Back from North Carolina, and happily carting in loads of stuff that I bought at HeroesCon 2009 I've been to a lot of cons, both larger and smaller than this one, and I've attended HeroesCon nearly every year since 1992, but I have to gush about how amazing it was this year because of Blackest Night.
The big question for me on Saturday morning (I skipped Friday and visited friends instead) was: which of my geeky comic t-shirts should I wear? In the end, I decided that I was feeling greedy and wore my Orange Lantern shirt, and I'm glad I did. HeroesCon was like one giant War of Light! I've never seen so many Lantern shirts in one place before. Every time I looked, there was someone else: Green Lanterns, Red Lanterns, Blue Lanterns, Black Lanterns! The place was just bursting with GL pride! All weekend long, I was hearing "Hey, nice shirt!" and saying the same to other folks. Some people really got into it, too: more than once, someone with an Orange Lantern shirt grabbed something I was looking at and said "MINE!", then we'd both laugh and go our separate ways. I saw two different people actually wearing a full Green Lantern costume, and when two guys in Blue Lantern shirts walked up to one of them, he looked at his ring and said "Power levels 200 percent! Thanks!". Probably half a dozen people stopped me to ask me what the hell was up with all these rainbow t-shirts, and then of course I had to explain it to them. I'm almost positive that the single vendor who was smart enough to stock these shirts at the con probably sold a ton of them to people who didn't even know what they were for and just wanted to get in on the weirdness. (For my part, I already had Orange, Indigo, and both the Sinestro Corps shirts, and I finally picked up the Blue and Red shirts here, but they sold out of Black and Star Sapphire on Friday! Curses!) It was a Lantern-fan's paradise, and I can only imagine how awesome SDCC will be for those who get to go.
I also attended the DC Nation panel on Saturday, which Ethan Van Sciver happened to be a part of. Obviously they couldn't tell us much about Blackest Night, but Ethan did tease us with the knowledge that he's supposed to be designing a very important Black Lantern character for the cover of Blackest Night #4. The entire panel seemed very excited about the event, and we also got to see (from a distance) the first issue of Wednesday Comics, which seems very cool. It actually folds out to resemble a newspaper! The possibility of an Aquaman: Rebirth was discussed (Martian Manhunter and Firestorm Rebirth ideas were also bandied about), but Ethan was very clear about the fact that right now he and Geoff are concerned solely with GL and Flash, and there weren't any plans for anything else yet. Someone asked what was going to happen to Bart Allen, and the answer was "Flash: Rebirth is going to make you very happy."
My favorite moment, though, was when a guy sitting a few rows back from me asked if there might be a possibility of another ongoing Guy Gardner series. They wouldn't answer us with a yea or nay, but Ethan said (I'm paraphrasing from memory here, hope I don't totally misquote him) that everyone knows that Green Lantern is red-hot right now, and it's still going to be huge coming out of Blackest Night, and "two Green Lantern books aren't enough".
Now of course I'd buy a Guy solo book in a heartbeat, but it doesn't really make much sense to give him one considering that he (sort-of) stars in GLC. So even if that doesn't pan out, I'm still stoked about the idea that Ethan, at least, seems to think that a third GL book of some sort would be a good idea. I'd love an ongoing Quarterly like they used to have, or perhaps even a monthly tales of the GLC in the same vein.
Heck, at this point I'd read an ongoing title featuring the other Corps (or whatever is left of the characters at the end of Blackest Night even if the other Corps end up collapsing).
Showing posts with label Green Lanterns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Lanterns. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
The Redemption of Sinestro?
Originally posted by me on the Green Lantern Corps Message Board in response to a topic about whether or not we might see Sinestro "redeemed" in the aftermath of Blackest Night (the idea was that maybe we would find out that he was possessed by an entity all along):
I realize I'm in the minority here, but I wouldn't mind seeing Sinestro redeemed in some way. The problem is that no matter how it was done, it would just feel too contrived. As someone said, he was created to be a bad guy, and I'm not sure anyone could ever accept an alternate explanation for his behavior. And it would only be a matter of time before another writer came along and decided the whole thing was stupid and retconned the retcon so that he was really evil all along, after all.
So yeah, I don't think it would work. :(
I desperately want to see some stories about Sinestro when he was a rookie GL. It's not really fair that we only know him as the maniac he is now because we have no way to compare (and no, just saying "Oh, he was the greatest Green Lantern at one time" doesn't really give us a clear picture of the man he used to be). Was he ever young and hopeful and gung-ho to make a difference in the universe... sort of like a rookie cop who later becomes jaded and cynical? Only instead of giving up and becoming numb, he decided he could do it better his way? Or was he always just a power-hungry jerk with phenomenal will?
One of the few things I like about Emerald Twilight is Sinestro's narration before he appears to fight Hal. If I recall correctly, there's a part where he's talking about all the things you do as a GL, and then one day you start to ask yourself "What has this ring done for me?". That's a very natural response to living a dangerous life serving others, I think. Power alone is enough to corrupt, but the temptation must be even worse when you're not just powerful -- you're putting your neck on the line every single day. And people being what they are, the public probably comes across as a bunch of ungrateful wretches most of the time.
I'm actually surprised that more GLs haven't gone bad. Maybe none have been as delusional, or had the will to be as powerful, as Sinestro, but I suspect that more than one GL out there uses his power for personal gain in small ways.
It has also occurred to me that we don't know anything about how Korugar was run before Sinestro took control of it. It's all relative. I mean, think about it this way (and I realize this is a super over-simplification of the Civil War, but bear with me in my metaphor here): if the south had won the American Civil War, what do you suppose the history books would say about Abraham Lincoln? If you try to make sweeping changes to a society too quickly, or before it's ready to accept them, you're reviled.
So what if the status quo on Korugar was something like America two hundred years ago, and Sinestro's "despotism" was in taking control of the government and freeing the slaves, giving women the vote, and making it illegal to put orphans to work for twelve-hour days in factories? Sure, he's still a dictator and it was still wrong (and definitely against GL rules) to use/abuse his power to take control, but it does change the perspective a little.
I'm not saying any of that is true or even an option or anything -- I just like to look at things from every possible angle. And either way, he's still a mass murderer and terrorist, so none of that would wipe it all clean.
Sorry, Sin. I love you, but you're still dirty.
I realize I'm in the minority here, but I wouldn't mind seeing Sinestro redeemed in some way. The problem is that no matter how it was done, it would just feel too contrived. As someone said, he was created to be a bad guy, and I'm not sure anyone could ever accept an alternate explanation for his behavior. And it would only be a matter of time before another writer came along and decided the whole thing was stupid and retconned the retcon so that he was really evil all along, after all.
So yeah, I don't think it would work. :(
I desperately want to see some stories about Sinestro when he was a rookie GL. It's not really fair that we only know him as the maniac he is now because we have no way to compare (and no, just saying "Oh, he was the greatest Green Lantern at one time" doesn't really give us a clear picture of the man he used to be). Was he ever young and hopeful and gung-ho to make a difference in the universe... sort of like a rookie cop who later becomes jaded and cynical? Only instead of giving up and becoming numb, he decided he could do it better his way? Or was he always just a power-hungry jerk with phenomenal will?
One of the few things I like about Emerald Twilight is Sinestro's narration before he appears to fight Hal. If I recall correctly, there's a part where he's talking about all the things you do as a GL, and then one day you start to ask yourself "What has this ring done for me?". That's a very natural response to living a dangerous life serving others, I think. Power alone is enough to corrupt, but the temptation must be even worse when you're not just powerful -- you're putting your neck on the line every single day. And people being what they are, the public probably comes across as a bunch of ungrateful wretches most of the time.
I'm actually surprised that more GLs haven't gone bad. Maybe none have been as delusional, or had the will to be as powerful, as Sinestro, but I suspect that more than one GL out there uses his power for personal gain in small ways.
It has also occurred to me that we don't know anything about how Korugar was run before Sinestro took control of it. It's all relative. I mean, think about it this way (and I realize this is a super over-simplification of the Civil War, but bear with me in my metaphor here): if the south had won the American Civil War, what do you suppose the history books would say about Abraham Lincoln? If you try to make sweeping changes to a society too quickly, or before it's ready to accept them, you're reviled.
So what if the status quo on Korugar was something like America two hundred years ago, and Sinestro's "despotism" was in taking control of the government and freeing the slaves, giving women the vote, and making it illegal to put orphans to work for twelve-hour days in factories? Sure, he's still a dictator and it was still wrong (and definitely against GL rules) to use/abuse his power to take control, but it does change the perspective a little.
I'm not saying any of that is true or even an option or anything -- I just like to look at things from every possible angle. And either way, he's still a mass murderer and terrorist, so none of that would wipe it all clean.
Sorry, Sin. I love you, but you're still dirty.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Not Much Happening Today
Lacey Fiddlesticks is sick. She was sniffling a little last night, and today when I came home she was lying on my bed wheezing and sneezing and just generally being snuffly. I'm sure it's nothing serious -- seems to just be a cold. I'm holding her, and if she isn't any better by Monday, I'll take her to the vet. And her eighth birthday is this week, too!
Casting rumblings: Green Lantern is currently slated for release on December 17th 2010, and a couple of sites have reported that WB has offered the role of Hal Jordan to Chris Pine. It may or may not be true, and he may or may not take the part, but I have mixed feelings about him as Hal. For one thing, he's going to be playing a young James T. Kirk in Star Trek, which is a pretty similar role to Hal. Think about it -- they're both young, handsome, rebellious men whose fathers died doing something heroic, both end up joining an intergalactic peacekeeping force, both end up taking over when their predecessor dies, and both become big heroes who dig alien chicks. But I think I was hoping for a casting choice that seemed a little less obvious. I don't want people to look at Hal and think Kirk.
And you know, I was already calling those random Green Lanterns who show up in background panels "red shirts" because you just know they're there for cannon fodder. Geoff Johns sure does love to kill him some Lanterns.
I'm dying to find out who gets all the roles, though. Hopefully we'll find out soon, because they're supposed to start filming in September!
Casting rumblings: Green Lantern is currently slated for release on December 17th 2010, and a couple of sites have reported that WB has offered the role of Hal Jordan to Chris Pine. It may or may not be true, and he may or may not take the part, but I have mixed feelings about him as Hal. For one thing, he's going to be playing a young James T. Kirk in Star Trek, which is a pretty similar role to Hal. Think about it -- they're both young, handsome, rebellious men whose fathers died doing something heroic, both end up joining an intergalactic peacekeeping force, both end up taking over when their predecessor dies, and both become big heroes who dig alien chicks. But I think I was hoping for a casting choice that seemed a little less obvious. I don't want people to look at Hal and think Kirk.
And you know, I was already calling those random Green Lanterns who show up in background panels "red shirts" because you just know they're there for cannon fodder. Geoff Johns sure does love to kill him some Lanterns.
I'm dying to find out who gets all the roles, though. Hopefully we'll find out soon, because they're supposed to start filming in September!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Why Hal and Sinestro Should Not Play With Pointy Objects
I am an Ebay fanatic. And I also have a love for knick-knacks and quirky things, and a certain few searches that I do every day. So yeah, I'm one of those strange people who, if I see that someone is selling, say, a Green Lantern shotglass, I will buy it in a heartbeat. (Yes, I have a Green Lantern shotglass. Two different ones, actually.) I like art, too. I go to conventions mostly for the character sketches, and I don't mind if they're done by artists that no one has heard of because I like seeing different interpretations of characters. So when I'm searching for my favorite characters on Ebay and come across art of them that I've never seen before, I usually decide that I have to have it.
I really liked the look of this particular print, so I bid on it and won it a few weeks ago. It's signed by the artist, who is someone I've never heard of, and I was not disappointed by it when I actually got it in the mail. It's beautiful in real life -- the photo doesn't do it justice at all. The colors are gorgeous, the details are much more vivid, and the stars in the background seem to sparkle. I love it and would have gladly paid far more than the mere few dollars that I did.
But you know what I like best about it?
The unintentional homoeroticism.
Observe (and forgive me for using the pic from Ebay -- my scanner isn't working and I don't have a digital camera):
Okay, okay. When you actually see the real print, you realize that they're crossing swords down there, and that Hal's is a simple longsword like something a fantasy knight would use, while Sinestro's is more like a rapier with a complex hilt whose details you can't see in this small picture. I really appreciate those picky details, because those are appropriate sword choices considering the way the two of them think. This whole picture is full of interesting symbolism like that -- from the really obvious choice of bird and snake to the way Hal is bracing himself with his other hand and has taken a defensive posture while Sinestro is having no difficulty attacking while using just one.
But still... every time I look at this, the gutter-minded twelve-year-old deep inside me can't help but giggle.
I really liked the look of this particular print, so I bid on it and won it a few weeks ago. It's signed by the artist, who is someone I've never heard of, and I was not disappointed by it when I actually got it in the mail. It's beautiful in real life -- the photo doesn't do it justice at all. The colors are gorgeous, the details are much more vivid, and the stars in the background seem to sparkle. I love it and would have gladly paid far more than the mere few dollars that I did.
But you know what I like best about it?
The unintentional homoeroticism.
Observe (and forgive me for using the pic from Ebay -- my scanner isn't working and I don't have a digital camera):
Okay, okay. When you actually see the real print, you realize that they're crossing swords down there, and that Hal's is a simple longsword like something a fantasy knight would use, while Sinestro's is more like a rapier with a complex hilt whose details you can't see in this small picture. I really appreciate those picky details, because those are appropriate sword choices considering the way the two of them think. This whole picture is full of interesting symbolism like that -- from the really obvious choice of bird and snake to the way Hal is bracing himself with his other hand and has taken a defensive posture while Sinestro is having no difficulty attacking while using just one.
But still... every time I look at this, the gutter-minded twelve-year-old deep inside me can't help but giggle.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Adventures of Abin Sur and Sinestro
So I'm looking forward to a Sinestro/Abin Sur reunion of some sort, even if Abin has to be a rotting zombie when it happens.
I can't help it. I love it when villains are given some depth, and giving them dead friends is a good way to do it. I like the dynamic Johns has gone for -- Sinestro as Hal's mentor is something, and Abin as Sinestro's mentor is something more to build on. Honestly, can you imagine Sinestro actually respecting someone the way he seems to respect Abin? Or being friendly with someone? He considers (or once did) Hal as his friend, but even when they were getting along Sinestro was barely civil to him. Was it different with Abin? I mean, did they... I dunno, go out and drink beers together, or whatever Korugarians and Ungarans do with their best buds? I guess the "no hanging out in other GLs sectors" thing probably put a damper on that, but they obviously had contact with each other, even if only through their rings.
It begs a few questions. For one, did Abin Sur know how strictly Sinestro was keeping order in his home sector? Sinestro never believed that his way of ruling was wrong, so I can't imagine him keeping it secret when he's talking to someone he considers a friend. You know:
Abin: "Wow, you wouldn't believe the week I've had. Between riots on Flipflop 7 and the evacuation of that unstable planet in the Sparkly System, I've barely had time to take a nap, let alone file a report. So how are things out in 1417?"
Sinestro: "Oh, you know, more of the usual. Some idiot tossed a Jolly Rancher wrapper on my pristine sidewalk, and I had to bitchslap him through a building."
Abin: "..."
Sinestro: "Also, my wife left me. So I decided to outlaw divorce."
Abin: "..."
Sinestro: "She'll be eligible for parole in sixty years."
Abin: "...Did you stop taking your medication again?"
But seriously. I think it's touching that, when Abin is in his ship headed for Earth and is talking to Sinestro, Sinestro offers to come help him even though they both know perfectly well that Abin is doing something that will likely get him kicked out of the Corps if he gets caught at it. Freeing Atrocitus wasn't something the Guardians would look kindly on. And it makes me wonder if the Guardians even realized that Atrocitus was loose because of something Abin did. After all, Abin was dead, Hal was stupid, and Sinestro quite pointedly didn't mention anything about it when explaining what he was doing on Earth. He just said he was helping take Atrocitus back into custody, that's all. And I know the ring is supposed to record everything, but that doesn't always appear to be true (if it even was back then).
You'd think getting killed doing something against the rules, because of a prophecy that he wasn't supposed to talk about let alone act on, would have lost Abin his spot in the GL crypts or something. Sort of a posthumous dishonorable discharge? Or maybe, because he was dead anyway, they didn't think it was worth quibbling over.
And look at the expression on Sinestro's face when his ring makes contact with Hal/Abin's and Abin's image appears to give him his final message. D'aww! He looks like he's going to cry!
One thing I've wondered, though: at the end of Secret Origin, when the Guardians are dressing down Hal and Sinestro for fraternizing, one of them mentions that this is the second time that Sinestro has defied them with a Green Lantern from 2814. So Sinestro and Abin got in trouble together at some point in the past? We know that Sinestro got suspended as a rookie for questioning the Guardians, but he made no mention of Abin Sur being involved in that particular incident. (Maybe that's what got Abin assigned to be his mentor in the first place?) I suppose they could be referring to that, but it seems odd that, if they were, Sinestro didn't say "oh yes, Abin Sur and I got suspended..." when he was telling Hal about the incident.
So what did Abin and Sinestro actually do? What are these shenanigans that we don't know about? And why do I think that I could probably read an entire series of nothing but Abin and rookie Sinestro perpetuating these shenanigans?
I can't help it. I love it when villains are given some depth, and giving them dead friends is a good way to do it. I like the dynamic Johns has gone for -- Sinestro as Hal's mentor is something, and Abin as Sinestro's mentor is something more to build on. Honestly, can you imagine Sinestro actually respecting someone the way he seems to respect Abin? Or being friendly with someone? He considers (or once did) Hal as his friend, but even when they were getting along Sinestro was barely civil to him. Was it different with Abin? I mean, did they... I dunno, go out and drink beers together, or whatever Korugarians and Ungarans do with their best buds? I guess the "no hanging out in other GLs sectors" thing probably put a damper on that, but they obviously had contact with each other, even if only through their rings.
It begs a few questions. For one, did Abin Sur know how strictly Sinestro was keeping order in his home sector? Sinestro never believed that his way of ruling was wrong, so I can't imagine him keeping it secret when he's talking to someone he considers a friend. You know:
Abin: "Wow, you wouldn't believe the week I've had. Between riots on Flipflop 7 and the evacuation of that unstable planet in the Sparkly System, I've barely had time to take a nap, let alone file a report. So how are things out in 1417?"
Sinestro: "Oh, you know, more of the usual. Some idiot tossed a Jolly Rancher wrapper on my pristine sidewalk, and I had to bitchslap him through a building."
Abin: "..."
Sinestro: "Also, my wife left me. So I decided to outlaw divorce."
Abin: "..."
Sinestro: "She'll be eligible for parole in sixty years."
Abin: "...Did you stop taking your medication again?"
But seriously. I think it's touching that, when Abin is in his ship headed for Earth and is talking to Sinestro, Sinestro offers to come help him even though they both know perfectly well that Abin is doing something that will likely get him kicked out of the Corps if he gets caught at it. Freeing Atrocitus wasn't something the Guardians would look kindly on. And it makes me wonder if the Guardians even realized that Atrocitus was loose because of something Abin did. After all, Abin was dead, Hal was stupid, and Sinestro quite pointedly didn't mention anything about it when explaining what he was doing on Earth. He just said he was helping take Atrocitus back into custody, that's all. And I know the ring is supposed to record everything, but that doesn't always appear to be true (if it even was back then).
You'd think getting killed doing something against the rules, because of a prophecy that he wasn't supposed to talk about let alone act on, would have lost Abin his spot in the GL crypts or something. Sort of a posthumous dishonorable discharge? Or maybe, because he was dead anyway, they didn't think it was worth quibbling over.
And look at the expression on Sinestro's face when his ring makes contact with Hal/Abin's and Abin's image appears to give him his final message. D'aww! He looks like he's going to cry!
One thing I've wondered, though: at the end of Secret Origin, when the Guardians are dressing down Hal and Sinestro for fraternizing, one of them mentions that this is the second time that Sinestro has defied them with a Green Lantern from 2814. So Sinestro and Abin got in trouble together at some point in the past? We know that Sinestro got suspended as a rookie for questioning the Guardians, but he made no mention of Abin Sur being involved in that particular incident. (Maybe that's what got Abin assigned to be his mentor in the first place?) I suppose they could be referring to that, but it seems odd that, if they were, Sinestro didn't say "oh yes, Abin Sur and I got suspended..." when he was telling Hal about the incident.
So what did Abin and Sinestro actually do? What are these shenanigans that we don't know about? And why do I think that I could probably read an entire series of nothing but Abin and rookie Sinestro perpetuating these shenanigans?
Monday, March 9, 2009
Blackest Night Predictions
Well, I've been away for the past week -- visited some good friends, saw Elton John and Billy Joel in concert again, saw Watchmen (YAY!), and generally had a good time. It's nice to get away every now and again.
So now that I'm catching up on what I missed while I was gone, the question of individual predictions for The Blackest Night has come up. Here's what I think.
1. We'll see Sinestro as a Green Lantern again. As awesome as I think it would be if he became one permanently, I don't see that happening -- more likely he'll end up sacrificing himself or some other such heroic but sad (to me) thing.
2. Black Lantern Abin Sur's presence will mess with Hal and Sinestro's heads, but he'll end up as a good guy again somehow. Maybe even all the dead GL Black Lanterns will turn against whoever is the power behind the Black Lanterns in the end, thus sacrificing their own "life" (such as it is).
3. Laira will be redeemed somehow (possibly through #2, but Hal will have a hand in it somehow).
4. We've already seen Hal wield multiple rings, but I think he'll end up with most, if not all, of them by the time the whole thing is over and done with.
5. Sinestro will mop the floor with Mongul, but Mongul will remain a player in the storyline somehow. Maybe with another Corps?
6. I'm worried that something bad is going to happen to Guy. There's a little voice in my head that fears the worst, but another part says that they've built up the Guy/Tora thing too much to just kill him off... maybe he'll die but end up alive again by the end of Blackest Night.
7. Hector Hammond = Orange Lantern.
8. Even more obvious than #7 - the Blue Lanterns are going to die.
9. have nothing to support this one, really, but I have this feeling in my gut that something bad is going to happen to Korugar.
10. Nekron. Yeah.
I have a lot of other thoughts rattling around in my head right now so I'll likely post an addendum to this some other day. Probably after GLC this week.
So now that I'm catching up on what I missed while I was gone, the question of individual predictions for The Blackest Night has come up. Here's what I think.
1. We'll see Sinestro as a Green Lantern again. As awesome as I think it would be if he became one permanently, I don't see that happening -- more likely he'll end up sacrificing himself or some other such heroic but sad (to me) thing.
2. Black Lantern Abin Sur's presence will mess with Hal and Sinestro's heads, but he'll end up as a good guy again somehow. Maybe even all the dead GL Black Lanterns will turn against whoever is the power behind the Black Lanterns in the end, thus sacrificing their own "life" (such as it is).
3. Laira will be redeemed somehow (possibly through #2, but Hal will have a hand in it somehow).
4. We've already seen Hal wield multiple rings, but I think he'll end up with most, if not all, of them by the time the whole thing is over and done with.
5. Sinestro will mop the floor with Mongul, but Mongul will remain a player in the storyline somehow. Maybe with another Corps?
6. I'm worried that something bad is going to happen to Guy. There's a little voice in my head that fears the worst, but another part says that they've built up the Guy/Tora thing too much to just kill him off... maybe he'll die but end up alive again by the end of Blackest Night.
7. Hector Hammond = Orange Lantern.
8. Even more obvious than #7 - the Blue Lanterns are going to die.
9. have nothing to support this one, really, but I have this feeling in my gut that something bad is going to happen to Korugar.
10. Nekron. Yeah.
I have a lot of other thoughts rattling around in my head right now so I'll likely post an addendum to this some other day. Probably after GLC this week.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Is Kilowog a Potty-Mouth?
None of my real-life friends are Green Lantern fans.
Most of the people I know don't read comics at all, but put up with my obsession good-naturedly enough (after all, they have their vices, too -- many of which also involve fictional buttocks, so they can't throw stones). The few I do know who read comics read only Marvel, with the exception of a single guy who is a total Batman fanatic. Which, since everyone probably knows how I feel about Bats, is interesting when we get together. Incidentally, he is also my polar opposite on most political and social issues, too. The only thing we agree on are music (classic rock) and cats (awesome)!
But in the past year or two, given the way Green Lantern has become popular again, I've been getting asked a lot of questions that I'm usually only all too happy to answer. Lately, it's a lot of "So what's up with the Blackest Night thing?" from people who are starting to hear the buzz. Sometimes, it's "What happened to that kid?" meaning Kyle, who was probably the star of GL the last time they browsed an issue years back. I lent my copy of Secret Origin to a friend who's now getting interested, and I've gotten tons of good questions from him, including one that didn't really occur to me because I'm reading from a different perspective: "I thought Sinestro was a bad guy. Now I'm confused." (Okay, so that wasn't a question, but it got a lot of answers out of me anyway!)
But the one question I should have thought about before but hadn't really was this: "So... what's a 'poozer', anyway?"
??!
What is a poozer? Kilowog seems to use the word in a lot of different contexts.
Manly-man friendship: "Sit down and have a drink, poozer."
Drill sergeant mode: "Awright, poozers, line up!"
Calling out the enemy: "You poozers are toast!"
Sometimes it's not even a noun: "Get the poozin' ball!"
I'll be honest. I can only think of one word in the English language that can be twisted into use in so many different ways. And it's not a nice one. While I'm sure that the more likely explanation is that "poozer" doesn't really mean anything at all, or just plain doesn't have an equivalent in our silly backwater Earth languages, it's more fun to think that Kilowog is cursing like a sailor at every opportunity, isn't it?
The day he says "Pooze you!" to someone is the day I start using it, too.
Most of the people I know don't read comics at all, but put up with my obsession good-naturedly enough (after all, they have their vices, too -- many of which also involve fictional buttocks, so they can't throw stones). The few I do know who read comics read only Marvel, with the exception of a single guy who is a total Batman fanatic. Which, since everyone probably knows how I feel about Bats, is interesting when we get together. Incidentally, he is also my polar opposite on most political and social issues, too. The only thing we agree on are music (classic rock) and cats (awesome)!
But in the past year or two, given the way Green Lantern has become popular again, I've been getting asked a lot of questions that I'm usually only all too happy to answer. Lately, it's a lot of "So what's up with the Blackest Night thing?" from people who are starting to hear the buzz. Sometimes, it's "What happened to that kid?" meaning Kyle, who was probably the star of GL the last time they browsed an issue years back. I lent my copy of Secret Origin to a friend who's now getting interested, and I've gotten tons of good questions from him, including one that didn't really occur to me because I'm reading from a different perspective: "I thought Sinestro was a bad guy. Now I'm confused." (Okay, so that wasn't a question, but it got a lot of answers out of me anyway!)
But the one question I should have thought about before but hadn't really was this: "So... what's a 'poozer', anyway?"
??!
What is a poozer? Kilowog seems to use the word in a lot of different contexts.
Manly-man friendship: "Sit down and have a drink, poozer."
Drill sergeant mode: "Awright, poozers, line up!"
Calling out the enemy: "You poozers are toast!"
Sometimes it's not even a noun: "Get the poozin' ball!"
I'll be honest. I can only think of one word in the English language that can be twisted into use in so many different ways. And it's not a nice one. While I'm sure that the more likely explanation is that "poozer" doesn't really mean anything at all, or just plain doesn't have an equivalent in our silly backwater Earth languages, it's more fun to think that Kilowog is cursing like a sailor at every opportunity, isn't it?
The day he says "Pooze you!" to someone is the day I start using it, too.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
How NOT to Convinct and Execute a Renegade Green Lantern
So SallyP over at Green Lantern Butts Forever brought up some interesting points about Korugar, the Zamarons, and the execution of Sinestro (the first time), and it got me thinking about some things -- enough that I got a craving to read those issues again, and I'm really glad I did.
Specifically, I'm talking about The Green Lantern Corps #222: "The Last Testament of Sinestro", which tells the story of the trial itself. I'm not going to do an in-depth review because I'm lazy today, but there are a whole lot of things that I find interesting about it.
The story is narrated by Sinestro himself, which is an interesting and effective decision on the part of Steve Englehart (whom I've always felt indifferent about as a writer up until now). It's not very often that we get to see things from the villain's point of view -- it's unusual enough that DC just made a whole big event out of something like that just last month, remember. It isn't so much that he's telling the story (other than a short flashback at the beginning to how he got his ring and how he later fell from grace), but rather that we're seeing his thoughts about what's happening around him as the panels and dialogue show us the Green Lanterns gathering to decide his fate.
But think about that for a minute. What we're reading, as we flip through these pages, are the thoughts and feelings of a soon-to-be-condemned man during his own trial and subsequent execution. That's deep. That's scary.
But what's most scary about it is Sinestro's tone throughout the whole thing. It exemplifies those character traits of his that Geoff Johns has latched onto in the past few years to make him into such an amazing villain. Even in the midst of this trial, even when the death verdict comes across, Sinestro never, for even an instant, gives even a hint that he believes he's done anything wrong. He's not sorry, not even a tiny bit. He's bored with the whole proceeding before it even begins. And he's arrogant to the point of madness. He dismisses their concern for their friends, and laughs at their efforts to come to a majority decision. Even after the death verdict is passed he believes, right up until the very last moment of his life, that they won't actually go through with it.
His arrogance is also his undoing, of course. Sinestro knows that killing him will be the end of the Corps, because he found out that little tidbit of information by skulking around a Korugarian political meeting of some sort back when he was a Green Lantern. He even offers to tell them the secret -- if they'll let him go first. But they don't go for it, and rather than just say it, he tries to bargain until it's too late and he's being blasted dead. Ow.
But look at the trial, too. Sinestro thinks it's a farce, and after reading the issue a few times, I'm actually inclined to agree with him.
It's presided over by the Old-Timer, the only Guardian (okay, ex-Guardian) left since the little blue men departed this universe to do their little blue baby-bop. This is the same fellow who was supposed to whip Guy Gardner into shape after the Crisis, and who would later go insane and form the Mosaic. He seems sane enough here, with the exception of two decisions:
Prosecution: Kilowog
Defense: Katma Tui
...What?
On the surface, it seems like a sound enough decision. He's picked two veteran Lanterns, both of whom are known and trusted by their peers, and who have had multiple run-ins with Sinestro. And Katma is Korugarian, which might perhaps give her some insight into how the accused thinks and what his motivations are.
But the whole catalyst for this trial was the destruction of Kilowog's homeworld (again). John and Katma and Arisia swore to 'Wog that they would seek trial for Sinestro as soon as possible, and they did -- even to the point of putting aside some other, more pressing matters, such as Ch'p's defection and the fallout from the Millenium crossover. I suppose, from a certain perspective, it makes sense for the person most hurt by the defendant to be the one prosecuting, but it seems a bad decision overall. Kilowog was practically mad with grief only a couple of issues ago. And his decision is already made -- he came in the door thirsty for blood. When Skirl expresses disbelief that they're even considering execution, Kilowog's reply is "You got it!"
But that I can forgive more than Katma as Sinestro's defender. Even she protests. "But-- I despise him especially, because he is of my race!" This was written before the Emerald Dawn retcons, but Sinestro's history as a dictator-like ruler of Korugar is established within this very issue, too, so to say that she has issues with him is an understatement. She hates him. Later on she expresses a grumbly, almost childlike sort of reluctance to defend him. Like I said, this is before Emerald Dawn, but looking back on it from a modern perspective, knowing what he now know about Sinestro's first trial, makes this even stranger. Katma Tui fought to overthrow him on Korugar. She testified against him in the trial that stripped him of his ring. She's lost to her own homeworld forever because of the legacy he's left behind. And she's supposed to defend him here?
And when the time comes, she fails him utterly. She has no rebuttal to the case presented against him. Not a word. It could even be argued that she hurts his case by blurting out exactly what she feels: "There is nothing anyone can say to that!" I promise it doesn't do your client any good to let on to the jury that even his defense attorney thinks he's guilty as sin and deserves to die.
The Old-Timer's reasoning behind his choice is that Katma's integrity is legendary. And in any other trial, I'd say she'd make an excellent lawyer. She's smart, she's honest, she can be very business-like when the situation demands it, and her peers respect her.
What's curious, and most relevant to the Blackest Night the Corps is facing now, is what the Old-Timer has to say is response to her protests: "You can place your intelligence before your emotions -- which is what will be required of everyone here!"
D'oh! That's exactly what the Guardians are trying to force the entire Corps to do right now. Proof once again that they don't, nor have they ever, understood how powerful emotions are to mortals. And look how it panned out for them last time!
The vote itself is interesting, too. The Lanterns are instructed to make a decision individually, then beam their vote into the CPB, which will then announce the collective decision (the assumption is that it will go with a majority vote).
So, how did each individual Lantern vote? We don't know! We know that the majority chose death, but what about Hal? What about John and Katma and Arisia?
This is a burning question to me. I think it's safe to assume that Kilowog went with death, as he was practically foaming at the mouth for it. I'm going to guess, from little things she said and did in this issue, that Arisia also voted death, though we can't know for sure. Katma? I'll go with death, though she was obviously really torn up about her inability to defend Sinestro there at the end. It seems that she really wanted to be able to say something for him, but just couldn't think of a single thing. (This is why I find Katma to be such a wonderfully deep character.) John? Hard to say, he could have gone either way.
But Hal? Earlier in the issue, Sinestro seems certain that Hal would never vote to kill him, but who can really say? Though I'm inclined to think that, in this case, Sinestro was right. Hal was unusually silent throughout this issue, and the few times he did speak, it was to say something that expressed his reluctance to go as far as execution. He even says at one point that he flat-out doesn't want to kill Sinestro -- but then, he was also acknowledging that such a thing might be necessary, so he might have voted for it anyway. But somehow I doubt it.
And while I realize that they were making this a decision for the entire Corps, does it seem a little wrong to anyone else that Kilowog and a handful of others who had already openly expressed their desires before ever even hearing the trial be allowed to vote? I recently had the dubious pleasure of sitting on a jury for a murder trial, and we were questioned up one side and down the other about any pre-existing prejudices, or situations from our past that might make it hard for us to judge based solely on the facts. We weren't even allowed to discuss the case with our fellow jurors until the entire case had been presented, because we weren't supposed to form opinions until after we'd seen and heard everything. I'm not sure that giving a jury spot to someone whose entire race had been obliterated by the defendant was a particularly just idea.
I have to wonder now, too, how much of the execution itself was responsible for Hal's later grim-and-gritty stage that led up to his full-on Parallax possession. A small group of the Green Lanterns themselves carry out the death order with their own rings. (How could they even do that? I thought they couldn't kill with them...) They stand around Sinestro in a circle, raise their rings, and fire all at once.
Can you imagine how that must have felt to an angst-bunny like Hal? He just killed a man with (practically) his bare hands. While staring him right in the eyes. A man who, we now know, was someone he considered a friend and mentor once-upon-a-time. How badly did this weigh on Hal? How often did he think about it later, when he was travelling across America alone? Or when Katma died because she had no way to defend herself from Star Sapphire? Or when Parallax was slowly but surely whittling away at him?
In a way, what happens next with Salakk showing up and the Corps being destroyed is almost anti-climatic and detracts from what should have been emotional fallout rather than tangible, physical fallout. I'm not going to argue that Sinestro didn't deserve to die, because what he did to Bolovax Vik alone was reprehensible, not to mention all the other things he had done.
But that's not really the point to a superhero, is it?
Specifically, I'm talking about The Green Lantern Corps #222: "The Last Testament of Sinestro", which tells the story of the trial itself. I'm not going to do an in-depth review because I'm lazy today, but there are a whole lot of things that I find interesting about it.
The story is narrated by Sinestro himself, which is an interesting and effective decision on the part of Steve Englehart (whom I've always felt indifferent about as a writer up until now). It's not very often that we get to see things from the villain's point of view -- it's unusual enough that DC just made a whole big event out of something like that just last month, remember. It isn't so much that he's telling the story (other than a short flashback at the beginning to how he got his ring and how he later fell from grace), but rather that we're seeing his thoughts about what's happening around him as the panels and dialogue show us the Green Lanterns gathering to decide his fate.
But think about that for a minute. What we're reading, as we flip through these pages, are the thoughts and feelings of a soon-to-be-condemned man during his own trial and subsequent execution. That's deep. That's scary.
But what's most scary about it is Sinestro's tone throughout the whole thing. It exemplifies those character traits of his that Geoff Johns has latched onto in the past few years to make him into such an amazing villain. Even in the midst of this trial, even when the death verdict comes across, Sinestro never, for even an instant, gives even a hint that he believes he's done anything wrong. He's not sorry, not even a tiny bit. He's bored with the whole proceeding before it even begins. And he's arrogant to the point of madness. He dismisses their concern for their friends, and laughs at their efforts to come to a majority decision. Even after the death verdict is passed he believes, right up until the very last moment of his life, that they won't actually go through with it.
His arrogance is also his undoing, of course. Sinestro knows that killing him will be the end of the Corps, because he found out that little tidbit of information by skulking around a Korugarian political meeting of some sort back when he was a Green Lantern. He even offers to tell them the secret -- if they'll let him go first. But they don't go for it, and rather than just say it, he tries to bargain until it's too late and he's being blasted dead. Ow.
But look at the trial, too. Sinestro thinks it's a farce, and after reading the issue a few times, I'm actually inclined to agree with him.
It's presided over by the Old-Timer, the only Guardian (okay, ex-Guardian) left since the little blue men departed this universe to do their little blue baby-bop. This is the same fellow who was supposed to whip Guy Gardner into shape after the Crisis, and who would later go insane and form the Mosaic. He seems sane enough here, with the exception of two decisions:
Prosecution: Kilowog
Defense: Katma Tui
...What?
On the surface, it seems like a sound enough decision. He's picked two veteran Lanterns, both of whom are known and trusted by their peers, and who have had multiple run-ins with Sinestro. And Katma is Korugarian, which might perhaps give her some insight into how the accused thinks and what his motivations are.
But the whole catalyst for this trial was the destruction of Kilowog's homeworld (again). John and Katma and Arisia swore to 'Wog that they would seek trial for Sinestro as soon as possible, and they did -- even to the point of putting aside some other, more pressing matters, such as Ch'p's defection and the fallout from the Millenium crossover. I suppose, from a certain perspective, it makes sense for the person most hurt by the defendant to be the one prosecuting, but it seems a bad decision overall. Kilowog was practically mad with grief only a couple of issues ago. And his decision is already made -- he came in the door thirsty for blood. When Skirl expresses disbelief that they're even considering execution, Kilowog's reply is "You got it!"
But that I can forgive more than Katma as Sinestro's defender. Even she protests. "But-- I despise him especially, because he is of my race!" This was written before the Emerald Dawn retcons, but Sinestro's history as a dictator-like ruler of Korugar is established within this very issue, too, so to say that she has issues with him is an understatement. She hates him. Later on she expresses a grumbly, almost childlike sort of reluctance to defend him. Like I said, this is before Emerald Dawn, but looking back on it from a modern perspective, knowing what he now know about Sinestro's first trial, makes this even stranger. Katma Tui fought to overthrow him on Korugar. She testified against him in the trial that stripped him of his ring. She's lost to her own homeworld forever because of the legacy he's left behind. And she's supposed to defend him here?
And when the time comes, she fails him utterly. She has no rebuttal to the case presented against him. Not a word. It could even be argued that she hurts his case by blurting out exactly what she feels: "There is nothing anyone can say to that!" I promise it doesn't do your client any good to let on to the jury that even his defense attorney thinks he's guilty as sin and deserves to die.
The Old-Timer's reasoning behind his choice is that Katma's integrity is legendary. And in any other trial, I'd say she'd make an excellent lawyer. She's smart, she's honest, she can be very business-like when the situation demands it, and her peers respect her.
What's curious, and most relevant to the Blackest Night the Corps is facing now, is what the Old-Timer has to say is response to her protests: "You can place your intelligence before your emotions -- which is what will be required of everyone here!"
D'oh! That's exactly what the Guardians are trying to force the entire Corps to do right now. Proof once again that they don't, nor have they ever, understood how powerful emotions are to mortals. And look how it panned out for them last time!
The vote itself is interesting, too. The Lanterns are instructed to make a decision individually, then beam their vote into the CPB, which will then announce the collective decision (the assumption is that it will go with a majority vote).
So, how did each individual Lantern vote? We don't know! We know that the majority chose death, but what about Hal? What about John and Katma and Arisia?
This is a burning question to me. I think it's safe to assume that Kilowog went with death, as he was practically foaming at the mouth for it. I'm going to guess, from little things she said and did in this issue, that Arisia also voted death, though we can't know for sure. Katma? I'll go with death, though she was obviously really torn up about her inability to defend Sinestro there at the end. It seems that she really wanted to be able to say something for him, but just couldn't think of a single thing. (This is why I find Katma to be such a wonderfully deep character.) John? Hard to say, he could have gone either way.
But Hal? Earlier in the issue, Sinestro seems certain that Hal would never vote to kill him, but who can really say? Though I'm inclined to think that, in this case, Sinestro was right. Hal was unusually silent throughout this issue, and the few times he did speak, it was to say something that expressed his reluctance to go as far as execution. He even says at one point that he flat-out doesn't want to kill Sinestro -- but then, he was also acknowledging that such a thing might be necessary, so he might have voted for it anyway. But somehow I doubt it.
And while I realize that they were making this a decision for the entire Corps, does it seem a little wrong to anyone else that Kilowog and a handful of others who had already openly expressed their desires before ever even hearing the trial be allowed to vote? I recently had the dubious pleasure of sitting on a jury for a murder trial, and we were questioned up one side and down the other about any pre-existing prejudices, or situations from our past that might make it hard for us to judge based solely on the facts. We weren't even allowed to discuss the case with our fellow jurors until the entire case had been presented, because we weren't supposed to form opinions until after we'd seen and heard everything. I'm not sure that giving a jury spot to someone whose entire race had been obliterated by the defendant was a particularly just idea.
I have to wonder now, too, how much of the execution itself was responsible for Hal's later grim-and-gritty stage that led up to his full-on Parallax possession. A small group of the Green Lanterns themselves carry out the death order with their own rings. (How could they even do that? I thought they couldn't kill with them...) They stand around Sinestro in a circle, raise their rings, and fire all at once.
Can you imagine how that must have felt to an angst-bunny like Hal? He just killed a man with (practically) his bare hands. While staring him right in the eyes. A man who, we now know, was someone he considered a friend and mentor once-upon-a-time. How badly did this weigh on Hal? How often did he think about it later, when he was travelling across America alone? Or when Katma died because she had no way to defend herself from Star Sapphire? Or when Parallax was slowly but surely whittling away at him?
In a way, what happens next with Salakk showing up and the Corps being destroyed is almost anti-climatic and detracts from what should have been emotional fallout rather than tangible, physical fallout. I'm not going to argue that Sinestro didn't deserve to die, because what he did to Bolovax Vik alone was reprehensible, not to mention all the other things he had done.
But that's not really the point to a superhero, is it?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Secret of Sinestro = Bondage, Drugs, and Assorted Kink?
So the other day I was going on about Green Lantern v.2 #124, and honestly, it's too good not to share with the world (Korugarian sex kinks, people!), so bear with me while I inflict this madness upon you. Behold -- "The Secret of Sinestro!"
Yeah... I think it's pretty obvious that the "secret of Sinestro", according to this cover, isn't exactly much of a secret -- Sinestro wants to tie Hal down and then fondle him inappropriately with yellow tendrils. The women? Pfft, just overcompensation while he tries to make the whole thing look very cool and villainous and totally Not Gay For Hal. (And yes, that's Carol Ferris and Kari Limbo that Sinestro is pulling the pimp-daddy act with.)
For the record, this is my favorite Green Lantern cover ever.
The story itself is a pretty entertaining one. Ollie and Hal are having yet another lover's quarr-- I mean, manly friendship fight -- over the fact that Hal went all lone wolf and wouldn't let Ollie go to Qward with him last issue. ("He and I just need to be apart for a while!" Hal says later. Yeah, that's what he tells his girlfriends when they get too serious, too.) Kari Limbo has just recently left Hal to get back together with the comatose body of Guy Gardner, so Carol Ferris is back in the picture again -- insisting that Hal call her "Miss Ferris" again, though. They're all hanging out with Pieface at the opening of the New Age Museum, a museum dedicated to honoring mankind's achievements in space flight, when Sinestro shows up and takes offense at the very idea of humans honoring their crappy space-traveling achievements. He has a tantrum, sets all the displays on fire, destroys the building, and then zips right back out again while Hal saves the innocent bystanders.
We get a moment of rare Hal intelligence when he observes that it isn't like Sinestro to blow shit up and not hang around to see the results of his handywork, followed immediately by a moment of Hal stupidity when he decides that Sinestro must have finally slipped into insanity. Wait, so... if he's just now insane, what has he been for the past twenty years he's been appearing in your comic before this, Hal? Just a little flustered? And Hal can't figure out why Sinestro hates him so much. I'm a little surprised that it didn't occur to Hal to wonder about it until just now... and the logic behind it is so very Hal-like. "He... doesn't like me? He obviously must be insane!"
Hal decides that, even though Sinestro could be"anywhere in this universe -- or in Qward!" the best place to start his needle-in-a-haystack search is Korugar. Which is actually... a very good guess, but a guess nonetheless. He dials up Katma Tui, who is sympathetic to his cause but is forbidden to do anything to Sinestro because Korugarian law says that she can't harm him if he hasn't harmed Korugar -- and all his recent crimes have been over in 2814, so he's not her problem. She does, however, inform Hal that Sinestro's dad operates a Null Chamber nearby, so it stands to reason that he might be hiding out with dad.
What's a Null Chamber, you might ask? Katma describes it as "something such as your Earthly opium-den -- illegal in the city but permitted here" and when Hal enters it, it's described as "a gloomy place full of strange smells and low murmurs". There are lots of half-naked Korugarians floating in the air, suspended by these weird yellow energy-beams. Sinestro's dad (who looks exactly like Sinestro, only with grey hair, a sexy long purple robe, and a Fu Manchu 'stache that isn't quite as Truly Dapper as his son's) explains the process to him -- the yellow null rays drain their vital force away, which... kills them. But apparently not all the way, because eventually (when their money runs out, I assume), he revives them. And people pay him for this, because "to taste death is the ultimate pleasure to a Korugarian!"
...So. Sinestro's dad peddles the Korugarian equivalent of erotic asphyxiation. This explains a lot.
As soon as Hal starts getting nosey about his son, though, dad snatches him up in yellow beams that, of course, Hal's Green Lantern ring is useless against. But... surprise! Sinestro's dad rips off his own face, to reveal that it was Sinestro himself all along! Dad really is in the room, too, though... floating in the null rays, addicted to the same pleasure he's been selling. (This also explains a lot. No wonder Sinny is messed up in the head. Dad kills himself for pleasure all the time.)
Hal is helpless in the grip of the null rays. He can use his ring, but Sinestro just shrugs off his attacks. And Hal is starting to feel sort of... happy. Apparently slow erotic suicide works on humans, too, because he starts to relax and enjoy himself, seeing the faces of Carol and Kari (and Sinestro watches all this with a little too much pleasure -- maybe watching is his thing?). Maybe Kari's stupid cheating face is what snaps Hal out of it, because he wakes up enough to send a super secret plea for help (in Morse Code) to Katma Tui and then gets Sinestro talking to stall for time. So why does Sinestro hate Hal? Because he can't get at the Guardians, he says, so he beats up on Hal instead. But why blow up stuff on Earth? Because Earth represents Hal, who represents the Guardians, and that's reason enough, apparently. Hal calls him insane, which seriously pisses Sinestro off -- why, he'll kill Hal right now instead of letting him have a nice slow pleasurable death!
Then Katma shows up and blows up the null ray generator, freeing Hal and all the dying junkies. Sinestro, still pissed off, knocks her out, and what follows is actually a lot of fun to watch: Hal proceeds to beat down Sinestro with his bare fists, just like he will do again much later at the end of the Sinestro Corps War. And Sinestro saves himself by...
Throwing a junkie chick at Hal.
Yes, a pretty young female addict stumbles into the fray, and Sinestro literally throws her on top of Hal -- proving that Sinestro, at least, understands what makes Hal tick even if Hal is still confused about what Sinestro is all about. Hal, of course, is distracted long enough for Sinestro to make his weird foldy getaway back to Qward.
Katma is not above pointing out to Hal that he did something stupid, by the way -- he sent his signal to her in Morse Code, forgetting that she wouldn't have the foggiest idea what all those dots and dashes were supposed to mean. And worse, he had just used the ring's real signalling capabilities not ten minutes earlier when he contacted her the first time! Oh Hal. You're dumb and Katma knows it. That's why, when Hal kisses her cheek, she tells him she's not like Earth women and kissing means nothing to her. (Korugarians don't kiss? I wonder what they do? Choke each other? Wait... yes, they probably do, given the evidence we've just seen.)
Obviously there's a lot of things about this issue that I find interesting.
First, Sinestro is established to have a father and a sister at this point, which is very unusual for Silver Age villains. It adds a tiny bit of depth to the character that most baddies back then lacked, even though neither sis nor dad were given names or ever showed up again.
Second, we learn a lot of interesting things about Korugar and its inhabitants here. According to Hal in this issue, Korugar is the only inhabited planet in its solar system, and Whonere is the only city on the whole planet (other sources list Korugar City as the capital, but I've seen Whonere mentioned before as well, and I can't recall if the name of the city has been mentioned in Green Lantern Corps recently so I don't know what's currently canon about this). The terrain surrounding Whonere appears to be desert-like, which... actually fits my personal vision of Korugar, but I can't say if that's a coincidence or because I've been remembering this comic for all these years and just haven't realized it. All the male Korugarians depicted here have the same receding hairline as Sinestro, which is insanely funny -- almost as funny as the fact that they all wear purple for some reason.
What interests me more, though, is the fact that this is a culture that gets pleasure from the experience of death. You'll recall that Recharge established specifically that death rites are very important to Korugarians, too. So I wonder if there aren't some cultural ideas about death that could possibly be significant for Sinestro, Soranik, and/or Katma (who is almost sure to be a Black Lantern) come Blackest Night? Normally I'd say no way, but Geoff Johns is just about the only writer I could imagine who is enough of a detail and continuity nerd to remember this lone issue and bring the subject up again.
Yeah... I think it's pretty obvious that the "secret of Sinestro", according to this cover, isn't exactly much of a secret -- Sinestro wants to tie Hal down and then fondle him inappropriately with yellow tendrils. The women? Pfft, just overcompensation while he tries to make the whole thing look very cool and villainous and totally Not Gay For Hal. (And yes, that's Carol Ferris and Kari Limbo that Sinestro is pulling the pimp-daddy act with.)
For the record, this is my favorite Green Lantern cover ever.
The story itself is a pretty entertaining one. Ollie and Hal are having yet another lover's quarr-- I mean, manly friendship fight -- over the fact that Hal went all lone wolf and wouldn't let Ollie go to Qward with him last issue. ("He and I just need to be apart for a while!" Hal says later. Yeah, that's what he tells his girlfriends when they get too serious, too.) Kari Limbo has just recently left Hal to get back together with the comatose body of Guy Gardner, so Carol Ferris is back in the picture again -- insisting that Hal call her "Miss Ferris" again, though. They're all hanging out with Pieface at the opening of the New Age Museum, a museum dedicated to honoring mankind's achievements in space flight, when Sinestro shows up and takes offense at the very idea of humans honoring their crappy space-traveling achievements. He has a tantrum, sets all the displays on fire, destroys the building, and then zips right back out again while Hal saves the innocent bystanders.
We get a moment of rare Hal intelligence when he observes that it isn't like Sinestro to blow shit up and not hang around to see the results of his handywork, followed immediately by a moment of Hal stupidity when he decides that Sinestro must have finally slipped into insanity. Wait, so... if he's just now insane, what has he been for the past twenty years he's been appearing in your comic before this, Hal? Just a little flustered? And Hal can't figure out why Sinestro hates him so much. I'm a little surprised that it didn't occur to Hal to wonder about it until just now... and the logic behind it is so very Hal-like. "He... doesn't like me? He obviously must be insane!"
Hal decides that, even though Sinestro could be"anywhere in this universe -- or in Qward!" the best place to start his needle-in-a-haystack search is Korugar. Which is actually... a very good guess, but a guess nonetheless. He dials up Katma Tui, who is sympathetic to his cause but is forbidden to do anything to Sinestro because Korugarian law says that she can't harm him if he hasn't harmed Korugar -- and all his recent crimes have been over in 2814, so he's not her problem. She does, however, inform Hal that Sinestro's dad operates a Null Chamber nearby, so it stands to reason that he might be hiding out with dad.
What's a Null Chamber, you might ask? Katma describes it as "something such as your Earthly opium-den -- illegal in the city but permitted here" and when Hal enters it, it's described as "a gloomy place full of strange smells and low murmurs". There are lots of half-naked Korugarians floating in the air, suspended by these weird yellow energy-beams. Sinestro's dad (who looks exactly like Sinestro, only with grey hair, a sexy long purple robe, and a Fu Manchu 'stache that isn't quite as Truly Dapper as his son's) explains the process to him -- the yellow null rays drain their vital force away, which... kills them. But apparently not all the way, because eventually (when their money runs out, I assume), he revives them. And people pay him for this, because "to taste death is the ultimate pleasure to a Korugarian!"
...So. Sinestro's dad peddles the Korugarian equivalent of erotic asphyxiation. This explains a lot.
As soon as Hal starts getting nosey about his son, though, dad snatches him up in yellow beams that, of course, Hal's Green Lantern ring is useless against. But... surprise! Sinestro's dad rips off his own face, to reveal that it was Sinestro himself all along! Dad really is in the room, too, though... floating in the null rays, addicted to the same pleasure he's been selling. (This also explains a lot. No wonder Sinny is messed up in the head. Dad kills himself for pleasure all the time.)
Hal is helpless in the grip of the null rays. He can use his ring, but Sinestro just shrugs off his attacks. And Hal is starting to feel sort of... happy. Apparently slow erotic suicide works on humans, too, because he starts to relax and enjoy himself, seeing the faces of Carol and Kari (and Sinestro watches all this with a little too much pleasure -- maybe watching is his thing?). Maybe Kari's stupid cheating face is what snaps Hal out of it, because he wakes up enough to send a super secret plea for help (in Morse Code) to Katma Tui and then gets Sinestro talking to stall for time. So why does Sinestro hate Hal? Because he can't get at the Guardians, he says, so he beats up on Hal instead. But why blow up stuff on Earth? Because Earth represents Hal, who represents the Guardians, and that's reason enough, apparently. Hal calls him insane, which seriously pisses Sinestro off -- why, he'll kill Hal right now instead of letting him have a nice slow pleasurable death!
Then Katma shows up and blows up the null ray generator, freeing Hal and all the dying junkies. Sinestro, still pissed off, knocks her out, and what follows is actually a lot of fun to watch: Hal proceeds to beat down Sinestro with his bare fists, just like he will do again much later at the end of the Sinestro Corps War. And Sinestro saves himself by...
Throwing a junkie chick at Hal.
Yes, a pretty young female addict stumbles into the fray, and Sinestro literally throws her on top of Hal -- proving that Sinestro, at least, understands what makes Hal tick even if Hal is still confused about what Sinestro is all about. Hal, of course, is distracted long enough for Sinestro to make his weird foldy getaway back to Qward.
Katma is not above pointing out to Hal that he did something stupid, by the way -- he sent his signal to her in Morse Code, forgetting that she wouldn't have the foggiest idea what all those dots and dashes were supposed to mean. And worse, he had just used the ring's real signalling capabilities not ten minutes earlier when he contacted her the first time! Oh Hal. You're dumb and Katma knows it. That's why, when Hal kisses her cheek, she tells him she's not like Earth women and kissing means nothing to her. (Korugarians don't kiss? I wonder what they do? Choke each other? Wait... yes, they probably do, given the evidence we've just seen.)
Obviously there's a lot of things about this issue that I find interesting.
First, Sinestro is established to have a father and a sister at this point, which is very unusual for Silver Age villains. It adds a tiny bit of depth to the character that most baddies back then lacked, even though neither sis nor dad were given names or ever showed up again.
Second, we learn a lot of interesting things about Korugar and its inhabitants here. According to Hal in this issue, Korugar is the only inhabited planet in its solar system, and Whonere is the only city on the whole planet (other sources list Korugar City as the capital, but I've seen Whonere mentioned before as well, and I can't recall if the name of the city has been mentioned in Green Lantern Corps recently so I don't know what's currently canon about this). The terrain surrounding Whonere appears to be desert-like, which... actually fits my personal vision of Korugar, but I can't say if that's a coincidence or because I've been remembering this comic for all these years and just haven't realized it. All the male Korugarians depicted here have the same receding hairline as Sinestro, which is insanely funny -- almost as funny as the fact that they all wear purple for some reason.
What interests me more, though, is the fact that this is a culture that gets pleasure from the experience of death. You'll recall that Recharge established specifically that death rites are very important to Korugarians, too. So I wonder if there aren't some cultural ideas about death that could possibly be significant for Sinestro, Soranik, and/or Katma (who is almost sure to be a Black Lantern) come Blackest Night? Normally I'd say no way, but Geoff Johns is just about the only writer I could imagine who is enough of a detail and continuity nerd to remember this lone issue and bring the subject up again.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Kick Me in the Gut Why Don't You, Mister Tomasi?
Yeah, there's spoilers here.
So I'm wondering... did the person who wrote the solicit for Green Lantern Corps #29 actually read the issue? Because what they wrote? Totally didn't happen.
As disappointed as I am with the outcome of the Guy/Tora thing, I have to admit that this issue did have some great points in its favor. For one... well, Guy and Tora. On the same page. Talking. Even if it degenerated into a fight, at least we got to see them interact, right? What disappoints me the most about the whole thing is that we waited ages to see their date, got the whole week/whatever she spent here condensed into few short pages, and then it appears we won't be seeing them do much together again for a while. (Unless something interesting happens to Tora on her way home next issue... hmm.)
Guy is very in-character here, and that's particularly important because it would have been easy to make their whole interaction all smarmy and syrupy sweet, and Guy's hurt and anger was completely realistic. He got his hopes up, came out and asked her an important question that was very hard for him to ask, and she shot him down. Gently, but of course that doesn't make it hurt any less.
And yet I can sympathize with Tora. Her whole life, she's let other people make decisions for her. She's never really been on her own before. And now that the life she knew has disappeared and all her friends and loved ones have moved on to other things (or died...), she has the chance to decide what to do with her life. She wants to make that decision on her own. Guy, of course, wants to be a part of that. He's talking togetherness. But I think Tora knows herself too well -- if she lets Guy or Bea or anyone else "help", she'll never be able to be completely certain that the decision was all her own, will she? Guy, of course, has had to suffer through not having her for all this time, so he doesn't want to waste any more time. His point of view is perfectly reasonable, as well, given that a lot of time has passed for him since her death.
Guy is reacting like a bit of a brat, but I'm sort of glad that Tomasi chose to go this route with him. We haven't seen that side of Guy in quite a while, but it's a side of him that definitely exists. And I mean "hurt-bratty" Guy, not "teasing-you-bratty" Guy. He was quite the jerk to Symon Terrynce, who seems like a perfectly nice fellow. He even snapped a bit at Arisia and Yat (who aren't even Sector Partners, are they? Are the Guardians themselves trying to hook these two up, or what?).
It's also nice to see Tora standing up for herself. She's always been perfectly capable of being nasty when the situation called for it, and she has fought quite bitterly with both Guy and Bea on occasion, but she's usually just so nice that it's easy to forget that she does have limits. The fact that Guy doesn't understand her needs probably hurts a lot.
I still want to know if Guy or Bea have bothered to tell her that they dated. I don't think Tora would be angry (she was dead, after all, and she wouldn't want them to be lonely), but I do think she would be a bit hurt that neither of them bothered to mention it to her. Particularly if they keep sniping at each other from a distance, as this seems to imply they've been doing or will be doing, at least. (Note to self: must write Guy and Bea's break-up scene, because DC will never give it to you. I'm almost certain now that it had to have been a bitter, ugly break-up.)
Here's what I think, though: Tora was expecting a proposal. Notice how she was all smiles and encouragement (and teasing him a bit, too) right up until he said "cohabitate"? Her expression immediately went all... funny. Maybe she took it as a cue that he's not really as ready to commit to her as he thinks he is. And maybe, it that same moment, she realized that she's not as ready to commit to him as she thought she was. This took me a couple of read-throughs to pick up, but now I'm almost sure that, if he had actually said "will you marry me?", she would have said "yes" -- to hell with all the finding herself stuff!
Anyway, other things I liked about this issue:
Miri and Kered. Oh, this hurt. It HURT! I'll likely have something else to say about this tomorrow.
Finally, we get to see a little more about Kryb the babystealer. Killer. Whatever. I was beginning to think they'd forgotten him.
Kyle focusing on those hands. Thinking about love, Kyle?
Tora freezing the table. This issue would be worth it for this alone. I have this thing for unconscious displays of power, and an even bigger thing for unconscious displays of power that involve Tora specifically. And the scene was perfect -- she was seriously pissed off. And then the way it all just hung there, frozen so prettily in the instant it all went up in the air.
And check out the panel where Tora is in the green chariot-thingy and Guy is telling Symon to get going. Is that Green Lantern in the background carrying a pink purse?
Overall, this was still a great issue. If we get to see continual developments with Guy and Tora, even if it involves fights like this one, I'll probably stop being disappointed in the outcome here. Taking it slow is fine! I'm just afraid that we won't get to see them interact for another six months to a year. Baby steps in a relationship only works if you actually write them taking the steps, you know?
I'm wondering now if she and Symon will ever make it back to Earth.
So I'm wondering... did the person who wrote the solicit for Green Lantern Corps #29 actually read the issue? Because what they wrote? Totally didn't happen.
As disappointed as I am with the outcome of the Guy/Tora thing, I have to admit that this issue did have some great points in its favor. For one... well, Guy and Tora. On the same page. Talking. Even if it degenerated into a fight, at least we got to see them interact, right? What disappoints me the most about the whole thing is that we waited ages to see their date, got the whole week/whatever she spent here condensed into few short pages, and then it appears we won't be seeing them do much together again for a while. (Unless something interesting happens to Tora on her way home next issue... hmm.)
Guy is very in-character here, and that's particularly important because it would have been easy to make their whole interaction all smarmy and syrupy sweet, and Guy's hurt and anger was completely realistic. He got his hopes up, came out and asked her an important question that was very hard for him to ask, and she shot him down. Gently, but of course that doesn't make it hurt any less.
And yet I can sympathize with Tora. Her whole life, she's let other people make decisions for her. She's never really been on her own before. And now that the life she knew has disappeared and all her friends and loved ones have moved on to other things (or died...), she has the chance to decide what to do with her life. She wants to make that decision on her own. Guy, of course, wants to be a part of that. He's talking togetherness. But I think Tora knows herself too well -- if she lets Guy or Bea or anyone else "help", she'll never be able to be completely certain that the decision was all her own, will she? Guy, of course, has had to suffer through not having her for all this time, so he doesn't want to waste any more time. His point of view is perfectly reasonable, as well, given that a lot of time has passed for him since her death.
Guy is reacting like a bit of a brat, but I'm sort of glad that Tomasi chose to go this route with him. We haven't seen that side of Guy in quite a while, but it's a side of him that definitely exists. And I mean "hurt-bratty" Guy, not "teasing-you-bratty" Guy. He was quite the jerk to Symon Terrynce, who seems like a perfectly nice fellow. He even snapped a bit at Arisia and Yat (who aren't even Sector Partners, are they? Are the Guardians themselves trying to hook these two up, or what?).
It's also nice to see Tora standing up for herself. She's always been perfectly capable of being nasty when the situation called for it, and she has fought quite bitterly with both Guy and Bea on occasion, but she's usually just so nice that it's easy to forget that she does have limits. The fact that Guy doesn't understand her needs probably hurts a lot.
I still want to know if Guy or Bea have bothered to tell her that they dated. I don't think Tora would be angry (she was dead, after all, and she wouldn't want them to be lonely), but I do think she would be a bit hurt that neither of them bothered to mention it to her. Particularly if they keep sniping at each other from a distance, as this seems to imply they've been doing or will be doing, at least. (Note to self: must write Guy and Bea's break-up scene, because DC will never give it to you. I'm almost certain now that it had to have been a bitter, ugly break-up.)
Here's what I think, though: Tora was expecting a proposal. Notice how she was all smiles and encouragement (and teasing him a bit, too) right up until he said "cohabitate"? Her expression immediately went all... funny. Maybe she took it as a cue that he's not really as ready to commit to her as he thinks he is. And maybe, it that same moment, she realized that she's not as ready to commit to him as she thought she was. This took me a couple of read-throughs to pick up, but now I'm almost sure that, if he had actually said "will you marry me?", she would have said "yes" -- to hell with all the finding herself stuff!
Anyway, other things I liked about this issue:
Miri and Kered. Oh, this hurt. It HURT! I'll likely have something else to say about this tomorrow.
Finally, we get to see a little more about Kryb the babystealer. Killer. Whatever. I was beginning to think they'd forgotten him.
Kyle focusing on those hands. Thinking about love, Kyle?
Tora freezing the table. This issue would be worth it for this alone. I have this thing for unconscious displays of power, and an even bigger thing for unconscious displays of power that involve Tora specifically. And the scene was perfect -- she was seriously pissed off. And then the way it all just hung there, frozen so prettily in the instant it all went up in the air.
And check out the panel where Tora is in the green chariot-thingy and Guy is telling Symon to get going. Is that Green Lantern in the background carrying a pink purse?
Overall, this was still a great issue. If we get to see continual developments with Guy and Tora, even if it involves fights like this one, I'll probably stop being disappointed in the outcome here. Taking it slow is fine! I'm just afraid that we won't get to see them interact for another six months to a year. Baby steps in a relationship only works if you actually write them taking the steps, you know?
I'm wondering now if she and Symon will ever make it back to Earth.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Selfish Jordan Family
Well, this has been a long time in coming. Originally, my Livejournal was only intended for fiction, but I often get the urge to post my thoughts about stuff, and I realized that I would really rather have a separate place to do that. Thus, this. If you've a hankering for fic, particularly DCU/Green Lantern stuff, you can find it at Towards Twilight. If you want to listen to me babble, you're in the right place.
It would be fitting if my first post was about Guy Gardner, but you know, a thought occurred to me the other day and it won't leave me alone. I was reading the conclusion to Aranel Took's Green Lantern elseworlds pirate epic Pirates of the Emerald Dawn the other day, and the topic of Hal Jordan's selfishness came up late in the story in a way that I will not spoil for you. Now, I do bash on Hal a bit from time to time because it's just so easy, but I like to think that I'm capable of appreciating his character for what it is. It's refreshing to have a hero whose flaws are so apparent -- and Hal is very real, unlike some other heroes I could name. Don't we all know someone like Hal Jordan? Charismatic despite his flaws, well-intentioned even when he's wrong, etc?
Hal isn't selfish in the sense that he would let a bunch of orphans burn because he doesn't want to mess up his pretty (oh so pretty) hair. Of course not. If he was, he wouldn't be a hero. No one could accuse him of cowardice, or say that he hasn't given and sacrificed a hundred times over for the good of other people.
His selfishness is more on a personal level, and a lot of it stems from his more dominant nature, I think. He's the sort of person who makes decisions for other people without consulting them. "This is what's best for you." He might be doing it out of actual concern for the other person, but that doesn't change the fact that he's taking the decision out of their hands without regard for their personal feelings. Remember when he and Arisia were living with John and Katma? Excuse me, living off of them? Yeah, that's selfish. I don't care if you can't get a job as a test pilot -- when you're mooching off of someone else, you get a job at McDonald's if you have to. (Besides, didn't Hal have experience doing other weird things, like truck driving?) For that matter, a lot of Hal's entire relationship with Arisia is riddled with selfishness and bad judgment. Even in the end, when he returned to speak with her at Warriors and offered her a return to the way things were, it might seem like a nice gesture, but he had to have been completely disregarding her feelings to even ask such a thing. It was like asking her to forget everything that he had done, and everything that had happened between them, because none of that was important so long as he fixed stuff, right?
Similarly, there's The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan. He manipulated Tom. Put the Kalmaku family in danger. And for what? Because he felt bad. It's like breaking someone's vase through your own blatant negligence (not just a simple accident) and thinking you can make up for it by taping it back together with duct tape. There, I fixed it. We're cool now, right?
But my thought was: look at his parents. In general, I would label them pretty good as far as parents go -- and certainly they were better than Rolly and Peggy Gardner, or the absent Aaron Rayner! Hal loved them. They raised him to be a reasonably well-adjusted, confident young man.
But they were both selfish in their own ways, too. There's nothing wrong with a father encouraging his son's loves, or being a hero to his child. But there's definitely something wrong with encouraging (even passively) your child to be late for, or skip school, just so he can hang out with you. Maybe Martin Jordan enjoyed being hero-worshipped just a little too much. And he was certainly unselfish when he took that plane down away from the crowd, but that doesn't change the fact that he wasn't exactly a responsible parent. The impression I get of him is that he was a lot like Hal turned out to be as an adult: arrogant but very charismatic.
Hal's mother is the one who really gives me fits, though. She did a lot that deserves respect. Raising three boys alone, particularly when Hal was one of those boys, is no easy task, so hats off to her for that. And it's perfectly understandable to be afraid, maybe even terrified, of losing a son the same way you lost a husband.
But to attempt to smother your child's hopes and dreams completely? That's... horrible. I don't even have words for how horrible that is, though I tried hard to capture it in The Wild Blue. What makes it worse is that planes were what Hal associated with his father. Cutting him off from his dreams was like cutting him off from all the memories he had associated with the parent he lost. And while it also might be understandable to restrict him a little as a child (particularly since Hal didn't seem inclined to actually listen very often and probably deserved that bit of discipline), it's completely out of line to forbid your child to do what he's always dreamed of doing once he's old enough to do it. Was it selfish of Hal to sneak off in the middle of the night and join the Air Force anyway? Sure. But should he have had to resort to that? No. Of course no mother wants to see her child die for any reason, but I think it's fairly obvious that her desire to restrict him was born more from a fear wrapped up in herself -- a fear of how it would make her feel if he were to die. Or maybe even a fear of the fear itself -- which she would no doubt feel every time he went up in a plane.
Keeping with those restrictions on her very deathbed, though... that's what really takes the cake. She's dying. She knows she's dying. She's known that it was going to happen for a while now. And she still can't bear to see him so long as she knows he's in the Air Force. Once she dies, it's over for her. No more worries, no nothing, and she had to have known that. But Hal is going to have to live with these memories, without having any closure with his only remaining parent, for the rest of his life. That is, unless he gives up the life he loves the most.
So Hal gets it honest. Maybe it was a good thing that Hal was selfish in regards to the Air Force, though. Can you imagine what life would have been like for him if he had respected his mother's wishes and suppressed his dreams to make her happy? Squeezing the life out of a young Hal Jordan... like squeezing an orange dry.
And that brings with it another thought: what would have been different if the Lanterns' origins were switched around? What if Guy had been the one with the father who died in a crash and the mother who couldn't get over it? Would he have rebelled like Hal did, or wither away in response to his mom's wishes, or something else entirely? What if Hal had grown up in an abusive home... or as an only child with a father who was presumed dead? What if Kyle had Hal or Guy's origin instead?
No love for John, I'm afraid: we're still waiting for a real origin story for him. Maybe his life was just very normal and angst-free in comparison to the other three.
It would be fitting if my first post was about Guy Gardner, but you know, a thought occurred to me the other day and it won't leave me alone. I was reading the conclusion to Aranel Took's Green Lantern elseworlds pirate epic Pirates of the Emerald Dawn the other day, and the topic of Hal Jordan's selfishness came up late in the story in a way that I will not spoil for you. Now, I do bash on Hal a bit from time to time because it's just so easy, but I like to think that I'm capable of appreciating his character for what it is. It's refreshing to have a hero whose flaws are so apparent -- and Hal is very real, unlike some other heroes I could name. Don't we all know someone like Hal Jordan? Charismatic despite his flaws, well-intentioned even when he's wrong, etc?
Hal isn't selfish in the sense that he would let a bunch of orphans burn because he doesn't want to mess up his pretty (oh so pretty) hair. Of course not. If he was, he wouldn't be a hero. No one could accuse him of cowardice, or say that he hasn't given and sacrificed a hundred times over for the good of other people.
His selfishness is more on a personal level, and a lot of it stems from his more dominant nature, I think. He's the sort of person who makes decisions for other people without consulting them. "This is what's best for you." He might be doing it out of actual concern for the other person, but that doesn't change the fact that he's taking the decision out of their hands without regard for their personal feelings. Remember when he and Arisia were living with John and Katma? Excuse me, living off of them? Yeah, that's selfish. I don't care if you can't get a job as a test pilot -- when you're mooching off of someone else, you get a job at McDonald's if you have to. (Besides, didn't Hal have experience doing other weird things, like truck driving?) For that matter, a lot of Hal's entire relationship with Arisia is riddled with selfishness and bad judgment. Even in the end, when he returned to speak with her at Warriors and offered her a return to the way things were, it might seem like a nice gesture, but he had to have been completely disregarding her feelings to even ask such a thing. It was like asking her to forget everything that he had done, and everything that had happened between them, because none of that was important so long as he fixed stuff, right?
Similarly, there's The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan. He manipulated Tom. Put the Kalmaku family in danger. And for what? Because he felt bad. It's like breaking someone's vase through your own blatant negligence (not just a simple accident) and thinking you can make up for it by taping it back together with duct tape. There, I fixed it. We're cool now, right?
But my thought was: look at his parents. In general, I would label them pretty good as far as parents go -- and certainly they were better than Rolly and Peggy Gardner, or the absent Aaron Rayner! Hal loved them. They raised him to be a reasonably well-adjusted, confident young man.
But they were both selfish in their own ways, too. There's nothing wrong with a father encouraging his son's loves, or being a hero to his child. But there's definitely something wrong with encouraging (even passively) your child to be late for, or skip school, just so he can hang out with you. Maybe Martin Jordan enjoyed being hero-worshipped just a little too much. And he was certainly unselfish when he took that plane down away from the crowd, but that doesn't change the fact that he wasn't exactly a responsible parent. The impression I get of him is that he was a lot like Hal turned out to be as an adult: arrogant but very charismatic.
Hal's mother is the one who really gives me fits, though. She did a lot that deserves respect. Raising three boys alone, particularly when Hal was one of those boys, is no easy task, so hats off to her for that. And it's perfectly understandable to be afraid, maybe even terrified, of losing a son the same way you lost a husband.
But to attempt to smother your child's hopes and dreams completely? That's... horrible. I don't even have words for how horrible that is, though I tried hard to capture it in The Wild Blue. What makes it worse is that planes were what Hal associated with his father. Cutting him off from his dreams was like cutting him off from all the memories he had associated with the parent he lost. And while it also might be understandable to restrict him a little as a child (particularly since Hal didn't seem inclined to actually listen very often and probably deserved that bit of discipline), it's completely out of line to forbid your child to do what he's always dreamed of doing once he's old enough to do it. Was it selfish of Hal to sneak off in the middle of the night and join the Air Force anyway? Sure. But should he have had to resort to that? No. Of course no mother wants to see her child die for any reason, but I think it's fairly obvious that her desire to restrict him was born more from a fear wrapped up in herself -- a fear of how it would make her feel if he were to die. Or maybe even a fear of the fear itself -- which she would no doubt feel every time he went up in a plane.
Keeping with those restrictions on her very deathbed, though... that's what really takes the cake. She's dying. She knows she's dying. She's known that it was going to happen for a while now. And she still can't bear to see him so long as she knows he's in the Air Force. Once she dies, it's over for her. No more worries, no nothing, and she had to have known that. But Hal is going to have to live with these memories, without having any closure with his only remaining parent, for the rest of his life. That is, unless he gives up the life he loves the most.
So Hal gets it honest. Maybe it was a good thing that Hal was selfish in regards to the Air Force, though. Can you imagine what life would have been like for him if he had respected his mother's wishes and suppressed his dreams to make her happy? Squeezing the life out of a young Hal Jordan... like squeezing an orange dry.
And that brings with it another thought: what would have been different if the Lanterns' origins were switched around? What if Guy had been the one with the father who died in a crash and the mother who couldn't get over it? Would he have rebelled like Hal did, or wither away in response to his mom's wishes, or something else entirely? What if Hal had grown up in an abusive home... or as an only child with a father who was presumed dead? What if Kyle had Hal or Guy's origin instead?
No love for John, I'm afraid: we're still waiting for a real origin story for him. Maybe his life was just very normal and angst-free in comparison to the other three.
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