First off, I enjoyed it. I like to read an origin retelling every once in a while.
However, there were a few USAF fumbles. Not the least of which is that there is no way in hell he could steal a jet and go for a joyride. If a jet gets turned on, and it's not scheduled to fly, it's a hijacking. It's a pretty big fucking security violation. In order to do this, Hal would have to be a close enough friend to the ground maintainers, the air traffic controllers, the military police (and possibly a few more groups);to be able to convince them all to let him do this the morning after he decided to get discharged.
Yeah, good luck with that.
(And no, he hadn't pulled strings with a buddy in plans and scheduling because then he wouldn't have taken an unauthorized joyride, he'd have taken a normal scheduled flight.)
Not just that, I can fucking guarantee that if a pilot hijacked an experimental fighter jet and then punched his commanding officer in the face, he wouldn't be at his mother's hospital room without an armed escort. But I can ignore that one, since the writer wisely didn't let us know how much time had elapsed between the punch and the hospital scene.
Still, no fucking way on the "unauthorized joyride". You overplayed your hand there, Johns.
Otherwise, it was a fine issue. I'm especially fond of Jim Jordan. I hope that character stays in the supporting cast for a while.
Johns should really run these scripts past someone who knows military stuff. A couple errors that caught my eye:
ReplyDelete- The F-16 can't get anywhere near Mach 3, which if memory serves is a speed reached by only a few highly specialized military aircraft like the SR-71 Blackbird.
- Hal refers to there always being "a few battleships" in port, but he's an ignorant zoomie, so perhaps we can let that slide. "Battleship" isn't a generic term, but a term of art for a specific class, and one that has been out of service since the early '90s when 4 Iowa-class BBs were recommissioned briefly. Hal should have used a term like "warship."
I'm wondering about the John Stewart retcon. Does this mean his first appearance isn't canon anymore? Was it still canon before this story?
ReplyDeleteWell, bear in mind that this is first person narration, so we're hearing Hal tell the story of how he got kicked out of the Air Force. That means he may have embellished the story a little, or even a vast amount.
ReplyDeleteI like to think that Hal borrowed a typewriter but prefers to tell everyone he borrowed a jet. Or maybe he pooped in the urinals. Based on your Air Force experience, what sorts of dumbass stunts would get a person kicked out of the Air Force but not court martialed?
And yes, I am starting to totally heart Jim Jordan. Funny, the Jordan clan has historically been so colorless that relatives would pop in and out of existence and nobody even noticed. Geoff is finally building them into a family we can care about, and perhaps they will finally serve as the supporting characters Hal has always needed. I am of the opinion that Hal's supporting cast has historically sucked, but the Jordans may turn that around.
I didn't get the impression that he stole the jet --I got the impression that he was testing it far above the parameters he was supposed to, which elicited the "joyride" comment. I didn't read it that carefully, so I could be wrong, though.
ReplyDeleteWhile all of these things may be true, all Hal would have to do, is flash his pearly whites, and wriggle his hips or something.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's HAL, and Hal always gets what he wants.
Nevertheless, this was a very good story, and it was nice to have a little more flesh on the bones of the story of Hal's family.
Did you also notice that the address of the military recruitment station is 2814?
ReplyDeleteAlso did the art look very Alan Davisy in this issue
Going back and rereading the pertinent sections, I think I'm right: He didn't have clearance or authorization to go as fast as he was going, be he was sanctioned to be flying the plane. He was supposed to be testing structural limitations at Mach 1.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the hospital visit, though. I can't see Hal walking around freely after decking his C.O.
Ragnell, you honestly think this only had a few USAF fumbles? I realize that Geoff Johns hasn’t been in the Air Force like you or me, but the amount of gaffs in this book was ridiculous. I actually felt insulted reading this book. Well, maybe that’s a stretch, but not by much.
ReplyDeleteJust because Geoff Johns never had the pleasure of learning how to fold his underwear into 6 inch squares at Lackland or experience the joys of doing a FOD walk at 6am doesn’t mean he can’t talk to someone that had. Hell, even a Wikipedia search on the F-16 would have allowed him to avoid some of the most obvious boners.
This was just embarrassing.
This comic actually made that stupid Louis Gossett Jr. movie from the 1980’s ‘Iron Eagle’ look like a documentary in comparison.
Hell, even a Wikipedia search on the F-16 would have allowed him to avoid some of the most obvious boners.
ReplyDeleteThat's really the JSA cover editor's job.
It seems like Hal Jordan got to wreck a plane because Chuck Yeager did it in The Right Stuff. Youtube link here.
ReplyDeleteI know Geoff Johns consulted with an Air Force officer for Green Lantern #1; you'd think he'd go back to him for such an Air Force-centric issue.
ReplyDeleteRick -- He honestly didn't spend too long int he USAF. He enlisted, talked about his CC, got into a fistfight with a Marine, got bad news about his mother, then broke the rules and got booted. Not a lot of room to mess thigns up. And yet...
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I fucking hate that Hal is in the USAF right now./ He never should've gotten back in. He shouldn't still be in. That's a shitty job for a superhero, not to mention a spacefaring superhero, and a particularly bad for one of Hal's impulsive temperament and HUGE area of responsibility.
rob s. -
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the hospital visit, though. I can't see Hal walking around freely after decking his C.O.
You mean the C.O. that was one of the "Four Musketeers" with one Martin Jordan, who later pulled all kinds of strings to let Hal back in the USAF?
I can totally believe old-school men in power cover for each other. I read the papers. Sometimes upside down, but I reads em.
That's even assuming that someone with the rank of Major would be a commanding officer for other officers. Someone with the rank of Major would be the C.O. of a group of enlisted personal, not commissioned officers.
ReplyDeleteHow does someone with more Silver Stars then the flag not even get promoted to Lt. Colonel?
Neat!
ReplyDelete