InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "there once was..."

arbre_rieur (arbre_rieur) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-08-27 16:36:00

Entry tags:

char: green lantern/hal jordan, creator: carmine infantino, creator: curt swan, creator: elliot s! maggin, creator: gil kane, creator: jim aparo, creator: jim mooney, creator: steve ditko, title: action comics weekly

The man the power ring picked before Hal
We all know that Hal Jordan was chosen to become Green Lantern because the power ring found him to be most worthy of all the inhabitants of Earth. In this story from Action Comics Weekly, however, we meet the other ten individuals who the ring considered before settling on Jordan, including the one who was deemed worthier than Jordan and chosen ahead of him. (Guy Gardner and John Stewart were two of ten, obviously.)

Year later, when Hal is at death's door, his ring activates a program where it brings him all the other candidates so that he can pick one to be his successor.

Also summoned are Superman and Guy Gardner.

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	icon_uk 2009-08-28 12:47 am UTC (link)
	I remember this issue. Not sure about the "native only" rule, and I genuinely dislike "Superman has to be pivotal to another heroes creation", but Lech Walesa, Terry Waite and Desmond Tutu (Never sure about that last one, I'm sure there are other contenders) as Green Lanterns would be something to behold... (Reply to this) (Thread)

	box_in_the_box 2009-08-28 01:47 am UTC (link)
	Lech Walesa, Terry Waite and Desmond Tutu (Never sure about that last one, I'm sure there are other contenders) as Green Lanterns would be something to behold... For serious, although in current continuity, I think they'd be much more qualified to wear blue or indigo rings (and yeah, I can't place the other one myself). (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sistermagpie 2009-08-28 01:31 am UTC (link)
	I knew about this story but never actually saw it posted--thanks! Edited my original comment because duh--story answered my question. (Reply to this)

(Anonymous)
2009-08-28 02:06 am UTC (link)

I like how everyone is just chatting and ignoring Hal's dying, twitching body there. I know it's in suspended time, but you think that at least Clark would try to see what was wrong with Hal seeing as he's for Hal not dying. Though Hal seams to be turning into a zombie at the end anyway.

Also, I love how Dick got picked to be a Green Lantern candidate. Has he ever gotten a chance to use the ring?

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	zordboy 2009-08-28 02:48 am UTC (link)
	Wow, Dick Grayson as GL is interesting. I do love the idea though, that Abin summons somebody to him because he's dying, but the person happens to have a bit of medical knowledge and manages to save him. "Oh, okay. I'm not dying anymore." "So what did you bring me here for?" "Oh? Oh, nothing. Never mind." (Reply to this) (Thread)

	vignettelante 2009-08-28 03:26 am UTC (link)
	I like that his response to Superman trying to help is basically "No, no, shut up, I'm totally dying. I decided it." He probably made up that "has to be a native" rule right then and there, out of spite. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nagaoka 2009-08-28 08:30 pm UTC (link)
	Oh absolutely XD (Reply to this) (Parent)

	blake_reitz 2009-08-28 04:21 am UTC (link)
	The Dick Grayson thing is double interesting, since he showed up with a Ring in Superman/Batman (sure, it was all a dream, but he'd still make a great GL). (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ladydouji 2009-08-28 10:53 am UTC (link)
	Didn't that sorta happen with the planet of cowards/chickens. A GL was dying, picked a successor on the planet(who was totally insane) new GL insisted on making the dying one 'comfy' before going off to fight evil. Once the evil is defeated, the 'dying' GL realizes he's going to be ok and takes the ring back(once he's learn how insane the new guy is) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	bluefall 2009-08-28 04:03 am UTC (link)
	I... have absolutely no idea how to interpret Clark's comment about the nominees all being male, there. Does that story build on some earlier story that established those potential Lanterns? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	ashtoreth 2009-08-28 05:01 am UTC (link)
	Pretty sure this was a retcon of a retcon of a retcon. It sounds like something a creator would write, knowing something of the history of the Guardians (they were gender separated, with the females choosing to wield love-power) without knowing that there've been female Lanterns (Katma Tui) for a long time. Inserting Superman sounds like a Elliot S! Maggin thing. (Reply to this) (Parent)

icon_uk
2009-08-28 12:21 pm UTC (link)

This was a pretty complete retcon of the original story. Prior to this, Superman hadn't been involved at any point in the process, and the only potentials that had been established since then were Guy and Jon.

Dick as a candidate was a new idea, and the likes of Terry Waite were new to the story, as he was current in the news at the time of the story for having been held hostage in in Beirut (Where he was held for four years) by a terrorist group called Islamic Jihad. Lech Walesa had been known for longer since he had helped found the Solidarity Trade Union in Communist Poland.

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	ashtoreth 2009-08-28 05:03 am UTC (link)
	Superman picked the pretty one (of legal age). Or maybe he remembered that time, long ago, when Hal took him night surfing... (Reply to this)

	thanekos 2009-08-28 02:12 pm UTC (link)
	current continuity just makes me think " Man, you should've told him about that Atrocitus dude before you wiped his mind." (Reply to this)

	greenmask 2009-08-28 04:39 pm UTC (link)
	Is that "attitude problem" comment to cover up the fact that the author couldn't think of any real-life ladies with extreme will? (Reply to this) (Thread)

bluefall
2009-08-28 09:26 pm UTC (link)

Even then, if you're going to stick Dick and Clark in there there's no reason not to add Babs and Peej or something. Really, it reads like a line by an author passingly acquainted with feminism criticizing the choices of an author who'd written years prior... but if this is an entirely new concept as

icon_uk says, seems like it would make a lot more sense to just include some women in the first place.

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	halloweenjack 2009-08-28 05:21 pm UTC (link)
	Hey, I thought that one page was Ditko! Hey... imagine Steve Ditko with a power ring. (Reply to this)

	enerprime 2009-08-28 06:56 pm UTC (link)
	Wait. Clark chooses some air force guy he interviewed once over Robin? The same Robin he has worked with multiple times before, has already proven himself a hero and whom Batman trusts? That just doesn't make sense. (Reply to this) (Thread)

psychop_rex
2009-08-29 09:12 am UTC (link)

My guess would be that he doesn't pick Robin because Robin already IS a hero - he's fighting the good fight, making a name for himself in his own way. It would be a discourtesy to suggest to a superhero that he give up an identity that he's made his own and take up a new one, especially when there are lots of other people who could do just as good a job.
Also, Robin is pretty young for a Green Lantern at that point, isn't he?

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

enerprime
2009-08-29 04:04 pm UTC (link)

Well, Clark probably figures if the ring says Dick is a suitable candidate, who is he to argue?

And Dick might take it as a compliment that Superman thinks that he is capable of handling the most powerfull weapon in the universe.

Add to that the decision of giving the ring to a relative unknown vs. someone who has proven themselves capable of handling responibility.

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psychop_rex
2009-08-29 09:19 pm UTC (link)

Possibly, but still, he's underaged - that picture of him looks more like the twelve-year old than the college-aged Dick Grayson to me, anyway. As such, he's still Batman's ward, and that makes it HIS decision, not Superman's. I mean, how would you like it if you came home and discovered that an old friend had, for example, signed your son up for Little League without his or your knowledge, under the theory that he'd make a good ballplayer, 'cause he'd seen the two of you playing catch in your backyard? It's the same basic thing here - being Green Lantern is a large order of magnitude above being Robin. You're not just back-up for another hero in a city which you're both intimately familiar with, you're responsible for the entire EARTH, plus a large sector of space. It's not something a twelve-year old should be saddled with.

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	leikomgwtfbbq 2009-08-28 08:49 pm UTC (link)
	Hooray! Deadman appears! The rest of the story was interesting, of course. I just really liked Deadman's popping up. (Reply to this)