u/Electrical-Look-1183

It’s honestly impressive how many people will die on the hill of “Hal Jordan is the worst” while clearly having never touched a Green Lantern comic printed after the mid-90s.

They keep recycling the same three talking points like they’re still relevant. Emerald Twilight. Parallax. “He’s just a pilot with no personality.” Meanwhile Geoff Johns spent years rebuilding the entire mythos around him, gave him actual depth, consequences, and a character arc that most of them somehow managed to miss. Then the runs after that kept building on it. But they pretend none of that exists so they can keep feeling superior about a version of the character that hasn’t been the main one in decades.

And then there’s the favorite gotcha: the Arisia stuff. Yeah, that was creepy as hell. A writer decided to have a character, who was introduced as a teenager, use her ring to age herself up so she could be with Hal, and then played the relationship straight.

That is 100% on the writer and the editorial decisions of the time. It was bad, it aged like milk, and later creative teams quietly buried it because it was indefensible. Blaming the character for a specific creator’s gross creative choice from the 80s is peak lazy criticism. Hal Jordan did not write those issues. A human being with a byline did.

If you hate Hal because you’ve actually read the comics—including the modern ones—and still don’t like him, fine. That’s a legitimate opinion. But half of you are just repeating shit you absorbed from old memes, Twitter screenshots, and YouTube thumbnails. You’re not critiquing the character, but LARPing as someone who’s read the books.

Read the damn runs. Or at least admit you’re arguing from a place of pure nostalgia, secondhand outrage, and selective memory. I'm so tired of hearing the same recycled takes treated like bold new insights.

Before you hate, read this: I agree that DC lacks diversity in their current lines. With Mr. Terrific being a fan-fave in the newest Superman film, and their rich catalogue of POC characters, being unused in ongoings, DC needs to step up for black fans with more books starring these characters.

Another note: I am not white.

Anyway, here's my take.

For those who don't know, #DCSoWhite is a 2026 social media boycott calling out DC Comics for going over three years without a single ongoing, Black-led comic series in its core continuity.

When people point to Absolute Green Lantern.(starring Jo Mullein) as a major win, protesters quickly dismiss it because it takes place outside of Prime Earth.

However, dismissing Absolute Green Lantern because it is in another universe is missing the bigger picture. The boycott over the lack of Black-led books in mainline for three years overlooks how Absolute DC has become more culturally relevant and important than mainline Prime Earth right now.

Online discussions focus far more on Absolute Batman than Prime Earth Batman. The same goes for the rest of the Absolute line. These books are driving the current buzz, sales, and fresh interest.

DC should simply add more Black-led titles in the Absolute universe. That is the sandbox people actually care about. It also gives creators much more freedom to deliver their pure vision without decades of continuity holding them back. The result is bolder and more exciting stories.

A strong revamp can really spark new interest in characters. As a longtime Marvel fan, I did not care much about Zatanna or even Wonder Woman before. But Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Zatanna made me switch to buying mostly DC books every month.

Dismissing the Absolute line as not counting feels like moving the goalposts. If the real goal is better visibility and stronger stories for Black characters, focusing on the universe that is actually resonating makes the most sense.

Before you hate, read this: I agree that DC lacks diversity in their current lines. With Mr. Terrific being a fan-fave in the newest Superman film, and their rich catalogue of POC characters, being unused in ongoings, DC needs to step up for black fans with more books starring these characters.

Another note: I am not white.

Anyway, here's my take.

For those who don't know, #DCSoWhite is a 2026 social media boycott calling out DC Comics for going over three years without a single ongoing, Black-led comic series in its core continuity.

When people point to Absolute Green Lantern.(starring Jo Mullein) as a major win, protesters quickly dismiss it because it takes place outside of Prime Earth.

However, dismissing Absolute Green Lantern because it is in another universe is missing the bigger picture. The boycott over the lack of Black-led books in mainline for three years overlooks how Absolute DC has become more culturally relevant and important than mainline Prime Earth right now.

Online discussions focus far more on Absolute Batman than Prime Earth Batman. The same goes for the rest of the Absolute line. These books are driving the current buzz, sales, and fresh interest.

DC should simply add more Black-led titles in the Absolute universe. That is the sandbox people actually care about. It also gives creators much more freedom to deliver their pure vision without decades of continuity holding them back. The result is bolder and more exciting stories.

A strong revamp can really spark new interest in characters. As a longtime Marvel fan, I did not care much about Zatanna or even Wonder Woman before. But Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Zatanna made me switch to buying mostly DC books every month.

Dismissing the Absolute line as not counting feels like moving the goalposts. If the real goal is better visibility and stronger stories for Black characters, focusing on the universe that is actually resonating makes the most sense.

Before you hate, read this: I agree that DC lacks diversity in their current lines. With Mr. Terrific being a fan-fave in the newest Superman film, and their rich catalogue of POC characters, being unused in ongoings, DC needs to step up for black fans with more books starring these characters.

Another note: I am not white.

Anyway, here's my take.

For those who don't know, #DCSoWhite is a 2026 social media boycott calling out DC Comics for going over three years without a single ongoing, Black-led comic series in its core continuity.

When people point to Absolute Green Lantern.(starring Jo Mullein) as a major win, protesters quickly dismiss it because it takes place outside of Prime Earth.

However, dismissing Absolute Green Lantern because it is in another universe is missing the bigger picture. The boycott over the lack of Black-led books in mainline for three years overlooks how Absolute DC has become more culturally relevant and important than mainline Prime Earth right now.

Online discussions focus far more on Absolute Batman than Prime Earth Batman. The same goes for the rest of the Absolute line. These books are driving the current buzz, sales, and fresh interest.

DC should simply add more Black-led titles in the Absolute universe. That is the sandbox people actually care about. It also gives creators much more freedom to deliver their pure vision without decades of continuity holding them back. The result is bolder and more exciting stories.

A strong revamp can really spark new interest in characters. As a longtime Marvel fan, I did not care much about Zatanna or even Wonder Woman before. But Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Zatanna made me switch to buying mostly DC books every month.

Dismissing the Absolute line as not counting feels like moving the goalposts. If the real goal is better visibility and stronger stories for Black characters, focusing on the universe that is actually resonating makes the most sense.