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GA/GL manages to make me annoyed at it even when it is 100% aligning with my politics. It is impressive like that. I think part of it is that the entire run is clearly just forcing the duo into a topic every issue and making them conform to opposing arguments. So Hal must suddenly shift to be Ollies opposite no matter what. Ollie is never wrong save for with Speedy, oh sure he makes the occasional mistake in the series, but it is never a personal failing.
Ollie does not come off so much as an authentic leftist with strongly held convictions, he feels like someone windowshopping ideologies and adopting stances he just heard of. He looses money and suddenly becomes progressive on every single issue? That's not how radicalization works, there is a process, people have hangups.
There is no nuance, and I don't mean nuance on the issues the book brings up, I mean nuance within Oliver's stances and within the book's conception of left wing politics. It is all vibes based
Objectively each time he's saved the world and everyone on it, Hal Jordan has done more for blacks than all of the civil rights leaders in history combined. And at this point, he's saved it how many times? Probably more than a dozen at least.
So this guy can **** off for trying to lay a guilt trip on Hal when he's already done and continues to do more than most people have or ever will do.
I look at this two different ways. First, if an alien can fight the Klan, would it really kill a guy riding on light beams to tell the governments of his own planet to chill out on beating up on their own?
Second, if aliens took over and treated all humans as second class citizens, is he going to say “Oh well” also because that’s just the way things are? Nope, he’s going to run them off. Now if he can do that, again why not at least do something for his own fellow humans when he’s on-world?
"I've saved the entire planet a few times. Pretty sure that helps them"
It’s only good completely divorced from context and logic. It’s so god damn stupid, Green Lantern’s job is to protect an entire sector of the universe. Billions upon billions of life forms. Helping the blue and orange and purple people is just as important as helping the black people, if not more so because as is constantly brought up in the DCU most other planets don’t have super heroes! The fact Hal spends as much time on earth as he does is honestly probably a much bigger problem in the grand scheme of things. That whole series was really pretty awful, the only reason it even happens is because Hal non violently stops a bunch of poor people from killing their slum lord, as he should because murder is a crime regardless of if the asshole has it coming. Then Green Arrow, written horrifically out of character, calls him a Nazi for NOT LETTING A MURDER HAPPEN, and then that bit happens and Hal is so ashamed the idiocy kicks off. Should Hal have just let those people kill him? Because News flash, that ends one of two ways. A) Someone new buys up all the properties of the deceased and the cycle starts over, or they could be even worse and just burn them out or something. Or B) THE COPS COME TO BEAT AND ARREST EVERY SINGLE PERSON THERE! God I fucking hate that book, the only issue tackled worse was the Speedy doing heroin shit 😑
Actually B is very unlikely. There was a case where a mob of people killed a guy and no one got arrested because everyone completely forgot who actually killed the guy.
Fair, but this was the inner city in the early 70’s. The likelihood of racist cops just taking the opportunity is reasonably high.
There are horribly written panels like these then there’s the Alex Ross illustrated masterpiece Batman War on Crime that deals with this issue in a more mature way, rather than “victimising” Black people.
I blame Green Arrow for this.
As you should.
Pretty powerful panel this especially seems like a pointed finger at DC comics troublesome but not unique racist black caricatures and awful black representation. Captain Marvel's comics were deemed "too racist for the 40s" which should tell you about the way DC ran things. Marvel had their fair share of racism as well with characters like Whitewash Jones and the Mandarin (who made multiple appearances into the modern 2014 era).
Don't forget black bomber, and Superman Encouraging hate crimes against Japanese people in the slogan "Superman says you can slap a jap" Or Captain America (again sigh) calling Asian enemies yellow monkeys and referring to people of color as little brown rats doesn't look too good either.
Also Iron man solely used to exist as red scare propaganda which is why Mandarin was his arch enemy and a lot of the anti communist stuff is always scapegoating Asian people as inherently untrustworthy despite the U.S. operating Japanese Internment camps. Everyone rounded up into the camps were just Asian because the U.S. Military could not tell the difference between Southeast Aaian people and specifically Japanese people
Don't forget more recently Lobo Unbound released in f****** 2003 and if you've seen some panels you've seen enough to see how genuinely f****** racist the whole comic was.
Racism should always (especially in graphic novels) be challenged, no matter for what reason or what the cost for doing so is it must be seen to be vanquished.
Do not let these companies Whitewash and hide their racist past by pretending it never existed
Tons of good points. Just a minor note though, 40s Capt Marvel was published by Fawcett, not DC. The character was licensed to DC in the 70s but they didn't get full ownership of the franchise til the 90s.
thanks you for the correction 😁
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can you not use the R word, please?
He's a dumbass
AGLAB
I'm not sure why people have an issue with this panel these days tbh
Countless times we've seen GLs interact and help the relations of planets across the galaxy. Helping aliens that have been in situations like racism and corruption through the wealthy similar to how we have those problems on earth. One of John Stewart's great stories is him helping alien victims of racism in "Before I'd be a slave" by Dennis O'Neil
Assuming humans on earth know about these stories, which would make sense since they seem to know a good amount about GLs being off world most of the time, it makes sense for him to ask questions like this and saving the whole earth isn't really an answer to them when they're still struggling but see you helping alien strangers over your fellow man. In their perspective at least
I don't like it because this run had to dump what we know of Hal as a person prior so he can gets schooled by Green Arrow. Hal should know better given how his powers take him around the world and in space, but no he just crumbles the minute someone says he's not doing enough.
It it coming from Ollie who until like a month prior, was a beneficiary of the entire apparatus that exploits and causes black people to suffer.
What would taking one man around the world and in space do when millions of people like him would still be suffering though?
The point the black man is making is that there are so many people just like him that need the help Green Lantern can provide and the love to many communities Green Arrow had been showing but instead Hal's been helping aliens of other planets first
To him it's like helping strangers before helping your fellow man which seemed to have hit Hal the most after realising he's not as much help to his own world as he once thought
The man literally saves the world constantly I think his love of the black chapies is evident
I think the issue here is that the issues (that could literally be anything from racism to homelessness to hunger) themselves are socioeconomic. Fighting aliens is totally different than providing aid for a major city in the middle of economic decline.
I be like whatever Larflizzle….
Hal "I don't know saved the f'n universe twice before breakfast what have you done today." " Do you still exist ... Your welcome" "I can take you to earth-23 if you like"
What Hal's answer should of been "Ya know that meteor that almost hit earth last week? Or that Dalek invasion fleet came to blow up earth? How those things didn't happen. Yeah that was me. You are welcome."
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What the hell is going on with this thread.
I wrote a lengthy anti racist response, you can check it out if need be.
I'm good
A good clap back would have been.
Maybe you should meet some of those orange skins and realize their lives are worth saving too old man.
Literally the dumbest hero to do this with. Hal is in a multi species organization and race has never been a factor in any of his relationships. Yes. “Preface” is an extremely unfortunate nickname but he was constantly shown to be competent, resourceful, and a valued friend. He works side by sides with aliens. Hell, he had no issue working with John Stewart aside from noting the MASSIVE chip on his shoulder. Something that notably could have effected him as a hero.
Hal spends most of his time in space dealing with galactic level threats. He’s not a street level hero defending individuals. It’s like bitching about a marine not doing anything to help flint. Literally nothing about his job is relevant.
LOL you’re like “Hal can’t be racist he’s got a black friend at work.”
No you absolute dingus. Hal works with thousands of species. Non-human creature whose differences make skin color differences laughable. Those differences are rarely if ever a factor when he works with them. Sure something might freak him out. But he gets past it. Hal doesn’t see race. All Hal cares about is flying, ring slinging, and protecting people.
Hell just look at real life examples. The military was desegregated before a lot do the country. The reason? You give people a common purpose and have them work together prejudices fall away.
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Omg comics are getting so woke all of a sudden! /s
Bad comics today doesn't mean there weren't bad comics yesterday.
As a black dude, this is an absolutely ridiculous panel. That really makes zero sense. It's like Falcon telling the senator to do better.
But YOU have got to do better senator. I had the rousing music cue and everything. Clearly my self righteousness is more important than any concern about practicality, responsibility, or precedent. Truly me feeling better about doing SOMETHING is FAARRRR more important.
Yes because an American government is so prepared for half the population disappearing...then coming back. Falcon Should have been slapped.
It’s just like seriously. The refugees from one city can create a nationwide crisis. (Katrina comes to mind). Requiring massive resources to handle. Even a country as rich and well equipped as the U.S. will struggle to address that in a timely and effective manner. Multiply that for the whole world? With infrastructure that has been accommodated for half the population 5 years later?
It’s kinda a miracle the planet just didn’t collapse.
You clearly didn't watch the show. The senator just needs to do better. Problem solved, mic drop!
Super advanced aliens, androids, and all the other crazy stuff happening in the MCU. The government has a lot of stuff on their plate.
As a not black not dude, it feels like this speech was soap boxing targeting some completely different character. Like, the dynamic here seems to be "Black man confronts space cop for not giving a damn about local issues. Issues being the poor treatment of black people in 1960's America."
And if we add several other characteristics to Hal maybe that makes sense. Maybe if Hal was also an earth cop at any point in his life prior to being a Green lantern. Maybe Hal grew up benefitting from a racist culture to a notable degree. Maybe if Hal had ever made any unfulfilled commitment to the black community at any point. But none of that's true. He's a pilot from a lower middle class economic background who god zapped into crazy space adventures.
As a black dude she should has enough intelligence to understand the context and time period of this panel. He's saying Green Lantern has help communities all over the system but hasn't done much for the community on his own planet. It'd not an unfair statement given the Era of this panel
Legitimately ridiculous. There's not a solution that Hal can provide for the "black skins" alien planets and races have dictators that Hal can fight against. How can Hal help the "black skins" it's weightless virtue signaling.
There’s totally not Oligarchs killing a planet in his sector….
Ya know saving the world helps that community not be dead.
God Hal sucks 😂😂😂😂
No your mom does and it only cost me 5 dollars
Hey, she charges minimum $100. Though maybe now that she's dead, she's lowered her rates.
Ps hal is still the worst
Your wrong but funny
worst Green Lantern easy.
Extremely stupid panel
I mean as a respected superhero he could advocate for better conditions, i dont know how this has bristled so many people here
It’s the context. Before this comic, Green Lantern Hal Jordan was a working class pilot/superhero who barely made ends meet. His social life was all over the place, but he held on and let life take the wheel. He had superiors to answer to, but more or less had the freedom to be a man of action.
After this comic, Hal was portrayed as a someone who just takes his orders, blind to the social issues of the real world, an out of touch cop who needs to be enlightened by the cooler anti-authoritarian Green Arrow. So it’s pretty upsetting for readers of the comic to see him rendered to that.
Additionally, his responsibilities is keeping an entire sector of the universe safe, of which includes Earth. Hal has saved the world countless times, but for some reason it wasn’t enough for this random old dude. Also, Lanterns are vigilante peacekeepers and can’t get too involved in the political affairs of their sectors because their prior greatest lantern took power into his own hands so Hal can’t just barge into the White House and demand better treatment of others.
Hal could join a rally or a charitable event to help people but sadly this is a comic book and that doesn’t pay the bills or satisfy Green Arrow’s most extreme views.
Hal could say be nicer to each other or the next extinction level event might be when I’m in another quadrant of this sector.
I agree, it's weird because I think O'Neil actually has a good grasp on Hal after the first few issues but it's like he intentionally put wool over Hal's eyes just to remove it afterwards and have Hal develop into... the man he already was...
Yeah calling his friend pieface and porkin arisa were totally cool.
Okay? And this is relevant how exactly? You don't seem to realise that these instances are not indictments of the character but are indictments of the writers and of the times.
There are two kinds of Denny O'Neil's GA/GL, one with Neal Adams and one without Neal Adams. It's crazy, but the moment he dips, the comic never reaches the levels of volatility it had during the earlier Hard Travelin Heroes issues. This might sound crazy, but could Neal Adams be the one who was advocating for more of the heavy-handed political commentary?
It's possible, I remember that story of Adams really pushing for the creation of John Stewart.
“Sir my superpower relies completely on a ring. It’s not that I don’t want to speak out against social injustices but you gotta understand once I start doing that everyone is gonna call me and my ring gay.
I…can’t…”
Beside that is Alan Scott's gimmick now .....
This panel never made a whole lot of sense to me, only because I don't understand how Hal is supposed to answer. What's he supposed to say, or even do?
I saved the world last week you senile old fart
….hmm so stoping world conquers or what? Like what is green lanterns power set gonna do for the black community?
There’s plenty of people ruining the planet who could occupy a sciencell
Force police to take anti-bias training!
To a lot of the commenters: If you think super heros are upholders of the "status quo" and facists/hypocrites why are you reading superhero comics?
Partly because it’s very interesting to read about how well-intentioned people can uphold an unjust status quo, and because seeing them confront those contradictions is also very interesting. It’s not their fault, just like it’s not the fault of many individual police officers. It’s very human that superheroes try their best and fall short in some areas.
But also because I understand that the status quo must stay the same in superhero stories for business reasons and try to suspend my disbelief. I prefer street-level stories because it’s more believable that daredevil can’t end world hunger and war than that Iron Man or Superman can’t
Me like see Green Man light go boom pow 🤤
Easily one of the silliest panels in the history of comics.
I'm sure it felt deep (and certainly for the medium at that time), but, in retrospect, it made zero sense given that Hal has saved the world numerous times at that point. In fact, I would think that, given he's a street level hero, more onus can be put on Green Arrow for not pulling his weight when it comes to confronting issues that the average person (such as the gentleman above) faces day-to-day (i.e. slum lords, drug trafficking, human trafficking, etc.). What does he want? God-tier superheroes to swoop in and take over the world like we've seen in SO MANY superhero deconstruction stories that have been in vogue recently?
It's been pointed out in other comments, but this was definitely a low point for Denny O'Neil given he completely didn't understand the character or the lore previously established. The art was incredible though.
I thought, at the time, that Ollie was a left wing liberal. Hal was conservative. That left them as buddies who were at odds in any number of ways.
It’s worth noting that Ollie has lost his fortune before becoming so outspoken about the underprivileged. I can’t say what race any of them were since I wasn’t reading the series.
Yeah this comic afaik explored many social issues and Green Lantern took an explicitly conservative stance on many of them, even calling Green Arrow a hippie and stuff like that. And yeah Green Lantern was portrayed as out of touch and that their travels helped him realize how it was for the average person in a way he couldn’t when he saved millions at once. Maybe Hal isn’t so conservative and out of touch normally, but it seems like this panel makes sense in the context of the story
So does that mean Coast City was all white?
How would you guys have done Hard Travelling Heroes?
I am very disappointed with a lot of the comments in this thread. Superheroes in general use their amazing powers in the least efficient way possible. I get why, the world of superheroes should be a utopia but that would fundamentally make them different from the real world and therefore less interesting to read. Quite frankly, it’s why I feel out of comics, I got tired of the same story over and over again.
You must have meant a dystopia. People with superpowers would most likely enslave the world, and conflicts between superpowered beings would cause immense destruction. It would be a nightmare.
Well yeah, but the superpeople in these stories are also often portrayed as paragons of virtue who legitimately could make the world a way better place and are unlikely to abuse that power. Injustice and stories like it often come off as weak slippery slope arguments to me
Even without abusing their powers, my second point still stands. Beings like Brainiac, Starro, Grodd, and many other villains wouldn't care about collateral damage. Superheroes would probably do their best to try and minimize damage, but it would still happen. Still a horrible world to live in, made better by superheroes giving people hope.
Since superheroes can't be everywhere at once that brings up a point I didn't really think about before, superheroes run around saving the day, most work a job, and try to have a normal life, just how much more do people expect them to do? They're already sacrificing their time, health, and lives, can't normal people work together and solve societal problems?
I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, but you right
Then why are you in a comic book subreddit?
Came up on my feed and to me, this is actually a very important comic book panel
Oh so same as me.
I remember this issue. Part of the great GL/GA road trip.
What exactly was Hal supposed to do for black people???
Yeah he should have said "Oh I don't know helped save the entire planet multiple times over. Is that enough for you old man?"
The old man should've asked that question to Batman or Green Arrow the two guys that actually have enough money to make a significant impact on the black community 😂. Hal is homeless and can barely keep a normal job but he's supposed to help the black community 😂😂😂.