In 1994, Hal Jordan’s hometown of Coast City was nuked off the face of the planet during the iconic “Death of Superman” event. This devastated Hal, but the destruction of his hometown was only the start of the tragedy for the Green Lantern. When the Green Lantern Corps denied him the ability to fix his home, the hero proceeded to lose it. Overcome with grief and rage, he went on a rampage and murdered the Corps. Killing every Lantern in his sight including his own best friend Kilowog. Hal had the ultimate heel turn and absorbed the rest of the power from Oa’s central power battery. It was the ultimate heel turn for the beloved hero and even saw him absorb all of the power from Oa’s central power battery, a move that turned him into something entirely new: Parallax, the last remnant of the Green Lantern Corps.
As fans well know, things only got darker from there as it was soon revealed that he was actually possessed by the Parallax entity, sending the beloved hero down a dark path of villainy. But while Hal would eventually find redemption, the truth is that while Green Lantern Hal Jordan was great, he was far better as Parallax — and DC should have kept him as a regular villain for the Justice League.
Hal’s Greatest Character Development
With how much Hal lost on the day Coast City was destroyed, it makes one think about that quote from the Joker of it only taking “one bad day” to push someone over the edge. This event was exactly that for Hal and while this turn wasn’t necessarily a fan-favorite, especially for longtime fans of the character, by putting Hal through the tragedy and showing how fragile the line between good and evil can be even for those strong of will is fascinating character development. There are rich stories there, particularly with both Zero Hour and The Final Night.
The issue with things, however, is that by having Hal make his way back to being a “good guy” and largely just walking away from his time as Parallax, the weight of his darker actions just is no longer there. In Zero Hour’s case, reading the story now Hal doesn’t have the same urgency as a threat in the finale. He was already rushed into it as is but reverting him back as a hero after this feels contradictory.
Redeeming Hal with a “final” heroic sacrifice in The Final Night also diminishes things. It was a big swing to take a beloved hero and turn him into a serious villain. Sticking with that idea, DC could have really made things interesting. There’s something to be said for the idea of the greatest enemy having once been a beloved friend. Keeping Hal as Parallax would have allowed for some really great stories with the Justice League having to deal with one of their own, someone who is a threat not only for the powers they have but because of how close they once were. Even if the endgame would always lead to Hal’s redemption, doing it slowly would have given a depth to things. Instead, DC moved Hal on from his villain turn far too quickly and with no real lasting impact.
Parallax Hal is Best Remembered Now as a 90’s Gimmick and Not Real Development
Ultimately, instead of being a real tale of grief, downfall, and redemption, Hal’s time as Parallax now just feels like a gimmick, part of the 90s shakeup rather than being true character development. Having Hal stick around for a bit longer with more villainous moments would have done interesting things for Hal. Instead, the turn is now remembered best in the same vein as Azrael Batman from “Knightfall” and some of the Supermen from “Death of Superman,” just a bit of spectacle meant to drive sales and in the grand scheme of things it just feels like wasted opportunity, especially as the Green Lantern Corps grows ever more crowded with characters.
Hal has had a lot of different takes over the years and that’s the way things should be. Keeping things the same really doesn’t lend itself to good stories. But restoring status quo is also detrimental and while bringing Hal Jordan back to being a hero isn’t the worst thing DC could have done, not fully exploring Hal as Parallax still feels like a mistake all these years later. It was a perfect waste of one of the greatest character arcs in all of comic history. Sometimes, heroes just make better villains. It’s a shame we didn’t get to fully explore that with Hal.
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