Hal Jordan:INSANE

[Guest Close PowerRingE3]

Every since Emerald Twilight the question has been argued-

Would Hal Jordan really go insane at the destruction of Coast City?

I use to believe this but after 10+ years of aguements & discussions I find myself 70/30 on the subject so now i have a final solution to the question.

I have decided to let my physic teacher(20yrs in the business) read all of vol.3 and emerald twilight.

I will post the respond when i get it.

[Andrew NDB Shot Caller Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew NDB]

It wasn't so much Coast City itself making himself insane as much as it was the Guardians sticking it to him right after Coast City, while he was in the middle of coping... like, the straw that broke the camel's back.

Ganthet has -- on at least a couple of occasions -- admitted the Guardians did very wrong by Hal.

[Guest Close Satyrquaze]

People all over the world have been driven insane by far less.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

I think it is not insignificant to note that the writer of GL at the time of Coast City's destruction, who presumably had a lot to say about the mental strength of the character, did NOT feel that Coast City's destruction would drive Hal insane. We know this because he had a script for events post-Coast City that did not include a descent into insanity.

To me, the fact that that event was latched on to after the fact as something to point to and say, "Yeah, that's why he went insane. That's the ticket!" says a lot about why it simply wasn't believable. If you are going to tell a decent story about a character going nuts, I think you really NEED to PLAN it that way, including the trigger in your story arc, not just picking something that was never intended to drive the character insane and retroactively saying that it did. There were several ways in which the destruction of Coast City could have been PLANNED to be more tragic for Hal, and more believable for a trigger for a descent into insanity that they had planned, but since it was never intended for that purpose, none of that happened, and we got, IMHO, a very weak explanation for a very serious, sudden, and severe psychotic break.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

People all over the world have been driven insane by far less.

People with the established mental strength and track record of dealing with tragedy that Hal Jordan had? I kind of doubt it. I have no doubt that Hal Jordan has a breaking point. I think EVERYBODY does. I just don't think that Coast City's destruction as it happened was sufficient.

[Parrylakks Neko Samurai Find all posts View Profile Close Parrylakks]

In reference to Mister Ed's post;

The original plan for the issues that became Emerald Twilight can be found here, with discussion:

http://www.thegreenlanterncorps.com/...hread.php?t=52

[Bob Sachs Voice of Guy Gardner Find all posts View Profile Close Bob Sachs]

Hal had something inside him when he lost it ... Under normal non Parallax circumstances, I don't think Hal would have snapped though ... Since Parallax was involved though, I find the story very believable now ... At first, I didn't know Parallax was an actual seperate being ... I thought Hal simply snapped and started calling himself Parallax ... It'd kinda be like me suddenly changing my name to Shirley with no explanation, except that Jesus didn't come down from the cross in Spiderman 3, and honor Brock's request to kill Peter Parker ... Ya know ???

[methos Kyle's Backup Artist Find all posts View Profile Close methos]

It'd kinda be like me suddenly changing my name to Shirley with no explanation, except that Jesus didn't come down from the cross in Spiderman 3, and honor Brock's request to kill Peter Parker ... Ya know ???

i've read that last paragraph 4 times now... and it still doesn't make sense to me lol

M

[Bob Sachs Voice of Guy Gardner Find all posts View Profile Close Bob Sachs]

i've read that last paragraph 4 times now... and it still doesn't make sense to me lol

M

Not everything makes sense ...

[Parrylakks Neko Samurai Find all posts View Profile Close Parrylakks]

Wow... thats just umm... wow... wtf?

[Bob Sachs Voice of Guy Gardner Find all posts View Profile Close Bob Sachs]

Wow... thats just umm... wow... wtf?

i get that a lot ... fortunately, i sometimes get paid to say nonsense in front of crowds ...

[Parrylakks Neko Samurai Find all posts View Profile Close Parrylakks]

Well, as long as its working out for ya.

[Bob Sachs Voice of Guy Gardner Find all posts View Profile Close Bob Sachs]

Well, as long as its working out for ya.

Since I do most of my standup for charity, I'm not gonna
cash in for myself off of nonsense ... That's for sure ...
I've done nearly 30 shows over the course of the past year
75% of those shows were freebies for charity, but the rest
of them were paying gigs for private parties and corporate
meetings ... My humor is my ministry, so I mainly do stuff for
free depending on the cause, of course ...

[Jack-O-Lantern Master Customizer Find all posts View Profile Close Jack-O-Lantern]

I have to admit that the very first issue I read of Green Lantern was Volume 3, Number 48. I was ten years old. I have been reading GL non stop ever since. I've loved every minute of it and I'm still enjoying the ride. I don't think I would have had them change it for anything.

I was a Hal fan at first, but grew up with Kyle. I loved when they made Hal the Spectre and Kyle the Torch Bearer of the Corps. Making him Ion and bringing back the Corps was the best thing that ever happened. Then they brought back Hal. Now I have the best of both worlds ring slinging together with John and Guy. Where they all belong.

[Raker616 Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close Raker616]

Never made sense to me Hal's great willpower is what makes him a great hero, for him to snap out of no where change his name start killing his friends and try and reboot the universe is a big WTF? for most Hal fans.