Continuing through the Hard-Traveling Heroes Omnibus...
The Flash #226
March-April 1974
The Powerless Power Ring!
Script - Denny O'Neil Pencils - Neal Adams, Dick Giordano Inks - Dick Giordano
I have to disagree with the caption box that opens this story. "Exploits" is not the word I would use to describe it. At first glance it might be exciting to have Neal Adams back on Green Lantern, but "The Powerless Power Ring" and a terrified Hal Jordan about to fall to his death doesn't promise a great adventure...
As the story opens, Hal is out hiking and camping in the mountains. He's still unemployed and still broke, griping about the sorry state of civilization. Yep, it's a Denny O'Neil script all right. He makes Oliver Queen's chili recipe and adds some mushrooms to it. Time to charge up the power ring, which he does in uniform, and then after seeing a mysterious flash of light which he can't explain, GL settles down to sleep. Everything's great until a bear wanders up and GL tries to remove it with the power ring, only for the beam to malfunction. He tests it on a tree and it doesn't do what he wants. The ring is malfunctioning yet again, and GL does not know why.
Just then he hears a scream, and sees a mountain climber in serious danger. Afraid to use the power ring, he climbs the cliff himself to go and help her out. This ultimately leads him to where we saw Hal on the splash page, clinging to the cliff for dear life. But when he falls, he is of course able to make the power ring work as it should, saving his life and the life of the climber. They settle at his campsite, where GL asks if she saw the flash of light last night. She did and thought it was great. She sees his open can of mushrooms and asks if he's been eating them. Turns out that brand is dangerous, causes weird things to happen to people. Yes, Green Lantern's great enemy this issue was... bad mushrooms. How low can O'Neil drag the character?
What a waste. A waste of Neal Adams's talent, a waste of the eight pages of space, and probably a waste of my time to read it. O'Neil seemed far more interested in humiliating the character than in telling fun and interesting sci-fi adventure stories with him. Hal is essentially homeless, jobless, and half the time he lacks the self-confidence needed to be a good Green Lantern. And now brought down by bad mushrooms. This may genuinely be one of the worst Green Lantern stories I've ever read.
Retro Comics are Awesome
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andersonh1
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Ursus mellifera
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Damn, that's a bummer. I LOVED Neal Adams on the Silver Age X-Men. He's amazing.
Check it out, a honey bear! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkajou
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
I'm mainly familiar with Neal Adams from the first run of Green Lantern/Green Arrow and from 1970s Batman, but I agree with you that he's probably one of the best artists to ever draw comics. His panel layouts are so inventive and the way he draws people are miles ahead of everyone else at the time, and many now. I haven't seen any of his X-Men work, but he drew a few of the post-Kirby issues collected in Thor omnibus vol. 3, and the art is great there.
This turned out to be a three issue storyline, and of course since they're short, 8 page backups, it would all have been a single issue of a regular comic. Can part two or part three save the awful "Hal vs. bad mushrooms" plot? Stay tuned....
The Flash #227
May-June 1974
My Ring... My Enemy!
Script - Denny O'Neil Pencils - Dick Dillin Inks - Dick Giordano
Your bucolic waltz is over, clods! I'll take you to safety... though you don't deserve the effort!
This story picks up where the last left off, recapping the end of the issue. Green Lantern carries the woman he rescued closer to civilization and sets her down. She thanks him, but he goes hilariously bad-tempered and sexist on her. "Don't go rock-scaling alone again! That's downright stupid, especially for a woman! In case you haven't gotten the bulletin, the fair sex belongs in the kitchen!" The woman storms off and GL wonders why he made such a stupid remark. He decides that he's tired and needs a nap, after a ring recharge. But he kicks the lantern in frustration, tired of the whole routine. Just then he spots a helicopter in trouble, so he brings it to the ground, and when the pilot tries to thank him, GL punches him in the jaw. Okay, it's pretty obvious that Hal is not himself here, and if the title of the story can be trusted, the ring is still malfunctioning.
Turns out the chopper was on the way to fight a forest fire, so GL goes instead. He's still rude and obnoxious to everyone but he gets the results. He finds a plane in the midst of the forest fire, and rounds up some crooks who had robbed an armored car that GL noticed back when he discussed the situation with some forest rangers. He takes the thieves back, but when one of the rangers complains about his attitude, GL starts beating him up. Realizing at last that something is seriously wrong, he attributes the problems to that yellow flash of light from last issue. Every time he uses the power ring, it affects him. He determines that he can't use it until he corrects the problem, only to be told that some kids and a camp counselor are trapped by the fire, and he's the only one who can save them...
Now this is at least far more entertaining than bad mushrooms, though I'm already tired of a malfunctioning power ring. But Hal in a bad temper giving lip to everyone for the terrible job they're doing, supposedly, made me laugh more than once. It's so over the top it's funny. And of course it's obvious that he's being influenced and is very much out of character. So even though it's hardly stellar drama, this is a definite improvement over part one of this storyline.
This turned out to be a three issue storyline, and of course since they're short, 8 page backups, it would all have been a single issue of a regular comic. Can part two or part three save the awful "Hal vs. bad mushrooms" plot? Stay tuned....
The Flash #227
May-June 1974
My Ring... My Enemy!
Script - Denny O'Neil Pencils - Dick Dillin Inks - Dick Giordano
Your bucolic waltz is over, clods! I'll take you to safety... though you don't deserve the effort!
This story picks up where the last left off, recapping the end of the issue. Green Lantern carries the woman he rescued closer to civilization and sets her down. She thanks him, but he goes hilariously bad-tempered and sexist on her. "Don't go rock-scaling alone again! That's downright stupid, especially for a woman! In case you haven't gotten the bulletin, the fair sex belongs in the kitchen!" The woman storms off and GL wonders why he made such a stupid remark. He decides that he's tired and needs a nap, after a ring recharge. But he kicks the lantern in frustration, tired of the whole routine. Just then he spots a helicopter in trouble, so he brings it to the ground, and when the pilot tries to thank him, GL punches him in the jaw. Okay, it's pretty obvious that Hal is not himself here, and if the title of the story can be trusted, the ring is still malfunctioning.
Turns out the chopper was on the way to fight a forest fire, so GL goes instead. He's still rude and obnoxious to everyone but he gets the results. He finds a plane in the midst of the forest fire, and rounds up some crooks who had robbed an armored car that GL noticed back when he discussed the situation with some forest rangers. He takes the thieves back, but when one of the rangers complains about his attitude, GL starts beating him up. Realizing at last that something is seriously wrong, he attributes the problems to that yellow flash of light from last issue. Every time he uses the power ring, it affects him. He determines that he can't use it until he corrects the problem, only to be told that some kids and a camp counselor are trapped by the fire, and he's the only one who can save them...
Now this is at least far more entertaining than bad mushrooms, though I'm already tired of a malfunctioning power ring. But Hal in a bad temper giving lip to everyone for the terrible job they're doing, supposedly, made me laugh more than once. It's so over the top it's funny. And of course it's obvious that he's being influenced and is very much out of character. So even though it's hardly stellar drama, this is a definite improvement over part one of this storyline.