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Green Lantern
🕑 Added 2017-05-19 20:14:01 +0000 UTC So I don't know the latest two GLs--I guess they explained why no less than six of these 'every sector in space gets ONE' dudes are humans--but to my mind, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner are about the only two worth a damn. Sure, John Stewart is black, but c'mon, we're telling a story here, not putting together a college brochure.The problem as I see it is that most of the GLs aren't complete sentences. "The most powerful weapon in the universe is given to a human being and--" Guy Gardner: "He's a huge jerk," boom, story. Kyle Rayner: "he's an artist"/"he's an ordinary joe." Boom. Story.
Hal Jordan, it's just "the most powerful weapon in the universe is given to a human being and... he's some guy." He's a test pilot, which really doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything, since a magic space ring and a jet don't seem to have much in common. He doesn't have much in terms of personality. Sometimes he's alcoholic and I guess now he's a kinder, gentler version of Guy Gardner. In which case, any Hal Jordan story becomes more interesting if it's about Guy Gardner.
John Stewart, same deal. only "he's some black guy." I guess he's a military guy too, which, so was Hal and so is Captain Atom, and Captain Atom makes a bigger deal out of it.
You really need some kind of irony or twist to make the general story work, since by itself, a ring that can do anything actually isn't that interesting. It can do anything. Guy uses it. Story over. Poof. No wonder Sinestro's become a popular antihero in recent years. "The most powerful weapon in the universe is given to a guy, but he's an asshole" at least promises some conflict.
Even casting Hollywood cool guy Ryan Reynolds as essentially himself still doesn't really give you a story. "The most powerful weapon in the universe is given to the class clown with a six-pack abs" still isn't a high-concept premise, even if you add "and he's kind of a pussy jag-off for most of the movie."
Comments
Jack Charlotte
I will say though, Kyle does seem the one best situated for an ongoing series. The fact that he started out as an artist is not only perfectly complimentary to the skill set of a power limited by his speed of thought and imagination, but that in and of itself is a great metaphor for how the biggest hurdle for an aspiring creator is often the setbacks and mental roadblocks they put upon themselves. And I think anyone even vaguely familiar with Kyle knows he's had plenty of hurdles thrown his way over the years, so much so that Spider-Man would probably look at it and resolve to quit whining and get his own shit together.
Zechs
Kyle and Guy are my favorite GLs. There's just something about them both that make's reading. I kind of wish though we'd go more into the other GLs from various sectors. GLC ongoing used to give us that before they turned it into the Kyle, John, and Gauntlet comic. Like what happened to Boodikka? She was the last Alpha Lantern left and---?!
Jack Charlotte
Oh, it most certainly was. Pretty sure they just merged Hal's military background in with John's for the series.
Shendude
John when introduced, was "the most powerful weapon in the universe was given to an Angry Black Man"; as the '70s receded, they began focusing on the fact that he's an architect. I'm pretty sure his having been a Marine was invented by the cartoon.
Jack Charlotte
I'm inclined to agree with Athenian. I grew up on the Justice League cartoon, so I'm more inclined towards John (Though Kyle is a close second) as a GL. Sure, he shares the "veteran" angle with Captain Atom, but I don't many will conflate the two.
Athenian
John Stewart is special. He's the one that was in the Justice League cartoons... Lantern people are way to common in DC now with all the silly corps. I stopped caring about that whole deal a while ago.
