Green Lantern's Villain Arc Was Actually Kinda Cool!

[@roryscott2941]

How Zero Hour really ended. Hal: "I can fix everything! I can save Krypton and the Wayne's! I'll make things better." Superman: "Hal I know you're in pain and angry but you can't do that. It would be killing everyone in this time-line to make way for the new one." Batman: "I won't let you use my parents lives as an excuse for these crimes. You have to stand down." Hal: "ok ... well... what if I just fix Hawkman? Ever since 86 he's just been super confusing to remember. Annnnd ... let's make it so you were never Superboy just started out as Superman." Superman: "... Awesome! You have no idea how hard it is to keep that out of the news. You really are the Greatest Green Lantern! This is probably going to piss off the Legion ..." Hal: "I never really GOT them, you know? I'll tweak them too. And wouldn't it be cooler if the Batman was a scary urban legend rather than an public figure?" Batman: "Yes! Oh my God Yes! Do it! Screw this crap shack time-line!" Hal: "Alright I'm about to remake the time-line... we Cool?" All the heroes: "Cool!" Power Girl: "I want a baby!" Hal: "Why didn't you say so earlier girl? That's my other super power!" Hal dips Power Girl and kisses her deeply, all the heroes cheer and clap. Hal says "It's good to be the Greatest." The movie freeze frames Hal winking at the audience while 'Don't stop at the Top' by the Scorpions swells. Roll credits Post Credit Scene Ganthet flouts around Kyle Rayner's apartment complaining about everything. Kyle listens to his headphones ignoring the ancient Guardian of the Universe clucking about low ceilings when he's flying or how Kyle could clean up the refrigerator once in a while

[@roryscott2941]

Thanks for the Pin and Likes!

[@MrEffectfilms]

Damn you even hinted at the infamous fridging😁😁😁. I might have included some line about Kyle not having spoken to his girlfriend today and how that's very unlike her, or something like that.

[@AngelA-qm5vg]

This sound as how Hal would imagine things to go lol

[@feenix219]

i always WAS rooting for him in ZH.... and it DID restore Coast City... did... he.... actually.... win? Great bit.

[@Weirdman20]

​@@MrEffectfilmsIt somewhat reminds me of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories where Kauffman mentioned to Cheryl after James has left due to a "wrong day again?" that he hasn't seen his wife ( Mary ) in a while. If you played Silent Hill 2, you'll know what happened to Mary in that game.

[@DegenerateJay]

His character design during rhe Parallax era is still absolute peak.

[@valletas]

His personality and characterization were the best as well I miss parallax hal

[@d.6786]

Facts. It still holds up still.

[@etetgg1364]

fr

[@misterwizardboy3103]

DEGENERATEJAYYYYYYY

[@DirtyDev]

Oh look a wild degenerate Jay

[@SaltyCalhoun]

"I don't want memories, damn it!" is probably the most relatable thing I've heard someone say about loss.

[@mesodini246]

Yeah but killing all your friends has gotta be the least relatable

[@SaltyCalhoun]

@@mesodini246 True, but even the most evil people can be relatable sometimes. Like a broken clock

[@Tokmurok]

​@@SaltyCalhounPutting those english classes to use

[@deadpilled2942]

​@zace00 bruh. Broken Clock was the villain created to be completely unrelatable. He's a broken grandfather clock with a cape and top hat

[@tysondennis1016]

That line is so raw

[@alarrim29574]

Even if you hate it, no body can not admit that it spawned one of the best and most iconic covers of all time

[@bsharpmajorscale]

He's so evil, he crossed out of the DC multiverse and copped Mr. Fantastic's hair style. :P

[@Mun3001s]

Honestly? Hal becoming Parallax was a spectacular idea, but it was severely undercooked. The only time he feels like really *the bad guy* he's built up to be in Emerald Twilight was Zero Hour, and that's basically it. After that they basically hurried to make him sympathetic again. Other than that, it was just underwhelming. The best that came out of it was after the fact, with how having to pick up the pieces from having been a villain and not being trustworthy anymore.

[@rayvenkman2087]

It’s so rare that such a face-heel turn is treated with such weight and gravity in a way that’s the nucleus behind a whole saga by a different who came after the writer who enacted the character change. Usually when such an unpopular change is done to a character and revert the change, they act like it never happened or come up with a convoluted retcon to absolve the character of their wrongdoing.

[@alarrim29574]

Face to heel to face only seems to work in wrestling

[@bensneb360]

While I think the story might’ve benefited from more build up, I think it’s an cool story arc and makes Hal one of the more complex heroes out there

[@rayvenkman2087]

It’s like Pro Wrestling sometimes. Something as significant as this story is just treated like business as usual but the regular barkeep had a heart attack last week and his illegitimate son from Winnipeg takes over.

[@kinoman4875]

@@rayvenkman2087i have no idea what the fuck you just said

[@JohanMGO]

I started reading DC when I was 21. Started with green lantern!! Now I'm 35 and still reading

[@ivanagustinortiz5237]

The writer pretty much agrees with this, he said he would've done six issues of Hal's turn to evil.

[@CDCobermai]

I don’t rmemeber if this is official or not, but I’ve always interpreted Hal’s initially denial of the death of coast city not a sign of grief, but an effect of his sheer willpower, refusing to give up on his city even after everything may seem to be gone. His will wojld be its strongest in that moment, which makes sense given his great feat of recreating the city

[@CDCobermai]

Also the guardians giving Sinestro a power ring in hopes of killing Hal is such a badass moment

[@TheMikeskillz]

As many have said in the past “Emerald Twilight” was way too rushed. Hal going from morale beacon to happily maiming friends to remorseless killer in 3 issues put readers in cervical collars due to whiplash.

[@emissarial6598]

Hal Jordan was my favorite growing up and still is. It was painful to see him eviscerated and humiliated for most of the 90's, then nearly forgotten.

[@SanSan-jp1fr]

I agree the DCAMU didn't even make him win one fight, and he's been a punching bag for as long as I can remember that's why people say he's weak

[@notabot5062]

​@@SanSan-jp1frThat's the thing with most green lanterns to be honest. Granted, I am not much of a comic reader, but in animations green lanterns usually get the L. The way GL's fight are kinda underwhelming too. They have a weapon that can create anything but choose brick walls, rockets from earth, and planes and all that crap. Maybe it is because the lanterns they focus on are all from earth but incredibly lame imo.

[@SanSan-jp1fr]

@@notabot5062 Hal Jordon in the comics is a badass tbh he even defeated Mongul a superman a-lister despite his ring being weakened because of Monguls yellow skin and having a broken arm before the fight and like the guy in the video said he soloed the entire GL corps which is just crazy

[@jrob4795]

The 90’s were tough for the flagship characters.

[@vehementhalo3723]

Idk, no offence but I’ve always found him so boring when compared to other lanterns, what is it people like about him? Genuinely curious

[@ryandeluxe]

The retcon into it being an emotional entity/eldrich god sorta thing actually kicks so much ass, and that’s for a decision they made afterward

[@rayvenkman2087]

In terms of retcons, it’s actually not a bad one because it simply adds another layer and how they executed helped to make Hal’s drastic shift from grief stricken hero to Frenzy Hal make more sense than it originally did due to how the original writers treated Hal’s reaction to the destruction of his home city with him being “I know I’ve lost them but I’m okay” in the GL comic to “I’ve lost everything and trying to cope with the loss but the Guardians are being hypocritical assholes” in ET like there was a miscommunication of ideas between them both.

[@joshjones9749]

Its one of the good retcons where you don't have to ignore things to make it fit. There's enough space and potential questions in the original arc to make Rebirth feel plausible.

[@simone3249]

that double page a 2:39 is beautiful, it's very Alan Moore-ish. In fact, Hal creating the green city with his ring is very reminiscing of the blue world issue from his Swamp Thing run.

[@obamalover2113]

I came from Jay's Twitter announcement of this and I have to say you did a great job. I completely agree this storyline is very overhated and it also has some of the best Green Lantern comic book art ever made IMO

[@rayvenkman2087]

It’s a story that wouldn’t have been as significant to Hal had Geoff John just ignored the events or handwaved it away rather than using the events to establish a new status quo for GL.

[@seanwilliams7655]

Dan Jurgens was the artist I think. He did some Superman work around the same time as well.

[@10101funday]

Love "8 shades of dead" I appreciate you getting to the point while also having an intro. 16 minutes is a perfect time for a video like this.

[@jghifiversveiws8729]

Bro was collecting rings like his first name was Michael instead of Hal.

[@alienatedpoet1766]

You're right that this is Hal at his most interesting. What I love about later stories in the Geoff Johns era is that Hal is a smaller part of a larger universe. He might be the "best" but he is just one in a whole CORP of heroes. Sure Parallax is a retcon, but it opened the floodgates for better stories. Likewise, Hal going evil was kind of before we got to see multiple evil supermen and batmen. A story of how Willpower used toward evil is more interesting than "What if Super-man went evil" or "Look batman uses a gun now" Many didn't over-play it back then, but heroes turning bad is overplayed now. By extension when heroes went bad there was genuine thought behind it. Now there are so many evil supermen or superman-knock-offs that no matter how much thought or time is put into them, they just blur together.

[@lostonegrey1555]

Definitely agree, i will admit i got into comics because of evil superman. it was a concept i found interesting at the time mainly for the powerset being used for evil, plus i like villains more. But yeah theres way too many and a new one popping up can be an eye role now, and i understand how superman fans feel. Stories like Parallax show theres great potential for general supervillain stories and seems like a great hero turned villain story aswell.

[@Two-ToneMoonStone]

Yeah the "evil superhero" thing is almost as generic as the idea of a supervillain. Hal turning is a super interesting concept but it wasn't done to make Hal interesting, it was done to sell Green Lantern books like they did with Knightfall and TDOS.

[@seanwilliams7655]

The Parallax retcon is the best thing to come out of Emerald Twilight.

[@absoul112]

Funny thing is that the Parallax entity feels like a cop out because a lot of fans wanted a cop out to absolve Hal's actions as Parallax. I believe there was a group called Hal's Emerald Action Team (HEAT) that basically wrote letters to DC to get Hal Jordan a redemption quick.

[@Videodrome1991]

The Parallax entity is the explanation for Hal's abrupt jump to murder. It doesn't absolve him completely because it wouldn't have gotten far had it not been for Hal's lapse in faith following the destruction of Coast City.

[@MugiwaraZero]

Parallax gives me nox vibes Someone commiting crimes and hurting people without mercy because he thinks that once he wins all his crimes will be essentially undone

[@FlashNeko417]

I also preferred Hal as Parallax. It was interesting to see the Darth Vader idea of "this old and trusted hero who turned to evil" actually being used on an old and trusted hero. It gave it more weight because it actually WAS someone we'd seen make bonds and have memories with the other heroes instead of it just being someone invented out of thin air who we're told the heroes have a connection like that with. And frankly, out of the three human Lanterns at the time, he was easily the most boring. John, an architect, was way more creative with his powers and Guy was fun because of how much of an utter chucklef**k he was. Hal was... just a dude until he felt he needed to FIX things. And his "I can fix it! I can fix it!" motivation (when he cannot actually fix "it" and is actually making "it" worse) is very strong and understandable. Especially when he's trying to tempt others, mostly Kyle, into thinking the same way he does. Especially since this was once someone who DID once try to do only good for so many years but then fell to the dark side of his own free will. Then they ruined it by introducing the giant cop-out of that frickin' yellow space bug.

[@thomasraines1396]

The space bug was just there to absolve him of any wrong doing.

[@SanSan-jp1fr]

yeah it was even good writing material for other heroes he was close with like Green Arrow who was best friends with Hal but had to deal with the fact that Hal his best friend is a villain and Guy Gardner as well because he also lived in Coast City and lost his girlfriend but had to fight his friend and even mentor (in a way). And Kyle Rayner having to deal with the pressure of being the last green lantern it was fucking perfect but dc were pussies that's their problem

[@wr5488]

I believe the Fear Entity heavily influenced him and made him paranoid/irrational but never had a true grip on him like it later did on Kyle. In Convergence he seems truly regretful and remorseful of his actions when Parallax is depowered. Once the powers come back on he’s back to being the prideful powerhouse he is.

[@Jinnz2]

@@wr5488nice to see that somebody else has my opinion on the whole bug parallax

[@Videodrome1991]

You clearly didn't read Rebirth and the rest of the Geoff run if you think it absolved Hal of Parallax.

[@ladymarianne9680]

It is one of the most impactful arcs of Green Lantern comics, it is both brutal and tragic; and I'm a Hal Jordan fan who just loves this storyline

[@davidbjacobs3598]

I also love Parallax. I do wish he'd been dealt with by Kyle more primarily. But it's a fascinating fall from grace, and I love that he's a villain who doesn't want to be seen as a villain. His goal is literally to "undo" every terrible thing he's done.

[@pocketpoochie6419]

So evil Hal Jordan is just better Injustice Superman?

[@adididavidi6185]

yes

[@rayvenkman2087]

Absolutely. Hal lost his entire city to Mogul and the Guardians were being assholes about his grief. Unknowingly influenced by Paralax. Injustice Superman lost Lois to a pair of Batman’s villains who also caused several fatalities in Metropolis and treating Batman as if he’s in the right despite being the one who allowed Joker to live long enough to kill Lois Lane when he should have put the rabid dog down long ago. Unknowingly influenced by Neatherealm being Neatherealm and WB being unable to understand the appeal in Superman with their heads up in Batman’s Bat-Ass.

[@bsharpmajorscale]

​@@rayvenkman2087"several" didn't Metropolis get nuked?

[@redchariot4006]

Yes

[@adididavidi6185]

Honestly that doesn't mean much since injustice is pretty bad

[@stefangreen3770]

Hal becoming Parallax was a cool idea but when DC retconed it to where he was possessed by the entity to me was a huge cop out.

[@unluckydreamer]

We also wouldn't have got Kyle if he never went bad

[@DD8842]

i liked emrald twilight it made me see a DCU with stakes. Heros could loose heroes could fall. When I realized it moved in cycles and there was little real change I left.

[@sammykent5752]

This. So much this.

[@babysinclairfan]

The reason Parallax was such a fantastic villain was because we had gotten to know hom as a hero. It made his fall tragic and his motives convincing. Compare this to Sinestro. For the longest time, we had never seen Sinestro as anything but a villain so his time as a hero was impossible to imagine. Emerald Dawn gave us our first glimpse of him as a good guy and the Geoff Johns run showed us the more human side of our favorite fear-wielding tyrant.

[@deathseekr1537]

Guy gardener is one of my favorites, hes similar to Spiderman but its way more personal as people hate him because of his personality and not because someones lying about him, and yet hes still a hero

[@vicentematias763]

To me the Parallax retcon elevates the character more. Before, he was unstable in a way that for some could be seen as week for his character. With Parallax, even if he ultimately was corrupted by the entity, he fought it during much longer than anyone could. Instead of being "he broke because he was weak" it becomes "no one would have stood up for so long if he wasnt so strong"

[@SanSan-jp1fr]

he has already said he's lost respect for the guardians in 1984 in his series with green arrow so the guardians stopping him from bringing back coast city was the final straw for him

[@stupendoushorrendous8258]

One thing you failed to mention was Hal's time as the Spectre between Emerald Twilight and Rebirth. That's my favorite thing to come out of his turn to the dark side and death. His contributions to Green Arrow: Quiver and mentoring Secret in Young Justice were both great

[@zedokaiba6047]

To quote Man Arkham City fans, "why did the guardians piss off hal Jordan? Are they stupid?"

[@aknight7252]

Nice to see a fellow Kyle Rayner fan

[@ShantyIrishman]

“All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day.”

[@toxsun]

I have this in a collection of these issues, one of my favorite storylines. I always took the beginning with Hal's textboxes being yellow, to be Parallax inside his head, goading him into using his ring to try and recreate Coast City, which led to the Guardians noticing and trying to reprimand him, which just made him crazier and deciding to do what he did. That's just my headcanon anyway. Great video! Edit: I see you noticed the yellow textboxes too. 😂 I have to agree that looking back, with Rebirth, it does make much more sense that would be the case.

[@durururururururu]

"2 laterns 1 battery" i love the editing x3

[@mccloaker]

Green Lantern's turn is a really good allegory for either Alzheimer's or schizophrenia.

[@bannedfreespeech]

Concussions, Mongel beat the shit out of Hal

[@ryuoh6928]

"You're a cool guardian, Ganthet. Don't come to sector 2814 tomorrow."

[@loganswalk8621]

If they had done emerald twilight in 5-6 issues rather than 3 and gave Hal a bit more of a slow burn turn to villainy I feel the turn might’ve been accepted as the original backlash was Hal going 0 to 100 real quick.

[@josephsuarez7629]

Green lanters' concept is very appealing to artists and philosophers, which you seem to be both so it makes sense why you were so attracted to green lantern

[@Dilemina]

Hal's turn as a villain led to some great design and artwork. Also liked the design of Kyle's hero outfit. Very different from status quo, and not cringe like Guy Gardner.

[@valletas]

I will never be able to see hal jordan as a normal hero He will always be the guy who went crazy and commited genocide no matter how much dc tries to retcon the emerald twilight

[@christianjacobs2193]

You just described why the story is doo doo

[@valletas]

@@christianjacobs2193 if villains can have redemption arcs why cant heroes become a villain?

[@christianjacobs2193]

@@valletas major disaster didn't cover the issues at the top right before Emerald Twilight, Hal in the issues prior was shown that he was going to be okay... Then at 48. It's switched. It was character assassination. If they went with the original plan Kyle still probably would have been brought in

[@christianjacobs2193]

@@valletas major disaster didn't cover the issues at the top right before Emerald Twilight, Hal in the issues prior was shown that he was going to be okay... Then at 48. It's switched. It was character assassination. If they went with the original plan Kyle still probably would have been brought in

[@nathannix3217]

@@christianjacobs2193I don’t see anything wrong with it

[@GD0nly]

>Yellow Nyarlethotep Hastur. You're talking about Hastur. The King in Yellow.

[@jacobwebb1876]

Absolute amazing take that I completely agree with. I'm a gen z so reading it with everything that's come before and after, out of order, I also loved the parallax story and I love hal.

[@forbiddencolor]

I think it's one of the best runs DC ever put out. I hope they publish an omnibus of it one day.

[@wutaday1222]

Hal becoming parallax is something that had to age to be appreciated

[@isaiahbaylor8337]

Parallax is the best DC villain. I LOVED the twist in Beware my power!

[@BLAZAKIN-ic7nd]

Honestly even tho I think Hal as Parallax was cool for a bit I still think Geoff John's run with Hal is probably the best Green Lantern story told so Hal will be my favourite but John and Kyle have some amazing stories as well

[@theanomaly3463]

Congrats man you worked hard to get here! The views are a testament to how you are capable of growing

[@gabagoof]

Your analysis is on point. Underrated channel.

[@FernandoVillanueva-s3m]

I grew up reading Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Batman; the Emerald Twilight was one of the best series ever as you pointed. For obvious reasons you can't put Superman to be as human like Hal was in that arc and introduction to Parallax what it was and where it resided and how the color yellow affected the ring in 2004 was just a wow to a whole new universe. I am glad you did read it and had a unbiased view and enjoyed it.

[@stopable1473]

Hold on "a family with ADHD track stars" that is the best way I have heard the flash family be described 😂😂😂😂

[@kingskelett6265]

11:10 To quote Stannis Baratheon for this: „A good act does not wash out a bad one. And neither does a bad act wash out a good one.“

[@bobbynickens310]

Emerald Twilight is still one of my favorite comics as a big comic fan in the 90's. The cover with Hal holding up all the rings is peak. I keep it framed in my display case.

[@R3W1NDXD]

Great video gahdamn, ive never heard of this storyline but it fucks! It reminds me of injustice but with hal instead of superman. Keep makin good shit brother

[@EyeOfArgus]

I think Parallax Hal is a fascinating idea that was ruined by rushed story telling

[@jokester117]

Kinda insane how it was all orchestrated by Sinestro and Parallax to make Hal a villain.

[@rayvenkman2087]

They were truly TF2 Spy mains before they were any.

[@hippiedude2232]

Parallax was a decent arc, but I wish they would of fleshed it out a bit more, and maybe have another superhero give him an exorcism via beating the parallax out of him or him just willing parallax into submission to return him to "good guy" status instead of just retconning everything.

[@kwayneboy1524]

It's been a while since I read Zero Hour but I think his reasoning for tampering with reality was both believable and relatable. I love the idea of him feeling so down about how bad its all gotten in life that he wants to make a better reality for everyone. It's relatable that he wants things too be simple again and back when he wasn't a killer.

[@BrassCandy]

These were some of the first comics I read as a kid. My dad collected a lot of GL and alongside New 52, I checked this out. Great stuff 🥴

[@sirbenedict2519]

Emerald Twilight was the first ever real comic story I ever read. I loved it. It was amazing, and I was hoping that the direction of the Green Lantern movies would go that way and really deal with fear as a construct and just how terrifying and powerful of a force it can be.

[@michaeljordan9664]

Now this video is what I call a slam dunk

[@tyrellturner5602]

Damn Hal Jordan pulled a WandaVision

[@knuckson8304]

One of the coolest stories ever, I also prefer the Paralax retcon tbh More green lanterns content pls

[@ZekromAndYugiAndDrago123]

While I definitely prefer Flash, Green Lantern is definitely up there for me, especially the Indigo Lanterns, who are fueled by Compassion. However, unlike every other Lantern Corp, who are seek members who feel a lot of that emotion (Green Lanterns seek out those with a large amount of willpower, Red those with a lot of anger), Indigo Lantern Rings seek out those with a glaring LACK of compassion, and the entire Corp is essentially a galaxy wide prison reform as their lantern rings force hardened criminals with zero compassion to feel it. So this is my pitch for an Indigo Lantern Joker *bang*

[@RenoRelapse2287]

How would you look at Hal’s drip and hate that part of him? Look at my man’s! His drip is so good you might as well call him Hal “pacific ocean” Jordan

[@Andrewhunsicker-f3o]

always loved green lantern and always loved hal as both the hero and the villain

[@mrkaji8913]

I would love to see the storyline get adapted faithfully

[@SanSan-jp1fr]

the tomorrow verse tried it but completely disrespected Hal and made him lose easily to a rookie John Stewart and die to Green Arrow and a shitty redesign and the most rushed storyline I've ever seen

[@mrkaji8913]

@@SanSan-jp1fr hopefully we’ll get our faithful adaptation in the future, hopefully made by mappa

[@SanSan-jp1fr]

@@mrkaji8913 yeah I hope so as well because I loved this storyline, it was even my first dc story not counting infinite earths

[@mrkaji8913]

@@SanSan-jp1fr I really hope we get a definitive Empre, joker story. You don’t get enough bizarro in animation

[@SanSan-jp1fr]

@@mrkaji8913 fr Bizarro is underrated I'd like to see a blue beetle movie about Ted Kord tbh, because he was a pretty fun guy to read about, and I barely see him in animation because everyone knows about Jamie Reyes it's no secret but Ted is in my opinion a far better character

[@cookieraider2182]

I always thought that Final Night would’ve been a beautiful ending if green lantern were a singular comic book story. No reboots, just one author with a single vision. Seeing Hal’s beginning, training, ride, and his eventual fall. Hearing the oath one final time before he dies would’ve been so powerful.

[@Chibitoodlesaltarc]

That thumbnail pic is a potential meme. Look at his face lmao

[@PsychoBible]

You skipped Parallax View. He had a wake-up call after fighting Kyle there.

[@59hawks]

I think Parallax Hal Jordan is a great stint. I think it's however it should never be a thing again. Parallax Hal Jordan should never be repeated as his character has grown past it.

[@overlord6993]

I love the emerald twilight arc and everything that follows it witg hal becoming the spectre, dying a sinner, bringing back green arrow from the dead. Rocks

[@wr5488]

He’s still out there! Most powerful villain in DC by feats (only Mandrakk is comparable imo). He came to the main universe after Convergence! He’s actually currently with Green Arrow. I think Hal Parallax meeting Fear Bug Parallax would be great. Hal would probably kill it, he’s got a hate boner for the Sinestro’s and has apparently just been hunting them.

[@jamealjordon1376]

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I wonder if the writers of the Dark Knight were thinking of Emerald Twilight.

[@tysondennis1016]

Remember when Green Lantern became Mean Lantern?

[@jeffersonhouse94]

My thoughts as someone who DID read through all this in real time: First off, Green Lantern has ALWAYS been my favorite DC superhero, since first seeing him in the old Superfriends cartoons as a child. The thought that he could just make anything he wanted at any time blew my tiny mind. Second, and I hate to say this, Hal himself was dorectionless and BORING as the 90's kicked into gear. My first issue was 25 where he defeated Guy for the right to Earth as a patrol beat, forcing Guy out of the Corps in general. I was thrilled at the time, as Guy had proven himself an obnoxious blowhard and thorn in the Justice League's side for quite some time. However, Hal didn't really do much with this victory, seeming aimless and uncommitted in his role as primary GL of Sector 2814. He can't decide on a job, who he wants to date, he can't even decide on a direction for his role as a hero. He seem to take on a leadership role on the JLE, only to leave his teammates hanging multiple times. What's more is there's not many other options, as Guy is out of the Corps by this point, having taken Sinestros ring by this point. John meanwhile, is busy on Oa in thee Mosaic series, still recovering from his wife's murder (at the hands of Carol as Star Saphire, no less) and being partially responsible for the destruction of a planet. With this in mind, sales were not great. Editorial brought in Ron Marz, who had a proven track record with cosmic stories with Silver Surfer. Marz has apparently gone on the record saying he wanted 6 issues for Hal's heel turn, and the new GL to be female. Obviously, DC nixed both those ideas, but what we got was a solid story with a much more interesting hero regardless. As a teen reading in the 90s, Kyle was far more compelling and relatable than Hal was, and you're absolutely right: Hal was MUCH more interesting as a villain, who "just wanted to make everything right" than as a rambling hero on the verge of a midlife crisis . I think the biggest missed opportunity of Johns' Rebirth and subsequent run is not showing a redemption arc for Hal, having all Sims absolved, even by Kilowog who he straight up VAPORIZERD always seemed cheap and lazy to me. It's not that they brought Hal back, we always knew that was coming, it's that they didn't make him earn it. In not seeing that, Hal lost all the pathos and depth that cane during his list years as Parallax, and the Specter. In the end, I'm glad we still have Kyle, along with a host of other human Lanterns, but Kyle will always be MY Lantern...

[@1052jackson]

icl if you did this kind of recounting of all your favourite comics i would be back every week great vid lad

[@mike3325able]

Currently reading Crisis in Time with little context as to what happened to Hal - just continuous references to him falling apart. Glad this video came across my feed

[@NIDELLANEUM]

I love that this video came out a few days after Linkara made a review of the comic, pointing out both the good and the bad of it. Now, we have two different perspectives of the same story arc, and both are valid in what they're describing

[@spacy7332]

Great vid Mr Night

[@danieloconnell695]

Be nice to Jean Gray... I mean Hal Jordan. Which retcon to evil all controlling entity happened first?

[@TheLithp]

I don't know if it's fair to comment since I didn't read those comics, but the way you describe them sounds like they were incredibly bizarre and rushed.

[@kwayneboy1524]

Somewhat true

[@thomasraines1396]

They were, this story for example was only 3 issues.

[@prof.dexample6238]

As a fellow lower-subscriber count youtuber, this was a very good video! I especially liked the "2 lanterns 1battery" joke, keep up the good work! 👍👍

[@Dan-1031]

Imma Hal Jordan D rider, so I don’t like my boy being dead or evil, but that story would’ve been even better if the writers didn’t have the constraints of the regular universe on them and would just be allowed to be set to run free in another universe. It feels like this story could’ve been fleshed out better

[@bsharpmajorscale]

Refreshing honesty! :P

[@wr5488]

He’s in the main universe! He’s actually currently being used in the Green Arrow run. Honestly I think he’s the strongest villain in DC

[@Dan-1031]

@@wr5488 I agree he’s a great villain, and would love for his villainous counterpart to be fleshed out even more but the hero is just elite. He always shows the Guardians what true Will means and he’s just a classic guy

[@applesandgrapesfordinner4626]

Like a what-if?

[@yapolar]

always thought the same, n i thought it was so weak how they then blamed it on the fear entity

[@Geebees93]

That's clearly Booster Gold.

[@rollierick2232]

Geoff John’s addition to the mythos of the Green Lantern Corps is perfection

[@redchariot4006]

Yeah, I personally think his turn could had been handled better but knowing the situation at the time, I can understand why it happened. Compared to evil Superman becoming a dictator, I actually kinda like Hal's evil persona as Parallax better. Even his motivation in Zero Hour was interesting. Also the covers from this arc are such wonderful ones, you can't say that one with Hal sporting the rings of the GL corp members in every finger isn't iconic.

[@jairthemememaster]

W video. Ever since i watched green lantern: beware my power, I started to like Hal as a villain.

[@Nunezproductions]

Good video! Very informative and has personality to it! My only critiques would be that there’s a lot of pauses that last just a second to long and it feels a little awkward. The only other critique I have is that you stutter a little bit or trip over your words. I can 100% relate as I have a stutter at times too. My best advice is to break the script up into shorter lines. No need to rewrite the script, but just read it sentence by sentence or whatever your comfortable with and works for you. Otherwise, great video! Loved learning about your perspective on green lantern’s villain arc. More of a fresh take and I like it!

[@kevrulz06]

Not a bad take at all. I've been a die hard DC comics fan for well over a decade. I have the 3 Geoff Johns Omnis, loved it all! Have read most of GL from 2005 to present. Still never read Emerald Twilight though. It's one of those "fill in the blanks" spots I need in my comics collection. There's a lot of interesting character work going on in this, and you've reignited my interest in this era.

[@DeathRex88]

Not sure if you knew this but after his death he ended up becoming the Spectre. It was in a five issue mini series called Day of Judgment. So it wasn't like Hal was shelved long, 96-99.

[@MrButterTroll]

Great video man!

[@lostonegrey1555]

I actually admire that you like Hal Jordan as a villain. Ive never been a Hal Jordan fan or even a green lantern fan but this does seem like a really cool story and you may have made a new parallax fan out of me.

[@Coswalker27]

oh shit wait so the yellow lantana aren't like a old idea. i thought they exist for year. but on wiki it say 2006.

[@doge9455]

Kyle reiner needs so star in some movie or show

[@MrMeaty-lk5ii]

The power girl picture in that book is what solidified me being straight fr

[@veillifted]

I'm still quoting dialogue from those issues! Still my all-time favorite storyline!

[@dustlight1762]

I'm not huge comic book fan and only know few superheros But man green lantern building replacement worlds,this shit is cool af

[@AR-mi9cv]

I love this story

[@The_Texorcist]

I think that they could have used the parallax entity differently. Instead of controlling him it could have been almost like a devils advocate, the voice in your head that doesn’t control you but can influence your lesser angels. That way Hal would still be responsible for those actions instead of having them scapegoated. I think most fans felt that way so that when they did bring him back one thing he had to deal with is the consequences of his actions.

[@declanfoster7720]

Parallax and the Blackest Night runs were the runs that originally got me into comics. They'll always hold a place in my heart, and i think they did a better job of defining a lot of the characters than some of the main lines (Flash's arc in Blackest Night is amazing)

[@lucifermagne7458]

Blackest Night got me into DC. I was a Marvel comics exclusive fan before, but my friend let me borrow Blackest Night and I instantly fell in love with it