And Now...For Something Completely Different!

Yup, no more pictures of halk-nekkid men for a while. Unless of course, you REALLY want some. But I thought that I might actually get slightly serious here, and actually...you know...TALK about Green Lanterns for a change. What a concept!

I'm still slightly ambiguous in my feelings towards the new DC Universe. So far, they are doing pretty well, all things considered, and Green Lantern, along with the Bat books seems to have made the jump with the least amount of gratuitous change. And yet...some change does seem to be apparent, although I am still confused as to exactly WHAT now applies and what doesn't.

For example, obviously, the War of the Green Lanterns happened, since Hal was booted out for being too fabulous, and Sinestro was booted back in, for the same reason. At the moment, Hal and Sinestro are out having the time of their lives, and I'm enjoying the heck out of it.

Kyle seems to be in a bit of a pickle, with various rings from all of the various corps chasing after his adorable self. And he's also in hot water with the Guardians which is a bit of a switch, considering he's the one who GAVE THEM LIFE IN THE FIRST PLACE! But the Guardians are really into the whole "What have you Done for me Lately" frame of mind, even if the said saving of their wizened blue butts happened only moments ago.

Guy and John seem to have made the jump fairly easily, although Guy seems to have forgiven John awfully easily and quickly. On the other hand, he forgave Hal pretty easily too, and Hal did a lot worse than John did. On the other hand, killing Mogo is a Pretty Big Deal, and nobody seems to be too worried about it, which I find odd.

I also find odd, that the whole extremely promising subplot going on in Emerald Warriors has just...disappeared. That's annoying.

But you know one of the things that I REALLY find interesting as of late? Hal and Guy seem to have more or less changed places. Back in the day, Hal was the favorite son, able to do whatever he wanted, no matter how crazy or insubordinate, and being able to get away with it, because HE WAS HAL JORDAN, DAMMIT! The other Lanterns worshipped him, and even the Guardians thought that he was just the ginchiest. Guy on the other hand...well NOBODY liked Guy. He was pretty crazy for one thing, and probably just as insubordinate as Hal, except that no one ever cut Guy any sort of slack. Granted, Guy was pretty obnoxious. On the other hand, he usually did a rather good job of getting the job done...in his own special way.

And then of course, we come to Green Lantern #25...the infamous issue where a Parallax-influenced Hal, decides that he doesn't WANT to be a recruiter for the Corps anymore, and basically demands that Guy give up Earth to him...because he wants it, and because he's...well, he's Hal Jordan! Guy isn't inclined in the least to just give up protection of the Earth on Hal's say-so,and who can blame him? Naturally things begin to escalate, as they always do between these two alphas, and Guy makes the mistake of upping the ante a little too much, a fight between them, and the loser gives up his ring. I don't think that Guy really thought that Hal would hold him to that bargain, but he did, and after beating Guy half to death, Hal triumphantly demanded Guy's ring. Guy did the brave thing, and gave it up.

So...Guy had no ring, no powers, no job, no home, no family and certainly no friends. He managed to get himself to Oa, and steal Sinestro's own yellow ring off of his cold dead finger, and get powers all over again, through his own cunning and skill...even though he was still in his brain-dead phase.

And now, Hal is in Guys position. He's been booted unceremoniously out of the Corps. He DOES have a job, although it's not exactly what he wants. He can't fly because he's blown up so many planes that Ferris Air can't possibly insure him. However, Carol assures him that he CAN have a job. But it's not what he wants. So he sulks. He can't pay his bills, he loses his apartment, and he manages to annoy Carol, by asking her to co-sign a loan for him. He can't give up the rush of being a hero, and makes a nuisance out of himself. He's saved, and given a ring! By...Sinestro. And he goes along with it, because he wants a taste of that sweet sweet green power So Badly. Sinestro is playing him like a fiddle, but Hal doesn't even seem to care that much.

Now, Guy is in Hal's position in the Corps. He picked himself up, got powers, started his own business, and once he got his green ring back, he ended up saving the whole damn Corps, not to mention the Universe probably, and ended up number ONE in the Honor Corps. He's respected. He has friends. He is doing a better job of being a Lantern than Hal did. And it just makes me so darn happy. When Hal eventually comes back...and he WILL of course, I just want somehow...an acknowledgement from Hal...that when they were both down and out, Guy was the one who was able to build a life for himself...and Hal wasn't. But that probably will never happen.

But I know it. And you know it.