And the Guardians will go "then you deserve the ring because you're the first one to admit it."
Artist: Doc Shaner
The character seems to have gone through a huge shift in characterization in the comics. In his first appearance, he is somewhat abrasive and anti-authority. It makes sense, because he's a black man in 1970s America being hassled by the authorities and dealing with persecution white test pilot Hal Jordan never had to. He sees things Hal doesn't see. When Hal first meets John, he sees John in a conflict with the cops, and immediately assumes the cops are in the right. He only later takes a second to figure out what's going on.
In Mosaic, it seems that John is still skeptical of authority, but he's mellowed out about it and is more pensive/philosophically introspective than loud.
But in the modern comics, it seems he's the Lantern who is most deferent to authority out of the main Earth Lanterns. His personality is more "I'm a military guy, I understand what it's like to have to make snap decisions that cost lives and put yourself aside for the mission and to follow and issue orders and stuff. I'm low-key troubled by some of the shit I've had to do, but that's life as a soldier guy. Being in the Corps reminds me of that one time when I was in the Marines and we were all getting shot at and I saw my friend die. Also, I have PTSD and guilt about Xanshi from that one Jim Starlin crossover in which I was written as a cocky asshole for the plot."
I wonder if the change had to do with contrasting him against other Lanterns. Hal Jordan has also changed characterization a lot over the years. When John was introduced, O'Neil was writing Hal as "whitebred American centrist who never questioned America or the Guardians until a hippy pointed out his privilege." John being a Black Power guy made a good foil to that. Today, Hal is more "maverick who bends the rules and calls out bullshit of people in power." Guy is also "loud boisterous surly guy who doesn't like being told what to do." A third "anti-authority" guy is harder to contrast against them than making him the "I follow the chain of command" guy, I guess. So, I think the modern comics borrowed a lot from the Justice League cartoon and made him "hard-nosed marine with a layer of turmoil underneath the stern demeanour"
And honestly… I think John was more interesting when he was anti-authority. The new HBO show is definitely going for modern John so far, with his "I respect the chain of command and am super by-the-book" attitude. I get why. It's a fun inversion of the usual mentor/protégé dynamic when the old mentor is the rebel and the student is the disciplined one. But I feel like the cost is "because Hal Jordan is interesting now, John can't be anymore."
Image sources: John Timms, Neal Adams, and Ken Lashley
Signet style? Logo-shaped style? Both?
I like the signet-style ring, myself.
Also, anybody else notice that in Emerald Dawn, when Abin Sur is wearing the ring, it's a logo-style one, but when he gives it to Hal, is magically becomes a signet-style one?
Image source: promotional image for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008).
I get that Green Lantern's suit is even more challenging to translate into live-action than other superheroes' suits because the filmmakers have to make it feel alien and believable at the same time.
Superman's suit is alien, too, but it's still really just an alien fabric/material. It's just textiles from a different planet. Green Lantern's suit is conjured by the ring. What is it even? Is it the same energy as his constructs? Is it made of fibres, or completely smooth? Is it self-illuminated, or just reflective? Is it shiny or matte? Comics artists don't have to decide these questions while rendering the suit as abstracted areas of green, black, and white. They rely on us filling in context. But a live-action suit has to look tactile in a way a cartoon doesn't.
But I feel like most live-action interpretations gave up on trying to translate the classic suits into believable live action and just went in another direction. The new TV show is giving Hal what looks like protective motorcycle leather instead of something that looks like an energy ring made it. The Campbell film did the "biological skinless" thing (which was actually a cool idea; the suit was ruined not by the basic design, but by the poor VFX used to render it. Particularly the mask.). Superman 2025 had Gardner wearing an Earth-based Justice Gang uniform, so we didn't get to see how they would tackle his GL uniform.
The design from the Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game from a while back looks closest to what I imagine it would be like to give the classic suit believable texture. Raising the green parts, letting the black parts be that skintight hexagonal thing, etc. Live-action costume designers would still have to do some work to make it functional, but I think it's a solid foundational concept. I wish a GL live-action project would look along these lines.
"He's called 'The Riddler' because he riddles people with bullet holes," lmao. Bruh, may as well go "he's called 'Batman' because he carries a cricket bat." "She's called 'Catwoman' because she's had a CAT scan before."
So I first started consistently mewing two years ago. Are the results noticeable?