



The following is Kurt Busiek's reply to a comic book fan at the Power Company message boards at



>That being said, I assume as a classic GL fan, you enjoyed and read the O'Neil/Adams GL/GA.>



Never assume.



I've read 'em, of course, and I love the art and admire the stories for what they are and what they were trying to do, but "as a classic GL fan," I think they basically destroyed the character.



The crux to Hal Jordan is that he's a test-pilot, a reflexive, instinctual, visceral guy who remains confident that if danger arises, he can react to it fast enough and cleverly enough to get past it. He's the antithesis of Batman in that regard -- Batman is always two steps ahead of everyone else, strategy-wise, but Hal, like his closest movie-hero analogue, Indiana Jones, is "making it up as he goes along."



Trouble is, GL/GA re-cast Hal as a foil for Ollie, turning him from the confident, visceral, instinctual hero to an unthinking conservative, a "space cop" who always followed orders, as opposed to a "space sheriff" (the original idea) who may have had superiors, but had almost complete freedom in what he did. And worse, unless you're Black Canary, being a foil for Ollie means being wrong.



So for all that those stories were groundbreaking and historically significant, they presented Hal as a good-German conservative nitwit who constantly had to be "corrected" by Ollie, until he came to doubt every instinct he ever had. Until he lost the confidence that was at the heart of what made GL a hero.



And while those issues sold poorly and the series died, it has never seemed to matter -- invariably, a new writer would come along on the book and out of honest affection and appreciation for a book that didn't succeed, no matter how well-intentioned, would turn Hal back into a self-doubting, angst-filled whiner with no confidence. And virtually every time the series began to focus on that guy, it'd fall apart again.



Worse still (and it's not really Denny's fault, it was just a

colossally stupid decision made out of respect for those stories), someone eventually tried to keep those GL/GA stories in the Seventies (despite DC's continuity having moved on, so that they couldn't do that and not pre-date Superman and Batman) by making Hal an old guy. An old, self-doubting, angst-filled whiner with no

confidence.



Geez. Can you think of a character template that could be even less appealing to a young audience in search of heroics?



So eventually, DC decided to scrap the guy, because the character "didn't work" and was "used up." Not the classic version -- the one that has a lot in common with Indy Jones, who is anything but unpopular -- but the version that stems from those GL/GA characters, the angsty whiner who can't trust his instincts.



So like I said, I admire that run of comics for what it is, and I recently re-read it, and think it deserves its place in comics history --



-- but as a classic GL fan, which was how you phrased it, I don't think that run did poor GL any favors. I think that without it, he might well be still alive and still GL.



[And one colossal gripe -- when that old black guy upbraids GL for saving the blue skins and the green skins and all, not only does he neglect the idea that in saving the "blue skins," it's generally because GL saves entire planets at once, and that includes everyone on earth regardless of race, creed or color -- but Green Arrow is standing right there, looking smug and superior,

and GA has spent the bulk of his career, both before and after that moment, concerning himself with white-on-white crime. GL's heroism is largely impersonal -- he protects against threats to life in general -- while GA acts on a far more personal basis, picking and choosing what to concern himself with on a human scale, and he almost always chooses to save white people from white criminals.

If anyone needs that lecture, it's GA. And Batman. And all the other

street-level heroes who make the streets safe for white people, while GL and his ilk make the galaxy safe for all people...]



The following is Kurt Busiek's reply to a comic book fan at the Power Company message boards at www.comicboards.com: >That being said, I assume as a classic GL fan, you enjoyed and read the O'Neil/Adams GL/GA.>Never assume.I've read 'em, of course, and I love the art and admire the stories for what they are and what they were trying to do, but "as a classic GL fan," I think they basically destroyed the character.The crux to Hal Jordan is that he's a test-pilot, a reflexive, instinctual, visceral guy who remains confident that if danger arises, he can react to it fast enough and cleverly enough to get past it. He's the antithesis of Batman in that regard -- Batman is always two steps ahead of everyone else, strategy-wise, but Hal, like his closest movie-hero analogue, Indiana Jones, is "making it up as he goes along."Trouble is, GL/GA re-cast Hal as a foil for Ollie, turning him from the confident, visceral, instinctual hero to an unthinking conservative, a "space cop" who always followed orders, as opposed to a "space sheriff" (the original idea) who may have had superiors, but had almost complete freedom in what he did. And worse, unless you're Black Canary, being a foil for Ollie means being wrong.So for all that those stories were groundbreaking and historically significant, they presented Hal as a good-German conservative nitwit who constantly had to be "corrected" by Ollie, until he came to doubt every instinct he ever had. Until he lost the confidence that was at the heart of what made GL a hero.And while those issues sold poorly and the series died, it has never seemed to matter -- invariably, a new writer would come along on the book and out of honest affection and appreciation for a book that didn't succeed, no matter how well-intentioned, would turn Hal back into a self-doubting, angst-filled whiner with no confidence. And virtually every time the series began to focus on that guy, it'd fall apart again.Worse still (and it's not really Denny's fault, it was just acolossally stupid decision made out of respect for those stories), someone eventually tried to keep those GL/GA stories in the Seventies (despite DC's continuity having moved on, so that they couldn't do that and not pre-date Superman and Batman) by making Hal an old guy. An old, self-doubting, angst-filled whiner with noconfidence.Geez. Can you think of a character template that could be even less appealing to a young audience in search of heroics?So eventually, DC decided to scrap the guy, because the character "didn't work" and was "used up." Not the classic version -- the one that has a lot in common with Indy Jones, who is anything but unpopular -- but the version that stems from those GL/GA characters, the angsty whiner who can't trust his instincts.So like I said, I admire that run of comics for what it is, and I recently re-read it, and think it deserves its place in comics history ---- but as a classic GL fan, which was how you phrased it, I don't think that run did poor GL any favors. I think that without it, he might well be still alive and still GL.[And one colossal gripe -- when that old black guy upbraids GL for saving the blue skins and the green skins and all, not only does he neglect the idea that in saving the "blue skins," it's generally because GL saves entire planets at once, and that includes everyone on earth regardless of race, creed or color -- but Green Arrow is standing right there, looking smug and superior,and GA has spent the bulk of his career, both before and after that moment, concerning himself with white-on-white crime. GL's heroism is largely impersonal -- he protects against threats to life in general -- while GA acts on a far more personal basis, picking and choosing what to concern himself with on a human scale, and he almost always chooses to save white people from white criminals.If anyone needs that lecture, it's GA. And Batman. And all the otherstreet-level heroes who make the streets safe for white people, while GL and his ilk make the galaxy safe for all people...]



