Week 2
From the Silver Age and Beyond
Name: Harold “Hal” Jordan
Place of Birth: Coast City, CA
Aliases: Green Lantern, Parallax, Spectre, Pol Manning, Highball, Human Starburst, Air Wave
Relatives: Martin H. “Marty” Jordan (Father, deceased), Jessica Jordan (Mother, deceased), Jim Jordan (younger Brother), Jack Jordan (older Brother, deceased), Jan Jordan (Sister-in-law, deceased), Helen Jordan (Niece), Larry Jordan (Air Wave I – Cousin, deceased), Hal Jordan (Air Wave II – Cousin)
Occupation: Green Lantern of sector 2814; Air Force Capt. (retired), Former test-pilot for Ferris Aircraft.
Base of Operations: Sector 2814; formerly Coast City and JLA headquarters.
Height: 6’2 – 188cm
Weight: 200Lbs – 90kg
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Group Affiliation: US Air Force, Green Lantern Corps, Justice League of America, Justice League Europe, Teams himself frequently with Flash (Barry Allen) and Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
First Appearance: Showcase Comics #22 Sept. – Oct. 1959
Oath: “In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power, GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!”
Powers, Abilities and Equipment: Green Lantern Power Ring mastery: He can create any type of construct his mind can imagine and he has the will to create using the energy projected by his Power Ring. His are amongst the most powerful in the Corps. It is said that when he creates with his ring, you can see an afterburner effect trailing behind him of all the thoughts irrelevant to his task at hand.
History:
Harold “Hal” Jordan was a second generation test pilot for Ferris Aircraft and a Captain in the US Air Force (following in the footsteps of his father). He is testing a flight simulator when he is surrounded by a green glowing energy, and he and the simulator are drawn out into the desert to the site of a downed alien spacecraft. Its inhabitant, Abin Sur, tells Hal of the Green Lantern Corps and with his dying breath gives Hal his power ring and battery. Hal makes his way to Oa, the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps, and home of the Guardians of the Universe. He meets with several other members, including his instructor Sinestro, who will become Hal’s arch nemesis.
He became a founding member of the Justice League and has helped save the world countless times. That changed when Hal couldn’t save his hometown, Coast City, and it was destroyed by the villains Mongul and a Cyborg Superman during the “Reign of Supermen” story arc, killing millions. This event shattered Hal and sent him on a dizzying course of destruction.
Hal tried to use the power of his ring to bring back Coast City and its citizens. But the Guardians of Oa, the leaders of the Green Lanterns, forbade him to do it. This sent Hal on a mission to get the full power of the ring from the Central Battery on the planet Oa. Hal seemingly went mad, when a parasite creature entered his body and Hal stopped calling himself Green Lantern, and emerged as Parallax.
His mission to restore Coast City destroyed most of the Green Lanterns and Guardians of Oa. Parallax was set to redo history as he saw it with the full power of the Green Lantern Central Battery, but the heroes of the DC universe stopped him. Alongside those heroes was the last of the Green Lanterns, newly appointed Kyle Rayner, who was given the power ring by Ganthet the last of the Guardians.
In the end, Hal, as Parallax, sacrificed himself when a giant alien was devouring the sun. Hal used his powers to reignite the sun and in doing so sacrificed his life as well. His spirit went and became one with the Spectre, an avenging spirit of God who righted wrongs and persecuted the guilty. Hal’s penance had begun.
But this was not Hal’s end. It was discovered that Parallax was an ancient enemy of the Green Lanterns and was imprisoned in the Central Battery for eons. This entity was still with Hal, but with the joined effort of the remaining Green Lanterns, (by this time there was John Stewart, Kilowog, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner), they reinstated Hal’s spirit into his body and defeated Parallax, sealing him again into the Central Battery, and restoring the Guardians to oversee the Green Lanterns. Hal is once again the core Green Lantern of the DC universe.
As some of Hal’s (and the GL Corps in general) history has been effectively retconned, this article may not completely jive with the current historical accuracy. So please, feel free to read “Emerald Dawn” and check out the web for various other sources including the ComicVine and Wikipedia spots.