#darkstars

[ufonaut]

"a disaster beyond description" - the parallax view on parallax (& coast city's destruction)

i've often talked about the importance of pre-parallax retcon hal jordan, what a radical move his downfall had been for an art medium so uniquely focused on status quo and how much walking that back in post-2005 continuity damaged the character & his development. however, something i've become increasingly interested in lately is the outsider point of view on the magnitude of coast city's destruction and hal's descent into madness -- the reverberations of one of the darkest days in the dcu were far and wide for a good long while there but rarely acknowledged outside of nostalgia pieces nowadays and even more rarely understood as a thoroughly visceral, well-written, well-planned arc that intentionally portrayed the superhero world as largely unsympathetic to the trauma of one of their own but the average civilian as grappling with that loss nearly on the same scale that hal did.

to that effect, i thought i would show a highlights reel of this outsider POV and how much it adds to the weight of the pre-2005 story. while i've accepted some tie-ins to major events (ie zero hour 1994, final night 1996), this will feature titles entirely unrelated to green lantern presented in real life chronological order by publication date in order to showcase the impact that's compelled me so (that's no convergence: green lantern, no legends of the dcu #33-36, etc).

"every office, every home, every school and hospital is atomized. the west coast and its entire ecosystem is instantaneously shattered-- and more than seven million men, women and children that once called the coast city area home-- die."

to set the scene, the explosion that destroys coast city actually appears in superman 1987 #80 (cover date: aug 1993) as part of hank henshaw and mongul's plan.

the destruction had spread as far as santa barbara & the los padres national forest. getting closer to ground zero, hank henshaw also proceeds to resolutely take care of a handful of the sole survivors:

(adventures of superman 1987 #503, cover date: aug 1993)

you all know the reading order here. past the return of superman and the events of emerald twilight, the first outsiders to have gotten the news are the darkstars

whose immediate course of action is to brand hal jordan a criminal (darkstars #23, cover date: aug 1994)

and as zero hour-induced temporal anomalies keep coming up, the darkstars start seriously considering further tampering with time in order to prevent "the creation of a power-mad monster" (darkstars #24, cover date: sept 1994).

it's a sentiment that the majority of hal's justice league colleagues share, as zero hour: crisis in time and the final night both tell us, but a more sympathetic view comes two years later in the spectre 1992 #47 (cover date: nov 1996)

and a more neutral one from waverider in superman: the doomsday wars #2 (cover date: dec 1998)

interestingly enough, more details of the in-universe perception of hal's actions comes from deadman: dead again

where we learn that "sources close to the JLA" have actually issued a press statement naming hal as wholly responsible for the green lantern corps massacre, with no hint that they've been equally forthcoming about the motive behind his actions (deadman: dead again #4, cover date: oct 2001)

the last pre-retcon word goes to superman: day of doom #3 (cover date: jan 2003), a sobering portrayal of the immense horror of coast city's annihilation and subsequently a look into the reality that had made hal snap:

post-retcon, nostalgia pieces like dcu: legacies #8 (feb 2011) and dc retroactive: superman - the 80s (oct 2011) both treat the mad-with-grief version of the story as the truth -- as does the 2015 convergence event --but outside of these few instances, the tour de force of storytelling that is this years-long arc has been cast aside in favor of an unnecessary retcon. as the zero hour: crisis in time 30th anniversary approaches, i'd say it's just the right time to remember that hal (unrepentant hal, power-hungry hal, hell-bent on making everything right hal) had had a perfectly proportional reaction to the tragedy he'd endured, if not outright a justified one.

#hal jordan #green lantern #parallax #coast city #green lantern corps #zero hour #zero hour 1994 #zero hour: crisis in time #hank henshaw #superman #cyborg superman #deadman #boston brand #donna troy #darkstars #the spectre #jim corrigan #dan jurgens #(to whom we owe 90% of this beauty) #meta #dc #dc comics #u can reblog

[dcinthe90s]

While in recent years, DC's Trinity tends to refer to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, a DC event called Trinity from the year 1993 referred to the three main outer space law-enforcement groups of the DC Universe. When a cosmic threat from planet Maltus called the Triarch threatens three different planets, the Green Lantern Corps, Darkstars, and L.E.G.I.O.N. are all on the case... That is, if they can stop feuding with each other long enough to get the job done!

#90s nostalgia #dc comics #dc trinity #green lantern #green lantern corps #hal jordan #darkstars #l.e.g.i.o.n

[inhousearchive]

House-ad for Darkstars (1992).

#house ad #darkstars #dc #dc comics #comicsedit #dcedit #comicedit #90s

[kyle-rayner-daily]

#final night #kyle rayner #dc comics #green lantern #daily kyle rayner #dc #comics #donna troy #darkstars

[travischarestcomics]

Darkstars Ad from Comic Buyers Guide 1992

Travis Charest --penciller

Scott Hanna -- inker

#travis charest #dc comics #darkstars #ad #black and white

[splooosh]

Donna Troy and the Darkstars!

Mike Collins - Ken Branch

#Darkstars #Ferrin Colos #Donna Troy #Mike Collins #Ken Branch

[dc-trinity90s]

Adventures Of Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) Cover Date April 1995 - Storylines/Events: To Wake The Dead!

#dc comics #green lantern #kyle rayner #donna troy #darkstars

[comfortfoodcontent]

Darkstars #23 Cover Art by Mike Deodato

#darkstars #mike deodato #donna troy #wonder girl #dc #dc comics #comics #comic art

[smashedpages]

Happy birthday to Michael Jan Friedman!

#michael jan friedman #x-men #star trek #silver surfer #darkstars #star trek: the next generation

[mysteryonearth52]

Adam Strange 8 (2005) by Andy Diggle & Pasqual Ferry

Cover: Pasqual Ferry

Planet Heist

#Planet Heist #Adam Strange #Sardath #Alanna Strange #Omega Men #Vril Dox #Darkstars #Starbreaker #Sh'ri Valkyr #Andy Diggle #Pasqual Ferry

[disco-troy]

I love this scene bc it’s basically Psimon, now that he has the power of a god to destroy planets, saying that the only thing that ever scared him was a pair of ten-year-olds.

Psimon: You and what’s this name -- Robin! That’s it. You and Robin were the only ones I feared.

#its so funny #dick and donna must have been terrifying as kids #10 year olds that could beat u up #donna has like the cutest little ponytail and then she picks up a car #dick does a creepy laugh and just disapears #dick grayson #donna troy #nighting #wonder girl #darkstars #new teen titans #teen titans #dc comics #i know he didnt technically appear until later like ntt #they were like teens #but the mental image is so funny let me have this

[evilhorse]

The surrogate Green Lantern’s girlfriend.

#green lantern #john stewart #Merayn Dethalis #Merayn #darkstars #cosmic #space #Benjamin raab #Ben raab #rick burchett #dc comics #comics #00s comics

[cgbcomics]

#darkstars #green lantern corps #legion of super heroes #dc comics #90s comics

[youngtreeloc93]

Green Lantern: Merayn Dethalis by me! 

Just felt like sketching one Merayn Dethalis to which in this version, she's a member of the Green Lantern Corps instead of the Darkstars! Fun fact: her last comic appearance took place within the pages of Green Lantern (vol. 3) #174

#DCComics #DC Comics #DC Universe #DCUniverse #fanart #fan art #Green Lantern Corps #GreenLanternCorps #John Stewart #JohnStewart #Merayn Dethalis #MeraynDethalis #AutodeskSketchbook #Autodesk Sketchbook #sketchbookapp #Darkstars #digitalart #digital art #digital fan art #digital illustration

[inhousearchive]

House-ad for the Flash crossover in Darkstars (1992) #18-20.

#flash #darkstars #90s #dc #dc comics #dcedit #wally west #the flash #comicedit #comicsedit

[travischarestcomics]

Darkstars #1-6 (1992-1993)

Travis Charest -- penciler

Scott Hanna -- inker

Julianna Farriter -- colorist

#travis charest #dc comics #cover #darkstars