Hal Jordan
Hal Jordan is a male comic character who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Hal Jordan was the son of Martin Jordan (Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn v1 #1) and Jessica Jordan. (Green Lantern v4 #29) He was one of three brothers with him having an older sibling named Jack Jordan and a younger one named Jim Jordan. (Green Lantern v1 #9)
As a child, his father operated as a pilot where he held the rank of Lieutenant and went by the call sign Bishop. (Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn v1 #1)
In the aftermath, his mother did not want her son to enter into the same career as his father and forbade him from going back to Ferris Air. Hal promised but had an intense desire to fly like his father and snuck onto another airfield in his early teenage years with him being caught by the staff. This led to his mother taking him back home where she was angry with her son. (Green Lantern v4 #29)
Despite his mothers objections, he joined the Air Force which created a wedge between him and his mother as she did not want to see him in the same speciality as his father. (Green Lantern v4 #29) Hal instead continued on the career path with his mother cutting ties with him and not speaking to him again. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #12) By adulthood, his mother suffered from cancer in the pancreas with the doctors advising that anything upsetting could trigger a range of physical problems. Thus, Hal was told by his brothers not to visit their mother as she could suffer more as a result. The next day, he had an altercation with one of his superiors and punched him leading to him being discharged from the Air Force. He then decided to visit his mother in the hospital as he fulfilled his promise of meeting her out of the service but he was informed by his brother Jim that she suffered from a complication and had passed away. His brother Jack blamed Hal and attributed their mothers death to him. (Green Lantern v4 #29)
Jordan spent time as a P.O.W. in an unnamed conflict and has feelings of guilt from his inability to free himself and his fellow captives. (Green Lantern v4 #14)
Whilst at Ferris Aircraft Company, he operated as a test pilot in a trainer of his own design when the machine was taken the crash-site of Abin Sur's vessel who had used his Power Ring to select a worthy replacement. Upon gaining the ring, he decided to use its power to become a superhero but decided to keep his true identity a secret. (Showcase v1 #22)
Green Lantern
The Guardians of the Universe later summoned Jordan to their home world by creating an energy duplicate of him as they had learnt that Abin Sur had died and had only then received the news due to an ion-storm disrupting communications to Earth's region of space. After he recounted events, they determined he was a worth successor and allowed him to remain as Green Lantern where they erased his memory of the encounter as they deemed that they would wait until a proper time before they introduced themselves to him. (Green Lantern v2 #1) He later encountered the Weaponers of Qward when he met with a Qwardian named Telle-Teg who was one of a number of his people that sought to escape the evil rule of the Anti-Matter Universes rulers. (Green Lantern v2 #2)
The Flash came upon Saranna and Jasonar who were two refugees from Kalanor. The tyrant Despero had conquered their home dimension, and Jasonar had perfected an anti-weapon device to disable Despero's arsenal. Flash summoned the JLofA and they prepared to use Jasonar's dimensional traveler to go to Kalanor, but Despero had ambushed Green Lantern and the Justice League and held them in stasis in their headquarters. He planned to banish them to other dimensions, but could not affect Flash, who had been exposed to the radiation of the dimensional traveler that made him immune to Despero's teleport beam. He challenged Flash to a variation of chess, using the Justice League as pawns. he rigged the game with his mental powers, and each time Flash lost a pawn, a leaguer was teleported to another dimension. Flash lost and entered a dimensional traveler to the world of Narx. Aquaman and Green Lantern were sent to the water-planet Thanakon, which Despero was destroying with a flying burning glass. They saved the Thanakonians and left the planet, meeting up with other Leaguers who had saved other worlds from destruction by Despero, and together they returned to Earth. Despero caught up with Jasonar and was about to take his anti-weapon device, when Snapper, who'd stowed away on Despero's traveler turned the anti-weapon on him, sapping his energy. The League allowed Jasonar to take Despero back to Kalanor as a prisoner. (Justice League of America v1 #1)
Green Lantern and the Justice League came to nominate Green Arrow as their newest member when they received a message from the alien Carthan who had kidnapped the Arrow. He told the team he had placed three engines of destruction around the world, and that it was up to them to disable them and free Arrow. Carthan was only posing as a villain, the tyrant Xandor had exiled him from his planet Dryanna, and the engines prevented him from leaving Earth. Green Lantern disabled the engine in Rome, Italy that was animating buildings and giant movie props. The rest of the Justice League disabled the other two engines and freed Arrow, but Carthan imprisoned the team in a hollow diamond so he could explain that he was not a villain. Batman, who was not trapped, knocked him into the control panel of his ship, and Carthan could not dissipate the diamond. he showed Green Arrow the stress point of the diamond, and the archer used his skills to shatter the prison with a diamond-tipped arrow. (Justice League of America v1 #4) Green Lantern was imprisoned by Dr. Destiny, who put him aboard his ship and kept him from moving with a will-deadener ray. He then impersonated Green Lantern and met with the Justice League so he could destroy the team. Green Arrow exposed Destiny as an imposter and the team took him to the police. They walked into Destiny's trap, as he had a ship nearby that hit the League with an anti-gravity and will-deadener ray. He prepared to put them aboard a rocket ship, and with their wills gone they'd be helplessly floating in space forever. His prisoner Green Lantern escaped, because using the will-deadener on the League sapped power from the ray aimed at him. The League apprehended Destiny and closed the case. (Justice League of America v1 #5)
Green Lantern came to be one of the founding members of the Justice League of America, alongside the Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. This group first banded together when they met to fight Appellaxians invading the planet and realized that they worked much stronger as a team than any of them could have as individuals. (Justice League of America v1 #9)
Parallax
Returning to Earth, he came to find the Cyborg Superman working with the warlord Mongul's whose actions led to the destruction of Coast City. The loss and grief led to Jordan attempting to use the ring to recreate the people he had lost in his life. This started with a construct of his own father followed by his mother the latter of whom wanted her son to move on with his life. However, Hal was not content with just memories and recreated his home city including his home along with his teen sweetheart Jennifer. The excess power though drained his ring and resulted in a Guardian projection reprimanding him for using his abilities for personal gain. He was summoned back to Oa for disciplinary action but an angry Jordan wanted more power to recreate his lost loved ones. This saw him destroying the construct and absorbing its energy where he resolved to take all the power he needed to restore his old life. As a result, he started becoming a rogue Green Lantern and headed into space as he made his way towards Oa. (Green Lantern v3 #48)
Spectre
Jordan journeyed into the Spectre to battle Asmodel for the Spirit of Vengeance with Neron entering into the conflict to claim the power for himself. However, the Spectre Force restrained all three in order to judge them and ultimately decided that Hal Jordan would become its new host. Thus, Hal was transformed into the new Spectre with this appointment being blessed by the Presence. The Spectre defeated Neron and Asmodel whereupon he restored the damages done to the city before embarking on his new mission as the Spirit of Vengeance. (Day of Judgement v1 #5)
Green Arrow came to visit Jordan at his grave in order to ask him to exact revenge on Sue Dibny's killer. Although Hal admitted knowing the culprit's identity, he refused as the Spectre to a higher purpose, and implying to Oliver that the killer would eventually be caught, thus explaining the Spectre's inaction. (Identity Crisis v1 #4)
Rebirth
Jordan moves to the nearly deserted Coast City, which is slowly being rebuilt. Reinstated as a captain in the United States Air Force, Jordan now works in the test pilot program at Edwards Air Force Base. The series introduces new supporting characters for Hal, including a man from his and his late-father's pasts, Air Force General Jonathan "Herc" Stone, who learns his secret identity during a battle with the Manhunters and acts as his ally. He also begins to develop a romantic attraction with his fellow pilot, the beautiful Captain Jillian "Cowgirl" Pearlman. (Green Lantern v4 #3)
The Corps discovered a badly wounded Tomar-Tu who revealed that he and the other Lost Lanterns had been prisoners of the Manhunters. Around this time, there was still resentment among the Green Lanterns over Hal Jordan due to his actions as Parallax with some Corpsman attempting to attack him though he was aided by Guy Gardner. Jordan then petitioned the Guardians over launching a rescue mission for the remaining Lost Lanterns but he was denied was deemed an emotional reaction. Furthermore, they stated that there was a threat of reawakening the Manhunters in Sector 3601 and that Hal should not stray from his assigned sector of space. Instead, they said that they would launch their own mission at a later time though Jordan ignored their command and took Gardner to rescue the Lost Lanterns. (Green Lantern v4 #11)
After the events of the Sinestro Corps War, Hal was one of the Green Lanterns chosen to escort Sinestro to Korugar, where the villain would be executed. Upon arrival, the escort team was ambushed by the Sinestro Corps, and again later by the Red Lanterns. The Red Lanterns captured Sinestro, leaving both Green Lantern- and Sinestro Corps members behind to die. Hal and the rest of the Green Lanterns are then rescued by the Blue Lantern Saint Walker. He accompanies Walker to Odym, home of the Blue Lantern Corps, where he witnesses the induction of a new Blue Lantern, Warth. Hal argued with Ganthet about rescuing Sinestro, only for him to agree to the said rescue. Hal then reluctantly teamed up with Walker and Warth to rescue Sinestro from Atrocitus. In a conversation with Walker, he then discovers Ganthet is expecting him to join the Blue Lantern Corps as it's leader. On Ysmault, Hal is then captured by the Red Lanterns, and hung from a cross, right next to Sinestro. The Blue Lanterns, and the Sinestro Corps, who arrived moments before, then free Hal Jordan and Sinestro, respectively. Trying to free Laira from the influence of the red ring, Hal nearly succeeds before seeing Laira killed by Sinestro. Losing all self-control, Hal's dormant anger unleashes as he attempts to murder Sinestro, which attracts a red power ring, inducting him into the Red Lantern Corps. Under the influence of the red ring, Hal attacks both the Sinestro Corps and Blue Lanterns. Unlike the other Red Lanterns, Hal is indeed able to create constructs with the red ring. When Hal again attempts to murder Sinestro, Walker forces his blue ring on Hal in a desperate attempt to free the Green Lantern from the red rings' influence. Successfully breaking the red ring's hold, Walker returns Hal to normal. Hal then attacks Atrocitus, during which the red ring explodes. While Atrocitus is left wounded, Hal remains unharmed, wearing a Green/Blue Lantern hybrid uniform, with neither Lantern knowing why.
Hal came to lead his own Justice League consisting of Green Arrow, Shazam, Supergirl, Congorilla, Starman, Batwoman, and the Atom in order to avenge the deaths of Martian Manhunter and Batman. (Justice League: Cry for Justice v1 #1)
The Book of the Black starts to absorb the New Guardians, and Lyssa Drak shows up and makes it even harder for them to get free. Sinestro helps Hal gets free but then the book disappears, leaving only the rings of the New Guardians behind. Then Salaak, with a squad of Green Lanterns, including Stel, appears and they try to arrest Hal for treason, despite his protests. Krona then infects the Central Power Battery of Oa, using Parallax to make the Green Lanterns lose control. Hal flees and asks for backup by any other Lanterns who are not infected. (Green Lantern v4 #64)
However, Sinestro attacks Krona. Before Krona can attack Sinestro, a Green Lantern ring chooses Sinestro as its wielder. Hal and Sinestro manage to overpower Krona, and Hal finally kills him, releasing the entities from the Guardians. With Krona dead, the rings from the other corps return to their former wielders. The Guardians, however, expel them from Oa. Also, due to his recent 'rebellion' against them by working with the other Ring-bearers, coupled with his recent murder of a Guardian, they now believe Hal to be the most dangerous Green Lantern. Despite Ganthet's attempt to defend him, Hal was discharged from the Corps, and the Guardians take his ring and send him back to Earth, as part of the plan to destroy the entire Green Lantern Corps. Hal next appeared on a desert highway on Earth in complete disbelief at how his time as a Green Lantern could end in this way. (Green Lantern v4 #67)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Hal Jordan
Green Lantern came to resigns from the Justice League in an effort to keep the group functioning after his behavior put the team in peril during their fight with David Graves. (Justice League v2 #12)
After being stripped of his ring by the Corps, Hal returned home, resigned. In his Coast City apartment, Jordan was hounded by his landlord for overdue rent. As he looked out the window, Hal noticed a woman in the building across the street being threatened. He jumped out his seventh story window, crashed through the window of the woman's apartment, and subdued her attacker. Only then does he look up to see the room filled with a camera crew and realized that the woman and her attacker are actors. Sometime later, Carol arrived to bail Hal out of jail. She tells him it's time to move on with his life and offered Hal a job at Ferris Aircraft. Thinking it over, Hal asked Carol out on a date. Later that night, Hal and Carol were dining in a fancy restaurant. Hal tells Carol he will accept her offer for a job and then says he has something else to ask her: he needed her to co-sign a car lease for him. Carol then threw her drink in his face and stomped off. Hal chased after and tried to apologize, not realizing Carol was expecting a proposal. Thoroughly mad, Carol drove off, leaving Hal stranded in a growing rainstorm. Soaking wet, Hal finally arrived home only to find an eviction notice attached to his apartment door. The night is not over, however, as Sinestro was waiting and offered Hal a chance to regain his ring. (Green Lantern v5 #1) Despite Sinestro's offer, Hal attacked him but Sinestro easily subdued him. Sinestro said that Hal's life had been very difficult lately without his ring. Then, Sinestro created a ring and placed it on Hal. Powered by the ring, Hal freed himself from the chains and blasted Sinestro with an energy beam. However, the beam did not affect Sinestro. Confused, Hal asked what was wrong with the ring and Sinestro stated that there was nothing wrong with it. Since the ring was created by Sinestro, he alone could control it. To prove his point, Sinestro powered down his ring and Hal fell to a rooftop. As he reactivated the ring, Sinestro proclaimed that Hal was his servant. Then, Hal heard emergency sirens and flew to see the problem, to Sinestro's annoyance. Hal and Sinestro watched as a bridge was about to collapse. Hal saved a woman, but Sinestro deactivated his ring and the woman fell into the water. Then, Sinestro fixed the entire bridge and saved all of the victims, including the woman. As Sinestro reactivated Hal's ring, Gorgor, a member of the Sinestro Corps and the one behind the bridge's collapse, attacked them. Sinestro fought Gorgor, proclaiming that all the members of his Corps gave into their sadistic urges instead of obeying the code of conduct he created. Whilst there, he killed Gorgor with a sword construct whereupon Sinestro told Hal that the Sinestro Corps had enslaved Korugar and he will help him destroy them. (Green Lantern v5 #2)
Hal and Sinestro run into the jungle, and Hal explains that the Indigo Tribesmen are in fact brainwashed criminals, but their Battery is dead and they have reverted to their former selves. Sinestro tries to fight, but Hal gets him into a jeep construct. Sinestro says that he doesn't need Hal's help, but Hal asks if Sinestro doesn't need him, why did he give him a ring in the first place. He was willing to get his life back on track, but because of the Guardians' plan, he will have to get involved in Green Lantern affairs again. Sinestro replies that Hal is a Green Lantern, and that is his life. Suddenly, they stumble upon Natromo, and Hal imprisons him in a cage. Natromo pleads to be released so that he can say goodbye to his family, but Hal asks him to repair the Indigo Battery. Sinestro threatens Natromo by aiming a stake at his neck, but Hal convinces him that fear will not solve the problem. Sinestro decides to hold the Indigo Tribesmen off, while Hal and Natromo try to repair the Battery. As Hal and Natromo get to the Battery, Natromo asks Hal how did he know Abin Sur. Hal replies that Abin was his predecessor in the Green Lantern Corps, he gave him his ring and responsibilities; and if that includes uniting the Indigo Tribe against the Guardians, then he will accept that responsibility as well. Hal inspires Natromo to believe in himself as much as he believed in Abin. Natromo tries to repair the Battery, but he cannot reassemble the pieces without a single spark of compassion. Suddenly, Iroque enters the Battery chamber, begging them to repair the Battery. Hal and Natromo realize that even without her ring, Iroque is capable of feeling compassion. Using Iroque's compassion, Natromo successfully repairs the Battery, restoring the Indigo Tribe, including Sinestro. Hal asks Natromo to let Sinestro go, but Natromo cannot do that; only the Indigo Tribe can release him. Indigo-1 agrees to let Sinestro go, but only if Hal helps him find redemption even without an indigo ring. Indigo-1 asks Hal if he believes Sinestro can be a hero again, and Hal replies that he wants to believe that to be the case. (Green Lantern v5 #10) As the Indigo Tribe released Sinestro, Natromo inverted the link between Hal's and Sinestro's rings. Now, Hal can control Sinestro's ring instead of the other way around. Unfortunately, Black Hand has escaped the Indigo Tribe's control. Indigo-1 teleports the two Lanterns to Korugar, where Sinestro has hidden the Book of the Black. As they read the Book to find out more about the Guardians' plans to replace the Green Lantern Corps, they are teleported right to Black Hand's old home. (Green Lantern v5 #11)
The bearer of Jordan's ring namely Simon Baz would end up entering the Dead Zone following an encounter with Black Hand where he would meet Hal and Sinestro. (Green Lantern v5 #17) Simon attempts to get Hal and Sinestro out of the Dead Zone, but the ring can only take one of them. Sinestro claims the ring and escapes the Dead Zone by forcing Hal to experience a moment of fear when he threatens Hal with the loss of Carol. Hal contemplates committing suicide so he could harness Black Hand's ring, as it is the only way to leave the Dead Zone. (Green Lantern v5 #18) Later, Hal and Tomar-Re witness the arrival of the Korugarians at the Dead Zone, realizing that Volthoom destroyed Korugar. Running out of options, Hal finally jumps off a cliff. (Green Lantern v5 #19) Acknowledging Hal's death, the black ring accepts him as its new wielder. Hal then contacts the Indigo Tribe, who open a portal between the realm of the living and the Dead Zone. Escaping from the Dead Zone, Hal unleashes a horde of the undead against Volthoom, but Volthoom easily destroys the army and nearly possesses Hal. After Sinestro, who has become Parallax's newest host, fails to kill Volthoom, Hal goes to the Dead Zone and unleashes Nekron, who finally kills Volthoom. After the battle ends, Hal lets go of the black ring and becomes a Green Lantern once again, sealing Nekron back into the Dead Zone. As Hal reunites with Carol, however, Sinestro reactivates his Sinestro Corps and goes to kill the Guardians for everything they have done. Hal attempts to stop him, but is too late and Sinestro has already killed the Guardians (except Ganthet and Sayd, whom he secretly keeps alive with the help of Larfleeze, to be exiled from Oa together forever, and one Guardian to end up being killed by Atrocitus, to settle his feud with them). Then, Hal asks Sinestro if they ever were really friends. Sinestro departs from Oa, saying that their greatest tragedy is that they will always be friends. (Green Lantern v5 #20)
In order to deflect blame on the Green Lantern Corps, Jordan came upon a 'hare-brained' plan to frame himself and direct all blame on himself by going renegade. This demonstrate to the universe that the Corps was willing to prosecute their own leader and helped repair their reputation. This chain of events saw him abandoning his Power Ring but he came to steal the Power Gauntlet of Krona. (Green Lantern v5 #40) However, he came to find that the Green Lantern Corps had vanished under mysterious circumstances thus rendering his sacrifice to be pointless. To meek a living, Jordan came to operate as a bounty hunter in deep space where he became wanted by numerous authorities. (Green Lantern v5 #41)
Abandoning the gauntlet, he used his own willpower to help forge a new green Power Ring for himself whereupon he went to find the missing Green Lantern Corps. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth v1 #1)
After the Darkseid War, Jordan went about helping in the initial training of new Green Lantern recruits Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. He came to merge their respective Power Batteries in order to force the pair to work together a they became assigned the protection of Earth. (Green Lanterns: Rebirth v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Jordan once said that he had seemingly been born without fear and that nothing scared him. (New Adventures of Superboy v1 #13)
Whilst referred to as 'the Greatest Green Lantern Of Them All', Hal admitted that he was not comfortable with that term. (Justice League of America Wedding Special v2 #1)
He noted on himself that he was his fathers son whilst his brother Jim was their mothers and Jack took his own path. Hal looked up to his father was a hero where he always attended his test flights at the airfield. He was willing to be late at school or be leaving early from school in order to attend these events. After watching him fly in the morning, he would sit with his father in the cockpit and share a meal from his brown lunch bag. This was to the extent that he asked his mother to make his fathers meals for him as well. (Green Lantern v4 #29) It was his fathers death that led to Hal becoming a pilot as flying was the only way he could learn who his dad was as he was very young when Martin Jordan passed away. By adulthood, Hal's father was always on his mind when he flew as it helped him to think his dad was in the air with him. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #28)
His choice to become an Air Force pilot drove a wedge between himself and his mother with him never being able to reconcile with her as she died and this being a regret in his life. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #12)
It was noted that his father was Catholic whilst his mother was Jewish. (Justice League: The Darkseid War: Green Lantern v1 #1)
When he was a teenager, his first girlfriend was a girl named Jennifer with the two being childhood sweethearts. He had met her three years after the death of his father with a young Hal unable to cope at the time. This was until he met Jennifer who became his first love where he claimed that she saved him. Jennifer was said to had helped him stop hurting and start his life again with her even convincing him that flying was what he really wanted to do in his life. Though she helped him put his life together, he came to note that a year into their relationship that he broke up with her as he believed they were still young and should see other people. By adulthood, he came to regret what he had done to her as he realised that their time together were some of the best years of his life. (Green Lantern v3 #48)
Powers and abilities
He later received training from the Justice League of America, that teaches those how to fight towards the beginning of their membership. (Identity Crisis v1 #3)
Upon being given the Power Ring, he could achieve anything that he could will to happen though a yellow impurity meant that he initially could not affect objects that were coloured yellow. (Showcase v1 #22) After forging his own Power Ring, the device was unlike any other Green Lantern ring as it was tied to Jordan's own will. As such, he could not truly be separated from it and it was a part of him with him able to sense its location even if the ring was taken from him. This link allowed him to summon the ring even if it was trapped in a containment barrier. He could also command it to work for another person and set commands to it for that individual such as telling it to take the other wearer to safety. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #38)
One construct he used to communicate with comrades in space was a headset that latched onto the ears and Hal called greentooth. (Brave and the Bold v3 #2)
He could apply the green beam to himself to turn him invisible. (Green Lantern v2 #2) Whilst able to travel at high speeds, the extreme speed limits could cause his construct to lose integrity as the willpower was not able to go at such levels with the threat of a Speed Force singularity forming. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #28)
With his ring, Jordan could alter the atoms of anyone or anything. (Justice League of America v1 #36)
Speed Force energy was said to be capable of disrupting ring functionality. (The Flash v5 #49)
In one case, he managed to keep the continents in place and preventing a planet from being terraformed. (JLA: Year One v1 #10)
At one point, he had trained his Power Battery to come to him when he called for it. (Brave and the Bold v3 #1)
For a time when he was a renegade, Jordan took the Power Gauntlet of Krona that had the combined strength of over 10 Power Rings. The gauntlet responded to his thoughts allowing him to create extremely powerful constructs. However, its interface was sensitive and even reacted to the most stray of thoughts that came into his mind such as knocking someone that he did not like but did not intend to hit.
The connection offered by the gauntlet meant that his link to the green light of will was so great that he could transform into a being of energy akin to a construct. This allowed him to channel far greater amounts of power but led to the risk him being dissipated into the energy itself. (Green Lantern v5 #50)
During a brief moment, Hal Jordan became a god-like being following Darkseid's death when the Mother Box that guided the Parademons sought a new master to wield it. Jordan accepted leading to the Box merging with his Power Ring to create the Mother Ring as he became the new god of light. With his new powers, he reversed time to prevent Oa's devastation and the deaths inflicted by the Parademons whilst even going back in time to his childhood in order to console his younger self after the death of his father. Jordan, however, removed this newfound divinity and returned to being a mortal once more. (Justice League - Darkseid War: Green Lantern v1 #1)
Notes
- The Hal Jordan Green Lantern was created by John Broome and Gil Kane where he made his first appearance in Showcase v1 #22 (October, 1959).
- Following the success of the revamped Flash, editor Julius Schwartz noted, "I want to do 'Green Lantern' because that was really a favorite of mine."
- As noted on IMDB, the characters visual likeness was based on actor Paul Newman.
- Writer Grant Morrison in DC Nation v1 #4 (2018) commented on the character, "He's like a cowboy trying to survive in the 21st century in a lot of ways. I think there's a kind of 1970s-cinema feel about Hal Jordan that goes back to the fact that Gil Kane based him on Paul Newman to a certain extent... With Hal, I think it's so simple and direct. That's why it comes out as giant hands, and giant hammers, and giant nails-very, very specific physical things."
- Morrison later commented on the character, "The Hal Jordan character has been around since the 1950s, and he’s one of the few characters whose history has gone pretty much unchanged through that whole time… [H]is personality has changed quite radically through that time. He’s gone from being this test pilot, this man without fear. Then John Broome came… basically DC’s own version of the Beats generation back in the 60’s. He looked at Jordan and obviously wanted to bring him on a similar kind of journey he was on. It was kinda the whole Jack Keroic The Dharma Bums, the Beat on the road trying to find yourself. I think that has always wrung through the various iterations of Green Lantern... I love that sense of disconnection, of dislocation. Some of the American astronauts, Buzz Aldrin and people have talked about having coming back from space and finding it really difficult to deal with the life on Earth after seeing this giant perspective. And that’s only from the moon. This is a guy who’s been to the other side of the galaxy,” the writer continued. “He’s seen planets where it’s a utopia, where people live for thousands of years, where the political system is perfect, where they don’t use money and capitalism is a distant memory. And he comes back to this and it’s like coming home to the village, you know, the mud hut that is Earth. How do you reintegrate? And I loved the way Broome played that… to just try different versions of himself."
- In another interview, Morrison said, “But with Green Lantern and Hal Jordan, it's really fun to put yourself in that headspace, this is a guy who doesn't break. You know, so many heroes have been made fallible as an attempt to make them relatable and, I think with Jordan, the less fallible you make him, the more fun -- and honestly, the more relatable -- I think we know guys like him, guys who get their heads down and just do the job, that would get their arms blown off and just be like "It's just a scratch!" [laughs]. And to take him seriously and be in his head, he doesn't have hang-ups -- he's a cop, he's like an astronaut. And so, for me, that's a really interesting mindset and see how that guy reacts to things and sees things with that absolute lack of fear. He knows himself and he's been to Hell and back.”
Alternate Versions
- In Justice League America v1 #72 (1993), Hal Jordan as Green Lantern appeared in a dream-world setting crafted by Doctor Destiny where the Justice League imposed their totalitarian rule on the world. Jordan was manoeuvred into the position of Vice-President in the United Stares government and took control from the President in this world.
- In Superman & Batman Generations III (1999), Hal Jordan operated in the 1980s where he became President of the United States of America and had married Carol Ferris. During his term in office, he ordered the deployment of Kryptonite against Superman after he witnessed him killing Lex Luthor though the sample was taken by Bruce Wayne, Junior who operated as Batman. In 1997, Sinestro began targeting all Green Lanterns for elimination and pursued Alan Scott along with his successor Kyle Rayner on Earth. During the battle, Jordan took Rayner's Power Ring and overcame fear allowing him to defeat Sinestro. For his actions, the Guardians of the Universe made him a member of the Green Lantern Corps. In 2008, as Green Lantern he participated in the battle against Metallo who held the transplanted brain of Lex Luthor.
- In Superman: Red Son v1 #3 (2003), Hal Jordan of Earth-30 was a decorated United States Air Force pilot who fought in the Cold War and was caught by the Soviets in the battle in Malaysia. After returning, he was selected by President Lex Luthor's Project: Green Light where he became part of the newly formed United States Green Lantern Marine Corps against Superman.
- In Superman/Batman v1 #14 (2005), the timeline was altered by the actions of the Legion of Super-Villains who sought to change history by raising Superman and Batman. Their actions included Cosmic King being on the day when Hal Jordan was flying his plane and using his magnetic powers to destroy the craft to prevent him from being chosen to be a Green Lantern.
- In Countdown: Arena (2007) parallel versions of various characters were taken by Monarch to fight one another in order to develop an army to serve him. Among them included Hal Jordan of Earth-5 who was his Captain Marvel's worlds version of Green Lantern. A further one was Hal Jordan III of Earth-12 who was the grandson of Hal Jordan in the future in Batman Beyond.
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us v1 (2013), a prequel of the video game series showed the rise of the One Earth Regime when the alternate world's Superman accidentally killed his wife Lois Lane along with their unborn child. Hal Jordan was the Green Lantern of this alternate universe where he sided with High Councillor Superman in order to bring order to their world. The authoritarian and near tyrannical rule of High Councillor Superman provoked the Guardians of the Universe and Green Lantern Corps into defeating the One Earth Regime. During the battle with Ganthet's forces, Hal Jordan was stripped of his power ring and instead got a yellow ring from Sinestro making him into a member of the Sinestro Corps.
- In Justice League v2 #26 (2014), the New 52 version of Earth-3 showed a version of the character known as Harold Jordan. He was shown as being a coward who desired power but was scared of everything and lacked any willpower. Jordan worked at Ferris Aircraft where he spied on Carol Ferris as he desired her but was discovered by Carl Ferris who was ready to beat him to death when Earth-3 Abin Sur arrived on Earth. Sur's arrival killed Carl Ferris and Abin Sur offered the Ring of Volthoom that gave ultimate power to Harold Jordan. He would take it only to learn that the ring was cursed and that the dying Abin Sur gave it to him in order to free himself. Jordan became the supervillain Power Ring whose emotions were regularly fed upon by Volthoom with Harold becoming part of the Crime Syndicate that escaped the destruction of their world to the mainstream Earth. He was killed in a battle with Sinestro and the Ring of Volthoom passed to new a bearer named Jessica Cruz.
- In Green Lantern: Future's End v1 #1 (2014), a possible future had a war fought when the survivors from Earth-2 came to the main Earth bringing a conflict with Apokolips that saw thousands killed. During this time, Hal Jordan's mother was killed and he decided to abandon his role as leader of the Green Lantern Corps as he did not want to leave Earth unprotected again. He lived a seemingly bachelor life when he was visited by his father in an undead state who warned him that the dead Krona had taken over the Black Lantern Corps. Hal thus broke his vow and took the battle to Krona with the help of Relic with the fight taking place at the Source Wall. Relic channelled the Emotional Spectrum into Jordan to defeat the Black Lanterns but this comes at the cost of his life with his body turning into stone as it came into contact with the Source Wall.
- In Convergence: Green Lantern v1 (2015), the Zero Hour Parallax featured who was the corrupted Hal Jordan with his timeline city being abducted by Brainiac and placed on Telos. Within the city, he reverted to being Hal Jordan and remained in prison with Kyle Rayner visiting him. This was until the Convergence when his power was restored and he sought to defend Coast City from Electric City where he destroyed it despite Rayner attempting to stop him. In Convergence v1 #8 (2015), Parallax killed the supervillain Deimos that had kept the various cities hostage and travelled back in time with a number of superheroes to avert the Crisis of the Infinite Earths thus changing the timeline. In Green Lantern v5 #48 (2016) Parallax was shown to be in the current universe where he sought to prevent the tragedies of his timeline such as the destruction of Coast City with him deciding to eliminate the Hal Jordan of the main universe.
In other media
Television
- In Justice League Unlimited, the character was introduced into the DC Animated Universe where he appeared in part of the episode "The Once and Future King" and voiced by actor Adam Baldwin.
- In Green Lantern: The Animated Series, the character was one of the primary characters where he was voiced by actor Josh Keaton.
- In Young Justice, Hal Jordan as Green Lantern appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by acor Dee Bradley Baker.
- In Justice League Action, Hal Jordan as Green Lantern appeared in the animated television series in the episode "Ringer" where he was voiced by actor Josh Keaton once again.
Films
- In Green Lantern: First Flight, Hal Jordan as Green Lantern featured in the 2009 animated film where he was voiced by actor Christopher Meloni. He said that his uncle was a good man who worked as a police officer in the Coast City police who led his nephew ride in the police car and play with the siren.
- In Green Lantern, Hal Jordan appeared in the 2011 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Ryan Reynolds.
- In Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Hal Jordan appeared in the animated movie where he was voiced by actor Nathan Fillion. He was among the Justice League members that responded to the Flash's distress signal and arrived at the Flash Museum to help disarm Professor Zoom's future technology bombs that were implanted on the Rogues with the devices threatening to severely Central City. Similar comic storyline, a separate reality was accidently created as a result of Barry Allen going back in time to save his mother. In this altered timeline, Hal Jordan was a pilot in the United States military who never became Green Lantern. He was called by General Sam Lane to his facility in order to pilot the deceased Abin Sur's starship that carried a nuclear weapon which was intended to be deployed against the Atlantean armada. Hal was onboard the refitted ship that was heading towards the Atlantean flagship when the Aquaman of this world summoned a sea monster that swallowed the craft causing it to explode prematurely thus killing Jordan.
- In Justice League: War, Hal Jordan appeared in the 2014 animated film where he was voiced by actor Justin Kirk.
- In Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Hal Jordan appeared in the 2015 animated film where he was voiced once again by actor Nathan Fillion.
- In The Death of Superman, Hal Jordan appeared in the 2018 animated film where he was voiced by actor Nathan Fillion.
- In Reign of the Supermen, Hal Jordan appeared in the 2019 animated film where he was once more voiced by actor Nathan Fillion.
- In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Hal Jordan appeared in the 2020 animated film where he had a non-voiced cameo appearance. He joined the assembled Justice League as they launched a sneak attack on Apokolips in an effort to eliminate Darkseid. Howevever, the heroes fell into a trap where they were besieged by Doomsday/Parademon hybrids whose strengths and numbers overwhelmed the Justice League. In the fight, Hal Jordan was killed in the struggle with the League's defeat paving the way for the conquest of Earth by Apokolips.
- In Superman: Red Son, Hal Jordan appeared in the 2020 animated adaptation of the comic story where he was voiced by actor Sasha Roiz.
- In Green Lantern: Beware My Power, Hal Jordan appeared in the setting of the 2022 animated film where he was voiced again by actor Nolan North.
Video games
- In Infinite Crisis, the character appeared as one of the numerous Protectors available to the player where he was played by actor Adam Baldwin. Alternate reality versions of the characters were playable as well that included Atomic Green Lantern from a post-apocalyptic radioactive wasteland and Arcane Green Lantern that resided on a mystical Earth.
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us, the character was playable in the video game where he was voiced by actor Adam Baldwin.
- In Injustice 2, Hal Jordan returned as a playable character in the fighting video game sequel where he was voiced by actor Steve Blum.
Appearances
- Showcase v1: (1959)
- Green Lantern v1:
- Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn v1:
- Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II v1:
- Green Lantern v2:
- Green Lantern v3:
- Green Lantern v4:
- Justice League of America v2:
- Justice League v2:
- Green Lantern v5:
- Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1:
- The Green Lantern v1:
- The Green Lantern Season 2 v1:
External Link
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