10 Problems No One Wants To Admit About Green Lantern

3. Nostalgia For The Silver Age Has Hurt The Character

Green Lantern Silver Age
DC Comics

Conversely, while a general dislike for the less "believable" aspects of the Silver Age has pervaded DC in the modern era, the company at the same time seems to be obsessed with that period. It's yielded some wonderful results, but sometimes the focus can get a tad overbearing.

It's a consequence of most writers and artists at the company having grown up on the original Flash and GL comics of the fifties and sixties, but it's a double-edged sword; for every wonderful, zany commentary about DC's most bonkers period, there are about several more that limit their reappraisal to the surface level, looking to reinstate childhood icons in what - from the outside at least - looks like a nostalgia-driven obsession.

The Silver Age resurgence arrived towards the middle of the 2000s and it's what saw the likes of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen (the second Flash) to return to mainstream continuity. Barry had a fantastic resurrection in Final Crisis, but Flash fans will be the first to tell you that him replacing Wally West as DC's main speedster felt out-of-step with where the character was heading, with Wally boasting a dominant presence across comics, animation and video games during that decade.

The same goes for GL. Hal came back to the DCU not out of any given need, but because he was the 'first'. A pioneer he may be, but far more interesting Lanterns had emerged in the years since Jordan absented the spotlight. It's time they moved on, lest the other Lanterns be relegated to a supporting role for years to come.

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