Green Lantern enjoyed an unexplainable (I just don't know where it came from) bout of popularity in the wake of a retelling of GL's origin in Emerald Dawn. After the relaunch of Green Lantern, Gerrard Jones was writing not only that book, but Green Lantern: Mosaic and Guy Gardner as well. Each of Earth's Green Lanterns had his own book, with Alan Scott back as Sentinel in Green Lantern Corps Quarterly. And each of those books had its own identity. Alan was in an anthology, Hal was pretty straight superhero stuff, John helmed what could almost have been a Vertigo book, and Guy was into comedy.
For Memorable Moments, I'm currently digging through my Emerald Dawn to Hardware box (DC's E-to-H) looking for what really stayed with me. Mosaic I'll come back to later in the week, but Jones' Hal stories just didn't stick with me through the years. Sadly, the most memorable parts of the title for me were written by Ron Marz. Memorable does not equal good.
And yet, there's something unforgettable about a distraught Hal Jordan visiting the crater left by the destruction of Coast City and using his ring to recreate the city and resurrecting its people (Green Lantern #48).
Did he bring back their souls for a time? It's a powerful idea. He gets to visit his parents and his high school sweetheart, but did we really need to know Hal was... uhm... precocious?
And then, when it all falls apart, there's this:
"Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Marz is confusing the Emerald heroes there, and well, the rest is history, isn't it? Hal just snaps and becomes a mass murderer. I know a lot of people like Kyle (and I did too, mostly in JLA), but to me, he was always tainted by Marz' botched changing of the guard. He boldly shouted "love my new character, because the old one sucked" and it fell on my deaf ears because it just wasn't believable. Needless to say, my GL purchases became spotty after that.
I did get his funeral after the Parallax stuff had played out in Final Night (GL #81), and since I consider it the very last chapter of Emerald Twilight, I won't bother with a second post. Superhero funerals are just memorable, aren't they? Who was there, who spoke, who was pallbearer, who cried, what monument was erected or gesture posed. I won't bore you with the eulogies, because they're pretty awful, but the seating arrangements are interesting.
Black Canary is sitting up front to represent the at-the-time-dead Green Arrow, but it's touching how she's comforting Guy. They've always been at each others' throats in Justice League. Superhero families seem to be sitting together: the Superman Family, the Flash Family... the JSA and their kids are on the other side of the aisle (not shown here). And check it out: That's a Green Lantern Bible! Wow, look at the pretty pictures.
Here's a look at the back row:
Lobo putting his feet up and drinking beer in church? Perfect. Geo-Force not paying attention? Jerk.
Another guest I remember well is the Swamp Thing.
This was at a time when Vertigo characters were pretty limited to those titles, so seeing Alec Holland here was a real treat. Hey, big monster runs a "realm" called "The Green". I think he's got every right to be there despite editorial edicts, and making the Coast City site fertile again is a great final gesture. (As opposed to Kyle making a statue with his ring... it's gonna evaporate in 24 hours, right?)
Hal Jordan's descent into madness, his turning to the dark side of the Force, his death as Parallax, his desperate return as the Spectre... all very much the result of mishandling. But even I had to admit that there were a couple of very vivid moments in that storyline. How about you?
For Memorable Moments, I'm currently digging through my Emerald Dawn to Hardware box (DC's E-to-H) looking for what really stayed with me. Mosaic I'll come back to later in the week, but Jones' Hal stories just didn't stick with me through the years. Sadly, the most memorable parts of the title for me were written by Ron Marz. Memorable does not equal good.
And yet, there's something unforgettable about a distraught Hal Jordan visiting the crater left by the destruction of Coast City and using his ring to recreate the city and resurrecting its people (Green Lantern #48).
Did he bring back their souls for a time? It's a powerful idea. He gets to visit his parents and his high school sweetheart, but did we really need to know Hal was... uhm... precocious?
And then, when it all falls apart, there's this:
"Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Marz is confusing the Emerald heroes there, and well, the rest is history, isn't it? Hal just snaps and becomes a mass murderer. I know a lot of people like Kyle (and I did too, mostly in JLA), but to me, he was always tainted by Marz' botched changing of the guard. He boldly shouted "love my new character, because the old one sucked" and it fell on my deaf ears because it just wasn't believable. Needless to say, my GL purchases became spotty after that.I did get his funeral after the Parallax stuff had played out in Final Night (GL #81), and since I consider it the very last chapter of Emerald Twilight, I won't bother with a second post. Superhero funerals are just memorable, aren't they? Who was there, who spoke, who was pallbearer, who cried, what monument was erected or gesture posed. I won't bore you with the eulogies, because they're pretty awful, but the seating arrangements are interesting.
Black Canary is sitting up front to represent the at-the-time-dead Green Arrow, but it's touching how she's comforting Guy. They've always been at each others' throats in Justice League. Superhero families seem to be sitting together: the Superman Family, the Flash Family... the JSA and their kids are on the other side of the aisle (not shown here). And check it out: That's a Green Lantern Bible! Wow, look at the pretty pictures.Here's a look at the back row:
Lobo putting his feet up and drinking beer in church? Perfect. Geo-Force not paying attention? Jerk.Another guest I remember well is the Swamp Thing.
This was at a time when Vertigo characters were pretty limited to those titles, so seeing Alec Holland here was a real treat. Hey, big monster runs a "realm" called "The Green". I think he's got every right to be there despite editorial edicts, and making the Coast City site fertile again is a great final gesture. (As opposed to Kyle making a statue with his ring... it's gonna evaporate in 24 hours, right?)Hal Jordan's descent into madness, his turning to the dark side of the Force, his death as Parallax, his desperate return as the Spectre... all very much the result of mishandling. But even I had to admit that there were a couple of very vivid moments in that storyline. How about you?
Comments
And though I have mixed feelings about Emerald Twilight, I really like the Bill Willingham art in the first images you posted.
Now I absolutely adored "Emerald Knights" where Marz had Kyle meet the year one Hal through time travel. That's where I really fell in love with the character.
Ragnell: I liked Emerald Knights too, and it's a storyline I did buy and read (as part of my GL spottiness at that point). But going through my long box, I found I'd completely forgotten about it, which means it was wasn't eligible for "Memorable Moments".
It's a funny thing about Year One Hal. I was never a big GL fan until I read Emerald Dawn. And currently, though I thought I wouldn't, I'm enjoying the heck out of his Showcase Presents.
And another thing: If the rings draw upon the will power of the user, wouldn't one ring be enough? More rings shouldn't equal more power.
Thank goodness some semblance of sense was made of this nonsense in Green Lantern: Rebirth.