Justice League 7 is better than the first 6

[madmarva]

I'm not necessarily a Didio hater. He allowed Tomasi to hire Johns to retool Hal Jordan. On one hand, I like that he is willing to try things — Wednesday Comics, weekly publication, All-Star Superman — but he's had as many failures as successes, if not more. If he were a college football coach, he would have been on the hot seat going into this relaunch.

Currently, though, Didio's got to be riding a high with executives. While I know some can't stand the reboot, in terms of sales — at least in the short term — it's the biggest success DC can claim in ages. For the most part, the books are shipping on time and they are selling well.

^As for the way Johns is writing Hal — and for that matter, every other character at DC right now — to me, they have to be viewed as new characters with similarities to the ones residing in the previous continuity.

Johns didn't just forget how he was portraying Hal previously. He's made a choice that in this continuity, Hal is immature and a jerk, at least when he's around the other JL members. He's a frat boy, basically Flash Thompson with a power ring. We may see other differences with the characters that are again conscious decisions.

The stuff with Wonder Woman that was under discussion in another thread is an example too. When she goes from basically coming to life like Adam or a golem to being a demi-goddess sired by Zeus, it opens up story points that were addressed in the latest issue of Azzerello's Wonder Woman title. Those don't bother me much because Wonder Woman isn't a precious character to me like say Hal Jordan or Superman or Batman.

After reading the first arcs of around 15 DC titles and a couple issues of others, it's clear to me that what DC dubbed a soft relaunch is much harder than we were led to believe. I no longer assume anything that happened in previous DC comics as being "in continuity" now, until it's mentioned in the books. DC has pretty much unchained its creators from the past continuity. They can use it if they want, they can change it, modify it or just go their own way. The previous continuity is dictating very little other than perhaps the essence or core of the characters, according to DC, not the fans.

What DC readers have to decide for themselves is if the past adventures are more important to them than the current and future ones. Can they reconcile one with the other? Do they even want to?

That's a tough decision for a lot of us because these characters and their histories and adventures have meant so much to us over the years, but the only option we have of new adventures of somewhat similar characters with familiar names are these new books.

It reminds me of when many of my favorite characters were replaced in the post-Crisis universe, particularly with Hal Jordan.

I didn't like that Hal Jordan and for that matter the GL Corps was abused and shunted to the side, but for a time, I did enjoy Kyle Raynor's book, so I read it.

That's what I'm doing now with the DC books. I'm reading the ones I like and letting the rest go. Really it's the same as I've always done with comics, but with higher prices and uncomfortable changes, my reading stack gets thinner and thinner.

[samurainoir]

Didio would have greenlit Tiny Titans, so he can't be all that bad.

[boynightwing]

I read the regular Green Lantern series where Sinestro is a GL again and he's made a ring for Hal. Hal doesn't act like a frat boy in that series at all. He seems perfectly normal for Hal in his own series.

And I have to agree to your Tiny Titans point. That redeems him a little.

[madmarva]

Hal doesn't act like a frat boy in that series at all.

That's why I wrote:

He's made a choice that in this continuity, Hal is immature and a jerk, at least when he's around the other JL members.

Which is valid. Some traits are more present in people when they are around a certain group of people or in certain situations.

I read the GL series, too, and I believe John's is portraying Jordan as a much younger, less experienced and more brash version of the character than he did in the previous continuity. As portrayed post Rebirth, Jordan was always at least Sinestro's equal if not his superior with the power ring other than in the Secret Origin arc, which took place in the past.

In the current DCnU continuity, Sinestro is better with the ring than Hal. That is new. For 50 years Hal had been kicking Sinestro in the teeth physically and with the ring until Johns' opted to magnify Sinestro. Previously, Sinestro was more of a bully and a coward (hence the yellow ring). Now, Johns is putting a Sub-Mariner type of slant on Sinestro like he did previously with Black Adam, adding a hint of nobility to the character. He's making him seem more misguided than evil.

But that's fine. Making the villain more compelling generally does the same to the hero.

Characters change. Denny O'Neil's version of Hal was a good bit different than John Broome's and so on.

[samurainoir]

Doesn't the Justice League actually take place in "early" new DC 52 continuity, rather than "current" present day where all the Green Lantern books are set? That would mean pre-parallax and blackest night/Lantern War.

Hal in JL is the earlier, brasher and less mature Hal that has not gone through all the stuff in the last few years of Green Lantern since Rebirth.

Again the problem with a soft reboot like this where Batman and Green Lantern continue with their story lines building from the last few years and other books like Teen Titans start from the ground up.

Right out of the starting gate you have the problem in the fact that there have been four Robins within the "five years" since Superheroes showed up in this continuity. plus, with Kyle still around, it's obvious that Emerald Twilight, Hal as Spectre, Rebirth, Sinestro War, etc all happened inside that five year span as well.

All the problems of the original Crisis recur, and need to be addressed in a rolling retcon kind of way once again... Like Hawkman or the Legion which still are suffering the seismic after effects of being constantly rebooted for the past quarter century.

[madmarva]

My understanding is that JL issue 7 is current day, while the first 6 issues were 5 years in the past.

I don't think any continuity that hasn't been alluded to in the books is hard and fast in this continuity, and the sales success so far will give DC even more latitude to stray from or forget about any continuity that isn't convenient.

If you read the interviews with any of the creators, they have been coached to say, "we are not looking back but forward.

Early on the Death of Superman was in continuity, now the editors are hedging on that.

Who knows if Jordan was ever Paralax much less the Spectre. Basically, he and Raynor and for that matter John and Guy are about the same age.

[boynightwing]

I didn't realize that JL took place before the GL series. That does change some things for me. I think.