Green Lantern vol. 1 #85

Issue: Green Lantern vol. 1 #85

Title: "Snowbirds Don't Fly"

Credits: Neal Adams (art) Dennis O'Neil (story)

Cover Date: September, 1971

Synopsis: As Oliver Queen is walking down the street, he's ambushed by a group of junkies looking to steal some money for a fix. He fights them all off, channeling his anger at Black Canary for breaking up with him into an epic smackdown.

All is well until one of the junkies shoots him with a crossbow. Wounded, Ollie crawls along the sidewalk, ignored by a passing couple, and a police officer. Finally he collapses in an emergency room and receives help.

Once he's patched up, he asks to see the arrow, only to find out that its one of his own!

Intrigued, he decides to investigate the local drug hierarchy. He calls in Hal Jordan as backup, since the arrow through his shoulder will make archery impossible for a few weeks. They hassle a junkie they find in the basement, and from him get the local of a couple of the lieutenants in the organization.

They pay the dealers a visit (one of which has a collection of ancient weapons, including crossbows) only to find Ollie ward Roy in the room with them! Ollie assumes Roy is there undercover and doesn't say anything. The dealers give up the head honcho, and the two heroes run off to confront them.

Unfortunately, the dealers are craftier than the Emerald heroes gave them credit for, and they manage to conk Hal on the head with a wrench. With GL down for the count and a um arm, Ollie is quickly overwhelmed. The dealers decide not to kill them, but to shoot them full of heroin and then call the cops, disgracing the heroes.

Luckily, Roy followed and manages to talk a stoned Hal into getting them the hell out of there. Back at Ollie's place, Hal wonders why anyone would use drugs, since he's come off the high and feels terrible.

Roy tries to explain that its possible a young man who's father figure ran off to go gallivanting around the country might turn to dope as a replacement. Ollie, oblivious, sees Hal of, only to walk back into the room to see Roy shooting up!

Thoughts: This is it guys. This is the storyline that made this run famous. As a matter of fact, I first found out about it because it was featured on a history of comics special on the History Channel. This issue manages to avoid hitting the reader on the head too hard, but you can still tell that O'Neil and Adams were really trying with this one. Obviously drugs were and are a massive problem, so the message is definitely good, I just wish the creators had found a slightly less heavy handed way to do it.

Still, the image of Speedy (wasn't the name just asking for it) shooting up in Ollie's living room is a definitely a powerful one, especially since Roy's turn to drugs was precipitated by Ollie running off on his quest to save America. Irony!

Spotlight:: Green Lantern vol 1 #84

Issue: Green Lantern vol. 1 #84

Title: "Peril in Plastic"

Cover Date: July, 1971

Credits: Denny O'Neil (scripts) Neal Adams (art)

Synopsis: Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris, newly reunited after last issue, have spent several lazy weeks getting to know one another on the beach. Towards the end of their jaunt, Carol tells Hal she plans to see a revolutionary doctor in the next town by the name of Palm. Hal agrees to let her go on her own and decides to use the time to visit Green Arrow.

Ollie is now shacked up in a disreputable part of town. Without his fortune, he can't exactly afford penthouses anymore. The two chat for a few minutes, until a report comes over the radio about an failing dam in a nearby town...the same one that Carol is in for her doctor visit!

Hal flies off, and using his power ring, manages to patch up the dam. Unfortunately, the fact that the guardians have weakened his ring means that all the activity has left him almost too tired to stand. In the aftermath of the rescue, Dr. Palm, who also happens to be mayor, comes out and insists on throwing GL a party and presenting him with a key to the city. He also attaches a small device to Hal's uniform, which randomly sprays perfume in his face.

After a strange ceremony, attended only by Dr. Palm and on a plastic stage, GL prepares to leave. Dr. Palm isn't too keen on this idea, and has his goons chase GL down. His will sapped by the perfume, GL cannot escape, but does manage to send his ring to Ollie just before passing out.

Unfortunately, Black Canary picks that moment to show up, and distracts Green Arrow just as the ring drops into his apartment. They go out to dinner, but have a fight at the restaurant and split up. Ollie returns and finds the ring, reasoning that Hal wouldn't have sent it away unless it was an emergency. He puts it on, recharges it, and heads for Piper's Dell and Dr. Palm.

Meanwhile, GL awakens, trussed up in a strange chair. Dr. Palm is revealed to be the Black Hand in disguise, who has hooked up with shady financial backers to use brainwashed workers to produce shoddy goods in Piper's Dell. To prove that the population is totally under his control, he lets Hal and Carol go, only to have them face a mob of angry civilians. The mob traps GL and Carol at the edge of the dam, only to have Green Arrow arrive just in time. He gets the power ring back to GL just in time. Hal then uses the ring to contain the mob and trap Black Hand in his own crappy plastic products.

Thoughts: Again, you have to give O'Neil and Adams props for tackling such am important issue (rampant consumerism at the cost of individuality) but again they end up beating you over the head with it. Literally. At one point, Hal and Carol are pummelled with plastic bricks. The Black Hand ends up trapped in a plastic prison of his own making, etc. And to think, credit cards were a fairly new thing back then!

Also: It took me a couple read-throughs to get the Dr. Palm/Black Hand connection. I blame the late hour.

Next Time: The Main Event, the reason this series is famous...Speedy on drugs!

Ollie Watch: March 28th

This may be old news to everyone, but I figured I would make the announcement here as well. In the near future (presumably after Final Crisis) the Justice Leahue will split due to a murder, and the repsonse (or lack there of) of some of the members. The original Justice League of America title will continue, but a new splinter team call "Justice League" will form. Their mission will be to proactively find injustices to right, rather than wait and react.

The members of this new team? Well, it will be headed up by none other than the Emerald Duo themselves, Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen! Also sharing the spotlight will be Supergirl, Batwoman, Starman, and, wait for it, Congorilla. Hey, every team needs an ape on it, as far as I'm concerned.

The announcement was made at Wizard World LA's Final Crisis panel. The book will be written by James Robinson, with an artist to be named later.

Dossier: Hal Jordan

Name: Hal Jordan

Alias: Green Lantern II, The Spectre, Parallax

First Appearance: Showcase #22 (October, 1959)

Modus Operandi: current: Interstellar lawman, formerly: agent of God's Vengence, formerly: universe destroying madman, formerly: interstellar lawman, formerly: Air Force pilot

Powers/Equipment: Power ring fuelled by willpower, able to perform any task/action provided that Jordan has sufficient willpower/imagination.

Backstory: Test pilot Hal Jordan's life was changed forever when a dying alien chose him as his replacement in an interglactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps.

Jordan used his new-found abilities to fight crime and evil in his native Coast City, all the while hiding his identity as "Green Lantern" from his loved ones, including his boss/girlfriend Carol Ferris.

Jordan went on to become a founding member of the Justice League, becoming fast (and eventually, best) friends with the quickly recruited Green Arrow. After the two had an arguement over Jordan's niave acceptance of authority in all its forms, the two travelled the country together, righting wrongs and learning about tolerance.

Later, after Superman's death, the villainous Mongul destroyed Jordan's home, Coast City. Driven mad by grief and angry at the Guardians of the universe for denying him the power to restore the city, Jordan went on a rampage, destroying the Green Lantern Corps and stealing their power for himself.

Using his vast power, Jordan planned to remake the universe to his wishes, namely restoring Coast City and forcing law and order on the populace. It was only through the intervention of his best friend, Oliver Queen, that his plan was stopped. Ollie was forced to kill his friend rather than let him carry out his plan, an action that haunted him for years afterward.

Jordan turned out not to be dead (very complicated) and feeling guilty for his actions, sacrificed himself to restart Earth's sun. After his death, he accepted the offer to become the new Spectre, carry out God's wishes and bringing evildoers to justice.

To further complicate matters, Jordan was recently restored to life and regained the mantle of the Green Lantern of Earth. Green Arrow was crucial to his rebirth, having kept a copy of Jordan's ring safe for years and protecting Jordan's replacement Kyle Raynor from a rampaging Sinestro.

The two have since rekindled their friendship, and Jordan has retaken his place on the Justice League along side Ollie's former sidekick, Roy Harper.

Spotlight:: Green Lantern #78

Issue: Green Lantern vol. 1 #78

Title: "A Kind of Loving, A Way of Death!"

Credits: Neal Adams (cover, pencils) Denny O'Neil (script)

Cover Date: July 1970

Overview: As Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and their Guardian companion continue their journey, we make a brief segue to that Blonde Bombshell, Black Canary. We meet up with Canary as she confronts a small gang of bikers on an isolated dirt road. The bikers decide that they really like Canary's chopper, and that they should go ahead and take it from her. This turns out to be a giant error, as the issue points out, Black Canary is one of the world's greatest martial artists. She quickly drops the entire gang, but one of the bikers recovers enough to run her down.

The scene then switches back to Hal and Ollie, as they come upon an Indian Reservation. Starved, they grab some beans from the town's only restaurant, just in time to stop the very same bikers from taking what they want and killing the proprietor. Ollie uses a net arrow to capture one of the toughs who tried to escape on his bike, but notices something odd about his ride. It is the very same motorcycle that Superman made for Black Canary! (The editorial note tells us this happened in JLA #75) After interrogating (read: beating the crap out of) the dastardly biker, they get the story out of him. Just as they're leaving, the owner of the restaurant they ate at makes a snarky comment about the white man's abuse of his people. Unaware of this aspect of humanity (which both Ollie and Hal are ashamed of) the Guardian decides to stay behind while Ollie and Hal go looking for Black Canary.

They manage to track her down near the road the bikers left her on, but all is not right. She seems enthralled by a strange man name Joshua. After failing to convince her to come with them, Hal and Ollie back off to try and decide what to do. Hal and Ollie have a brief falling out (and fistfight) when Hal suggests that Dinah might just not like him anymore. Furious with Hal, and himself for losing control, Ollie runs off, only to find Joshua and his followers at the firing range. As his followers (all women, natch) practice their shooting, Joshua rants and raves about how white people cannot coexist with people of other races. Being a horrible racist is bad enough, but he then instructs the women under his thrall to attack and wipe out the nearby Native American village.

GA sets off a flare arrow to summon help, but is struck down by a bullet grazing the back of his head. Hal arrives in time to disarm and capture most of the women, but Joshua and Dinah manage to escape. They find a wounded Ollie on their way back, and Joshua orders Dinah to finish him off. She tries, but a flood of memories wash over her: her husband Larry, who was killed by Aquarius, her time with the League, and finally, her love for Oliver Queen. Now free of Joshua's influence, she drops the gun, while Hal drops Joshua.

Ollie recovers, and comments that even though Joshua used his powers to enthrall Canary and the other women, that he must have found something within them to work with. The potential for bigotry is within all of us, and it is up to us to resist it. Dinah helps Ollie back to the truck, while Hal reminds the reader that Joshua was not the first of his kind, nor will he be the last.


Thoughts: Alright, so this issue was a bit heavy handed. You can tell that Adams and O'Neil were really trying on this one. Their message is a good one of course, but it got in the way of the story in several places. Green Lantern fans will definitely rejoice in this issue, as this is the first of the O'Neil/Adams run where Hal does NOT blindly trust authority to the point of absurdity. It was great to see Black Canary, and the splash page of her memories was the high point of the issue for me (see below, almost reminds you of Ditko, eh?). I like that we're reminded yet again that Black Canary (and by extension, women in general) are not helpless damsels in need of rescuing. BA drops those bikers like a bad habit. It was only when one of them ran her over that she got into any trouble.




Also: Get a load of that cover! Nothing says 1970 like Hal Jordan back-handing a hippie!

Next week: Another Adventure Comics story (I don't own Green Lantern #79...yet, its on the way)

Spotlight:: Green Lantern #77

Issue: Green Lantern #77

Title: Journey to Desolation

Credits: Neal Adams (cover, pencils) Denny O'Neil (script)

Cover Date: June 1970


Synopsis: As Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen and their Guardian of the Universe companion (does this guy ever get a name?) continue their journey to find America, they stumble across a mining town named Desolation, and straight into an ambush. Ollie and Hal bail out of the truck and engage their attackers in battle. Ollie makes short work of his opponents with his mad archery skills, but Hal's ring mysteriously fails him at a critical moment in the battle.

After questioning their attackers, GL and GA realize that the attack is a case of mistaken identity. The leader of the group, Jacob, explains that the group is made up of disaffected miners from the nearby town of Desolation. Desolation is ruled by a ruthless mine boss name "Slapper Soames" (you'd think he would have used some of his power to pick a better nickname...) who keeps the townsfolk in conditions little better than slavery. The miners have finally risen in revolt in response to Slapper's latest affront: trumping up charges against local troubadour Johnny Walden. Johnny will hang at down if nothing is done.

After a brief argument (where Hal again shows a naive trust in anything resembling authority, legitimate or not) Ollie and Hal agree to help the miners attack Slapper Soames and save Johnny Walden.

Unfortunately for them, Slapper has built himself something resembling a modern bunker, complete with artillery and hired thugs in the form of Nazi war criminals (must be a profitable mine...). Regardless, the battle is joined. Initially, the miners do well. After all, they have 2 highly skilled superheroes on their side. Things start to go south when Hal gets a message from the Guardians that his ring has been partially depowered (since he's not working his regular beat) just in time to get in the middle of a firefight and wander into a cloud of knockout gas (thanks, Guardians!)

Meanwhile, Ollie gets pistol whipped and brought into Soames' headquarters. Luckily for Ollie, he was only playing possum. He manages to defeat most of the mine boss's thugs before being betrayed by Jacob. Jacob, it turns out, is working for Soames. He's leading the miners in revolt only so Soames has an excuse to kill off the feistier ones, leaving the rest more docile than ever. Just as Ollie is about to be shot, Hal intervenes and melts Jacobs gun.

The bad guys defeated, Ollie laments that even with their victory, the miners don't really have much to look forward to... the end.

Thoughts: Alright, one thing right off the bat. As soon as Hal complained about his "power beam" not "going far enough," I made all kinds of jokes in my head involving erectile dysfunction drugs (if your power beam remains erect for more than 4 hours, contact your local Guardian immediately...). Aside from that, I thought the issue was great. I think part of it was that the situation they faced was actually a serious problem. Company towns like Desolation existed all over the Old West, even into the 20th century. Of course, I doubt situations quite like that existed in 1970. Still, the issue was well done, and managed to avoid sounding quite as preachy as the last issue.

Green Lantern's crisis of conscience continues, and continues to remain believable. His naive trust in anything resembling authority is a bit of a stretch, however. Green Arrow gets to demonstrate his usefulness in a fight in this ish (and his vulnerability to pistols in the back of the head) so as a fan of the Emerald Archer, I found that pretty satisfying. Neal Adams continues to please with his art, especially that incredibly melodramatic cover!

Thoughts anyone?

Green Lantern #76

Overview/Review: Green Lantern #76, co-starring Green Arrow
Writer: Denny O'Neil
Artist: Neal Adams

Overview: Well, I think everyone knows the history behind this particular issue, but just in case, here goes: This is the first issue of what would turn out to be a landmark run of Green Lantern. The first of DC's attempt at producing relevant comics, these issue (running from Green Lantern 76-89) began in April of 1970. The series put together two Emerald themed DC characters, Green Lantern and Green Arrow, who engaged on a cross country journey to find America and help out the little guy. The run featured frankly astonishing art by Neal Adams and themes of corporate corruption, social injustice, and even drug abuse penned by Denny O'Neil.

The plot revolves around Hal Jordan flying over Star City, preparing to visit his JLA teammate Green Arrow, who he has not heard from in quite some time. Spying what appears to be a ruffian attacking a respectable looking businessman. Green Lantern swoops down and gives the tough a ride to police headquarters, then returns to check on the suit, who thanks him profusely. Just then, the Emerald Crusader is hit in the head by a soup can, followed by a further rain of garbage and refuse from the street and even the windows above. Not understanding what's going on, GL threatens to beat the crap out of the nearest assailant, which prompts a response from the heretofore unseen Green Arrow.

Ollie explains that the "businessman" is really the local slum lord, who plans to demolish his crappy building, evict the tenants (who have nowhere else to go) and build a parking lot. After hearing this, GL heads over to the fatcat's penthouse and spends a fruitless hour trying to talk him out of his plans. After he's rudely dismissed and manhandled by the man's hired thugs, Hal losses his temper and nearly strikes the man he rescued shortly before. This act incurs the wrath of the Guardians, who reprimand Jordan for hassling a man who has committed no crime. They order him out for some busy work, diverting an asteroid strike on one of Saturn's moons. Incensed by the lack of concern the Guardians are showing, Hal returns to Earth and enlists Green Arrow's help in bringing the slum lord down.

Previously, the villain of our piece had out a hit out on Green Arrow. Knowing he was walking into a trap, Green Arrow had planted a recording device, hoping to get the thugs to implicate their paymaster. They did, but a stray bullet fired during the struggle demolished the recorder. Lacking any hard evidence, it looks like the bad guys will walk away clean. Just then, Hal returns and comes up with an idea. He and Ollie intercept the thugs on their way back to the penthouse. Then Hal, disguised as one of the hitmen, manages to get a confession from his boss...right in front of Star City's district attorney, who Hal had disguised as the other thug.

Of course, Hal's scheme pisses off the Guardian's again, since they explicitly ordered him to stay out of it, but a passionate speech by Green Arrow gives the Guardians pause. Ollie points out that they have no right to interfere in strictly human matters, especially none of them have ever even been to Earth. The Guardians decide that Ollie has a point, and send one of their number to Earth to see what's what. Of course, he'll need people to show him around, and who better to do that than our heroes, Green Lantern and Green Arrow.

Thoughts: Whew, that summary is almost as long as the issue itself! In case you missed it, A LOT happened in this issue. We're introduced to the idea of Green Arrow as a social crusader. We also have Hal Jordan's crisis of conscience. Hal is used to black and white, good guy/bad guy worldview, and the realization that the world really doesn't work that way throws him for a loop.

Overall, I really enjoyed the issue. It did bring up several good points about how superheroes tend to focus on giant monsters and saving alien worlds, but tend to ignore the social injustice in their own backyard. The issue managed to avoid being TOO heavy handed, although you could tell there were parts where they tried just a bit too hard.

As far as the characters themselves, I felt that the creative team did a really good job with both of them. Hal Jordan, the former military, super-powered lawman makes a great contrast to the social crusading, non-super-powered Oliver Queen (leaving aside the fact that Queen was a billionaire himself). I anxious to see how those two will play off each other in future issues, especially the ones where Ollie's failings are thrown in his face (thanks Speedy!).

What do you guys think? Comment away!