I've never followed Green Lantern in the comics so this was a pretty interesting run for me, reading through the early stories starring the Emerald Gladiator here at DC2. I've always liked Hal as one of the "funny guys" on the Justice League riffing on Superman and Batman, but I've never put much thought into him as a character. These stories have really brought him to life in my mind!
Green Lantern as a series was one I fell in with big time because I was a young reader when
Identity Crisis came out, and then
Green Lantern: Rebirth. I devoured all of that, I've spent
thousands of pounds being a reader (I collected both
Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, monthly, for years. Yikes) and I have no regrets. Apart from the fact I'm perpetually skint, zero regrets. Being able to tell stories built on the foundations of those told by DC2's Scott Kruger, John Elbe, Jay McIntyre, Dan Palmer and anyone else I might have missed, was a wonderful opportunity. Without their inputs, I wouldn't be telling stories
still, but I think this is a character and concept I've, maybe unfortunately, made my own. Do I have an endgame for my run on this title? Most definitely. Are we close to it? Noooope.
I thought this one-shot starring Sinestro (tying up some loose ends and highlighting what a cool character Sinestro can be!) was a good point to stop and drop a letter congratulating Charlie and the other writers and amazing artists--my favorite thus far was Issue 21! Holy crap, what a cover!
Sinestro was always a really interesting concept to me on the DC2. He was a good man corrupted by a Legion Virus-infected ring, and then he was under the thrall of Parallax... if he was the greatest Green Lantern to ever live, does that sound like something he couldn't eventually overcome? And also, if he was always the greatest and then was taken over-- possessed, pretty much-- does that sound like something that, when he was freed, would lead him to turning evil and starting his own Yellow Lantern Corps? No, it was something to overcome, to give him something to aspire to become more than, and this was my mission statement on that.
Redemption is a really important character arc for me, for whatever reason (I don't think I've ever thought about it in depth before), but be it Sinestro here, Kru-El in the Super[wo]man stuff, or even a character we've not seen on the site for a couple of years in an upcoming
Justice League arc, I think it's important to overcome adversity, to prove what you really are, who you really are, when the going gets tough. And for me, I think I believe in the inherent goodness of man, or Korugarian, or Kryptonian. Or Atlantean...
Briefly, I loved seeing Hal working with Kyle Raynor, the restoration of the Green Lantern Corps, and exploring his relationship with Chloe and with Carol.
Working with Dan Palmer was one of the best experiences I had on this title, second only to my continued collaboration with Don Walsh at the time. So that era that I was editing Dan, and then collaborating with him on
Green Lantern Corps: Liberation was really rewarding. That entire era was great, because it was a group of three, maybe four people who had the same vision and wanted to tell one hell of an epic, bolstered by the fact we had Geoff Johns' mainstream title running out in the world too. Green Lantern was big back then, and it deserved a dynamite team to honour that on the DC2.
I've never quite liked the Star Sapphires, but this is as good an explanation for their schtick as any I've seen thus far.
I thought Jay did a really good job of establishing what was going on with them, and doing something a bit different at the same time. Then I had Jessica Byrnes on board for art, and she knocked that "
Secret of the Star Sapphires" cover out of the park. Their story is currently evolving too, but we won't see the culmination of that until after #75, but again, there are big plans in place. Jess also did the cover to the renumbered #21, and she was such a great collaborator to have on art duties. I miss those times! She did a great piece for the 10YL special,
Green Lantern Corps: Brightest Day, and I hope to work with her again in the future.
Your version of the destruction of Coast City was dramatic and emotional.
Thanks! It made perfect sense for Mongul to be the instigator due to the "
Return of Superman"-allusions, but it only gets worse from here. Coast City gets hit again and again, and it very well may be undergoing it's final test in the current arc.
Hal's pursuit and capture of the savage villain was fantastic.
I remember writing that. That mad rush through space, chasing after Mongul... and Guy egging him on, showing what a bad influence he still could be at that time, if his motivations were right. But Hal isn't trigger happy-- not yet-- and he's going to want to see a monster be put in chains, not put out of its misery.
You've helped me to develop a greater appreciation for Guy Gardner, who is all-too-often portrayed as a thuggish jock...rather than a thuggish jock with layers.
Guy Gardner on the DC2 is such a unique animal. He was an arsehole, sure, but due to the Legion infection he could never grow as a character. It perpetuated every negative thought in his head, built it up until he himself became a villain, but once that was expunged it was almost cathartic. He'd interacted with his inner demons, he defeated them, and he showed himself to be a true prospect for the Green Lantern Corps. That rebirth for him was really important, because I don't like jerk ass Guy. I don't like him being sociopathic or hyper-aggressive without reason. So we had that initial characterisation in the
Tales of the Green Lantern Corps days, and then his evolution through
Green Lantern Corps: Liberation, until he was reborn (in a way) during the "
Infect!" arc. He's currently dealing with some stuff in the current arc, after seeing his sister for a long time, and I hope to reconcile all parts of his origins, both DC-proper and DC2-established, so we have a true picture of who he was to
cause all that negative behaviour back in the day. Plus, with #75 coming up, some major changes are about to occur too.
More recently, I loved Clark's confrontation with Hal at the Kent Farm--and Hal's poignant response. Way to tell 'im, Hal! That was great.
It seemed like a missed opportunity to utilise the Chloe / Clark relationship as established in
Smallville after we decided to use that as a touchpoint for our own continuity. Clark knows Hal, or better yet, the Hal you mention above; the jokester, the kinda slutty flyboy who never could settle down, so his concerns are somewhat justified, but at the same time, he's not been an active part of the character progression in Hal's own title, so how could he know about how much Chloe began to mean to him? So Clark is actually coming across much more overbearing than he normally does, but isn't that what all big brothers are if their little sisters are hooking up with some guy with a bad reputation?
Honestly, I'm excited to see more of Stewart, Gardner, Hal, Carol, and everyone else. Fantastic work!
I consider
Green Lantern-- and later
Green Lantern Corps-- to be my true opus on the site. As much as
Justice League is currently taking shape to be one of the longest form stories I've ever come at, the personal stakes are so much higher in this book. I sometimes wonder if I should try and to "re-skin" my DC2 stories and do something original with them, but the biggest stumbling block is all the history that we've established over the years. How can you convert Green Lantern into... Energy Bloke... and hope it has the same thematic resonance, without all the building blocks behind it?
That said, if you've not read "
Love Lost" yet, I'd be reeeeally interested in what you think. That's probably the high point in my pre-relaunch run. And then... things get even messier.
Thanks for taking the time!