The Green Lantern by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver..._in_motorsport

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

The premise that test pilots are gone or going away is flawed. While hot shot, hair on fire, legendary characters like the Chuck Yeagers and Neil Armstrongs may be going away, test pilots are not. Not even close. Not only your big contract outfits like Boeing, Northrup, and Lockheed-Martin are staffing pilots. The FAA, DoD, and each service branch all staff test pilots.
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If Hal Jordan has to have a job back on Earth and being a test pilot isn't an option, there's no reason he couldn't fly clients privately if he had his own plane. Gets to make his own hours, doesn't have to report to any bigger bosses, etc.
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It's definitely best to keep the aerial aspect central to his character. It isn't just his job, it's something that's a part of his consciousness. It's not only his family's legacy, but he often creates jets and other ships in battle because that's where his thought content dwells.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

There ain't no flying job now that involves danger except for military actions, which won't work in Green Lantern.

Hal needs to operate a vehicle with an engine in a dangerous profession. And how many such professions are there? There's only one, which is competitive racing.

Stop fighting me on this. If Geoff had thought of it, everybody would still be gushing about what a great, logical idea their hero had gotten.

[buffalorock Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close buffalorock]

I would think the astronaut job from Earth One would be a more logical next step from an atmospheric pilot.

Hal's job should be pushing frontiers, not burning rubber for people's entertainment.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

I'm fairly certain if flying wasn't as dangerous then everybody would have their own planes and it would be just as common as driving a car.

For a more public hero it might work, but realistically after a supervillain trashed even one race the sponsors would completely back out. Then your boy no longer has a job because nobody wants to take the risk of being responsible for a supervillain coming to the track. If out of work in no time Hal is what you're wanting, that's been done about half a dozen times now.

If Geoff had thought of it, a lot of us would've likely quit reading GL that much sooner LOL.

[Big Blue Lantern Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Big Blue Lantern]

There ain't no flying job now that involves danger except for military actions, which won't work in Green Lantern.

Hal needs to operate a vehicle with an engine in a dangerous profession. And how many such professions are there? There's only one, which is competitive racing.

Stop fighting me on this. If Geoff had thought of it, everybody would still be gushing about what a great, logical idea their hero had gotten.

Flying has always been dangerous and it always will be. One look out of an airplane cabin as it's in the air and you instantly understand why getting a pilot's license is so much more difficult than getting a driver's license.

And no, I wouldn't read a comic about a race car driver regardless of the writer. I don't know how others feel, but vehicles are just too mundane to be an interesting part of a fantasy story. You couldn't pay me to watch a NASCAR race or anything of the sort, and that's when vehicles are in motion. Panel upon panel about car production and maintenance would be narrative death.

[Tommy Boy Hal's Understudy Find all posts View Profile Close Tommy Boy]

Flying has always been dangerous and it always will be. One look out of an airplane cabin as it's in the air and you instantly understand why getting a pilot's license is so much more difficult than getting a driver's license.

And no, I wouldn't read a comic about a race car driver regardless of the writer. I don't know how others feel, but vehicles are just too mundane to be an interesting part of a fantasy story. You couldn't pay me to watch a NASCAR race or anything of the sort, and that's when vehicles are in motion. Panel upon panel about car production and maintenance would be narrative death.

It's a really good point, Big Blue. The romance of it may be gone, but only because the bold new steps in aviation have either A) disappeared with the shattering of physical barriers and the limitations of physics or B) are buried under so much secrecy we couldn't know if we wanted to. And that's where I land as a fan. It's a comic book. There IS no top secret clearance, no Groom Lake fenceline, no restricted airspace over Edwards AFB. And no reason why Hal can't be a test pilot cutting the stratosphere in the latest and greatest hardware from Ferris Air, the premier airframe contractor to the DoD. But the days of open, arched hangars and a grease covered Pieface turning wrenches on a Merlin engine are dead.

You want to put a bullet in the head of Hal, make him a race car driver. Not to make it ad hominem, but that's beyond silly.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

It's a really good point, Big Blue. The romance of it may be gone, but only because the bold new steps in aviation have either A) disappeared with the shattering of physical barriers and the limitations of physics or B) are buried under so much secrecy we couldn't know if we wanted to. And that's where I land as a fan. It's a comic book. There IS no top secret clearance, no Groom Lake fenceline, no restricted airspace over Edwards AFB. And no reason why Hal can't be a test pilot cutting the stratosphere in the latest and greatest hardware from Ferris Air, the premier airframe contractor to the DoD. But the days of open, arched hangars and a grease covered Pieface turning wrenches on a Merlin engine are dead.

You want to put a bullet in the head of Hal, make him a race car driver. Not to make it ad hominem, but that's beyond silly.

OK, Tommy. Make him a private pilot who takes rich people on picnics. That'll jibe quite well with John Broome's original concept of someone who operates dangerous motor vehicles for a living, won't it? But at least he'll be IN THE AIR, right? Like he's not in the air all the time as a GL.

But who told you that race drivers are dumb asses? And who said that the comic would be ABOUT Hal racing -- any more than it was ever ABOUT Hal flying jets? Or any more than Superman has ever been ABOUT Clark Kent being a reporter?

Damn.

[Tommy Boy Hal's Understudy Find all posts View Profile Close Tommy Boy]

OK, Tommy. Make him a private pilot who takes rich people on picnics. That'll jibe quite well with John Broome's original concept of someone who operates dangerous motor vehicles for a living, won't it? But at least he'll be IN THE AIR, right? Like he's not in the air all the time as a GL.

But who told you that race drivers are dumb asses? And who said that the comic would be ABOUT Hal racing -- any more than it was ever ABOUT Hal flying jets? Or any more than Superman has ever been ABOUT Clark Kent being a reporter?

Damn.

Wow. Pull the reins, cowboy. That horse don't buck.

It's a character defining feature, hence the blowback you're getting. The simple fact is we're arguing very similar premises. The days of Niki Lauda and F1 drivers smearing themselves across the pavement for the checkered flag are dead, just like Chuck Yeager's X-1 breaking the sound barrier being a feat of humanity is an archaic concept. It's old school, and to take advantage of new school concepts to modernize the character premise isn't a bad idea. Where we disagree is the dismissal that 'test pilot' is a non-starter as a career for Hal Jordan because of what 'test pilot' used to be versus the modern day. My point entirely is that the premise of a 'test pilot' still exists. Not pilot, as in pulling the red eye from Cleveland to Detroit on a United MD-80, or pilot, as in charters from Miami-Dade to Kingston.

Case in point, the F-22 and F-35 are the hot airframes in the public eye right now. The F-22 as an airframe was commissioned from Lockheed-Martin in the early 1990's. Almost 30 years later, it's in the public eye. How many years (even decades) of R&D, engineering, and even practical air frame testing took place prior to the demo flight that sold the USAF? What's Lockheed-Martin been cooking up for the last 30 years as the eventual replacement, which you know dang good and well they're doing or have done? All with the requisite engineering, testing, and practical FLYING that has to be done? Who's testing that airframe? The new Chuck Yeagers we'll never hear about because of the OPSEC of airframe design. In other words, in the imaginary world of comic books, Hal Jordan.

Now replace Lockheed-Martin with Ferris Air, with all the practical infrastructure, staff, and security you'd expect from a major defense contractor. Not some Mickey Mouse 1940's airfield with a billion dollar aircraft sitting in a quonset hut in the desert. One of those classified studs that scrape the skies, that will never make the paper, just so happens to be Hal Jordan in a very realistic role that dovetails with his written history.

My point is that you don't have to change Hal. You have to change Ferris. Modernize it. Once you do, Hal fits in his established role AND he's off the radar and out of the public eye, allowing him to Green Lantern his way across the cosmos with his hair on fire.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

Somebody really liked that racing scene from Iron Man 2 apparently LMAO

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

And let's get Bruce Wayne off the public's radar, so he can have time to skulk around all night on high rooftops and appear in a dozen titles as Batman.

You keep missing the whole point that Hal's job needs to be DANGEROUS. There's no flying job now that's dangerous. Did you click on the link I provided about the many deaths that are occurring to this day in auto racing? That's a dangerous job. Show me another dangerous job, and then we can talk.

If Hal is going to fly safe aircraft for a living, then he might as well become a toy salesman again. That's just as dangerous as a pilot's job now.

The "integral part" of Green Lantern here is not that Hal was specifically a test pilot. It's that his psychology drew him to a dangerous profession. That was John Broome's idea, and it still stands up.

[Tommy Boy Hal's Understudy Find all posts View Profile Close Tommy Boy]

We're talking now.

So let's talk about dangerous professions in the modern day if that's the emphasis.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/27/the-...-bls-data.html

Hal Jordan, crab fisherman! Hal Jordan, roofing contractor! Hal Jordan, sanitation worker!

Or maybe Hal Jordan, pilot. The third most dangerous profession in the modern day. And to add the futuristic, cutting edge, fearless angle (because this is still a comic book and it'd suck for your hero to pick up your trash on Tuesdays), test pilot.

Or maybe to stay with your driving theme, Hal Jordan, cross country contract truck driver! Action packed excitement in the pages of the latest Green Lantern as Hal abandons his truckload of onions en route to the Wal-Mart distribution center to save the universe!

C'mon, man. I get you got a chub for the race car driver thing, but I say again, the premise of 'test pilot' isn't broken. At all.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

We're talking now.

So let's talk about dangerous professions in the modern day if that's the emphasis.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/27/the-...-bls-data.html

Hal Jordan, crab fisherman! Hal Jordan, roofing contractor! Hal Jordan, sanitation worker!

Or maybe Hal Jordan, pilot. The third most dangerous profession in the modern day. . .

Ha. Good find. I still say there's no reason to give Hal a job since he hasn't had one in a long, long time, but if he had to have one, I'd definitely want him to be some kind of pilot.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

We're talking now.

So let's talk about dangerous professions in the modern day if that's the emphasis.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/27/the-...-bls-data.html

Hal Jordan, crab fisherman! Hal Jordan, roofing contractor! Hal Jordan, sanitation worker!

Or maybe Hal Jordan, pilot. The third most dangerous profession in the modern day. And to add the futuristic, cutting edge, fearless angle (because this is still a comic book and it'd suck for your hero to pick up your trash on Tuesdays), test pilot.

Or maybe to stay with your driving theme, Hal Jordan, cross country contract truck driver! Action packed excitement in the pages of the latest Green Lantern as Hal abandons his truckload of onions en route to the Wal-Mart distribution center to save the universe!

C'mon, man. I get you got a chub for the race car driver thing, but I say again, the premise of 'test pilot' isn't broken. At all.

+1

So much fucking win with this post.

[Tommy Boy Hal's Understudy Find all posts View Profile Close Tommy Boy]

Ha. Good find. I still say there's no reason to give Hal a job since he hasn't had one in a long, long time, but if he had to have one, I'd definitely want him to be some kind of pilot.

See, I'm cool with this, too. I want to see Hal kicking ass, not finding out how he affords toilet paper. But I think there's some gravy story-wise with a job, especially if he ends up with a more earth-centric storyline. It's completely moot if he's blazing across the universe.