Comics are Awesome II

[andersonh1]

Time for a Green Lantern rant concerning the last five issues. Otherwise known as "where is Hal Jordan and what has Geoff Johns done with him?"

The DC reboot has made Hal Jordan into an idiot. Either that, or Sinestro lobotomized him. This veteran Green Lantern, one of the greats, is now a clueless moron who:
- has no idea what being transported to the anti-matter universe looks like, even though he saw it and identified the process to Kyle Rayner back in Rebirth, and has seen it many times over the years
- doesn't seem to have a clue that a GL ring created by Sinestro might have safeguards to prevent it from working on Sinestro
- doesn't seem to realize that when a bridge is collapsing, it might be wise to support the entire bridge rather than just save one cute chick and flash his pearly whites her way
- uses up all his ring's energy on a cell designed specifically to do just that, despite being TOLD what the cell would do

Seriously, the character is unrecognizable at this point. I'm having a hard time enjoying what would otherwise be a fairly interesting plot because I don't recognize the lead character. Or possibly Sinestro is now the lead, and Jordan is being dumbed down just to make him look better. Either way, one of my favorite books and characters is dropping rapidly in my estimation since DC rebooted their universe. I hope Geoff Johns is just jerking us around, and Sinestro really did do something to Hal thanks to the ring he created, and the old skilled veteran will return once he figures it out. Otherwise, I'm not sure how long my interest in the book will hold up. I don't particularly want to read the ongoing adventures of Sinestro.

I also wonder if Zero Hour/Parallax is still in continuity. Sinestro asks Hal at one point if he ever tried to use his power to be something other than a superhero, and tried to change the universe. Yeah, Hal tried to wipe out the universe and all of history to recreate it as he saw fit. Hard to miss an event like that, isn't it Sinestro?

[138 Scourge]

I also wonder if Zero Hour/Parallax is still in continuity. Sinestro asks Hal at one point if he ever tried to use his power to be something other than a superhero, and tried to change the universe. Yeah, Hal tried to wipe out the universe and all of history to recreate it as he saw fit. Hard to miss an event like that, isn't it Sinestro?

Kyle's still around, so that'd seem to imply that Parallax still happened. I haven't read the new version of Kyle's origin, though, so I couldn't say. Either way, wasn't Sinestro dead during the time that Hal was Parallaxing it up? Like, he fought Hal while he was just a crazy-ass Lantern, but Hal broke his neck just before getting the main battery? I dunno.

Hey, anderson, quick recommendation. There's a crossover of sorts going on between Daredevil and Spider-Man over this week and next. So this week's Amazing Spider-Man is the first part of next week's Daredevil story. Also, this week's issue of Amazing Spider-Man is guest-written by Mark Waid and guest-stars Daredevil, so it should be a pretty seamless fit. It's a really fun story, too. I'm kind of surprised that Waid hasn't written more Spider-Man, it seems like the two would be a natural fit. But anyhow, new Amazing Spidey, totally worth reading.

[andersonh1]

I also wonder if Zero Hour/Parallax is still in continuity. Sinestro asks Hal at one point if he ever tried to use his power to be something other than a superhero, and tried to change the universe. Yeah, Hal tried to wipe out the universe and all of history to recreate it as he saw fit. Hard to miss an event like that, isn't it Sinestro?

Kyle's still around, so that'd seem to imply that Parallax still happened. I haven't read the new version of Kyle's origin, though, so I couldn't say. Either way, wasn't Sinestro dead during the time that Hal was Parallaxing it up? Like, he fought Hal while he was just a crazy-ass Lantern, but Hal broke his neck just before getting the main battery? I dunno.

I think the story since that point has been that Sinestro would torture Hal with hard light creations, so that was not actually Sinestro that Hal killed. He confirmed that in Rebirth when talking to Kyle, and we saw him do something of the sort back in the Spectre series, when Hal was the Spectre. Sinestro credits Parallax with creating the constructs.

Hey, anderson, quick recommendation. There's a crossover of sorts going on between Daredevil and Spider-Man over this week and next. So this week's Amazing Spider-Man is the first part of next week's Daredevil story. Also, this week's issue of Amazing Spider-Man is guest-written by Mark Waid and guest-stars Daredevil, so it should be a pretty seamless fit. It's a really fun story, too. I'm kind of surprised that Waid hasn't written more Spider-Man, it seems like the two would be a natural fit. But anyhow, new Amazing Spidey, totally worth reading.

I saw that we had a crossover coming up. I may have to look into that. Got two issues of Captain America to pick up too I see... both 6 and 7 are out. After a late month or two, we get three issues in two weeks!

[Sparky Prime]

Kyle's still around, so that'd seem to imply that Parallax still happened. I haven't read the new version of Kyle's origin, though, so I couldn't say. Either way, wasn't Sinestro dead during the time that Hal was Parallaxing it up? Like, he fought Hal while he was just a crazy-ass Lantern, but Hal broke his neck just before getting the main battery? I dunno.

Kyle's origin really hasn't changed. It's still that Ganthet forges one last Green Lantern ring after Hal's attack on Oa, and selects Kyle in a back alley to be the last Green Lantern.

And yeah, Sinestro was "dead" while Hal was Parallax, although Sinestro explained that the Sinestro Hal broke the neck of was actually a construct created by Parallax...

- has no idea what being transported to the anti-matter universe looks like, even though he saw it and identified the process to Kyle Rayner back in Rebirth, and has seen it many times over the years
- doesn't seem to have a clue that a GL ring created by Sinestro might have safeguards to prevent it from working on Sinestro
- doesn't seem to realize that when a bridge is collapsing, it might be wise to support the entire bridge rather than just save one cute chick and flash his pearly whites her way
- uses up all his ring's energy on a cell designed specifically to do just that, despite being TOLD what the cell would do

To an extent I'd agree with you Hal has been dumbed down here but I wouldn't say it's totally out of character for him...

-To be fair, flying into the Yellow Central Battery expecting it to shut down and suddenly seeing your body disintegrating instead would be somewhat of a shock, regardless of Hal having seen the transportation process to the Anti-Matter universe before.
-I'd say you can't blame Hal for trying. Hal's ring had been known to create copies before, but Hal might not have realized what extent one could put limitations on such rings. As Sinestro said when he changed his uniform to all black, it's not like the Guardians have exactly been forthcoming on everything to do with the rings.
-Yeah, that was a stupid move on Hal's part that doesn't seem to match Hal's time and experience as a Green Lantern.
-Again, I think you can't blame Hal for trying to break out of the cell anyway. He's been able to overcome obstacles with the force of his own Willpower before, after all. Plus, he says the ring ran out of energy faster than it should have, suggesting that Sinestro's copy ring isn't as good as the real thing.

[andersonh1]

-To be fair, flying into the Yellow Central Battery expecting it to shut down and suddenly seeing your body disintegrating instead would be somewhat of a shock, regardless of Hal having seen the transportation process to the Anti-Matter universe before.

When it happened, sure. Afterwards he certainly should have realized what happened and not had to ask Sinestro. Or he should have asked the ring, which could have identified what happened as well.

Hal's not thinking any more, he's acting and reacting. And that's a major change to the character that I don't like.

-I'd say you can't blame Hal for trying. Hal's ring had been known to create copies before, but Hal might not have realized what extent one could put limitations on such rings. As Sinestro said when he changed his uniform to all black, it's not like the Guardians have exactly been forthcoming on everything to do with the rings.

I don't blame him for trying, but he has enough experience with the rings after years of using one to realize what Sinestro had done. He's become mighty slow on the uptake.

-Yeah, that was a stupid move on Hal's part that doesn't seem to match Hal's time and experience as a Green Lantern.
-Again, I think you can't blame Hal for trying to break out of the cell anyway. He's been able to overcome obstacles with the force of his own Willpower before, after all. Plus, he says the ring ran out of energy faster than it should have, suggesting that Sinestro's copy ring isn't as good as the real thing.

I can see Hal trying to break out, but I can also see him biding his time and trying to find a weakness in the cell rather than just burning through what energy he has left.

Like I said, I'm hoping there's an in-story reason he's acting like a rookie. I hope this isn't a permanent regression of the character because of the reboot, because the old Hal was a far better character.

[Sparky Prime]

When it happened, sure. Afterwards he certainly should have realized what happened and not had to ask Sinestro. Or he should have asked the ring, which could have identified what happened as well.

Hal's not thinking any more, he's acting and reacting. And that's a major change to the character that I don't like.

I don't believe Hal was asking about the teleportation process there actually. Sinestro said something about the Lantern trying to help Hal, which is when Hal asks what happened to him. That suggests something else happened to Hal when he was dematerialized, something that Sinestro claims wasn't harmful but only says they'll deal with it later.

I don't blame him for trying, but he has enough experience with the rings after years of using one to realize what Sinestro had done. He's become mighty slow on the uptake.

Hal isn't normally the one to have the copy GL ring and clearly Sinestro knows more about how the power rings work than Hal. Makes sense Hal would be a little slower on the uptake when it comes to dealing with Sinestro's knowledge and experience with the rings.

I can see Hal trying to break out, but I can also see him biding his time and trying to find a weakness in the cell rather than just burning through what energy he has left.

Hal's doesn't seem like the time biding type to me...

Like I said, I'm hoping there's an in-story reason he's acting like a rookie. I hope this isn't a permanent regression of the character because of the reboot, because the old Hal was a far better character.

I get the impression Hal is a little rusty. The implication is it has been a few months since Hal was discharged from the Corps. And Sinestro has more experience and knowledge

[138 Scourge]

Maybe Hal's possessed by another space bug?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Legit question, though: How was Sinestro making the hard-light copies? I know solid energy projections aren't exactly rare in these books, but the Sinestro that Hal didn't look like a ring projection. Also, it wasn't green or yellow. Tech from his home planet, or was it a case of "Don't worry about how I did it, that's what happened"? Not ragging on this, mind, but it seems like a really specific and odd way to explain that kind of thing.

[Sparky Prime]

Legit question, though: How was Sinestro making the hard-light copies?

It isn't a hard light copy. The power rings have always had the ability to make an exact duplicate of themselves. Although obviously the bearer of the original ring can put some additional safeguards on the copies, which I believe this is the first we've seen of that.

[138 Scourge]

Oh, I knew about the rings making copies of themselves, I was more asking about the duplicate Sinestro that Hal killed.

[Sparky Prime]

Oh, I knew about the rings making copies of themselves, I was more asking about the duplicate Sinestro that Hal killed.

Oh... As I recall, Sinestro said that was a construct created by Parallax. I guess with how powerful the entities are, they can make realistic looking constructs rather than something that looks like a hard-light construct that the rings make.