As one of my favorite polka stars used to say, "It don't get no bedder den dis, folks!"
Oh, yes. That is indeed Hal Jordan knocking himself out by flying directly in a stone wall headfirst. Doesn't even roll or turn to mitigate the impact.
Head. First.
Now, given the contextualizing buildings in the first panel, I'm certain this sequence was intended by the writer as a sly artistic satire of atomic-age man's inability to understand or anticipate the modernistic architectural trends of Bauhaus, Internationalism, or Structuralism. *Chortle*! Look, I believe that's I.M. Pei himself in the background, camoflaged as an aerobics teacher, chuckling, "Heh, didn't expect that externalized non-functional butress, did you, Hal?"
Those Silver Age writers were cleverer than you give them credit for, people.
---that wall!!!
ReplyDeleteHal seems so excited about the prospect of hitting his head again.
Well, it IS the highlight of his day.
ReplyDeleteEvery day.
so that's what we have in common!
ReplyDeleteI've got the Showcase graphic novel with this in it. Which issue is it in? He seems to go to the future almost as often as he hits his head. I read the one today where he breaks the ball off a banister, almost crashes his car because of a newspaper, and brags about it to Carol blaming it on a jinx.
ReplyDeleteErr, please someone tell this poor Silver Age-ignorant newbie that there is some sort of context to explain this? Any sort? Please?
ReplyDelete*sigh*
Now now friend we were all new once.
ReplyDeleteKali, you need to read Showcase, trust me. I think this one is from the "Green Lantern's Statue Goes to War" story. Either that or the "World of Living Phantoms."
ReplyDeleteAnd I think the Silver Age writers just liked seeing him get hit on his head as much as we do.
And so, the weakness to mind-control (which still happens as often as he used to get hit on his head) must be a logical result of his head injuries.
I wonder if the wall was yellow...
ReplyDeleteExactly how much time per day do you devote to researching Hal Jordan's faults?
ReplyDeleteOh, it takes almost no time at all, I assure!
ReplyDeleteYou know, the idea that the Silver Age writers were cleverer than people give credit are one the main reasons Grant Morrison writes... hehe
ReplyDeleteThe DC vs. Modern Architecture motif wasn't a common one in the Silver Age, but you could find it if you looked.
ReplyDeleteThe quintessential story had to be in Wonder Woman #120 (February 1961), the famous "Curse of Le Corbusier!" Diana battled against a mad Swiss architect and his dreaded "Plan Voisin." I think it's the only comic in history to feature a giant robot made of reinforced concrete.
Wonder Woman, protector of Radiant City, huh?
ReplyDelete