Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities GREEN LANTERN

-- There's a bunch of good stuff here with Hal resettling into his new life, setting up his new status quo and the introduction of an alien threat (or two), but this was ultimately a little disappointing. Granted, considering the expectations and the LOOOONNNNG wait for this it'd be hard to live up to all that, but I can't help but feel that the first issue could've capitalized more on the momentum from "Rebirth". There was a real sense that big things are coming and unfortunately, the events here are just a little too routine.

Rebirth did a great job of making you want to see what happens next. While Hal was returned to us in "Rebirth", there could've been more for Hal to do in terms of reclaiming his life and I think the first storyline could've been more about that instead of just throwing us into a situation where Hal's already got a job, an apartment and is just hanging out chatting with his bro.
-- Pacheco does a pretty good job with the airfield and stuff around it. There's a real sense of place (same with the new Coast City as well).
-- Interesting that Pacheco is already losing some of his new design elements in Hal's costume. There are several places where the boots and gloves look to be "straight" again rather than angled. He also gave John gloves when he's sporting green armbands now with no gloves (like the cartoon)
-- "Cowgirl" looks like an interesting addition to Hal's life (in terms of blonde fihgter pilots though, I thought maybe he should've hooked up with Zinda from "BoP")

But was the threat hinted at on the last page actually a threat Hal's battled before?

It looked kinda like an android.
And the only words it spoke were the first words of an old ... mantra/oath/code/whatever.

well, I haven't read GL in many moons. I enjoyed Rebirth and I am looking forward to this series developing. The yellow weakness is gone. and while that was a bit contrived, how do you prevent a GL from overcoming anything that they face?

like I said, haven't read GL in a while, I am sure Johns will come up some powerful and crafty villians to take on Hal and company.

One of the things I liked about some of the silver age stories wasn't that it was just about overcoming the enemy (and they usually used either the yellow weakness or Hal running out of juice as the main obstacles), but that some of those sci-fi stories presented challenges that required some kind of problem solving, ethical dilemas or figuring out what to do in the first place. Hal coming in the middle of an interplanetary conflict, or some other threat that wasn't just a villain, but a problem that Hal needed to use his brain to figure out. The willpower and ring was almost secondary.

"No Man Escapes ... The Manhunters!" It appears to be a Manhunter of some kind under the tarp, but I can't guess who that other guy is. He seems to be tracking the Manhunter and called it his "predecessor" (he also seems like an android). Maybe that's the latest Manhunter model.

BUT the Manhunters were the predecessors to the GLC. Maybe they're gonna introduce a whole new layer to the Green Lantern mythos.

Or maybe it's a rogue ring slinger?

Drake, i think we got a lot in the first issue.

First and foremost, the GREATEST GL is back. I said it on the DC boards, and i say it here.

Second, i don't know if Hal has a job yet. He was given a favor on the flight, and he still has to go through a requalification thing. Maybe they could have shown us more of the steps in doing that, but lets be honest, as much as we love Hal's backstory, we love the action as well, and if the entire story had been the backstory, we might just as well have had Kyle instead.

We got a new possible friend/love interest, we saw the return of his brother, we got info on Coast City, we had John show up, we saw Hal in action in space, learned that Yellow is still a weakness, but now it is defeatable through willpower, which the man has in spades. We had the first bad guy of the first storyline show up and be a ruthless anal sphincter void, and we were introduced to a new/old friend that may turn out to be a stable member of the new cast.

By my count, thats about 8 things going on. Not too shabby.

Stick with it. Johns has shown a tendancy to take about six to ten issues to really get a handle on his books, and then the fur starts a'flyin.

Man, i think i am gonna change my name to threadkiller, lol.

Ah, you're no thread killer, rickshaw!

I only found the first issue to be ok. I thought Hal rejoining the military to be a bit far-fetched since getting time away to do GL stuff would be quite difficult.

As for greatest, I can't say I was ever a huge Hal fan. I hate to see Kyle get shafted this way. Yeah, I hated Kyle in his first couple years but then Grant Morrison showed me that _any_ character can be interesting under the right writer. For me, I like to see progression, which means I don't mind Kyle taking over or Connor succeeding his father as GA.

Did he rejoin, or is he just a civilian contractor now?

So what did they do to Kyle?

Owl, Kyle is still around and is still Green Lantern. Actually, Kyle and Hal have begun a friendship that appears to be based on mutual respect and knowing what its like to deal with being a GL.

He is currently featured with Guy Gardner (also a GL) in Rann/Thanagar War, alongside Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Adam Strange, Captain Comet, the Omega Men and L.E.G.I.O.N.

If you like Kyle or sci-fi, I’d recommend that title.

I’m very satisfied with the respect shown to ALL GLs in recent months.

Will review comic once go out and buy it

I'm pretty psyched to see Hal back. I was a huge GL fan in the early '80s, but stopped reading after Crisis (one of my favorite aspects of the book has always been the concept of the Corps and when that was gone, so was a lot of my enthusiasm for the book). I've never been a huge Kyle fan, however.
I really enjoyed the first issue. It dropped lots of stuff for them to work with later. But mostly, it established a better rounded Hal. The last time we saw him, he was a standard-issue super-hero: all heroics, not much real personality. This Hal is confident almost to the point of arrogance (the stereotypical fighter pilot), friendly, and flirtatious. I like the whole "dad's jacket" thing too. It's a simple device that give him some deeper history. The old Hal begins in a simulator at Ferris Aircraft; the new Hal actually has a childhood, with relics to prove it.
I'm looking forward to seeing where Johns goes with the character and the series. He's usually pretty good about honoring a character's history without wallowing in it. In fact, he's really good at using that history as a jumping-off point for new stories and directions.

Can you be a civilian pilot for the military?

I know all of this but I also know that the new Green Lantern title is specifically a vehicle for Hal Jordan. That means that Kyle's appearances will be here and there rather than on a continual basis.

I think you can be a civilian test pilot. Not a fighter, but one that does flights in new models, etc... I may be wrong, i don't profess to know all the workings of the military.

I've never been much of a GL fan and never read any of the series regularly. I also usually just ignore news on it (or any comic that doesn't interest me). So I was surprised that I had forgotten I ordered two copies of #1 from DCBS. They were probably doing one of their deep discounts for the first two copies and the old collector in me kicks in when I see those specials.

Anyway, I got my May shipment today and found two copies. Each one with a different cover. Did #1 go back to print already and come out with a different cover?

It shipped with two alternate covers by Ross or Pacheco in a 50/50 ratio.


I liked the issue, but not being a GL fan am undecided on whether I care enough to budget it in my monthly pile.

Just found out that the military DOES employ civilian test pilots. My dad was a private pilot. Don't know why i didn't think to ask him before.

Never been a Hal fan but man... I love Geoff Johns so hardcore, I'd read anything he wrote. (Even Bette Kane and she's lamer than Blue Devil.)

I enjoyed the first issue and I have... hope for the series. And faith in Geoff. I think it'll be good. ^_^

Did you pick up the new "Crisis of Conscience" storyline in JLA? Johns is doing that -- it's pretty good so far.

Oh yeah. I picked it up. I have the love of Geoff.

I also read Teen Titans, Flash (ohmigodWallysquee) and JSA.

He's leaving my boy though!! *sob*

This was made official awhile ago, but "Green Lantern" #1 was #1 on the sales chart!! That's very encouraging. I love that Hal's getting this much support - #1 baby!!

That's awesome! #1? Who would have thought that a few years ago?

***SPOILERS for #2*******
-- More groundwork is laid for Hal's new status quo and his supporting characters. The mysteries of the new alien and what's under the tarp are revealed and another mystery is introduced, X-Files style.
-- While I enjoyed this issue, I think I'm still a little too anxious to see Hal back in the saddle and getting into "bigger" adventures. While there is a lot of great characterization going on, the Manhunter threat in itself isn't exactly wowing me. I wish Pacheco had tweaked the old look some more - this new guy doesn't look impressive, though he obviously is.
-- I'm totally biased, but I thought Hal should've had a LOT less trouble with one badly damaged Manhunter.
-- The part where he explains that the green parts of the uniform are hot and the blakc parts are cool seemed to come out of nowhere and wasn't even really explained. Maybe it'll be relevant later? (and it made it kinda contrived how Cowgirl was copping a feel).
-- Great art. I liked it more this issue for some reason.
-- I can't imagine what Johns has in mind for Coast City, but the "ghost town" is an intriguing notion (I know it's going to be giving me 9/11 flashbacks... they need to tread lightly here). Interesting that Bruce Wayne was one of the big donators - It'd be nice to see that acknowledgment between Hal and Bruce at some point.