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Post by zaku on May 2, 2017 5:06:36 GMT -5
I was reading the Wikipedia page about Hal Jordan to keep me updated, when I realized something. He is probably the most important DC character whose personal history is the most untouched by various Crises/Reboot/whatever. I mean, his personal storylines continued after the original Crisis on Infinite Earth, ditto for the New 52. He never had the hard reboot of other characters like Wonder Woman or Superman. Yes, he had his share of retcons and updated origins, but it seems to me there is an invisible thread that joins the first story of Broome & Kane to the last of Venditti, Vines & Marion. Or am I only spouting nonsense..?
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,874
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Post by shaxper on May 2, 2017 8:05:18 GMT -5
I think his characterization has been drastically altered over the years, from Emerald Dawn to the whole Parallax fiasco to Geoff Johns, but I can't argue about the continuity holding up. Has Barry Allen or Ray Palmer gone under significantly more changes and retcons than Hal, though?
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2017 8:11:02 GMT -5
He had one big character change when he became Parallax during the time back in 1994 of which he became Parallax a SuperVillain going from one extreme to another. HIs first appearance was in Green Lantern Volume 3 #50 and was used heavily in ZERO HOUR MAJOR STORY LINE of which I have a copy of that TPB and it's took a decade before DC decided to make him a superhero (that's during 2004's Green Lantern's Rebirth) again. Hal Jordan as SuperVillain ParallaxLater On, I think he became Spectre at one point of his life and I don't know anything about this character at all; because I find this character too complex and somewhat wild to me. I prefer the original Jim Corrigan version myself when this character was a member of the Justice Society of America. Hal Jordan as SpectreIt was these two big changes that DC Comics did with Hal Jordan and it was these changes that they made to jump start Hal's character career so that he can be interesting once again. That's why DC Comics threw us a barrage of Green Lanterns at us to make this character interesting for all Comics Readers. For me, alone ... I consider Hal Jordan the Greatest Green Lantern of them all. And, a favorite of mine since 1965. Hal Jordan as Green LanternThe picture above you is considered my favorite picture of him and always be.
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Post by zaku on May 2, 2017 8:13:14 GMT -5
I think his characterization has been drastically altered over the years, from Emerald Dawn to the whole Parallax fiasco to Geoff Johns, but I can't argue about the continuity holding up. Has Barry Allen or Ray Palmer gone under significantly more changes and retcons than Hal, though? I don't know about Ray Palmer, but I believe that Barry Allen continuity was quite altered in the New 52 (for example the new "Wally West" or Iris).
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Post by ArizonaTeach on May 2, 2017 15:28:01 GMT -5
Is Jordan's stint as the Spectre still in continuity? I don't think it is in New-52, though Rebirth may have brought it back in. Emerald Dawn adjusted the origin story some...being immediately trained and meeting the Corps, for example. It seems to me that Batman's origins are a more straight line than Green Lantern, but it's close.
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Post by zaku on May 3, 2017 1:27:47 GMT -5
Is Jordan's stint as the Spectre still in continuity? I don't know . I tried to google it, but I can't find a definitive answer. Not, not really. Off the top of my head I can remember that they fiddled with his origin when: - They established the differences between the Batman of Earth 1 and the Batman of Earth 2
- After Crisis on Infinite Earth
- After Zero Hour
- After the New 52
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 3, 2017 20:03:30 GMT -5
Is Jordan's stint as the Spectre still in continuity? I don't think it is in New-52, though Rebirth may have brought it back in. Emerald Dawn adjusted the origin story some...being immediately trained and meeting the Corps, for example. It seems to me that Batman's origins are a more straight line than Green Lantern, but it's close. I haven't got a clue when it was, but I thought someone mentioned Final Night somewhere during New 52.. not definitely proof Parallax/Spectre Hal still happened, but it leads in that direction. I never read much of Johns stuff (The rainbow nonsense pissed me off as a concept, and I things I've read since haven't convinced me otherwise), so I can say there, but I definitely felt like his version of Hal was pulled right out of 1980.
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Post by Batflunkie on May 3, 2017 21:41:08 GMT -5
I don't think any comic book character has really ever stayed the same, they're a lot like people, they change, they evolve. Being around for nearly 60 years, Hal is of course going to be a slave to a particular writer's whims. His origins have been retold time and again, but all with very subtle differences that radically shift his perspective/views. For example, Denny O' Neil wrote Hal pretty much like a "moderate conservative boy scout" who couldn't think for himself, let alone rebel against authority. And while Green Lantern/Green Arrow was a by-product of it's time, it's popularity doesn't exactly absolve it of criticism. Denny took Hal, an underdog who had been cut down to the lowest rung on the totem pole only to become a self-made god through his own perseverance/willpower, and robbed him of any real character traits (rebellion) just so that he could be a straight man/square to serve counterpoint Denny's socio-political "soap-box tirade"
Please don't misunderstand, I adore Green Lantern/Green Arrow, but reading it now comes off as a total "flanderization" of everything that made Hal so endearing to me
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Post by tingramretro on May 4, 2017 2:15:19 GMT -5
The Justice Society, or at least several of its members (Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, Hawkman, Hourman Etc...) had an unbroken line of continuity that lasted from about 1940-2011, I think that should count. Yes, they switched Earths after the Crisis, but Roy Thomas made it very clear in post Crisis issues of Secret Origins and Infinity Inc. that the bulk of their personal continuity remained unchanged. Various titles they appeared in right up to 2011 referenced events from books published from the 40's through to the 70's or later.
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Post by zaku on May 4, 2017 4:34:48 GMT -5
The Justice Society, or at least several of its members (Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, Hawkman, Hourman Etc...) had an unbroken line of continuity that lasted from about 1940-2011, I think that should count. Yes, they switched Earths after the Crisis, but Roy Thomas made it very clear in post Crisis issues of Secret Origins and Infinity Inc. that the bulk of their personal continuity remained unchanged. Various titles they appeared in right up to 2011 referenced events from books published from the 40's through to the 70's or later. Yep, but Hal Jordan is the only major present DC characters whose adventures one can read more or less continuously from his first appearance (Showcase #22) Justice Society members had very large gaps of continuity/published stories. Yes, for a period Kyle Ryner took his place as Green Lantern, but the character of "Hal Jordan" still existed.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on May 4, 2017 6:42:53 GMT -5
The Justice Society, or at least several of its members (Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, Hawkman, Hourman Etc...) had an unbroken line of continuity that lasted from about 1940-2011, I think that should count. Yes, they switched Earths after the Crisis, but Roy Thomas made it very clear in post Crisis issues of Secret Origins and Infinity Inc. that the bulk of their personal continuity remained unchanged. Various titles they appeared in right up to 2011 referenced events from books published from the 40's through to the 70's or later. But everything between 1960 and 1980 (including the JLA team-ups and All Star Super Squad) were removed from continuity after 1986 when Crisis On Infinite Earths made everything terrible and stupid forever. For all the Sword and Sorcery-ing and de-aging and terrible misuse of Jean Loring Ray Palmer didn't really have an actual continuity reboot (that I know of) 'tll the New 52. I'm honestly not sure if he's appeared since sept. 2011, though. I would summon my favorite DC superhero, if I wasn't worried about trademark infringement.
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Post by zaku on May 4, 2017 7:43:47 GMT -5
The Justice Society, or at least several of its members (Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, Hawkman, Hourman Etc...) had an unbroken line of continuity that lasted from about 1940-2011, I think that should count. Yes, they switched Earths after the Crisis, but Roy Thomas made it very clear in post Crisis issues of Secret Origins and Infinity Inc. that the bulk of their personal continuity remained unchanged. Various titles they appeared in right up to 2011 referenced events from books published from the 40's through to the 70's or later. But everything between 1960 and 1980 (including the JLA team-ups and All Star Super Squad) were removed from continuity after 1986 when Crisis On Infinite Earths made everything terrible and stupid forever. Were they removed? I got the impression that the team-ups still happened, just in a little different way. ETA: according to the excellent site "Cosmic Teams", almost all JLA/JSA team-up still happened post-crisis. The ones that couldn't happen are highlighted in red. www.cosmicteams.com/jla/_chron/jlachron.html
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Post by tingramretro on May 4, 2017 10:25:03 GMT -5
The Justice Society, or at least several of its members (Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, Hawkman, Hourman Etc...) had an unbroken line of continuity that lasted from about 1940-2011, I think that should count. Yes, they switched Earths after the Crisis, but Roy Thomas made it very clear in post Crisis issues of Secret Origins and Infinity Inc. that the bulk of their personal continuity remained unchanged. Various titles they appeared in right up to 2011 referenced events from books published from the 40's through to the 70's or later. But everything between 1960 and 1980 (including the JLA team-ups and All Star Super Squad) were removed from continuity after 1986 when Crisis On Infinite Earths made everything terrible and stupid forever. No, it wasn't. Seriously. Certain details of the JLA/JSA team-ups may have been altered by the Crisis, but it was made quite clear in numerous books, including the Roy Thomas scripted ones I mentioned and Ostrander's Spectre series, that all those stories were still in continuity. A number of writers on various random books in the early nineties acted as though this was not the case, but that was poor research, not company policy, as far as I know.
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Post by tingramretro on May 4, 2017 10:25:57 GMT -5
But everything between 1960 and 1980 (including the JLA team-ups and All Star Super Squad) were removed from continuity after 1986 when Crisis On Infinite Earths made everything terrible and stupid forever. Were they removed? I got the impression that the team-ups still happened, just in a little different way. ETA: according to the excellent site "Cosmic Teams", almost all JLA/JSA team-up still happened post-crisis. The ones that couldn't happen are highlighted in red. www.cosmicteams.com/jla/_chron/jlachron.htmlThank you!
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Post by zaku on May 4, 2017 10:33:31 GMT -5
But everything between 1960 and 1980 (including the JLA team-ups and All Star Super Squad) were removed from continuity after 1986 when Crisis On Infinite Earths made everything terrible and stupid forever. No, it wasn't. Seriously. Certain details of the JLA/JSA team-ups may have been altered by the Crisis, but it was made quite clear in numerous books, including the Roy Thomas scripted ones I mentioned and Ostrander's Spectre series, that all those stories were still in continuity. A number of writers on various random books in the early nineties acted as though this was not the case, but that was poor research, not company policy, as far as I know. Yep! I have the impression that probably Reptisaurus!! mixed COIE with New 52.
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