Even if you don't like the character of Hal Jordon, you
have to admit that he is by far one of the more interesting characters in all of the
DC Universe. Pre-reboot, Hal and the Green Lanterns are one of DC Comics top
franchise due to the revival of Hal by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver
in 2004. What a minute… you mean Hal hasn’t always been the one and only Green
Lantern? Nope, and in fact he’s not even THE Green Lantern, but one of many
that all belong to the Green Lantern Corps. So how did Hal go from being the
greatest Green Lantern of them all, to then nearly destroying the Corps and then back to being the greatest? Let’s take that journey together as we learn
everything we need to know about Hal before the movie.
Secret Origin Say
What Now?
Hal’s one of those characters that has had multiple origins due to a long history in the DCU and becuase of that we need to untaggle the mess to find out who he really is. In order to be a member of the Green Lantern Corps you must be able
to overcome great fear and that’s exactly what Hal did at a very early age when
his father died flying a plane in front of him and a rather large crowd there to
watch his stunt flying act. From that day forward there was nothing to scare Hal anymore. He grew up
fast and took off for the Air Force against his mother and family’s wishes and
became a fighter pilot like his father before him. The problem that Jordon
always ran into was that he was a loose cannon and was soon kicked out of the
military. He finds himself working as a mechanic’s assistant for a small air company that’s soon bought out by Ferris Air. The same company he blamed for his
father’s death and swore he'd never work for.
One day while being given a second chance to fly, an alien
craft crashes and draws Hal near. There he encounters Abin Sur who has been
mortally injured from the crash. Because of Hal’s ability to overcome great
fear he becomes the first Earth man to join the Green Lantern corps and inherits Sur's ring as he dies. From there
he’s sucked away into space to train, but only after helping recapture Abin Sur’s
prisoner Atrocitus with the help of Sur’s good friend Sinestro. As his journey contineus, he
goes on to stand up against everyone and show why Earth men should have been in
the Corps all along and even paving the way for others like: Guy Gardner, John
Stewart and Kyle Rayner. What's important to know from all of this was that he's the one ture Guardian of space sector 2814.
The Rise and Fall of
Hal Jordon
For a long time Hal was the best of the Green Lanterns, but
due to the loss of his home town of Coast City at the hands of the villains
Mongul and Cyborg Superman, Hal goes off the deep end. He’s over taken by the
yellow impurity in the Green Lantern power source and becomes the villain known
as Parallax. Hal, now Parallax begins using his ring to bring Coast City back
from the dead. He begins fighting other Corps members and takes their rings to
increase his power supply. Finally he is defeated by Earth’s heroes and takes
an arrow in the heart from Green Arrow one of his closest friends. Of course he
all but destroys the Green Lantern Corps and leaves only one power ring and one
Guardian left to patrol the universe. The ring goes to Kyle Rayner who becomes the only Green Lantern in
the galaxy and really looks like the end of Hal and the Corps.
The now dead Jordon wouldn’t be kept out of the DCU. His
popularity forced his return, but much to the displeasure of his fans he became
the new Spirit of Vengeance a.k.a. the Spectre. It wasn’t to last though as fans
mostly hated it and couldn’t accept Kyle as the new Green Lantern, which leads
us to Rebirth. The story of Rebirth
took Hal and the Corps muddled past and made a cohesive story that from afar
looked very well-orchestrated. Kyle retrieves Hal’s body from the sun only to
have him come back as Parallax again, but this time the Spectre is there to
stomp out the bad that has corrupted his soul. Eventually Jordon is returned to
his former self, younger and mortal. He begins ring slinging instantly as he
fights a very much alive Sinestro. With Jordon’s return soon the Corps is back
and up and running and begins finding new recruits with the ability to overcome
great fear. The greatest Green Lantern was back and marked a new era for the character and the Corps.
All You Need To Know
Right Now
Hal’s return was well received and Green Lantern quickly
became a must read book from DC. In fact it’s one of the few books that practically
every comic fan reads. Writer Geoff Johns has been with the book since Rebirth and even with the pending
Reboot, he’ll continue writing the book and plotting the world of Green
Lantern. It’s a shame that the reboot is about to undo everything that Johns
has been working on since coming to Green Lantern nearly eight years ago. He’s concluded a thirty-plus
year old story line started by Alan Moore with Blackest Night. An event that
made a Lantern Corps for every color in the spectrum and brought us the Black
Lanterns which were essentially super powered Zombies. Currently the War of the Green Lanterns is wrapping
up, as Hal and the other Earthmen are forced to take on the Corps that has been
corrupted by Parallax and a long forgotten Guardian.
What you really need to know about Hal Jordon and the Green
Lantern series is that it’s one of the best characters and runs in comics
today. It showed DC that a book that didn’t star Batman or Superman could sell
better than those books could. It also showed that the GL universe was stronger
than Bats or Supes, because their spin off books didn’t need to star Hal in
order to sell and maintain a fan base unlike Detective or Action Comics. With
the summer movie coming up it’s a good time to pick up Secret Origin written by
Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis which is more or less the outline that
the film will follow. But what you really need to know about Hal Jordon, is that he's a total bad ass. Good luck Renyolds you're going to need it if you're going to be accepted by fans the way Hugh Jackman is.
Lastly
You can't not know the Green Lantern oath and what better place to post it than with Hal Jordon's character affinity. So here it is. Remember it, recite it and cherish it!
In Brightest Day, in Blackest Night, No Evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, Beware my power... Green Lantern's Light!