Sometimes I wonder why Barry and Hal are such good friends.
But then other times...
it seems perfectly obvious.
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Bah, Barry is an AMATEUR at head trauma.
I feel they've tried a bit too hard to force on us that Barry and Hal are friends, but I can see grounds for it, maybe. Friendships and other love affairs require that you have compatible principles, not necessarily compatible styles. If they both see in each other that, say, they will work tirelessly to make sure that justice prevails, that might cover a lot of ground.
Though personally I figure Barry and Bruce are a better fit that way. They've got the same methodical nature, they trust evidence, they respect impartiality. It's also my head canon that Bruce never runs out of high-tech batarangs because Barry is happy to come over sometimes and build the things while the two of them relax and talk shop.
It made a great deal of sense... AT THE TIME. They were both "regular joes" (although exemplary in their own ways), who happened upon great power. They had girlfriends and jobs and families and regular civilian lives. This set them apart from the other Justice Leaguers (billionaires, aliens, royalty, and demigods).
And importantly, Julius Schwartz (I think) was editor of both comics, so coordinating their appearances wasn't difficult, and it made for good sales. So just throw in some scenes where they call each other "pal" and "buddy", and you have a friendship that meets mid 1960s DC standards. "We told you they are friends; what more could you possibly want?"
Somehow - SOMEHOW - the Hal / Ollie friendship is more believable. What does Hal even get out of that one? "Well I save Green Arrow's life constantly, and he calls me a fascist for stopping planets from blowing up."
I always thought that Hal and Barry's friendship was more of a high school dynamic. Handsome but somewhat dim jock befriends brainy science nerd. They don't have homework, but they do work on cases together. Hal needs Barry to spell things out sometimes.
4 comments:
Bah, Barry is an AMATEUR at head trauma.
I feel they've tried a bit too hard to force on us that Barry and Hal are friends, but I can see grounds for it, maybe. Friendships and other love affairs require that you have compatible principles, not necessarily compatible styles. If they both see in each other that, say, they will work tirelessly to make sure that justice prevails, that might cover a lot of ground.
Though personally I figure Barry and Bruce are a better fit that way. They've got the same methodical nature, they trust evidence, they respect impartiality. It's also my head canon that Bruce never runs out of high-tech batarangs because Barry is happy to come over sometimes and build the things while the two of them relax and talk shop.
- HJF1
It made a great deal of sense... AT THE TIME. They were both "regular joes" (although exemplary in their own ways), who happened upon great power. They had girlfriends and jobs and families and regular civilian lives. This set them apart from the other Justice Leaguers (billionaires, aliens, royalty, and demigods).
And importantly, Julius Schwartz (I think) was editor of both comics, so coordinating their appearances wasn't difficult, and it made for good sales. So just throw in some scenes where they call each other "pal" and "buddy", and you have a friendship that meets mid 1960s DC standards. "We told you they are friends; what more could you possibly want?"
Somehow - SOMEHOW - the Hal / Ollie friendship is more believable. What does Hal even get out of that one? "Well I save Green Arrow's life constantly, and he calls me a fascist for stopping planets from blowing up."
- HJF1
I always thought that Hal and Barry's friendship was more of a high school dynamic. Handsome but somewhat dim jock befriends brainy science nerd. They don't have homework, but they do work on cases together. Hal needs Barry to spell things out sometimes.
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