The All-New and All-Brash Hal Jordan
Well, we all had our first glimpse of Hal Jordan, in the new issue of Justice League, where he goes up against Batman and gets owned rather easily, through overconfidence. Of course, it IS Batman, and he does this sort of thing for a living, but the whole point of the new relaunch, is that this book takes place five years in the PAST, and people don't know that much about Batman, other than the fact that he's something of an urban legend.
So...I don't really see, now that I have had a chance to sit down and think it over...that Hal was necessarily being stupid, because he's never dealt with this person before...in fact, he's quite amazed to discover that he is FOR REAL! Also that he doesn't have any powers. And Hal DOES have powers. Lots and lots and lots of powers. He's young and brash and a bit full of himself. And frankly, why shouldn't he be? He's Hal Fucking Jordan! Hal has ALWAYS had a high opinion of himself. He's handsome, charming, a test-pilot, and he's got the world at his fingertips.
And then this cranky guy in a cape with pointy ears, goes and swipes his ring, and makes him look like an idiot.
Oops.
But you know what? Hal didn't let it bother him too much. He gets the ring back, and immediately, they go off to find Superman for some reason. And he's STILL confident and arrogant and happy. Of course, he immediately gets punched into a building by Superman, but if I know Hal, he won't let that bother him either.
Batman should lighten up a bit.
But I am wondering. If this is in the past, is Hal's older brother Jack still alive? What about good old Uncle Titus? What about Tom and Carol? Is he going to be chasing jailbait like Arisia this time around? Will he continue to get hit in the head? Show off his fabulous fabulous buttocks? Be friends with Barry and Ollie, and watch them fight over who gets to be his bestest bestest buddy? Does the old Yellow problem still exist with the rings? Inquiring minds Want To Know!
As long as he's still flaunting his behind, then I'll be reasonably happy.
posted by SallyP @ 11:50 AM
7 Comments:
The issue was just wall-to-wall fun, which I hope is an indication of what we'll be getting elsewhere in the new 52.
I love Superman's new costume. It has an integral cape. Integral capes are cool.
I too enjoyed the book and I like your thought on him not being dumb just overconfident and young. I thought it was fun and am looking forward to some good reads over the next month.
At least he has his Codpiece of Doom
Yep, I enjoyed it as well, taking Hal's almost constant referring to himself in the third person as a sign of his arrogance.
Only thing that bugged me: his ring constructs. Way too complicated - they were more Kyle's sort of thing.
I liked the book well enough, mainly because it had HAL in it. That's usually enough to guarantee my enjoyment. I like Batman in small doses. I would have liked to have seen Aquaman and Wonder Woman and Flash show up however.
I'm not too sure about the costumes. I actually don't mind the collars so much...but all of the lines seem a bit over-fussy and unnecessary. When you have a lot of different artists drawing the same costume, it just makes sense to make it reasonably easy to draw...at least in my mind. We'll see how long these last.
Yes, Marionette, that cover was a bit...extreme for Hal. Heh.
Gary, I'm not sure that Hal's constructs were THAT complicated. he did seem to be enjoying himself an awful lot, in the sheer making of them. But creating a fireman to fight a fire seems practical enough. It's nice to actually SEE some constructs instead of the old boring power blast.
Instead of Supes HITTING Hal,I think Johns should have had him steal Hal's ring instead. Make it a running gag. Kal steals it, then Diana steals it, then Barry steals it, etc.
Now, now, Face...let's not taunt poor Hal. He's got enough to deal with, just with Bats.
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