Tuesday, February 1, 2011

GREEN LANTERN, Vol. 3, #2, July 1990


PREVIOUS ISSUE

Hal has remained on the road so long he's now @ the sea, & expectedly, out of cash. He asks some salty dogs for work. The story is titled, "Pursuit of Happiness!" Hal ends up w/ the job. It is interesting that on page 2, when he shakes hands, he has the GL ring on, but is not currently GL.*

Scene shifts to Guy Gardner sluggin' some brews & grumbling about Hal. Guy has his ring working as a bar maid for himself. He hits the New York City streets & hunts out some sleaze, going into a porn shop, then into a tattoo parlor called the Palace of Fine Art... Guy settles in to get a tat, but then he thinks he recognizes the guy about to give it to him. The Tattooed Man, an adversary of the "old Green Lantern" - Guy leaves - ends up the guy IS the Tattooed Man, but is reformed, or attempting to be - but this little outburst from Guy brings back some old memories & has him drinking again & something about the "chemicals for me magic tattoos." - it isnt long before he's animating tattoos, but trying to do so respectfully, creating a homey environment, his Mom, etc. but Guy shows up & starts badgering him, riling him up.


Scene shift to Hal on the sea w/ his new mates, crabbing. One of the new pals is a Deadhead. He and Hal have a somewhat kushy convo & Hal seems to be reconnecting w/ the Earth.

Back to Guy & Tattoed Man's battle, now out & over the sea.

Hal & hippie Clay eat some chicken but Hal's ring warns him that Guy is nearby. Hal transforms into GL & flies out to sea, seeing that Guy is @ it w/ Tattooed Man.

Scene shift to John Stewart on Oa, where he has found Priest dead. There is also a Guardian there who gives John a quick rundown about Maltus & the other Guardians going w/ the Zamarons, his personal loneliness, trying to link minds w/ Priest... John realizes the Guardian has flipped his wig, so he jets off... but cant... get... away... from... the crazed Guardian.


Back to Guy/Tattooed Man quarrel, Hal shows up as GL, scolding Guy, but ends up in fray of battle. Hippie Clay soon learns Hal is GL (b/c he can "see" through masks), as do others once mentioned. When Hal changes back to Hal, the fishermen ask him to leave. Clay gives him an orchard address in CA. Guy floats in sky after leaving Tattooed Man face in sand. Guy is still grumbling about Hal. Tattooed Man sits up & is pissed - walks into nearby town - which is the town Hal just left. Tattooed Man is approached by the fishermen, given his sailorish look. They ask if he needs work. He decides to join them after seeing a nearby place that looked like the house he imagined for his mother. Lastly, wee see Hal, bummed he's now had to leave two places already. "Dont cross my path again, Guy Gardner. Just dont cross my path," he says to himself.

Writer: Gerard Jones
Penciller: Pat Broderick
Inker: Bruce Patterson
Letterer: Albert De Guzman
Colorist: Anthony Tollin
Asst. Editor: Kevin Dooley
Editor: Andy Helfer

Featured Ad:

SHOWCASE #22, September-October 1959

[As you can see, I am using the ad-less "Showcase Presents Green Lantern Vol. One" from 2005 for this - for now just the 1st tale, the others will follow, probably on this same entry]


This is the original origin story for Hal Jordan. Title page shows Hal Jordan in flightless pilot trainer nearing Abin Sur's crash site by green power beam. Title of the story is, "SOS Green Lantern".

We are told Hal Has been transported to the crash site in the "Southwest U.S.A." - we see Abin Sur struggling, dying, w/ need of passing his battery of power on to a "deserving Earthman" - Abin puts his ring to the battery* & asks it to find his successor - we then watch as a green beam goes out to search as Abin Sur yells, "He must be one w/o fear! Entirely w/o fear!" The green beam circles the Earth - we then see test pilot, Hal, @ Ferris Aircraft Company, in a flightless trainer "of his own design" - the green beam arrives & transports Hal to Abin Sur's spaceship - Hal steps inside & is communicated w/ by telepathy - Abin Sur shows him the battery - Hal says, "it looks like a Green Lantern." Abin Sur then schools Hal on the reason for this meeting & the battery of power - it needs someone "fearless... & honest!" Abin scans Hal w/ ring & confirms he is honest; he then mentions that the Battery* selected him as one w/o fear.


Abin then begins to tell the tale of his demise: his ship blasted by radiation outside Earth, a yellow light, causing him to crash... Abin informs Hal of the Battery's* power over all except that which is yellow & tells him of the impurity within & its importance. Abin then gives Hal the ring & explains the charge time, etc. Abin dies.

Next we see Hal in GL uniform after disposing of Abin Sur & his "rocket" per Abin's orders. Abin had also told Hal to take his special uniform.* Next we seen Hal experimenting w/ his new powers & then, choosing to take a secret identity, to call himself Green Lantern*, after the power battery. He charges his ring, saying, "& in time, I hope to make Green Lantern a name to be feared by evil doers everywhere!"


Writer: John Broome
Artists: Gil Kane & Joe Giella

* It is interesting the emphasis of the Battery of Power, moreso than the ring. In addition, we have a uniform being passed on, as well as the mention that Hal is the one that comes up w/ the term "Green Lantern" due to the power battery.