#1999 babeyyyyy

[em-dashes]

i've said suddence takes place in the mid 2000s but now that i think of it, i think it's more likely the very early 2010s

[slaapkat]

do you have a hal Jordan reading list? Also he's a character that's been around for agesss so I wanted to ask you about your favourite storylines/comic runs with him

WELL it's both a simple and complicated answer. the simple answer: read all of it! the complicated answer: still read all of it but technically not actually :/

1. Green Lantern (1960)

The Beginning. I personally recommend starting from #76 (the beginning of the famed Hard Traveling Heroes arc) and then just reading the whole rest of the run from there, and maybe going back to start from the actual very beginning later. Not that it's bad, per se, just... very notably from the time in both writing and art style and imo takes a little time to get used to. I will admit it's been a couple years since I read this run all the way through so I can't recommend any specific arcs, but as a whole I found it genuinely interesting to read and provides a nice chill way to get comfortable with the lore.

2. Action Comics (1938)

regrettably at the end of his original run gl does get canceled and hal gets booted to having a spot in Action Comics Weekly from #601-635. these are some of my favorites, though! hal's living in hotels, breaks up with arisia, and gets on oprah! a little sillier in places than his original run but overall entertaining and a nice bit of characterization.

INTERLUDE: THE HAL-OLLIE GOOD OL DAYS SPECTACTULAR

-Action Comics Weekly #606

-Green Arrow (1988) #20

-Secret Origins (1990) #50

-Green Arrow (1988) #69

-Green Arrow (1988) #96

YOU WANT THE PAIN OF LOST FRIENDSHIP? THE HURT OF WHAT MAYBE NEVER WAS AND DEFINITELY WILL NEVER BE AGAIN? TRY THIS ON FOR SIZE BABEYYYYY

3. Green Lantern (1990)

the end of acw happens to lead directly and nicely into the 90s gl run. hal's a bit older, a bit more abrasive, and clearly heading somewhere no one wants to go. #1-50 is all hal, and thereafter switches to kyle. i really enjoy this run because if you pay attention, hal's decent into parallax isn't nearly as much of a surprise as you might think. I may be a bit biased due to emerald twilight being one of my favorite arcs of all time, but what can you do.

for more specific recommendations regarding parallax, @ufonaut does have this handy dandy list available which I myself wholeheartedly recommend. It includes Zero Hour as well as Final Night, two major comic events whish are among my absolute favorites as well.

ADDENDUM: Day of Judgment (1999)

here is where hal jordan becomes the spectre. while he doesn't show up until about halfway through, i still find it to be a pretty good read. plus you get this

from here on out hal see's being the spectre solely as a punishment and never truly moves on from that, which contributes to his struggles of accepting his new identity and role.

ADDITIONALLY: I personally find DeMatteis' run on The Spectre to be pretty boring compared to the likes of Ostrander and even Moench, HOWEVER following his demise in Final Night and becoming the Spectre following the events of Day of Judgment, hal's initial period as the spirit of vengeance is.... tumultuous, to say the least. JLA (1997) #35, Green Lantern (1990) #119, and Legends of the DC Universe #33-36 detail that journey spectacularly. hal struggles hard with both becoming the spectre and with the guilt he still carries from parallax. It ultimately culminates in the arc Redemption Lost from JSA (1999) #60-62 in which all those struggles come to a head at once and force hal to give up his attempts at turning the spectre into a spirit of redemption and finally accept his ultimate purpose as the spirit of vengeance.

however! do not fret, as that last story came out in 2004, thus setting the stage for the next part of hal's life.

4. Green Lantern: Rebirth and Green Lantern (2005)

listed together because one is the prequel for the other. yes, I've come to really dislike geoff john and his work in the past year or so, but I unfortunately can't deny that his gl run is. good in places. yes geoff objectively reduces hal to boring space cop and absolves him of all guilt by blaming parallax on a whole separate entity all together. HOWEVER. the main three arcs, Sinestro Corps War (alternating Green Lantern #21–25, #26 and Green Lantern Corps #14–18), Blackest Night (primarily #43-52, but uhhh go here for absolutely everything it's insane), and War of the Green Lanterns (Green Lantern #63-67, Green Lantern Corps #58-60, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8-10). while hal isn't necessarily the main focus in some of these crossover issues, I included them anyhow so you have the full story. if nothing else geoff manages to develop hal and sinestro's relationship EXTREMELY well throughout these arcs, a small favorite of mine being Rage of the Red Lanterns (Green Lantern #28, #36-38) and I regrettably must thank him for that.

5. Green Lantern (2011)

Main focus here is geoff's run, from #1-20. not that vendetti is a bad writer, just..... nothing really interesting happens after geoff leaves, imo. not bad, just not as exciting. hal ended the last run getting kicked out of the glc and has to deal with sinestro getting invited back in. Wrath of the First Lantern is all the more unfortunately probably one of my favorite arcs of all time, a lot of it dealing with how hal and sinestro are sooooo close to being friends yet still on opposite sides of a war. like fellas!!!

FELLAS!!!!!

reading after that is optional, everything in new52 is honestly unreadable and the rest of this run comes pretty close to it.

6. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps (2016)

honestly no real opinion unfortunately. vendetti is one of those writers who feels like he takes no risks and so most of his work comes off as a little too "safe". again, not bad. just. mostly boring. I can't remember anything of real note happening other than the beginning of it coming fresh off the heels of Cullen Bunn's Sinestro run and immediately throwing away and subsequently butchering any and all characterization made there for the sole purpose of making sinestro a one-note villain again.

7. The Green Lantern S1 (2018)/S2(2020)

Starts off great, ends kinda eh. I can appreciate morrison for tying in all the references to the classics but ultimately falls short. Fine for what it is, though. the Blackstars interlude is honestly the best part of it.

8. Green Lantern (2021)

YES it just started YES it's still REALLY good. you may say it's too early to tell but geoffery thorne is already starting to shine. admittedly hal IS taking a back seat to it all BUT I'm hardcore hoping all of thorne's ranting about how much hal sucks when he's not parallax goes. somewhere.

OPTIONAL: Green Lantern: Sleepers is a surprisingly good novel series by Christopher Priest. unfortunately while no digital copies exist (to my immediate knowledge) you can find the audiobook version on youtube here. book three is the one that focuses on hal specifically, but there are interludes in the first two books which include him still. they all can usually be found pretty cheap on thriftbooks and the like if you ever want a physical copy.

sorry this got so long, but unfortunately I'm.... just not a Specific Rec List sort of person. I find a character I like and consume content until there's absolutely nothing left. Here's hoping this at least gives you a good idea of what's in store for each chunk of hal's history. thank you!