Once upon a time, DC Comics’ iconic space superhero went completely unhinged, beat up all his intergalactic peacekeeping comrades and stole the power that let all Green Lanterns fight evil. Now Parallax is back and he’s fighting a Hal Jordan who doesn’t even have a ring any more.
Spoilers follow.
Twenty-two years ago, Hal Jordan turned into the biggest bad guy the heroes of the DC Universe had ever faced. The traumatic destruction of his hometown by cosmic conqueror Mongul led to Hal’s theft of every Green Lantern ring in existence, the absorption of the Central Power Battery and transformation into Parallax. As shown in Zero Hour, his desire to create a ‘perfect’ version of the universe led to one of the many reboots of DC continuity. Little mention has been made of the Parallax identity since DC cleared the decks with the New 52 reboot of 2011, but that mega-powerful version of Hal Jordan just returned in the latest issue of Green Lantern.
Green Lantern #50 opens with Parallax looking over his hometown of Coast City, vowing to protect it from any harm. His first target: the new 52 version of Hal Jordan. It’s not clear where exactly this evil older version of Hal Jordan is from. An alternate reality of Parallax appeared during DC’s Convergence event from last winter, which also had restored the multiverse structure wiped out by the New 52. The current mainline version of Hal doesn’t wield a ring any more. Instead, he channels green willpower energy through a gauntlet prototype that predates the rings used by the Green Lantern Corps.
Despite the increased power of the gauntlet, New 52 Hal gets his trenchcoat-wearing butt handed to him.
That is until he experiences a sudden exponential power upgrade of his own.
What’s especially confusing here is the fact that the Green Lantern corner of the DC Universe wasn’t re-imagined whole cloth like the Superman or Wonder Woman mythos. The New 52 version of Hal is still the one who became Parallax.
(Parallax is actually a sentient energy being who takes over his hosts and Sinestro later bonded with the malevolent yellow energy creature in the new continuity.) So, this Hal-Parallax either hails from the past or an alternate reality. One wonders if Parallax’s return — like that of the pre-New 52 Superman in the Lois & Clark series — is a seed for what will happen in the upcoming not-a-reboot-for-real-this-time Rebirth event. We’ll find out in a few months, as details about Rebirth start trickling out. Until then, this fight will either be a weighty portent or a brief reappearance of a loathed heel turn for a beloved hero.
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10 responses to “The Worst Version Of Hal Jordan Just Came Back In Green Lantern”
Is it just me, or is the entire DC Universe now just a complete and utter shambles?
Pretty much and thankfully they seem to realise that, hence their quickish turnaround with this whole rebirth thing upcoming going back to the original legacy stuff.
I gave up when they completely re-wrote Tim Drake’s backstory to the point of his birthname no longer even being Tim Drake… Oh and let’s not forget the blanket rule against married characters (with no reason ever stated), even splitting Aquaman/Mera from being married anymore – they just happen to still be King and Queen together because reasons.
Here’s hoping the Rebirth stuff will actually make some changes but considering the same management team are running the show as before, I don’t see much of that happening.
“Heroes should be all tortured backstory, and unbalanced to want to be heroes, so no marriage” – I’m paraphrasing DiDio a little, but that’s the official stance.
That’s what happens when editorial sets something fairly heavy and world changing in the main universe and then realizes the implications surrounding that.
The reboots in previous years have been hacking away what they’ve seen as diseased tissue, trying to prop up the rest with more things that change the entire meta which then get hacked out the reboot after that. ‘We’re trying to make it an easier reading experience!’ while, you know, making it an ugly, horrible mess of confusing, contradicting things that waters down the entire mythos.
Rebirth fills me with… A degree of hope, but anyone mentioning Darknest Night and Flashpoint does that. Oh hey, Scarecrow is a Yellow (I.E. best) Lantern, what’s not to like?
I should note. I love the idea of things like Batman Inc, but it doesn’t work as part of the mainline continuity. Batman Noel is one of the finest things forged in ink, and the fact it’s just a stand-alone story makes it better.
“It’s not clear where exactly this evil older version of Hal Jordan is from.”
Sure it is. It’s the Parallax from Convergence, who found himself in the current DCU at the end of that event.
He’s also appearing in recent issues of Telos (another spin-off/survivor of Convergence) which lead into his appearance in GL #50.
Please don’t make the super-suit green…. or animated.
When I read the title, I was expecting more of this
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/greenlantern/images/d/d0/HalJordanGreenLantern-GLfilm.png/revision/latest?cb=20131031180709
Too many goddamn comics based articles, Kotaku.
I know. Is there anything worse than when a website publishes an article not aligned with your interests, makes it totally clear what the article’s about from the title and then forces you to read it?
Worst version? Best version. I loved him going absolutely bananas.