Green Lantern, Interrupted.

I've always liked Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) as a character, but have usually always gotten bored with the stories that writers have presented him with. So throughout the 80s, I was very selective with my Green Lantern comics.

In the past year, I've picked up the Secret Origin storyline (issues 29-35) and started to enjoy that Hal was finally being written with supporting characters other than the multitude of GLs. Of course, I already knew most of this story (being that it was his origin all over again), but I enjoyed it nonetheless. First and foremost, he is an Earth man and should be treated as such, going through the same problems with his personal life that we, as non-metahumans, do. It brings life to the characters. That, to me, makes a really successful comic book.

But then after the Secret Origin storyline was finished, I got bored again. I had to keep checking the cover to make sure I had picked up a copy of Green Lantern and not Green Lantern Corps. What were all the other GLs doing in Hal's comic when they have their own? It was issue after issue... YAWN. I purposely don't buy Green Lantern Corps because I'm only interested in ONE Green Lantern: Hal Jordan. Just like with Star Wars, I'm basically only interested in one Jedi at a time.

Then in Green Lantern came the introduction of Agent Orange who was like a greedy, little kid (more yawns), and, whom, by the way does NOT look like the Gonzo the muppet as mentioned in the comic; he looks like an orange Uncle Deadly. It's not that it's a big deal...but if you're going to make a pop culture reference...please get it right!

Anyway, I'm still buying Green Lantern (at least through the Blackest Night storyline/event). I began reading GL #43 with sheer dread, hoping it wasn't going to be another GL Corps redux. WOW! It wasn't! It was an actual, decent storyline! Sure, there was no GL, but getting the background of the Black Hand was fascinating. That's the kind of storytelling I expect. Thank you...FINALLY. Let's hope the great storytelling continues after Blackest Night so I can continue reading the adventures of Hal Jordan, Green Lantern and not the ENTIRE GL Corps. Can we separate the two since they have their own books? Pretty please???