 007. He wasn't exactly the most charismatic and good looking to play the part, for if we were looking at those kinds of particulars then the trophy would go to ones like Roger Moore or Daniel Craig hands down. But what Timothy Dalton DID do for the role was play Bond in the most accurate way according to Ian Fleming's novels. And when taking this into consideration, it would be my undertaking to say that Sinestro was the greatest Green lantern of all time considering how alike the two of them are with regard to Machiavellian principles. Dalton's 007 and Sinestro were both no-nonsense hardhitters that just got the job done. But yes in the end their greatness only came about because ones like Hal Jordan and Sean Connery made their rise to stardom possible. Good stuff!
It's incredibly annoying when people all over this website saying that Hal sucks and Kyle's the best by saying "Hal makes boxing gloves. That's boooring.". They hardly ever give any valid points. They start getting confused with what makes a good GL with what makes a good hero.
Hal is my favorite and I think he is one of the best. I could say because he's my favorite that's why he is the best but I absolutely love what you wrote about why he is the best. Still I think he is one of the best, because honestly Hal, Kyle, Sinestro, Kilowog, Mogo, Stel and others are the best for the different things that they did and still doing. I hated when people called Hal the greatest in the comics; it felt jarring as I am reading since 2005 here. Hal to me just doesn't seem like someone who would really acknowledge himself as the greatest, I mean he is one who enjoys the ring and knows how to be serious when he needs to be. He is one of the best honestly but there is not just one best Green Lantern.
John is my personal favourite mostly due to the JL show but I've grown to respect him even more once I started picking GL comics up.
Hal is the greatest Green Lantern, although Kyle comes extremely close, he still lags behind.
@batflasharrow96 said:
It's incredibly annoying when people all over this website saying that Hal sucks and Kyle's the best by saying "Hal makes boxing gloves. That's boooring.". They hardly ever give any valid points. They start getting confused with what makes a good GL with what makes a good hero.
I know, right? Don't you hate that they overlook sleeping with a 13 year old and destroying your friends and fellow Corps members as being really heroic!?
Hal's a terrible Green Lantern. He's either an arrogant jag, or a personality-less Gary Stu. Then there's the fact that he guy killed the Corps.
"Oh, that was Parallax"
No, it was Hal. It was written to be Hal. It made sense as Hal.
Kyle is the best. He carried the Torch, he saved the Corps, he was responsible for bringing new Guardians to the GLC. Kyle is Green Lantern. No amount of Silver Age nostalgia, misguided objectiveness or writer fanwank will change that.
I think Hal is the best of the earth Green Lanterns for sure. He has overcome the influence of the GLC's greatest enemy, Parallax, the embodiment of Fear. And I think he definitely has the most willpower of any GLC member ever, that was evident when his will overcame the failsafe protcols in the ring and he was able to kill Krona the Mad Guardian. However in the first 3 issues so far we've seen Sinestro make Hal look like a rookie, my bet is that Sinestro's time as the host for the White Lantern entity opened his eyes and unblocked the true power of the ring to him. So in the past 3 issues one could make a good case that Sinestro may be the best Green Lantern of all time. But I think as far as earthman Green Lantern's go, Hal just edges out Kyle as the best, even tho Kyle was the torchbearer and ION.
Hal is the best. Comicviners need to accept that. So what if kyle has the best artistry or imagination. Doesn't make you the best.
Hal isn't the best Green Lantern. He should have been. But he isn't. Because DC didn't give a sh$t enough about him to try to devlop him in any way. Whereas Barry Allen got a respectable death that made him look like a hero,Hal got turned into a statutory rapist/mass murderer/traitor.........and that's during the times where DC actually focused on him enough to wire about him. Why the hell couldn't DC give him what Marvel gave to guys like Daredevil and Hank Pym?
@HolySerpent said:
Hal is the best. Comicviners need to accept that. So what if kyle has the best artistry or imagination. Doesn't make you the best.
Sorry who resurrected the entire corps back from oblivion?
Oh that's right Kyle.
@FadeToBlackBolt said:
@batflasharrow96 said:It's incredibly annoying when people all over this website saying that Hal sucks and Kyle's the best by saying "Hal makes boxing gloves. That's boooring.". They hardly ever give any valid points. They start getting confused with what makes a good GL with what makes a good hero.
I know, right? Don't you hate that they overlook sleeping with a 13 year old and destroying your friends and fellow Corps members as being really heroic!?
Hal's a terrible Green Lantern. He's either an arrogant jag, or a personality-less Gary Stu. Then there's the fact that he guy killed the Corps.
"Oh, that was Parallax"
No, it was Hal. It was written to be Hal. It made sense as Hal.
Kyle is the best. He carried the Torch, he saved the Corps, he was responsible for bringing new Guardians to the GLC. Kyle is Green Lantern. No amount of Silver Age nostalgia, misguided objectiveness or writer fanwank will change that.
I concur.
@RazzaTazz said:
@TheCrowbar: Not saying Kyle is not important, just Hal was the only earth based GL for 20 years or so
Time doesn't make you the best, what you do in the time you have does. Kyle beats out Hal.
@FadeToBlackBolt said:
I know, right? Don't you hate that they overlook sleeping with a 13 year old
Um. What? When all did this happen?
@FadeToBlackBolt said:
I know, right? Don't you hate that they overlook sleeping with a 13 year old and destroying your friends and fellow Corps members as being really heroic!?
I know this is old, but I'm sorry that was just DC's attempt to make Hal popular again. Its more of an editorial stupidity than anything else.
Before Hal. Sinestro
After Sinestro left: Hal
After Hal left: Sinestro
Overall Hal or Sinestro. They seem to tie in my book for different reasons.
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