Okay, so we all know that the staff here at the Tardis are a bunch of unrepentant comic book nerds. Between the comic book and comic book inspired card game I'm creating, and The Ed's GIANT WALL OF TEXT telling you what trades you should be reading, you can guess that we're at least somewhat up on our comic book lore.
So, The Ed and I discussed a few ideas for upcoming blogs, and he and I decided we were going to express our views on something that is near and dear to our hearts. Women in Refrigerators.
So, I thought I would do The Ed a favor and bring you guys up to speed on Green Lantern (as a set-up to The Ed's article).
Green Lantern was created WAAAAAAAAAAAYY back in the day by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell during the Golden Age of Comics. The first man to bear the title of the Green Lantern was Alan Scott. Alan was an engineer who found a magic ring that could create anything he imagined, but had a weakness to wood. (I don't know, it's a thing). Now, Alan's a cool old dude these days, serving as the Obi-Wan to the youngsters in the JSA. But, since he's not the familiar Green Lantern, I'm gonna jump ahead to them.
In the late 50's, early 60's, DC Comics began revamping their older heroes with a more Science Fiction tone. The Flash was the first character to recieve such a revamp. Flash's success lead editor Julius Schwartz (ARCHITECH OF THE SILVER AGE!) to commission other revamps. One of them was Green Lantern.
Gone was engineer Alan Scott and his magic ring, replaced by Test Pilot Hal Jordan and his alien tech ring. Jordan was but one member of the galaxy spanning Green Lantern Corps, a group of intergalactic policemen. His ring could create constructs, same as Scott's, but Hal's ring had a weakness over the color yellow (I cannot make this up).
And things progressed like this for around 30 years. Yeah, sales would drop on Green Lantern, and they'd shake things up by removing him for a bit (leading to two of my favorite Green Lanterns, Guy Gardner and John Stewart...the one from Justice League, not the one from the Daily Show), but for the most part, Hal stuck around. Hal Jordan WAS Green Lantern, just like Bruce Wayne was Batman and Clark Kent was Superman.
Anyways, back in the mid-90s, sales on Green Lantern were crap. We're talking lowest point ever kinda crap. Hal Jordan was...eh fuck it, IS a boring character. (When the guy responsible for "returning you to glory" can only define you by being fearless, you're boring. Being completely without fear is dumb. Fear is one of those emotions that ties everyone together. We're all afraid of something. Get some real characterization, Jordan!)
Anyways, so, Hal's boring, the Dark Age of Comics are in full swing, and since the major shake-ups at Superman and Batman worked SO STUPIDLY WELL, DC Comics decided that they were gonna do the same thing for Hal.
Kinda. I guess they got bit by the "THIS ISSUE EVERYTHING CHANGES!!" bug, but they instead, had Hal Jordan, grief stricken over his failure to protect his hometown from being destroyed (which happened in a damn SUPERMAN book!)tried to use his ring to resurrect Coast City.
The Guardians (the dudes in charge of the Corps) told Jordan to report to Oa (GL HQ) for disciplinary action. Jordan snapped. He went on a killing spree, determined to get all the Green Lantern power and make himself a god. And...he actually succeeded. He killed the Green Lantern Corps, his arch-nemesis, all but one of the Guardians, and absorbed the Central Power Battery. All in all, not Hal's most heroic day, but if you have to kick off your career as a villain, WOW! What a note to start on!
The last surviving Guardian, creates a new ring and passes it on (without instructions) to Kyle Rayner, struggling Freelance Graphic Artist.
Now, I was 11 when I started reading Green Lantern, and I had started right as Hal had gone off the deep end. When I say that everything I learned from Green Lantern, I learned as Kyle Rayner did, I mean it. Kyle is and always shall be my Green Lantern. I don't care what DC Comics says and/or does.
This became one of the most controversial decisions in comics at the time. And this is when LIEFELD was popular! So, that should say something about the fan outcry.
So, Kyle is the ONLY Green Lantern, and pretty much has to learn by doing. Luckily, his down to earth girlfriend, Alex DeWitt is there to help him figure this stuff out. He gets a team-up with Mullet! Superman within like 2 issues of his debut, and then boom! Alex is killed by Z-List Villain Major Force and stuffed into a Refrigerator.
Now, imagine being 12 years old when this happens. This messed me up for a good long while. And apparently, as The Ed will go into, I wasn't the only one. What kills me is that reading Major Force's Wikipedia Entry, THIS is his big claim to fame. He's the guy who killed Green Lantern's girlfriend and stuffed her into the fridge. THAT'S IT. And really, that's sad.
So, Kyle moves to New York, joins the Titans, dates Donna Troy (who as far as I'm concerned is the only woman for Kyle), and starts growing into his role as a hero, even going so far as to join the Justice League.
So, Kyle's a great guy, and he's coming into his own as a character and developing a fan base. Problem is...what Hal's been up to all this time...and for Hal Jordan fans it wasn't pretty...
But at least his costume is badass...
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