So it's been awhile since I reviewed any stories from the Golden Age Superman omnibus. Action Comics #13 was the last one, so the next comic published was Superman #1.
Superman #1
As you might expect, the origin story is retold here, with a few more details that we didn't get last time. Most of this book was apparently reprints, but an expanded version of the story from Action Comics #1 is included. That story came in where Superman was headed to the governor's office to stop an execution. This story starts out by showing how Clark Kent got the job at the Daily Star and how he found out about the real murderer, who happened to be the woman he carried as his prisoner to the governor's house. So there was very little original material in the first issue, but what we got was a nice bit of backstory for Clark and the very first Superman appearance.
There's also a "scientific explanation of Superman's amazing strength". One interesting fact to note here is that in this original origin, everyone on Krypton had superpowers. As the caption reads, "Superman came to Earth from the planet Krypton, whose inhabitants had evolved, after millions of years, to physical perfection!" So it's not the yellow sun that empowers Superman at this point, it's just his native physiology. There's also a comparison of Krypton and Earth, with Krypton appearing to be about four times the size of Earth. Also included is a text page with some short biographies of Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster, which is a nice touch.
Retro Comics are Awesome
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andersonh1
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
All-Star Comics #3
This is of course the first comic to feature a super-hero team. The Justice Society of America makes their first appearance in this issue. I've read this particular story before I ever heard of the DC Archives, because I found one of those oversized "Famous First Editions" years ago, and it reprinted All-Star #3 at almost double the size of a normal comic. Seriously, that book is huge. In any case, the JSA meet for the first time in some room they've apparently rented in a hotel, and the Sandman puts all the other customers to sleep before the meeting, which is pretty funny. And I wonder just how far ahead this was planned, because the JSA sit around and tell stories about one of their many adventures. The Flash helped find some sunken treasure, Green Lantern helped fight some political corruption, Hourman helped stop some insurance fraud, etc. It's kind of a middle ground between the pure anthology of All Star 1 and 2, and the more focused team book of issue 4 onward. Each chapter has a different artist, so some art is good, while some is fairly poor.
I love the low key nature of the team's origin. Just for contrast, look at the big budget action movie origin for the Justice League in the New 52. The JSA in 1940 met to have dinner and swap stories, before heading off to help out the FBI in the following issue. It's interesting to see something other than a crisis bring a team together. This is just a bunch of guys who figure there are times when they can be more effective as a team than as individuals.
Framing sequence: it's the first meeting ever of the JSA, and Johnny Thunder is mad that he hasn't been invited. Naturally, through unwitting use of his thunderbolt, he crashes the party and meets everyone. It's his idea that everyone tell a story while they're eating dinner, and so that's how the issue proceeds, with the various members introducing themselves and relating an adventure. It's interesting to note that Johnny is looking at copies of All-American, More Fun, etc on the newstand while wishing he was in on the meeting, so apparently the exploits of the JSA members are chronicled and published. Does that mean everyone knows who they are?
The Flash - Jay helps the father of one of Joan's friends recover some sunken treasure and fight off a gang of thugs who plan to steal it. The story features Jay making it from New York to Panama in 16 minutes ("a decent time" he thinks), and swimming underwater without any diving gear and tangling with a shark. Jay never seems in any real danger and just has a good time messing with the crooks and helping out.
Hawkman - fights "the men who lived in fire". Some crazy guy and his followers are living in Krakatoa and are planning to take over the world or something. I'm never quite clear just what the plan is, but Hawkman puts an end to it. His ancient weapon of choice is the Hammer of Thor, interestingly. Like so many of these guys, he takes his girlfriend along for the adventure. Really, I"m surprised at just how often this is true during this era.
The Spectre - some mysterious and violent murders are taking place, and Jim Corrigan is on the case. It's an evil creature from the dark side of the moon that's causing the trouble, and he's killing just because he enjoys a bit of violent death. So he and the Spectre enter into a competition with the loser exiled forever from Earth. Naturally, Oom cheats and sics a dragon on the Spectre while he retrieves the moonstone. The Spectre kills the dragon and makes Oom drop the moonstoon, returning to Earth first. Oom naturally goes back on his word, and the Spectre beats him to within an inch of his life and exiles him into space. Why he didn't just do that to begin with, I don't know. Still, this is a fun, crazy story without any real rules. It just goes wherever it feels like. Killer statues? Dragons out in space? Sure, why not.
Hourman - Hourman attends a costume party dressed as ... Hourman. Yep. There are a few other guys there in the same costume, and there is of course some nefarious event going on. It's all a plot to steal fake jewels, collect insurance money on them, and frame Hourman for the crime.
The Red Tornado - I think this is her only appearance with the JSA. She shows up and then leaves in a hurry, because she ripped her pants coming in. I think the character was part of a gag strip anyway, so this would be entirely in character. Ma Hunkel was the museum curator in the JSA when Geoff Johns wrote it, so she does turn up decades later in a more dignified role.
The Sandman - Wesley Dodds and his girlfriend Dianne come across a man who is 20 feet tall, who collapses and dies. They also run across a couple of giant animals. A mad scientist has been experimenting and has to be stopped by the Sandman.
Doctor Fate - Once again, the hero's girlfriend is heavily involved in the plot as Inza gets a mysterious artifict while shopping for antiques. The whole thing ultimately turns out to be a trap for Doctor Fate by a rival wizard using mental power. This is similar to the Spectre story in that random stuff starts happening as the wizard tries desperately to stop Doctor Fate and starts throwing mental enemies at him. I like these early Doctor Fate stories. They're a nice bit of variety from some of the more down to earth crime fighting that the other characters do.
The Atom - I think this guy is my least favorite of the group, because there's not a lot that's interesting about him. He's a college student, but he's essentially just a little guy who's tough and can fight. There's no hook or superpower that makes him in interesting. In any case, he stops a group of crooks that have robbed a gold reserve, but only on the second attempt. His first attempt sees him miss a jump on to the top of their truck, and he falls and knocks himself out. He gets them when they come back down the road.
Green Lantern - a story of political corruption where an honest police commissioner is framed and removed from power so a corrupt man can take his place. Alan Scott figures it out fairly quickly, and it's just a case of revealing the truth by working his way from the henchmen up to the guy in charge. He talks to a columnist at the local paper and gets him to write a column that's bait for the trap to force the blackmailers out into the open. He gets the main blackmailer to confess on the air by willing his ring to force the man to tell the truth.
Closing story: in the middle of storytelling, a telegram arrived from the FBI chief, who wanted to talk to the JSA. The Flash runs to Washington and back and lets everyone know that he met with the FBI and their help is needed, so that story will pick up next issue.
Overall: I think if I was a kid buying comics in 1940, and all I had was a dime, this would be the book to get. Tons of characters, and not only do we get to see the characters in solo action, but they all inhabit the same world for the first time. From a modern perspective the stories and art are simple, and the characters don't have a lot of depth, though they do have personality. I find them fun to read, and interesting from a historical perspective as well. This is where the DC universe really began to be a more cohesive universe where characters knew each other and pooled resources.
This is of course the first comic to feature a super-hero team. The Justice Society of America makes their first appearance in this issue. I've read this particular story before I ever heard of the DC Archives, because I found one of those oversized "Famous First Editions" years ago, and it reprinted All-Star #3 at almost double the size of a normal comic. Seriously, that book is huge. In any case, the JSA meet for the first time in some room they've apparently rented in a hotel, and the Sandman puts all the other customers to sleep before the meeting, which is pretty funny. And I wonder just how far ahead this was planned, because the JSA sit around and tell stories about one of their many adventures. The Flash helped find some sunken treasure, Green Lantern helped fight some political corruption, Hourman helped stop some insurance fraud, etc. It's kind of a middle ground between the pure anthology of All Star 1 and 2, and the more focused team book of issue 4 onward. Each chapter has a different artist, so some art is good, while some is fairly poor.
I love the low key nature of the team's origin. Just for contrast, look at the big budget action movie origin for the Justice League in the New 52. The JSA in 1940 met to have dinner and swap stories, before heading off to help out the FBI in the following issue. It's interesting to see something other than a crisis bring a team together. This is just a bunch of guys who figure there are times when they can be more effective as a team than as individuals.
Framing sequence: it's the first meeting ever of the JSA, and Johnny Thunder is mad that he hasn't been invited. Naturally, through unwitting use of his thunderbolt, he crashes the party and meets everyone. It's his idea that everyone tell a story while they're eating dinner, and so that's how the issue proceeds, with the various members introducing themselves and relating an adventure. It's interesting to note that Johnny is looking at copies of All-American, More Fun, etc on the newstand while wishing he was in on the meeting, so apparently the exploits of the JSA members are chronicled and published. Does that mean everyone knows who they are?
The Flash - Jay helps the father of one of Joan's friends recover some sunken treasure and fight off a gang of thugs who plan to steal it. The story features Jay making it from New York to Panama in 16 minutes ("a decent time" he thinks), and swimming underwater without any diving gear and tangling with a shark. Jay never seems in any real danger and just has a good time messing with the crooks and helping out.
Hawkman - fights "the men who lived in fire". Some crazy guy and his followers are living in Krakatoa and are planning to take over the world or something. I'm never quite clear just what the plan is, but Hawkman puts an end to it. His ancient weapon of choice is the Hammer of Thor, interestingly. Like so many of these guys, he takes his girlfriend along for the adventure. Really, I"m surprised at just how often this is true during this era.
The Spectre - some mysterious and violent murders are taking place, and Jim Corrigan is on the case. It's an evil creature from the dark side of the moon that's causing the trouble, and he's killing just because he enjoys a bit of violent death. So he and the Spectre enter into a competition with the loser exiled forever from Earth. Naturally, Oom cheats and sics a dragon on the Spectre while he retrieves the moonstone. The Spectre kills the dragon and makes Oom drop the moonstoon, returning to Earth first. Oom naturally goes back on his word, and the Spectre beats him to within an inch of his life and exiles him into space. Why he didn't just do that to begin with, I don't know. Still, this is a fun, crazy story without any real rules. It just goes wherever it feels like. Killer statues? Dragons out in space? Sure, why not.
Hourman - Hourman attends a costume party dressed as ... Hourman. Yep. There are a few other guys there in the same costume, and there is of course some nefarious event going on. It's all a plot to steal fake jewels, collect insurance money on them, and frame Hourman for the crime.
The Red Tornado - I think this is her only appearance with the JSA. She shows up and then leaves in a hurry, because she ripped her pants coming in. I think the character was part of a gag strip anyway, so this would be entirely in character. Ma Hunkel was the museum curator in the JSA when Geoff Johns wrote it, so she does turn up decades later in a more dignified role.
The Sandman - Wesley Dodds and his girlfriend Dianne come across a man who is 20 feet tall, who collapses and dies. They also run across a couple of giant animals. A mad scientist has been experimenting and has to be stopped by the Sandman.
Doctor Fate - Once again, the hero's girlfriend is heavily involved in the plot as Inza gets a mysterious artifict while shopping for antiques. The whole thing ultimately turns out to be a trap for Doctor Fate by a rival wizard using mental power. This is similar to the Spectre story in that random stuff starts happening as the wizard tries desperately to stop Doctor Fate and starts throwing mental enemies at him. I like these early Doctor Fate stories. They're a nice bit of variety from some of the more down to earth crime fighting that the other characters do.
The Atom - I think this guy is my least favorite of the group, because there's not a lot that's interesting about him. He's a college student, but he's essentially just a little guy who's tough and can fight. There's no hook or superpower that makes him in interesting. In any case, he stops a group of crooks that have robbed a gold reserve, but only on the second attempt. His first attempt sees him miss a jump on to the top of their truck, and he falls and knocks himself out. He gets them when they come back down the road.
Green Lantern - a story of political corruption where an honest police commissioner is framed and removed from power so a corrupt man can take his place. Alan Scott figures it out fairly quickly, and it's just a case of revealing the truth by working his way from the henchmen up to the guy in charge. He talks to a columnist at the local paper and gets him to write a column that's bait for the trap to force the blackmailers out into the open. He gets the main blackmailer to confess on the air by willing his ring to force the man to tell the truth.
Closing story: in the middle of storytelling, a telegram arrived from the FBI chief, who wanted to talk to the JSA. The Flash runs to Washington and back and lets everyone know that he met with the FBI and their help is needed, so that story will pick up next issue.
Overall: I think if I was a kid buying comics in 1940, and all I had was a dime, this would be the book to get. Tons of characters, and not only do we get to see the characters in solo action, but they all inhabit the same world for the first time. From a modern perspective the stories and art are simple, and the characters don't have a lot of depth, though they do have personality. I find them fun to read, and interesting from a historical perspective as well. This is where the DC universe really began to be a more cohesive universe where characters knew each other and pooled resources.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Doctor Fate Archives
I'm not going to go through these stories one by one, for a couple of reasons. Only a few after the first year are all that memorable or creative. That's not to say that Doctor Fate wasn't a creative character. He was pretty good at first, but suffered from some of the changes imposed on him, in my opinion.
Looking at the lifespan of Doctor Fate's feature in More Fun Comics, he lasted for just about four years, from 1940-44. He was in 42 issues, and his series had three distinct eras. He starts out as the character we're familiar with in the gold full face mask, blue outfit and gold cape. He fights magical creatures, undead, aliens, sorcerors, etc, and it's a lot of fun. His stories are a big change from the usual gangsters found in so many of these Golden Age comics. He never even takes his mask off or gets an origin story for about a year, and like some of the other characters of the time, his girlfriend Inza comes on a lot of his adventures. I really enjoyed these storylines.
Then Doctor Fate gets an adjustment, for whatever reason. New writer, new editor, whatever, and the series really loses what made it unique and fun. Doctor fate ends up in a half mask so that his nose and mouth are visible, and he stops fighting magical creatures. He starts fighting the same gangsters everyone else fights, and making bad puns while pummelling them. In addition, he gains the lamest weakness yet: he has to breathe. Yes, crooks start trying to suffocate Doctor Fate (who used to be 100% invulnerable to everything) every chance they get, be it with gas or nooses or wire or just plain trying to strangle him.
The final third of this four year run sees Kent Nelson decide that he wants to become a real doctor, and so he goes to medical school and becomes an intern in a clinic. I actually like this approach to the character since it gives him some moral drive and beliefs beyond just "take out the bad guys". Inza almost disappears from the series for some reason, though the few times she does turn up, she's referred to as Kent's fiance, so they've clearly got a life that we just dont' get to see on the page. Doctor Fate gets to use his medical knowledge in his crime-fighting and ditches the cape. It's a step up from the basic crime fighter, but still not as good as the magic adventures.
So there you are: Golden Age Doctor Fate is a character that had three different approaches in a four year time period. It didn't save him, he disappeared with a lot of other characters around the mid-40s, and came back in the 60s when the Earth 2 concept started to appear. Thank goodness they brought back the full-helmet, fully magical figure and the whole "he's invulnerable except he has to breathe" weakness was dropped. A lot of potential for this character was exploited for about a year, and then completely squandered for the remaining time he appeared during the 40s.
I'm not going to go through these stories one by one, for a couple of reasons. Only a few after the first year are all that memorable or creative. That's not to say that Doctor Fate wasn't a creative character. He was pretty good at first, but suffered from some of the changes imposed on him, in my opinion.
Looking at the lifespan of Doctor Fate's feature in More Fun Comics, he lasted for just about four years, from 1940-44. He was in 42 issues, and his series had three distinct eras. He starts out as the character we're familiar with in the gold full face mask, blue outfit and gold cape. He fights magical creatures, undead, aliens, sorcerors, etc, and it's a lot of fun. His stories are a big change from the usual gangsters found in so many of these Golden Age comics. He never even takes his mask off or gets an origin story for about a year, and like some of the other characters of the time, his girlfriend Inza comes on a lot of his adventures. I really enjoyed these storylines.
Then Doctor Fate gets an adjustment, for whatever reason. New writer, new editor, whatever, and the series really loses what made it unique and fun. Doctor fate ends up in a half mask so that his nose and mouth are visible, and he stops fighting magical creatures. He starts fighting the same gangsters everyone else fights, and making bad puns while pummelling them. In addition, he gains the lamest weakness yet: he has to breathe. Yes, crooks start trying to suffocate Doctor Fate (who used to be 100% invulnerable to everything) every chance they get, be it with gas or nooses or wire or just plain trying to strangle him.
The final third of this four year run sees Kent Nelson decide that he wants to become a real doctor, and so he goes to medical school and becomes an intern in a clinic. I actually like this approach to the character since it gives him some moral drive and beliefs beyond just "take out the bad guys". Inza almost disappears from the series for some reason, though the few times she does turn up, she's referred to as Kent's fiance, so they've clearly got a life that we just dont' get to see on the page. Doctor Fate gets to use his medical knowledge in his crime-fighting and ditches the cape. It's a step up from the basic crime fighter, but still not as good as the magic adventures.
So there you are: Golden Age Doctor Fate is a character that had three different approaches in a four year time period. It didn't save him, he disappeared with a lot of other characters around the mid-40s, and came back in the 60s when the Earth 2 concept started to appear. Thank goodness they brought back the full-helmet, fully magical figure and the whole "he's invulnerable except he has to breathe" weakness was dropped. A lot of potential for this character was exploited for about a year, and then completely squandered for the remaining time he appeared during the 40s.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Here's an interesting tidbit if any of you are still reading Earth 2: Robinson borrowed the method Alan Scott uses to defeat Grundy in Earth 2 #5 from All-Star #33. In both stories, the ultimate solution to stop Grundy from wreaking havoc on Earth is for Green Lantern to dump him on the moon. Nice callback, though I expect most readers of E2 will never have read the original.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
I'm going to side with Dom on retro comics for this mini-review.
I checked some Silver Age/New Look Batman out of the library in the form of Showcase Presents Batman volume 1. The book contains stories from 1964 and 65, and the best way I can describe them is perhaps the Adam West Batman without any humor. And fighting normal gangsters more often than supervillains. The stories aren't bad per se, but neither are they very memorable. About the only really memorable story that stands out to me is the one where Alfred is killed saving Batman's life, after which Bruce Wayne sets up the Alfred Foundation in his memory, something which comes up in several later stories. There is a decent amount of continuity among the various Batman stories collected in the volume, and several references to way older stories. The Riddler returns for the first time in what is apparently decades, and the Joker and Penguin each appear once.
Getting back to the treatment of Batman.... this is what made all of these stories not really work for me. Batman and Robin are constantly on the hotline to Commissioner Gordon when he has a problem. They drive around in broad daylight, in costume. Batman gives speeches to the graduating police academy class... in costume. He is a member of a mystery-solving club, and it's just bizarre to see nine or ten other men around a boardroom table in suits and ties, while there he is in full costume. It just so cuts against the grain of the stealthy, secretive, elusive vigilante that it's hard to enjoy, because I just don't accept Batman and Robin acting this way. Not played straight anyway. The humor of this type of behavior by Batman works fine in Batman '66 and that television series, but when I'm supposed to be reading serious adventures, it doesn't work well at all.
I like Golden and Bronze age comics, but Silver Age stories are a tough sell for me sometimes, despite the fact that I enjoy older comics. I like Superman from that era. They're almost like a sitcom and entertaining in a crazy way. Batman doesn't work as well for me, and even these "new look" stories aren't as big a change from what came before as I might have thought. I think it was the O'Neil/Adams revamp that really saved the character.
I checked some Silver Age/New Look Batman out of the library in the form of Showcase Presents Batman volume 1. The book contains stories from 1964 and 65, and the best way I can describe them is perhaps the Adam West Batman without any humor. And fighting normal gangsters more often than supervillains. The stories aren't bad per se, but neither are they very memorable. About the only really memorable story that stands out to me is the one where Alfred is killed saving Batman's life, after which Bruce Wayne sets up the Alfred Foundation in his memory, something which comes up in several later stories. There is a decent amount of continuity among the various Batman stories collected in the volume, and several references to way older stories. The Riddler returns for the first time in what is apparently decades, and the Joker and Penguin each appear once.
Getting back to the treatment of Batman.... this is what made all of these stories not really work for me. Batman and Robin are constantly on the hotline to Commissioner Gordon when he has a problem. They drive around in broad daylight, in costume. Batman gives speeches to the graduating police academy class... in costume. He is a member of a mystery-solving club, and it's just bizarre to see nine or ten other men around a boardroom table in suits and ties, while there he is in full costume. It just so cuts against the grain of the stealthy, secretive, elusive vigilante that it's hard to enjoy, because I just don't accept Batman and Robin acting this way. Not played straight anyway. The humor of this type of behavior by Batman works fine in Batman '66 and that television series, but when I'm supposed to be reading serious adventures, it doesn't work well at all.
I like Golden and Bronze age comics, but Silver Age stories are a tough sell for me sometimes, despite the fact that I enjoy older comics. I like Superman from that era. They're almost like a sitcom and entertaining in a crazy way. Batman doesn't work as well for me, and even these "new look" stories aren't as big a change from what came before as I might have thought. I think it was the O'Neil/Adams revamp that really saved the character.
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Finally managed to find Green Lantern #145 and 146 this weekend...
Green Lantern #145
Nero and Kyle engage in battle for the Green energies within the sun, both having a huge power boost from those powers, which Kyle realizes is keeping them at a stalemate. On Earth, Jade wants to go help Kyle but her father says even if they gathered all the metahumans on Earth, they'd just be in the way. Back in space, the Weaponers of Qward arrive claiming they want to help Kyle, but Kyle knows they're lying, that they're really there to save Nero by placing a device on him to teleport him to the anti-matter universe. The device fails to work however, as Nero is too powerful, and he destroys the Qwardian ship. Kyle steps in again, and tapping into the power, teleports them both to a higher plane where they can fight like normal humans and Kyle eventually wins. Kyle is then confronted with two images: the sun with the green energies, and the alleyway where Ganthet first gave him the power ring. Kyle realizes this is Hal's doing. Hal appears and explains he's giving Kyle the choice, to take the power or to prevent himself from becoming a Green Lantern, having wished someone had been there to give him the same choice. Kyle chooses the accept the power. Green Lantern is no more, Kyle is now Ion.
Green Lantern #146
While laying in bed with Jade, Kyle realizes he doesn't need sleep anymore.Even as he's lying in bed, he's still helping people across the Earth and even throughout the universe. He thinks back to the events of this one day, and all he can do as Ion now. When he first returned to Earth, John, Alan and Jade were all shocked by Kyle's transformation, but with nothing more to explain, Kyle decided to go back to work. Jade finds him drawing up a storm which his assistant is having a hard time keeping up with, explaining Kyle is about a month ahead of schedule now. Kyle explains to her he can tap into his creativity unlike before and block out everything else to make himself incredibly productive. Meanwhile, a live news report has Ion delivering food in Africa, which Jade can't fathom how he's in two places at once. Kyle explains he's no longer tied to the same rules of space and time, he's actually in several places all at once, including brokering peace on a planet they had once visited that has fallen into a civil war they couldn't handle. But now Kyle can. Jade is shocked by all Kyle tells her he can do now, saying his powers makes him like a god now. But Kyle assures her he's the same as he's always been, he can just do a lot more now. Suddenly realizing Kyle got his hair cut since she'd seen him last, Jade is put more at ease that he is still human after all, but asks him if she can just have him all to herself when they decide to have an impromptu datenight. Kyle assures her he will, but back to where the issues started off, we know Kyle lied as he continues to help people elsewhere.
--Nice to finally have all the issues of this particular storyline, especially while reading the current storyline in New Guardians, seeing as it is dealing with similar issues of Kyle becoming god-like with his White Lantern powers and the Life Equation. It's interesting to see how Kyle finds it difficult to reel himself in with these powers. He wants to do so much good, that he really over steps his role as a super hero as both #149 points out when he talks to Superman, and the Futures End issue of New Guardians suggests, and in both cases ends up giving up the powers in the end for the greater good. Anyway, really enjoyed reading Kyle's first experience with the Ion powers. I'd certainly recommend it if you can track it down.
Green Lantern #145
Nero and Kyle engage in battle for the Green energies within the sun, both having a huge power boost from those powers, which Kyle realizes is keeping them at a stalemate. On Earth, Jade wants to go help Kyle but her father says even if they gathered all the metahumans on Earth, they'd just be in the way. Back in space, the Weaponers of Qward arrive claiming they want to help Kyle, but Kyle knows they're lying, that they're really there to save Nero by placing a device on him to teleport him to the anti-matter universe. The device fails to work however, as Nero is too powerful, and he destroys the Qwardian ship. Kyle steps in again, and tapping into the power, teleports them both to a higher plane where they can fight like normal humans and Kyle eventually wins. Kyle is then confronted with two images: the sun with the green energies, and the alleyway where Ganthet first gave him the power ring. Kyle realizes this is Hal's doing. Hal appears and explains he's giving Kyle the choice, to take the power or to prevent himself from becoming a Green Lantern, having wished someone had been there to give him the same choice. Kyle chooses the accept the power. Green Lantern is no more, Kyle is now Ion.
Green Lantern #146
While laying in bed with Jade, Kyle realizes he doesn't need sleep anymore.Even as he's lying in bed, he's still helping people across the Earth and even throughout the universe. He thinks back to the events of this one day, and all he can do as Ion now. When he first returned to Earth, John, Alan and Jade were all shocked by Kyle's transformation, but with nothing more to explain, Kyle decided to go back to work. Jade finds him drawing up a storm which his assistant is having a hard time keeping up with, explaining Kyle is about a month ahead of schedule now. Kyle explains to her he can tap into his creativity unlike before and block out everything else to make himself incredibly productive. Meanwhile, a live news report has Ion delivering food in Africa, which Jade can't fathom how he's in two places at once. Kyle explains he's no longer tied to the same rules of space and time, he's actually in several places all at once, including brokering peace on a planet they had once visited that has fallen into a civil war they couldn't handle. But now Kyle can. Jade is shocked by all Kyle tells her he can do now, saying his powers makes him like a god now. But Kyle assures her he's the same as he's always been, he can just do a lot more now. Suddenly realizing Kyle got his hair cut since she'd seen him last, Jade is put more at ease that he is still human after all, but asks him if she can just have him all to herself when they decide to have an impromptu datenight. Kyle assures her he will, but back to where the issues started off, we know Kyle lied as he continues to help people elsewhere.
--Nice to finally have all the issues of this particular storyline, especially while reading the current storyline in New Guardians, seeing as it is dealing with similar issues of Kyle becoming god-like with his White Lantern powers and the Life Equation. It's interesting to see how Kyle finds it difficult to reel himself in with these powers. He wants to do so much good, that he really over steps his role as a super hero as both #149 points out when he talks to Superman, and the Futures End issue of New Guardians suggests, and in both cases ends up giving up the powers in the end for the greater good. Anyway, really enjoyed reading Kyle's first experience with the Ion powers. I'd certainly recommend it if you can track it down.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
I've got "The Power of Ion" trade with those two issues. Still haven't finished reading it though. Maybe you've inspired me to pick it up and finish it. One thing I do wonder is just how much of the New Guardians plot is lifted from this storyline, and how much of the current John Stewart/Fatality storyline also follows what happens in these issues? I don't really know, but it does look as though plot threads from years ago are still being explored, which I always enjoy.
Edit: finished it last night.
Green Lantern: The Power of Ion
I’ve read very little of the Kyle Rayner era of Green Lantern, largely because I’m a fan of Hal and wasn’t happy with how he was replaced. But all of that is water under the bridge these days, and when some used Rayner GL trades turned up at one of the local used bookstores, I picked up “The Power of Ion”, mainly because as I flipped through the book it appeared to explain how the Guardians returned after they all died in Emerald Twilight.
One of the first things I noticed about the issues contained in this book is that the writer seems to have taken a page from Mark Waid’s work on the Flash, in that he includes a lot of legacy characters. And that’s a good thing, in my view. I don’t think Guy Gardner appears except in flashback (and I don’t miss him), but Jade is Kyle’s girlfriend, Alan Scott is the seasoned old pro, and John Stewart gets a surprising amount of page time devoted to his struggle to walk again. For a series that began by wiping the slate clean of just about everything GL-related except for Kyle, by the time these issues were published things had clearly changed.
The basic plot: the power that Hal had as Parallax has appeared on the sun, and is now up for grabs. Kyle fights some guy named Nero for it. Nero apparently is the Sinestro substitute in Kyle’s GL series and has access to the same yellow energy. He and Kyle have a major fight, but in the end Kyle wins, claims the power, and becomes Ion. He’s basically got all the power of the main power battery inside him, just as Hal did, and while he’s not omnipotent, he’s not that far away from it. He can be in multiple places at the same time, can see and know just about anything, and can do just about anything he can imagine. At one point while talking to Hal/the Spectre, he offers to go back and fix Coast City, righting the many wrongs that had been done, just as Hal intended to do during Emerald Twilight.
Kyle’s characterization here is refreshing. He doesn’t become drunk with power or arrogant or anything like that. He’s calm, he’s reasonable, he listens to people and he thinks about what he’s doing. When Superman takes him aside after a few days to tell him that he’s gone too far in some of what he’s done, Kyle listens and takes it to heart. He’s not defensive or angry at all. He says he respects Superman and his opinions, and his actions bear that out. He seeks out advice from Alan Scott, based on Alan’s decades of experience wielding the Green Lantern power. Hal Jordan turns up as the Spectre several times to offer advice, and it’s good to see Hal and Kyle interact as equals. In the end, Kyle gives up the power and returns it to the central battery, restoring the Guardians to life as children for Ganthet to raise, and goes back to being Green Lantern again, after making a few improvements to his ring and costume.
I have to say, having become so accustomed to DC’s current crop of maladjusted angry characters, I really enjoyed the maturity displayed by Kyle during this storyline. It’s clear that Ron Marz and then Judd Winick really took him a long way during his 10 years as the main character. I have to wonder if this is what we would have gotten with Hal if the original Emerald Twilight had been published and Hal would have become the Protector rather than Parallax. Probably not, but we’ll never know at this point. I really like Alan Scott’s portrayal as well. He’s written as someone who is older, and who has seen and experienced a lot, and is really able to keep a handle on his emotions and rationally analyse a situation. John Stewart gets a very interesting storyline where his past is explored, and it turns out that as a teen he “borrowed” his aunt’s car, got in an accident, and his little sister was killed. He had repressed the memory for years. I was surprised to see so much time devoted to him in Kyle’s series, and I wonder how much of this story is still in current continuity.
Speaking of current continuity, I guess everything that happens with Jade no longer counts since she never existed in the New 52. Too bad. If the events of this story are still in Kyle’s past, they had to have occurred without Jade and Alan’s involvement.
It was nice to see so much Dale Eaglesham artwork. I first noticed him over in the post-Infinite Crisis JSA series, and he's still around doing some great work. I don't know when he started drawing for DC, but it was good to see him contribute to these issues.
All in all, this was a pretty good set of issues.
Edit: finished it last night.
Green Lantern: The Power of Ion
I’ve read very little of the Kyle Rayner era of Green Lantern, largely because I’m a fan of Hal and wasn’t happy with how he was replaced. But all of that is water under the bridge these days, and when some used Rayner GL trades turned up at one of the local used bookstores, I picked up “The Power of Ion”, mainly because as I flipped through the book it appeared to explain how the Guardians returned after they all died in Emerald Twilight.
One of the first things I noticed about the issues contained in this book is that the writer seems to have taken a page from Mark Waid’s work on the Flash, in that he includes a lot of legacy characters. And that’s a good thing, in my view. I don’t think Guy Gardner appears except in flashback (and I don’t miss him), but Jade is Kyle’s girlfriend, Alan Scott is the seasoned old pro, and John Stewart gets a surprising amount of page time devoted to his struggle to walk again. For a series that began by wiping the slate clean of just about everything GL-related except for Kyle, by the time these issues were published things had clearly changed.
The basic plot: the power that Hal had as Parallax has appeared on the sun, and is now up for grabs. Kyle fights some guy named Nero for it. Nero apparently is the Sinestro substitute in Kyle’s GL series and has access to the same yellow energy. He and Kyle have a major fight, but in the end Kyle wins, claims the power, and becomes Ion. He’s basically got all the power of the main power battery inside him, just as Hal did, and while he’s not omnipotent, he’s not that far away from it. He can be in multiple places at the same time, can see and know just about anything, and can do just about anything he can imagine. At one point while talking to Hal/the Spectre, he offers to go back and fix Coast City, righting the many wrongs that had been done, just as Hal intended to do during Emerald Twilight.
Kyle’s characterization here is refreshing. He doesn’t become drunk with power or arrogant or anything like that. He’s calm, he’s reasonable, he listens to people and he thinks about what he’s doing. When Superman takes him aside after a few days to tell him that he’s gone too far in some of what he’s done, Kyle listens and takes it to heart. He’s not defensive or angry at all. He says he respects Superman and his opinions, and his actions bear that out. He seeks out advice from Alan Scott, based on Alan’s decades of experience wielding the Green Lantern power. Hal Jordan turns up as the Spectre several times to offer advice, and it’s good to see Hal and Kyle interact as equals. In the end, Kyle gives up the power and returns it to the central battery, restoring the Guardians to life as children for Ganthet to raise, and goes back to being Green Lantern again, after making a few improvements to his ring and costume.
I have to say, having become so accustomed to DC’s current crop of maladjusted angry characters, I really enjoyed the maturity displayed by Kyle during this storyline. It’s clear that Ron Marz and then Judd Winick really took him a long way during his 10 years as the main character. I have to wonder if this is what we would have gotten with Hal if the original Emerald Twilight had been published and Hal would have become the Protector rather than Parallax. Probably not, but we’ll never know at this point. I really like Alan Scott’s portrayal as well. He’s written as someone who is older, and who has seen and experienced a lot, and is really able to keep a handle on his emotions and rationally analyse a situation. John Stewart gets a very interesting storyline where his past is explored, and it turns out that as a teen he “borrowed” his aunt’s car, got in an accident, and his little sister was killed. He had repressed the memory for years. I was surprised to see so much time devoted to him in Kyle’s series, and I wonder how much of this story is still in current continuity.
Speaking of current continuity, I guess everything that happens with Jade no longer counts since she never existed in the New 52. Too bad. If the events of this story are still in Kyle’s past, they had to have occurred without Jade and Alan’s involvement.
It was nice to see so much Dale Eaglesham artwork. I first noticed him over in the post-Infinite Crisis JSA series, and he's still around doing some great work. I don't know when he started drawing for DC, but it was good to see him contribute to these issues.
All in all, this was a pretty good set of issues.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
So, how about some vintage Hal Jordan? I've got the second omnibus now, and have plans to get the first down the road. Some things have changed a lot with regard to Hal Jordan, while some things aren't all that different, even 55 years later.
Showcase #22
September-October 1959
SOS Green Lantern - This is the familiar origin story for Hal Jordan. The splash page features him in a flight simulator which can't actually fly, being pulled in a green beam of light towards a wrecked spacecraft. The story then goes back to Abin Sur, who knows he is dying and must pass on his duties and his power ring to a worthy individual. The ring selects Hal, who is in an aircraft trainer (of his own design, interestingly). He is taken to Abin Sur, who speaks to him, scans him with the ring and determines that he passes selection by being honest and fearless. Abin tells him about the ring's yellow weakness and what killed him, and then charges him to fight evil. And then he dies. Hal naturally promises to do what he's been asked to do, and tests out the ring by lifting a huge boulder with ease. He decides to name himself "Green Lantern" after the power battery. It's interesting to note that his uniform isn't made of energy at this point, it's actually Abin Sur's uniform that he takes, as requested.
Six pages. That's all it takes to tell the story. Emerald Dawn took six issues, and so do Secret Origin, both of which grafted on all sorts of characters and plots. SOS Green Lantern features no speaking characters other than Hal and Abin Sur, and gets the foundation for the character laid down with great economy. There's no mention of the Corps or the Guardians, and no supporting cast in this first story. And yet, to this day Hal's origin is basically the same. Writers have added in Sinestro or training on how to use the ring, or explored just why Abin Sur was in a spacecraft at all, but the basic origin show here is still intact.
Secret of the Flaming Spear - Hal returns to work and starts to put the moves on Carol Ferris, the owner's daughter, and she's definitely interested. But then a test flight that Hal was supposed to be on goes out of control. Hal slips away, puts on the ring and uniform, and heads into the sky to keep the plane from crashing. He sees a beam of radiation caught in the power ring's beam, and he traces it back to the source, where saboteurs had attempted to make the test flight into a disaster. Hal deflects the bullets with ease, but is ... sigh... hit on the head with a yellow lamp and dazed, while the men run away. Of course, their car happens to be yellow too, but Hal punctures the tires and captures them. When he returns to Ferris air, he finds Willard Ferris (who would be renamed Carl soon) with Carol. Mr. FErris makes an announcement... he wants to travel the world before he's too old to do so, and he's leaving Carol in charge of Ferris Air for the next two years. She's suddenly all business, and has no time for Hal or a love life any more. Needless to say, he's not too happy.
Menace of the Runaway missile - A week later, Hal's pretty bummed that Carol won't give him the time of day. All the other test pilots think he's so cool under pressure, but it's mainly because his mind is elsewhere. He tries to ask her out, but she's heading to a celebrities ball where she hears that Green Lantern might be there. That's fine with Hal, since he's, you know, Green Lantern, and he leaves. So in a week, Hal's become well known enough to get some public acclaim, and he's all about playing celebrity too, even though he's ostensibly trying to keep a secret identity. Naturally he dances with Carol, and tries to kiss her, and she's more than willing. She's surprised she could be as interested in GL as she is in Hal (yes, it's the old two person love triangle already). While kissing, Hal sees a missile heading for the city, and he takes off in the middle of the kiss to stop it. Of course it's... yellow... but not the tip, so he is able to stop it. Yeah. Hal finds the man responsible, turns him over to the military, and returns to Ferris as GL. But now Carol's mad at GL for leaving in the middle of the kiss, so Hal's in the doghouse in both identities.
So that's our intro to Hal Jordan. We get the classic origin story, the usual "she loves my secret ID but not me" cliche, and a quick overuse of the yellow weakness. The whole secret ID girlfriend trouble works better than it does in Superman because it's funnier to see Hal's ego take the hits. Hal's such a ladies man, as we'll see down the road, and pretty full of himself. He's all about using his celebrity status as GL and his smooth talking to charm the ladies. Here he's just after Carol, but that will change. I like that he's apparently technically skilled enough to have designed his own flight trainer, and it's interesting to think that the test flight he was supposed to pilot might have been fatal had he been in the plane, since there would have been no Green Lantern to rescue him. The art and especially the colors are a lot simpler than modern comics, but they're not bad at all. The flying in particular often shows Hal with nearby objects in view so that you get an idea where he is, and he's not in the "diving" position when he flies. He looks fairly awkward sometimes in all honesty, but that suits someone who's just learning the ropes.
Showcase #22
September-October 1959
SOS Green Lantern - This is the familiar origin story for Hal Jordan. The splash page features him in a flight simulator which can't actually fly, being pulled in a green beam of light towards a wrecked spacecraft. The story then goes back to Abin Sur, who knows he is dying and must pass on his duties and his power ring to a worthy individual. The ring selects Hal, who is in an aircraft trainer (of his own design, interestingly). He is taken to Abin Sur, who speaks to him, scans him with the ring and determines that he passes selection by being honest and fearless. Abin tells him about the ring's yellow weakness and what killed him, and then charges him to fight evil. And then he dies. Hal naturally promises to do what he's been asked to do, and tests out the ring by lifting a huge boulder with ease. He decides to name himself "Green Lantern" after the power battery. It's interesting to note that his uniform isn't made of energy at this point, it's actually Abin Sur's uniform that he takes, as requested.
Six pages. That's all it takes to tell the story. Emerald Dawn took six issues, and so do Secret Origin, both of which grafted on all sorts of characters and plots. SOS Green Lantern features no speaking characters other than Hal and Abin Sur, and gets the foundation for the character laid down with great economy. There's no mention of the Corps or the Guardians, and no supporting cast in this first story. And yet, to this day Hal's origin is basically the same. Writers have added in Sinestro or training on how to use the ring, or explored just why Abin Sur was in a spacecraft at all, but the basic origin show here is still intact.
Secret of the Flaming Spear - Hal returns to work and starts to put the moves on Carol Ferris, the owner's daughter, and she's definitely interested. But then a test flight that Hal was supposed to be on goes out of control. Hal slips away, puts on the ring and uniform, and heads into the sky to keep the plane from crashing. He sees a beam of radiation caught in the power ring's beam, and he traces it back to the source, where saboteurs had attempted to make the test flight into a disaster. Hal deflects the bullets with ease, but is ... sigh... hit on the head with a yellow lamp and dazed, while the men run away. Of course, their car happens to be yellow too, but Hal punctures the tires and captures them. When he returns to Ferris air, he finds Willard Ferris (who would be renamed Carl soon) with Carol. Mr. FErris makes an announcement... he wants to travel the world before he's too old to do so, and he's leaving Carol in charge of Ferris Air for the next two years. She's suddenly all business, and has no time for Hal or a love life any more. Needless to say, he's not too happy.
Menace of the Runaway missile - A week later, Hal's pretty bummed that Carol won't give him the time of day. All the other test pilots think he's so cool under pressure, but it's mainly because his mind is elsewhere. He tries to ask her out, but she's heading to a celebrities ball where she hears that Green Lantern might be there. That's fine with Hal, since he's, you know, Green Lantern, and he leaves. So in a week, Hal's become well known enough to get some public acclaim, and he's all about playing celebrity too, even though he's ostensibly trying to keep a secret identity. Naturally he dances with Carol, and tries to kiss her, and she's more than willing. She's surprised she could be as interested in GL as she is in Hal (yes, it's the old two person love triangle already). While kissing, Hal sees a missile heading for the city, and he takes off in the middle of the kiss to stop it. Of course it's... yellow... but not the tip, so he is able to stop it. Yeah. Hal finds the man responsible, turns him over to the military, and returns to Ferris as GL. But now Carol's mad at GL for leaving in the middle of the kiss, so Hal's in the doghouse in both identities.
So that's our intro to Hal Jordan. We get the classic origin story, the usual "she loves my secret ID but not me" cliche, and a quick overuse of the yellow weakness. The whole secret ID girlfriend trouble works better than it does in Superman because it's funnier to see Hal's ego take the hits. Hal's such a ladies man, as we'll see down the road, and pretty full of himself. He's all about using his celebrity status as GL and his smooth talking to charm the ladies. Here he's just after Carol, but that will change. I like that he's apparently technically skilled enough to have designed his own flight trainer, and it's interesting to think that the test flight he was supposed to pilot might have been fatal had he been in the plane, since there would have been no Green Lantern to rescue him. The art and especially the colors are a lot simpler than modern comics, but they're not bad at all. The flying in particular often shows Hal with nearby objects in view so that you get an idea where he is, and he's not in the "diving" position when he flies. He looks fairly awkward sometimes in all honesty, but that suits someone who's just learning the ropes.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Showcase #23
December 1959
Summons from Space! – Don’t let anyone tell you that Hal doesn’t like the ladies, because that trait goes all the way back to this issue. Hal as Green Lantern has become a celebrity in a very short time, and he’s using that status to date all sorts of prominent women. It even gets in the local paper, a fact that doesn’t make Carol Ferris very happy. It’s hilarious to see Hal in full uniform and mask taking these ladies on dates and being interviewed about it by the press. “Who are you when you’re not Green Lantern? How does your ring work?” “Sorry, that’s my secret.”
I’m just trying to picture a masked man as a celebrity with women throwing themselves at him. Maybe it’s the whole “man in uniform” thing. Maybe it’s the super-powers.
More significantly, Hal gets his first mission into space. A voice comes out of the lantern telling him to go to Venus and assist a tribe of humans there. Life on Venus is a long-discredited sci-fi convention, but we’re still a few years away from the Mariner probe when this story was published, so I’m willing to let that go. Besides, I find it interesting that the “humans” on the planet are essentially blue Neanderthals, being menaced by giant yellow pterodactyls. If we were to retcon this story to make it work with modern knowledge of Venus, perhaps this was a training mission set up by the Guardians? Who made the humans on the planet blue like themselves? Obviously John Broome was playing it entirely straight when he wrote the story, but I like the idea of the Guardians easing Hal into his role as a rookie Green Lantern. Note that they are never shown or identified in this story. It’s just a voice from the lantern, which Abin Sur made Hal promise to obey if it gave him a mission.
Interesting notes: Hal has to create the shield to supply him with air and heat while in space. It’s not automatic. And the ring doesn’t automatically translate the language of the blue humans on Venus, Hal has to think of the possibility that his ring can translate and then will it to happen. His solution to the yellow pterodactyls (that his ring is, of course, powerless to affect) is to create the image of a bird of prey even larger than the pterodactyls and scare them into a cave in a mountain, after which he seals them in. Nice lateral thinking there, Hal. All in all, not a bad little story, and it shows what can be done with the then-new spin on the Green Lantern concept.
December 1959
Summons from Space! – Don’t let anyone tell you that Hal doesn’t like the ladies, because that trait goes all the way back to this issue. Hal as Green Lantern has become a celebrity in a very short time, and he’s using that status to date all sorts of prominent women. It even gets in the local paper, a fact that doesn’t make Carol Ferris very happy. It’s hilarious to see Hal in full uniform and mask taking these ladies on dates and being interviewed about it by the press. “Who are you when you’re not Green Lantern? How does your ring work?” “Sorry, that’s my secret.”
I’m just trying to picture a masked man as a celebrity with women throwing themselves at him. Maybe it’s the whole “man in uniform” thing. Maybe it’s the super-powers.
More significantly, Hal gets his first mission into space. A voice comes out of the lantern telling him to go to Venus and assist a tribe of humans there. Life on Venus is a long-discredited sci-fi convention, but we’re still a few years away from the Mariner probe when this story was published, so I’m willing to let that go. Besides, I find it interesting that the “humans” on the planet are essentially blue Neanderthals, being menaced by giant yellow pterodactyls. If we were to retcon this story to make it work with modern knowledge of Venus, perhaps this was a training mission set up by the Guardians? Who made the humans on the planet blue like themselves? Obviously John Broome was playing it entirely straight when he wrote the story, but I like the idea of the Guardians easing Hal into his role as a rookie Green Lantern. Note that they are never shown or identified in this story. It’s just a voice from the lantern, which Abin Sur made Hal promise to obey if it gave him a mission.
Interesting notes: Hal has to create the shield to supply him with air and heat while in space. It’s not automatic. And the ring doesn’t automatically translate the language of the blue humans on Venus, Hal has to think of the possibility that his ring can translate and then will it to happen. His solution to the yellow pterodactyls (that his ring is, of course, powerless to affect) is to create the image of a bird of prey even larger than the pterodactyls and scare them into a cave in a mountain, after which he seals them in. Nice lateral thinking there, Hal. All in all, not a bad little story, and it shows what can be done with the then-new spin on the Green Lantern concept.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Jumping ahead a bit, we have:
Green Lantern #1
July-August 1960
"The Planet of the Doomed Men" - very b-movie title. This is the first appearance of the Guardians, the first naming of the planet Oa, and the first mention that it's located in the "central galaxy of the universe".
Hal is testing a new plane, when he suddenly gets dizzy and feels terrible. But he's able to recover and keep the plane aloft, and he flies on wondering what had happened. The Guardians summon his "energy duplicate" to Oa, which looks like a green energy construct of Hal. They want to learn about the new possessor of the ring and power battery in sector 2814. The energy duplicate seems to be a "clone" of Hal that is able to answer all of the Guardians' questions while leaving Hal unaware of their presence and able to continue his life on Earth uninterrupted. The sequence exists to retell Hal's origin since this is the first issue of his own title, so we get a repeat of SOS Green Lantern for a few pages with new art and a few new lines here and there. The Guardians are satisfied and send the duplicate back to Earth, summoning the real Hal to a mission through use of the Lantern, as they did before. Last time we just saw that a voice was coming from the Lantern with no indication about who it was, but this time the story actually depicts the Guardians speaking and giving instructions while watching Hal's progress on a large screen. They're pleased by how quickly he responds and charges up his power ring.
Hal heads off to a planet where once again some rather primitive people are being threatened by a beast from a volcano filled valley. Hal is impressed by the alien terrain, and even more impressed by the beast that attacks him. Thankfully it's not yellow, but it does have enough mental power to weaken his will and guard against his ring. Hal decides that since it loves heat, the way to beat it is to freeze it, and the tactic works. He heads back to Earth, thinking about charging his ring and hoping for a date with Carol.
It's interesting to see the Guardians don't reveal themselves to Hal. In fact, they go to some length to avoid that. They also note that Hal calls himself "Green Lantern", so if there is a Corps at this point in the development of Hal's fictional world, who knows what it's called? There's no mention of the Corps in this issue, or other ring wielders working for the Guardians. I'm not sure how far down the road it will be before we see others. As always, I'm looking for how the Guardians are characterized in light of what they became in recent years, but there's not a lot to go on. I suspect, though I don't know this, that they didn't turn into jerks until we get to Denny O'Neil's turn as writer. Given his political views, I can see him making the authority figures in the book into people not to be trusted. But that's 75 issues away, and I've only read a few of those issues, so that's just my theory at this point.
Green Lantern #1
July-August 1960
"The Planet of the Doomed Men" - very b-movie title. This is the first appearance of the Guardians, the first naming of the planet Oa, and the first mention that it's located in the "central galaxy of the universe".
Hal is testing a new plane, when he suddenly gets dizzy and feels terrible. But he's able to recover and keep the plane aloft, and he flies on wondering what had happened. The Guardians summon his "energy duplicate" to Oa, which looks like a green energy construct of Hal. They want to learn about the new possessor of the ring and power battery in sector 2814. The energy duplicate seems to be a "clone" of Hal that is able to answer all of the Guardians' questions while leaving Hal unaware of their presence and able to continue his life on Earth uninterrupted. The sequence exists to retell Hal's origin since this is the first issue of his own title, so we get a repeat of SOS Green Lantern for a few pages with new art and a few new lines here and there. The Guardians are satisfied and send the duplicate back to Earth, summoning the real Hal to a mission through use of the Lantern, as they did before. Last time we just saw that a voice was coming from the Lantern with no indication about who it was, but this time the story actually depicts the Guardians speaking and giving instructions while watching Hal's progress on a large screen. They're pleased by how quickly he responds and charges up his power ring.
Hal heads off to a planet where once again some rather primitive people are being threatened by a beast from a volcano filled valley. Hal is impressed by the alien terrain, and even more impressed by the beast that attacks him. Thankfully it's not yellow, but it does have enough mental power to weaken his will and guard against his ring. Hal decides that since it loves heat, the way to beat it is to freeze it, and the tactic works. He heads back to Earth, thinking about charging his ring and hoping for a date with Carol.
It's interesting to see the Guardians don't reveal themselves to Hal. In fact, they go to some length to avoid that. They also note that Hal calls himself "Green Lantern", so if there is a Corps at this point in the development of Hal's fictional world, who knows what it's called? There's no mention of the Corps in this issue, or other ring wielders working for the Guardians. I'm not sure how far down the road it will be before we see others. As always, I'm looking for how the Guardians are characterized in light of what they became in recent years, but there's not a lot to go on. I suspect, though I don't know this, that they didn't turn into jerks until we get to Denny O'Neil's turn as writer. Given his political views, I can see him making the authority figures in the book into people not to be trusted. But that's 75 issues away, and I've only read a few of those issues, so that's just my theory at this point.