Green Lantern #30

And so, the secret origin of Hal Jordan, as told by Geoff Johns continues. And it continues...brilliantly! I know that the story of Hal's origin has been told off and on throughout the years, with twists and turns here and there, but I have to say that I think THIS version is the best so far. Mr. Johns has taken a lot of the familiar bits and pieces, and updated them without losing the original flavor. And it WORKS by Gad.

We get a whole lot more of Abin Sur for one thing. As the story opens, he's in his little ol' spaceship, talking via the ring with none other than his best buddy, Sinestro. He also just happens to have Atrocitus from Ysmault imprisoned. Abin Sur is obsessed with the prophecy of the Blackest Night, and he's bound and determined to figure the whole thing out. Therefore, the reason that he's on Earth makes very good sense

We then get to see our boy Hal. He's been kicked out of the Air Force after trying unsuccessfully to please his dying mother, and he's been at lose ends ever since. He's ended up working for one of his Dad's old buddies, Ken Arden. Exept he's working as a mechanic instead of in the air, because apparently, his reputation for recklessness has preceeded him. I love how Hal is working the "Old Boy" network with both hands.

We get to see Tom Kalmaku, AKA Pie Face, and the boorish way that one of the pilots treats him. Hal stands up for Tom, but in a way it is amusing to see that the oafish pilot Laminski really isn't THAT different from the way that Hal acted in the original version. Hal is eating his heart out, stuck on the ground, and the knife just gets twisted when they truck in an old hulk of a plane, that turns out to be one that his Dad had taken him up in as a kid. So Hal goes off to talk to his boss.




Isn't that the prettiest young Hal that you ever did see? I really love the way that Johns is writing Hal as being young and a bit foolish, not to mention the way that Ivan Reis is DRAWING Hal as being young and still a bit wet behind the ears.

Then Carol shows up.

Hal immediately changes his tone, but Carol, although she does acknowledge his existance, isn't falling for his charm. I really do like Carol. She's doing her best to be professional while swimming in a sea of testosterone.

Hal goes off to sulk a little, and climbs into the cockpit of the old battered plane that had just been hauled onto the airfield. Meanwhile Abin Sur is having his own problems. Atrocitus just won't let up, and there is that strange reflection of the Parallax symbol in Abin Sur's eye just before Atrocitus manages to bust out of his weaked bonds and attack. Did Abin Sur actually weaken here, or is there more to this? I'll tell you one thing, there is a whole lot of yellow light in the cockpit of that spacecraft! Atrocitus manages to jump ship...quite literally, while Abin Sur is forced to stay with the craft in order to guide to an uninhabited area, or else Coast City would probably have gotten blown up a whole lot earlier than it was supposed to.

It is while Hal is musing in the pilot's seat of the old plane that he's snatched by the ring. The ring is busy spouting information as it hauls Hal along, and you get a sense that Hal is just flabberghasted by the whole experience. He arrives at the ship, and enters, only to find that Abin Sur is on his last legs, and offering him the ring. True to his impetuous nature, Hal figures "what the hell?" basically, and gives Abin Sur a final moment of amusement in the idea of an EARTHMAN being a Green Lantern. He dies with a final word on his lips...Sinestro. Hal of course hasn't a clue who or what a Sinestro is, but he has other things to think about as the ring flies onto his finger for the first time.

There is a lovely explanation of the power of the ring and the nature of the Green Lantern uniform, with the Green being hot, and the Black being cold. Hal starts babbleing to himself, and recognizing his willpower, the ring does what he asks. Next thing you know, Hal is flying, and screaming "Holy #?$%!!" at the top of his lungs.



And just like that, Hal's a Green Lantern.

As much as Hal can occasionally annoy me with his character flaws, his arrogance, his frequent stupidity, and so on, I have to admit that he takes to the powers of the ring like a duck to water. Hal's a hero, and he shows it. He ends up inadvertently flying past the pilot from Arden, the oafish Laminski, who is goofing off, and reading girlie magazines when he ought to be paying attention to his plane, and boasting over the radio about how he's gonna nail Carol. Hal startles him, and he loses control of the plane. Hal has to figure out a way to save him, all by the seat of his pants, since he really doesn't have a CLUE as to what to do at this point. And...being Hal, of coures he does.

There are a whole lot of other nice little touches. When it senses other people running to the crash landing of the plane, the ring whips up the mask, which startles Hal. He also doesn't have the emblem of the Lanern on his chest yet, since he's still very much the rawest of rookies. And his uniform is the one with the black shoulders, which I always liked. The rest of the crowd comes running up, including Tom and Carol. Carol manages to stumble over some of the wreckage, and Hal grabs her to keep her from falling, and right then and there, you can see it "click", all without even seeing their eyes. And who is that standing right there and scowling at them?

Heh heh. I'm leaving that a secret. Buy it and find out for yourselves.