#i feel like unless you address all that led to parallax and the aftermath of that you really cannot hope to give them

[wajjs]

Hey, can we talk about the underrated (correct me if im wrong) friendship between Hal and Clark. Like people rarely talk about that, or I've been living under a rock.

I mean, I guess it depends on the versions of the characters you stick to, because them being actually friends (instead of just “coworkers”) isn't something that's consistent in the ever changing canon.

The most clear example I can think of right now is the tone differences between The List (Action Comics #606) and how their relationship is later shown in Legend of The Green Flame.

(Action Comics #606)

“I don’t mean to presume to tell you how to run your shop, Hal, but it looks pretty bad. Do you need a hand with something? −Okay, Hal. As long as you’re sure.”

“He’s sooo polite. I feel like my dad just chewed me out.”

It’s kind of an ongoing theme during this time in comics to have them shown as Clark being better than / above Hal, and Hal being an idiot that fumbles through being a hero. So of course Clark is patronizing! He doesn’t really treat Hal as an equal here, rather he approaches the conversation as if he’s talking to a rookie that’s yet to get their shit together.

The point behind The List is that Hal slowly discovers he truly does not have friends left. He doesn’t have anyone he can go to when shit hits the fan. This issue always makes me think of the song “Nobody knows you when you’re down and out” (my favorite version is by Eric Clapton)

Then I began to fall so low Lost all my good friends, and nowhere to go I get my hands on a dollar again I'm gonna hang on to it 'til that old eagle grins Because nobody knows you When you're down and out In your pocket, not one penny And as for friends, you don't have many

I say that’s the main meaning of this issue because it becomes pretty clear through Hal’s internal dialogue:

“And I’m running out of friends. Carter, John and Arthur were never my friends... Barry’s dead... Bruce pretends to be...”

In contrast waltzes in Legend of The Green Flame, that directly refers to this and shows Hal and Clark’s relationship in a different light.

“Hal... The last time you called... I’m sorry I couldn’t see you. I had a lot on my mind.”

“Hal, is something wrong?”

“Yeah. Yeah, something’s wrong. I need advice.”

“What are friends for? Spill it.”

Here they are portrayed in a way to show that they’re on equal terms, one isn’t inherently better than the other. The patronizing tone, the “I’m disappointed in you” kind of fatherly dialogue, they’re all swapped for an interaction in which Clark is shown to care for Hal’s general wellbeing—without any judgement getting in the way.

Hal is still struggling with the reality that some people just don’t care, can’t care, about being a helping hand when one’s in deep shit and struggling to see it through. Which is why you can take this as a “fix it” of sorts if you want, while also taking it as all heroes being infallibly human, which means that at times they will have shitty reactions and do and say things that aren’t nice.

At the same time, I feel like it’s fair to point out that Clark’s interest in helping out Hal is purely cordial. It’s the right thing to do, the good thing to do, and Clark is all about doing the good right thing.