Tag: Hal Jordan

Those Blasted Superfriends: Superfriends Rest in Peace

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics, FilmLeave a comment

I might seem mean-spirited with these rants against Superfriends, but I laugh because I love. These old cartoons provided me with many hours of entertainment as a kid, although I suppose that’s arguably proof that television rots your brain.

This time around, I’m graduating to the more “mature” version of the show, Challenge of the Superfriends. Specifically, the episode I’m looking at is called “Superfriends Rest in Peace,” which actually proves quite dark for the era and results in the on-screen “deaths” of multiple superheroes.

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Those Blasted Superfriends: Evil is as Evil Does

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics, FilmLeave a comment

I first saw “Sirena, Empress of Evil” as an adult with an adult’s sensibilities. “Evil is as Evil Does,” however, is a Green Lantern episode of Superfriends that I watched and liked as a kid.

What I remember from watching this as a kid: being super excited to finally see Green Lantern get a solo adventure, seeing him face off against another energy-slinging villain named Evil Star, and being generally jazzed about the short but sweet battle between the two foes.

What did I get upon re-watching this as an adult? Read on to find out.

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Those Blasted Superfriends: Sirena, Empress of Evil

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics, FilmLeave a comment

Of all the bad shows I loved as a kid, none were dearer to my heart than Superfriends. It was where I learned to loved Green Lantern, he of the cool costume and even cooler power ring. Nowadays, I recognize it as very schlocky, basically thrown together because folks figured any bright lights and weird noises could keep school-aged children entertained.

In my case, they were right.

Looking back at Superfriends, it’s like McDonald’s food: terrible, but I still get a craving for it every now and then. Thus, I am happy to share my thoughts and commentary about certain episodes, beginning with my favorite Superfriend Green Lantern taking on Sirena, the so-called Empress of Evil.

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Thou Shalt not Kill

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

One of the oldest traditions in superhero comics is that the good guys don’t kill. There are exceptions out there, such as Wolverine, who sometimes the secret death squad X-Force or the Punisher, whose body count is somewhere in the thousands. But in general, superheroes haven’t killed since the Silver Age or even before. But the question is, why? Certainly some villains (*cough*Joker*cough*) deserve their necks snapped. Why is it that these guys who dress up in pajamas and pursue vigilante justice don’t do what sometimes needs to be done?

In an attempt to answer that question, or at least look at how the code against killing developed, here’s a look at some of the more iconic superheroes and why they don’t kill.

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Superhero Evolutions: Hal Jordan

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

“In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might beware my power…Green Lantern’s light!”

Next to the Incredible Hulk, Hal Jordan is my favorite superhero. As a kid, I liked him because he had the coolest costume and the coolest superpower. As an adult, I like him because he’s fearless and heroic but also a hard-headed moron. I can sympathize with a character who is kind of a jerk at times but who has a good heart and will do the right thing when the chips are down. I don’t really know of too many other characters in comics who are believably flawed like that. Arguably, there’s Guy Gardner, another Green Lantern, and over in Marvel there’s Hank Pym, who is like that but veers more toward overt mental illness at times.

Overall, I find Hal to be a strong enough and believable character to cross over the nostalgia filter and move from my childhood hero to my second favorite superhero ever. The journey hasn’t been easy for Hal, though. He was victim to one of the biggest cases of character derailment in comics, and it took him a full decade to recover from it.

So let’s take a look at the history of Hal Jordan, the Silver Age Green Lantern, as he went from hero to psychopath to hero once again.

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Roy Harper

Superhero Evolutions: Roy Harper

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

We all fight for different things. But we all still fight….Everything we need – it’s all within us.

Who is Roy Harper? Well, he’s been lots of different things. He began as Speedy, the Green Arrow’s sidekick. He’s also been the Red Arrow and Arsenal. He’s been a drug addict, a single father, and an amputee. He’s one of the first comic book characters to really be involved in some heavy topical issues, but bad creative decisions have turned him into a parody of those very same issues. Looking at Roy Harper’s history is like watching a train wreck, then watching the sole survivor emerge from the blazing inferno, take six steps forward, then get hit by a speeding car.

My knowledge of Roy Harper extends from his early days up until about 2010 or so. When DC rebooted its universe, he joined up with his buddies Jason Todd and Starfire in Red Hood and the Outlaws, but I’ve read very little of that series or anything else involving Roy since. What I have to offer here is a history of “Roy Classic.” So let’s dive in, shall we?

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Leap Year Menace

Green Lantern in “The Leap Year Menace!”

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

Hal Jordan has always been one of my favorite comic book superheroes. At first it was simply because he had the coolest costume. Then I read his comics and found out that I like the character as well.

There are a lot of things that set Hal Jordan apart from the rest of the classic Silver Age superheroes, such as the fact that he’s got a female boss or the fact that his early issues dealt with racism against Inuits (yeah). But the biggest thing that sets him aside from others is that he’s an impulsive man-child. This is a guy who tries to do the right thing, but he’s hampered by the fact that he doesn’t think things through and is kind of an idiot. Perhaps because I am also a well-intentioned idiot, this resonates with me.

There seems to be a large amount of dislike for Hal around the Internet, with many people arguing that he’s boring. Like him or not, I can tell you one thing for sure: he’s not boring. Allow me to show you what I mean as we delve into the classic Silver Age Green Lantern story known as…“The Leap Year Menace!”

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