Oh Hal...Never ever Change

So, lately Geoff Johns has been showing us his version of Hal's origin. I am completely happy with this of course, although it has been pointed out by people with actual military experience in their backgrounds that it would be impossible for Hal to run about stealing jets and punching officers. Presumably it WAS possible for charismatic young pilots to do these things way back in the day when Hal's origin was originally conceived. Another reason why progress is not always a good thing.

But I digress.

This new origin, which is pretty similar to the old origin, except that it fleshes it out a bit more, and adds in a young John Stewart as a Marine is just fine. But it DOES seem that it does away with Emerald Dawn. And that's a shame. While Emerald Dawn and Emerald Dawn II had their problems, I'm a little bit sorry to see them go. For one thing, the art was by M. D. Bright, and he was one of my favorite Green Lantern artists. What the heck is he doing nowadays anyway? He'd be great on Justice League. I didn't particularly like the portrayal of Hal as a drunk, so I don't mind that it has been retconned out.

But what I WILL miss is this...



Because the image of Hal getting mad at a stupid SIGN, and flying headfirst INTO it, was and remains...utterly hilarious. And it's a YELLOW sign, which makes it even better. Not even Guy was this braindead.

Which is why, I'm rather hoping that somehow, somewhere in the future issues of Hal's origin, Mr. Johns might be kind enough to throw in that sign for me. If anyone can explain it, he can.