Hal Jordan is the first ever modern version of the Green Lantern, serving as the audience’s introduction to the space-police force that fans have come to adore over the decades. Not only did he serve as the gateway character for the greater Green Lantern Corps, but Hal has repeatedly shown that he is a hero even amongst their storied ranks, often being called the man with the most will out of anybody else in the entire Corps. Everything really kicked into high gear after his return from the dead, where Hal also served as the character to guide the audience to all the other colorful Lantern Corps. Time and again he has shown that he is one of the greatest Green Lanterns of all time, and yet as much as I love Hal, I still fully believe that he should have stayed dead.
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Hal Was Done Dirty by DC
Believe me, I’ve never been a fan of Hal as the villain. Hal Jordan’s villainous heel turn is easily one of the most egregious moments of character assassination in all of comics. Although there are certainly plenty of other incidents where other heroes go against everything they stand for for little to no reason, Hal’s breaking point was beyond insane. After Cyborg Superman laid complete waste to his hometown Coast City, Hal snapped. He tried to recreate the city with his ring, but the Guardians immediately fired him for it, which led to him cutting his way through the Green Lantern Corps until the Guardians were dead and the Central Power Battery was destroyed. Remade as Parallax, he wreaked untold havoc onto the universe in his attempts to either restore Coast City or undo his past atrocities. In a final heroic act, Hal Jordan sacrificed himself to destroy the Sun-Eater and save the Earth in The Final Night. He used the last of his power to restore the sun, reciting the Green Lantern oath one last time.
Much later in the Green Lantern: Rebirth storyline, Hal was revived and his villainous actions were retconned as him being possessed by Parallax, which was an evil entity and the embodiment of fear. Hal’s return and the wiping clean of his past actions were definitely welcomed by fans, and for good reason, as one of the greatest heroes in DC went out in one of the worst ways possible, being a villain far more dangerous than he ever was as a hero. Still, even though he deserved this redemption, his time following his sacrifice in The Final Night was one of the greatest things that could have happened. Instead of simply moving on, Hal Jordan became the Spectre.
Hal Jordan, Spirit of Vengeance and Redemption
The Spectre is a fallen angel that is tasked with being the living spirit of God’s wrath, dealing out punishments to those deemed guilty. He is easily one of the most powerful beings in the entire DC Universe, and is often called the Justice League’s strongest member. However, in order to ensure he is not lost to pure revenge and rage, the Spectre is always bound to a human host. Following Hal Jordan’s death, he was selected as the new host, and became the Spectre. Hal’s time as the Spirit of Vengeance was a true time of redemption for his character. He had incredible moments like reviving Oliver Queen in the “Quiver” storyline, erasing Wally’s public identity in Flash #200, and separating the Marvel and DC universes without damage at the end of the JLA/Avengers event. But more than cool moments, Hal represented the ultimate redemption as the Spectre. Even though he made horrible mistakes, he lived up to what he’d done and worked every day to be better. He fought to be a hero, not to erase what he’d done, but because he knew being a good person was the only correct choice. Even though it came from a horrible moment, this arc for his character was incredible.
Of course, beyond Hal being the best host for the Spectre by a landslide, there’s also one other reason Hal should have stayed dead: the meta reason. In a vacuum, Hal’s return is fine, but when you look at the greater picture of DC after the fact, it had horrible repercussions. Hal signaled a return to the conventional, traditional hero lineup that starred the Silver Age of comics. Up until that point, a lot of DC heroes had been replaced by legacy characters and had become beloved new versions. However, after Hal returned, a lot of the other characters from his generation did too. The most obvious example is Barry Allen’s return in The Flash: Rebirth just a few years later, which undid one of the last permanent deaths of a hero in DC. While Hal never intended for this to be the case, his return started a chain reaction that led to the breakdown of the legacy characters and the eventual New 52 reboot that wiped all of them off the map. Obviously I am not insisting that Hal’s return directly caused the New 52, but it must be said that Hal set the precedent that DC will always pull back nostalgic characters to their norm, no matter how much they have to retcon to do it.
Hal Jordan is a great character, but I found his time as the Spectre to be equally interesting in what he represented to the hero community as a whole. I’m not mad that he’s back, but I do think it would have been just as good if he stayed dead. At least his legacy isn’t forever tainted by Parallax now.
Do you prefer Hal being alive, or would you rather he have remained dead? Let us know in the comments below!
