Role Reversal

Sigh; I am old enough to remember when Hal Jordan was the stiff, obedient company-man, and John Stewart was the brash free-thinking rebel.

Somewhere along the line their roles got reversed.

And now John's stereotyped as the strict disciplined military type and Hal as the wacky lonely rebel.

When did this happen? How did this happen?

Hal Jordan started out as "a company man".  

He had no military background (too young for that), was wedded to his company (Ferris Air), and wanted to be wedded to its boss (Carol Ferris).  

He was the dutiful deputy of the distant Guardians from the planet Oa. He was not known for disobedience or imaginative problem-solving.

Although, granted, he was not without his moments of what is now called "lateral thinking."

In the Bronze Age, DC (especially writer Denny O'Neil) leaned into the characterization of Hal as an overty square "establishment" type (especially in contract to that newly hip Robin Hood, Green Arrow).

"Oh, THAT's what I forgot to do today: use my magical power ring to eliminate racism and fix the socioeconomic disadvantages of black people in America with a few well-placed giant green boxing gloves! Sorry, I'll get right on that."

The introduction of John Stewart (who was black and hip more rebellious and a lot smarter than Hal) to contrast with Hal was part of that process.

And I do mean a LOT smarter.

John was an educated professional (an architect); Hal was a pilot, which very much requires training, but is not an intellectual position.

Nice outfit, John.

John is literally introduced while confronting authority figures (oh, goodness!), which shocks Hal's delicate sensibilities.

These characterizations mostly held through the Iron Age but stumbled after Crisis on Infinited Earths.  Hal went crazy, rebelled against the Guardians, killed the GL Corps, etc.  Despite Geoff Johns' professed attempts to bring Hal back to "what he was before", the fact is Johns brought back a version of Hal Jordan quite different from the Silver/Bronze Age one.  He now had been in the military (which has since become pretty standard for real-world test pilots) but got expelled for being rebellious, had a tragic backstory, and was now known for improvisation in battle.

This is my favorite example.

This is a far cry from the man who used to hit his head hourly and once accidentally turned his sidekick into a seagull.

I say this EVERY time I am awakened suddenly, whether I am a seagull or not.

John Stewart underwent a reverse process.  No longer was he a rebellious urban hipster with an ascot, an afro, and an architecture degree.  Because the Justice League cartoon turned into a hard-nosed close-cropped Marine sniper.

Played by well-known non-hard-ass, the fabulous Phil Lamarr.

This version of John Stewart was certainly a consistent and legitimate character; we all love animated John!  But, other than his 'race', he has next to nothing in common with the John Stewart of comics. They are essentially different characters who have the same name.  Later characterizations in other media have made valiant effects to reconcile these two versions of John Stewart, but it's always... awkward at best.

Lanterns tried its best to make "former Marine sniper goes to art school and becomes a highly-skilled architect" work.  But it's still comes off as an ad hoc hippogriff.

Hal, not just on Lanterns, but in the comics as well, is now your Brave and Bold Adventurer, bluffing his way through any situation with improvisational bravado.

Good luck, Hal.

I suppose you could make the case that Hal was ALWAYS like that.

He was always making it up as he went along.

But I still think it's important to remember -- or to learn -- that Hal Jordan and John Stewart started out as very different characters, indeed.

My ! Advice

 

If you ever get the chance to read a story by
Elliot S! Maggin...

...don't.

The Wizard

I have been re-watching the Stargirl television show, with all its delightful highs and frustrating flaws.  One of the latter is just how quickly and easily the Wizard (and his son, in one of the saddest and most bitter incidents in the show) were killed off.

You may not know a lot about The Wizard because he hasn't gotten a lot of space in print.  But you deserve to know: The Wizard kicked ***.

And had style.

In his very first outing, he takes on the entire JSA. Single-handed.  

Humiliating them in the process, by the way.

His powers were pretty much whatever he needed them to be; comes with being a wizard, I guess.  

He was a big deal, literally and figuratively.

He wasn't some magic savant who turned to crime.  He was a criminal who turned to magic because it seemed like a great tool.

Well, that's more effective than just snatching a pebble from his hand.

But his opening move was an unusual one:  he tried to give the JSA a million dollars.

His original hook (other than being a nearly omnipotent smart-ass) was that he was not merely evil and dishonest; he was SO evil and dishonest that he simply couldn't believe that anyone else WASN'T.

That is both incredibly ballsy and mind-bogglingly narrow-minded.

Then he preceded to kick their individual asses in separate tales (the usual JSA pattern).  

One must appreciate his commitment to skepticism.

He was not only supremely, competently, confidently evil, he was as spooky when he had a mind to be.

Assembling himself out of scraps of paper from a wastebasket?
He'd be a great screen villain.

He was easily smarter than the JSAers.

That's because he planned it, you muscle-bound oaf.  Stay pretty, Alan.

It's really hard to overemphasize just HOW easily the Wizard defeated the JSAers.

At the end of it, he was man enough to finally admit that he was wrong and the JSAers were just as honest as they seemed.  Then he flung himself into a pit of acid.

As one does.

In his next story, he CREATED the Injustice Society of the World, casually bossing around the biggest villains of the day.

As one does.

Okay, fine, the Gambler's not exactly intimidating.  But the rest of those guys - Brainwave, Vandal Savage, the Thinker--  are portrayed as potential world-conquerors. And, as you will recall, even though Per Degaton is a putz, he is still a putz who actually DID conquer the world and for ten years (his victory just got time-wiped away).  Yet The Wizard is unquestionably the person in charge.

He hands out the assignments.  That makes him the boss.

That outing didn't really work out;  perhaps too many world-conquering cooks spoil the broth.  But just four issues later (All-Star #41), the Wizard was back with a new Injustice Society.

A more familiar line-up for the ISW, for sure.

You'll noice that this group -- The Wizard, The Fiddler, the Icicle, The Sportsmater and the Tigress (or the Huntress as she was still called), and the Harlequin -- is more smiliar to one of the Stargirl show.

Shouldn't have had Mike Mignola ink them.

Under the Wizard's leadership they enslave the JSAers as their servants.

Everyone is just a puppet in the Wizard's little shows.

They even have a brain-washing machine as they do on the show:

I think they used it to make them fall for Green Arrow and Green Lantern, respectively, just as a cruel joke.

It didn't work out, of course; such things never do.  

The Wizard then disappeared for more than 25 years.  He and his Injustice Society came back in the '70s to fight against the JSA during its mini-renaissance of the late Bronze Age and he was briefly part of the Secret Society of Supervillains, during which time he swapped bodies with Superman (because he COULD).  

Powerful, stylish, pedigreed; why isn't the Wizard a better used character? He doesn't really age and has no central foe, so he could easily pop up as the villain in any story.  Perhaps the Wizard is simply too generic to make the big time.

What are your thoughts about the Wizard?

"Lanterns" and The Superman Problem

 To my surprise (and probably yours), I like HBO's "Lanterns" series.

I will start off by happily admitting that there are aspects of it I do not like, rooted in the foibles of its creators (Damon Lindenof's loose plotting and time wasting,  James Gunn's simplistic and irreverent dialog, and Tom King's obsession with trauma and general sourness).  But these failures of style have not blinded me to its successes of substance.

• The original relationship between Hal Jordan (as mentor) and John Stewart (as back-up) is central.
• The core lore is preserved.  The Oans, The Sciencells, The Corps, Sinestro, The Manhunters.  In the first two episodes. I mean, what more do you want?
• Hal Jordan (although not ideally cast) is somehow both a reckless idiot, but still a fearless and innovative hero who instinctively cuts to the heart of the matter.

And there is another element that I think people are overlooking. One that some see as a downside, but which is actually the secret to the show's success so far:

It's completely the wrong genre.

Before I explore that, I'm going to discuss (again) "The Superman Problem".  One of the problems with Superman is that he is SO darned powerful that it's hard to come up with a credible threat.  But pre-Bronze Age writers knew exactly how to handle that: they gave him problems that couldn't be solved with force.  The Prankster; The Toyman; Mr. Myxyzptlk; Bizarro; secret identity problems; red kryptonite shenanigans; Lois's schemes.  These are not challenges that Superman could simply punch his way out of.

Lois is a problem easily solved through simple inaction.

Lots of people make fun of these old Supeman stories, but they are missng their genius. Stopping a locomotive is a snap compared to hiding your use of your awesome array of superpowers when you are in your civilian identity and constantly surrounded by scoop-hungry reporters.

WHAT WILL HE DO?!

This is all very obvious in Superman's case, but there examples with other heroes as well.  

For example, as I have mentioned before, Hawkman's main tactic is hitting things with a mace, so writers gave him "unhittable" foes like the Shadow Thief, the Gentlemen Ghost, and the Fadeaway Man.  

"Lanterns" seems to have learned the lessons of "The Superman Problem".  It's not switching genres from space opera to detective story randomly.  Not is it doing so because it's "embarrassed" at Green Lanter's space opera roots (I mean, Hal suits up and flies off to Oa to visit Sinestro in the SECOND episode).  "Lanterns" has dumped two GLs in the middle of a detective story because they can't just "power ring" their way out of it.  Sure, it's a detective story with aliens, bu it's still very much not a situation where a power ring is going to accomplish much. So far, that's giving Hal and John a substantial challenge (one which they seem to still be struggling with after ten years).

And, one which I am -- so far -- enjoying.

JuJuBit Profile: Doll Man

My next JuJuBit profile is:

Crazy, crazy, Doll Man.

Crazy from the very start.

Darrel "Doll Man" Dane.

Sure, Darrel. That is the sanest reaction to being six inches tall I can imagine.

Comic's first shrinking hero (I think).  

Whose greatest enemy was an empty Dress Suit.

In choosing a dial, there are a number of other shrinking heroes I could have used (The Atom, Ant-Man, and the Wasp, chief among them).  

I chose...

none of them.

I swear, he's not overcompensating.

Yes, Doll Man is a Tiny hero and needs a dial with the Tiny symbol (it makes a character harder to hit and easier to carry by his friends).  But more figures that just shrinking heroes have the Tiny Symbol.  And I wanted a dial that capture of bit of the CRAZY that is Doll Man. So I chose:

Yes, the Wonder Twins' pesky pet, the horrible and chaotic space monkey Gleek, turns out to have a pretty good dial for Doll Man. Leap-Climb and Flurry for Doll Man's two-fisted bravado, Superstrength and Invulnerability (both of which his stories demonstrate for his tiny form), and, most essentially, PERPLEX to represent Doll Man's erratic nature.

Here's how that looks translated to Doll Man.

Like Doll Man, the dial is short but sweet.

Doll Man will be a great figure on an Atom team, barrelling in opponents ready to clobber them with, um, a pencil, or confounding them with his antics at a distance.  

The Phantom Stranger: Fun with color!

 

It's good to remember (or learn) that the early function of DC's most mysterious character was... demystifying phenomena.

Speeds Saunders and the Hilton Diamond, 5: Crime in REVERSE!

 

While Jim goes to Headquarters to arrange the arrest of Darnell the Fence of Stolen Goods, Speed inquires after whether Diamond Merchant Brent has booked passage back to Europe.

I want to live in a world where everyone's plot function is highlighted by a small plaque at the front of their desk.

But then, while checking in with Headquarters, which is where he's from, Speed receives some rattling news!

Well. Looks like Darnell's not a very good fence, is he?

Apparently, Darnell can't tell paste from diamond, which you really should be able to do if (1) you are a fence of stolden goods and (2) the object in question is 200 carats.  Elias Brent, the Biggest Diamond Merchant in Europe, is no fool; he dumped a fake diamond off on Darnell to throw Speed on his trail (which wasn't getting warm after all!).

PRETTY sure that's just not how warrants work, Speed.
Do ANY of your cases make it through court?

Oh, look, that ship must be the S.S. Gotham, since that's Reginald Denny as Commodore Schmidlapp, who's got a deucedly clever invention stored in the hold below, should be worth millions of yankee dollars, pip pip!

"KISS him, if you must!"

Inside Brent's cabin, Speed finds chloral, because apparently Brent never throws ANYTHING away.  

Except jeweler's pouches, I guess.

Then, weirdly, Speed is all worried that Brent will board the boat, which will somehow put him out of Speed's jurisdiction.  This seems silly for two reasons; first, the idea that Speed's jurisdiction has limits OF ANY KIND is laughable, and, second, Speed started in the Harbor Patrol, so the water is where his jurisdiction STARTED.

Anyway, they do catch Brent before he boards and fortunately they don't have or need a warrant.

I say fortunately because Speed (and the writer) has forgotten that Brent's first name is ELIAS.  If the warrant had been made out with the wrong name, it would have been void.

Brent then asks the question we've ALL wanted to ask Speed, but never dared to.

Mr. Brent; have you SEEN Speed's clothes? Seems like a silly question.

The Speedspanation is supposed to make everything clear, but, as usual, it does no such thing.

Trying to make it look like a suicide by locking the door on the inside was exactly what let Speed know it wasn't a suicide because...

If it had been a REAL suicide, he would have left the door open so his son could be the first person to find his corpse.  Solid reasoning there, Speed.

You win, Speed. I cannot for the life of me figure out why Brent would bring an insanely valuable diamond from Europe, then kill a diamond merchant he'd told about it, then pretend to sell the diamond, all in order just to get right back on the boat to Europe. With the diamond.  

I can ONLY assume that the writer simply got it BACKWARDS and the plot was supposed to be that HILTON was showing the diamond to BRENT.  There is no other interpretation that makes any sense and even THAT one would still point directly to Brent and the missing diamond, since the secretary knew about their appointment.  

Jeez, with stories like this, it's no WONDER Detective Comics was so easily taken over by Batman.