Justice? Hal Jordan seems to be the most popular of the Green Lanterns and yet I find it hard to understand why. He was not the first Earth Green Lantern and there are four other human lanterns to choose from. All of them seem cooler and better than Hal hands down.
Why other Lanterns Are Better Let's start with Alan Scott. Alan is the original Lantern way before Hal. He has the golden age look and feel. He also has Jade as a daughter who is a great character in her own right. In Addition Alan has the most unique power, origin and costume of all the earth Lanterns.
Guy Gardner is the smart-@$$. He is the less than reverent, rebel with his emotions bubbling to the surface. I remember watching the special features of the recent Green Lantern cartoon and they attributed a similar attitude to Hal. In the cartoon I would agree and I liked the cartoon but, that is not the Hal I see in the comics. Hal seems much more dry in his comics. Guy is also the crazy one who has been burned over and over again. Despite that Guy has a heart of gold that he tries not to let anyone see. This can be seen in his romance with Ice and his friendship with G'Nort who wouldn't have even been in the league if it wasn't for Guy.
Is this for real? Guy was also chosen to be the Green Lantern when Abin Sur crashed his ship on earth. Hal only got the ring because he was closer. How would the mythology of the Green Lantern be had Guy been selected before Hal?
John Stewart has two neat personalities. In the DC Animated Universe John is a marine. (once a marine always a marine) It gives a whole new aspect to the Corps. In the comic books he is the human Green Lantern who doesn't wear a mask. He is a man of the people and he even got married unlike most superheroes. John is also the only main Green Lantern who is a minority and is one of the most popular superheroes of color ever.
Kyle Rayner seemed like a younger Hal Jordan in the beginning and he did have the horrible origin story of his girlfriend being cut up and put in a refrigerator. Kyle however came into his own as a more relaxed hero. He is also the most creative of the Green Lanterns. Being an artist he makes really neat constructs with his ring and has a much more modern uniform than the other Lanterns.
Hal takes advantage of Kari's loss.Why Hal Is Not That Great To me Hal has always had a "Superman" like attitude. He has also always had a self-righteous attitude and, yet seems more screwed up than any other lantern and most heroes. Look at his track record.
Hal is a quitter. He quit being a Lantern for a time.
Hal doesn't get along with his fellow Lanterns. He took away Guy Gardner's ring and tried to take away John Stewart's.
Hal can not be counted on. He inadvertently trapped Guy into the Phantom Zone and thought he was dead but before his body would have even been cold he hits on Guy's fiance Kari Limbo. a very short time. Can anyone really blame Guy for his anger...Oh yeah Hal can.
Hal is not a team player. When Guy was put in charge by the Guardians during Crisis of Infinite Earth's Hal turns on him. Again he quit the corps and the League and tried to take other lanterns rings and get members kicked out of the league.
Hal has a questionable relationship with a very young woman. Hal has a serious relationship with Arisia. Arisia was a young teenager who willed herself to look older. Hal himself said that he still thought of her as a child and then a very short time later had his relationship with the young girl. Tell the judge "she looked 18" and see how far it gets you. Later, even after the age reboot of Arisia he is seen hitting on an underage Supergirl. All the while reminding himself that he has food in his refrigerator that is older.
Hal with Arisia Hal has problems with Alcohol. Hal is the only superhero I know of who went to prison for drunk driving.
Hal is a weak protector. Hal is the only hero I know to loose his "protected city" completely. Other heroes have had tragedies in their city but under Hal's watch Coast City is completely destroyed. Every man, woman, child and blade of grass is wiped out.
Hal is unstable. Hal went mad with the loss of Coast City and tried to will it back with his ring. He then went and killed all the remaining Green lanterns and became Parallax. Yes, I know after the fact a story was written saying he was possessed but that didn't really fit what happened originally. When going back and reading the stories it never seemed fit. Lets face facts the Parallax story was made up just to bring Hal back. I maintain he was too far gone to come back.
Hal has an evil soul. Hal became the Spectre because his soul was in purgatory for his sins. Supposedly this was for killing all the Green Lanterns. In the DC Universe the Spectre is the Wrath of God himself. This brings up many questions. Is God wrong in having Hal in purgatory? Was Parallax more powerful than God and was he able to stay undetected for a time? Did God not care that Hal was possessed and therefore not responsible. Was Hal in purgatory for something else? I'm still not sure. This is just one of the problems with the reboot.
I CAN'T!?! Hal Jordan is prejudice. Hal had a friend Tom who he referred to by the racist name "Pieface" or "Pie". Now in his defense Hal seemed to treat Tom with respect in most cases but calling him Pieface is not that respectable. Hal also had weak relationships with people of color. (see image)
Hal has so many poor qualities and they are so many Green Lanterns to choose from. I do not understand his popularity. I do not understand when there are so many other Lanterns to choose from people still think of Hal as a good hero. He has been rebooted over and over again because he always does scuzzy or lame things that make him look bad. You can reboot Batman and say he was always a ham sandwich but that doesn't change things in the past stories. This is just another point of proof to his being a less than great hero. Who is your favorite Earth Lantern, and why? I also ask again What's so great about Hal Jordan?
330 Comments
@Captain13:@Mediant: I agree with both of you. Hal is not the greatest GL and not the funnest to read. I realize that. I like him because I relate with him and, well, his personality. When people say he has no personality I kind of take if offensively because I have a great one. I loved Hal then, now and I hope he gets better.
@Captain13: He gets screen time because he has the most, I guess, "Hollywood" origin story. The one that would sell the best. That's all IMO. Makes sense.
@Captain13: That could explain a lot of people's negative remarks on Hal. I started reading comics with Kyle's first appearance. I have every comic he's been in now and I also collected a lot Hal's older stories and Pre-Crisis stuff. His character is greatly portrayed in those stories. I would definitely recommend them.
" @Captain13: That could explain a lot of people's negative remarks on Hal. I started reading comics with Kyle's first appearance. I have every comic he's been in now and I also collected a lot Hal's older stories and Pre-Crisis stuff. His character is greatly portrayed in those stories. I would definitely recommend them. "
@GreenLantern555: Yeah, this forum made me realize that some characters have personalities, but a lot of readers like me don't think they do because when we look for personalities in comics, we look for things other than courage, since that's a staple personality trait. I guess I confused personality with uniqueness. I don't know Hal outside of the Johns era, so that may be why I'm not a huge fan of his.
And I guess the origin story idea makes the most sense. That would explain the return of Barry Allen after nearly 30 years of death.
" @Captain13: That could explain a lot of people's negative remarks on Hal. I started reading comics with Kyle's first appearance. I have every comic he's been in now and I also collected a lot Hal's older stories and Pre-Crisis stuff. His character is greatly portrayed in those stories. I would definitely recommend them. "
Hal then is better than Hal now. "
The way he's written and power-wise, yes. I still like Hal now too though.
I can relate to Kyle perfectly, one of the reasons why he's my fave. We have practically everything in common. It's good to see you standing up for your boy, as I would if it was Kyle.
@GreenLantern555: That could definitely explain it. If it's true, then I hope Hal rises back to his former glory. It'd be great to see him be really entertaining and really powerful.
" @Captain13: That could explain a lot of people's negative remarks on Hal. I started reading comics with Kyle's first appearance. I have every comic he's been in now and I also collected a lot Hal's older stories and Pre-Crisis stuff. His character is greatly portrayed in those stories. I would definitely recommend them. "
Hal then is better than Hal now. "
The way he's written and power-wise, yes. I still like Hal now too though. I can relate to Kyle perfectly, one of the reasons why he's my fave. We have practically everything in common. It's good to see you standing up for your boy, as I would if it was Kyle. "
Well, you know I love Hal now too as well.
He was my hero growing up. He saved me more times than I can count in real life. Life would have been hard without him.
@Captain13 said:
" @GreenLantern555: Yeah, this forum made me realize that some characters have personalities, but a lot of readers like me don't think they do because when we look for personalities in comics, we look for things other than courage, since that's a staple personality trait. I guess I confused personality with uniqueness. I don't know Hal outside of the Johns era, so that may be why I'm not a huge fan of his. And I guess the origin story idea makes the most sense. That would explain the return of Barry Allen after nearly 30 years of death. "
A lot of people don't like the John's era and I understand why. I just hope h gets better.
@Mediant said:
" @GreenLantern555: That could definitely explain it. If it's true, then I hope Hal rises back to his former glory. It'd be great to see him be really entertaining and really powerful. "
@Sexy Merc: I haven't read his Journey with GA around America yet, but the only time I see Hal act in a way that interests me is when he's with Ollie. I'll probably give the Journey story a read once I'm on vacation again.
@Captain13: You have to be mindful of the era it was written in (70s) and you have to adjust it to that time period. Close-minded, you might not enjoy it as much but there may be some cases where you're like "What the hell?" but it was socially conscious in that sense, and if you understand all of this, you'll love it. You'll see how thoughtful, caring, lawful, heroic and many other fantastic characteristics of what makes Hal, as well as Ollie. It's one of my faves and definitely worth it.
@Mediant:@GreenLantern555: I really didn't want this to become a debate on religious dogma. In that spirit I am willing to wave the opinion on "suffering". That said I still feel his bad side warrant him at the very least loosing his ring.
@Captain13: Bravo, B rave. Well, said. Extremely well said.
@GreenLantern555: @Captain13: @Mediant: I do not think Hal was that great in the past and I have been reading his books for too long now. He was alright before but just before but at some point in the late 1970's he started to become too flawed and he went from being alright to being like nails on a chalk board. I respect Green Lantern 555's love for Hal and would be just as defending if it were my guy up for debate. Thanks for the comments.
There's nothing great about Hal and I would have liked DC and retcon Johns didn't bring him back but what they did to him, making him go crazy and evil in the first place was just a stupid move on DC's part so I guess they brought him back to make up for it. My favorite earth GL is John and IMO the greatest GL is Kyle.
NOTHING Some people say he's the greatest GL ever, I say BS, if anything he is the worst GL ever, what other GL went crazy destroyed the Corps and killed millions of people or any of the crap he's pulled, well Sinestro I guess but you get the point. I wish DC and retcon Johns didn't bring him back, and Barry Allen too."
Thanks for the post. You bring up a really good point. Sinestro was a great Green Lantern. He was the Greatest Green Lantern at one time. How is his fall from grace different than Hal's?
" Dude, you nailed it. If I could favorite this I would. I have a love-hate relationship with the GL stories right now, and all the discomfort I have stems from Hal Jordan. I'm surprised people like him, since he has the least personality of all the Lanterns. The only time I really like him is when he's with Green Arrow. Usually he's a very dry character in epic situations. And you can tell how boring he is from his constructs. Guy's constructs are crackling with energy, passion, and will power. John's constructs have a lot of depth, calculation, and though put into them. Kyle's constructs are imaginative, innovative, and often funny. What does Hal make? Boxing gloves and goddamn Jets. Geeze, we get it. You're a pilot. Let's move on.I can understand if some people are drawn to him because of he's the first Lantern of the Silver Age, but other than that I don't get why people are drawn to him. It's probably because he was featured as the most important GL in Blackest Night. But I'd much rather read about John, Guy, or Kyle. *Sigh* "
I hate it when people bring up the "creativity" factor. It's doesn't what you make, it's how you use what you make. Creativity doesn't make a good Lantern. It's your ability to protect and serve.
@Sexy Merc said:
" Why don't we just erase every comic book character from existence and just have Kyle Rayner stories. :D "
Wouldn't you just love that :-P
@Mediant said:
" @Liberty: I think one important thing to keep in mind is that purgatory is not a place of suffering. It is an in between place. The most important thing about Hal, I think, is that ver the many years he has been in comic he's done innumerable brave and selfless acts. Sure he failed Coast City-- it may be one of the biggest failures of any hero in the DCU-- but that doesn't negate his current or past deeds. Hal is a vain, womanizing, selfish, extremely flawed character. That doesn't stop him from being a hero. For all his faults, he still acts has many moments of self sacrifice and bravery. As long as he endangers himself to help others and to do what is right, he will remain a hero. "
He is the best simply bc of Geoffs badass writing skills. And since a green lantern is just as good as his willpower and hal is the human with the most willpower on Earth and in ALL of space lol, that simply makes him the better GL skill wise. Nothing more to it. Thats all there is. I mean My fave is Guy Gardner. I actually dislike hal but he is my good friends fave and i support him. So i gotta defend him. =D
@JCJQLB: Well, I guess reading Green Lantern before Johns' run had me appreciating all of the characters. There isn't a single member of the Corps, I don't like.
@JCJQLB: I read Blackest Night recently, the hardcovers, and I was disappointed but I wasn't expecting much. Might re-read it but I'm slowly drifting away from comics. Anime is just so good right now.
I agree with just about every thing said at the top. In my honest opinion, i wouldnt mind if all the lanterns decided to create one giant meat grinder and kill him, mainly because i dont care for the character. I much prefer Kyle Rayner.
I have to thank everyone for their comments. I read every one even if I don't always respond. The more comments the better. I am also glad to see so many more people agree with me than not but it is also cool to hear the rebuttals. Keep it up.
I'm starting to get annoyed with Hal Jordan, dude's on frickin everything nowadays (including the new movie) and I honestly have to admit that he's actually NOT THAT GREAT of a character, plus I MUCH prefer Guy Gardner and Alan Scott over Hal.
Oh yeah, and the Flash, I prefer the Flash WAY more than Hal Jordan ;)
336 Comments