#eclipso

[alternateworldcomics]

Opening panel from Brave and the Bold # 64, 1966.

With Batman, Eclipso, Queen Bee, and a very large eyeball up to no good.

Art by Win Mortimer

#batman #eclipso #Win Mortimer

[cosmica-candy]

Aliens

#milkys art #legion of light #Eclipso #umbra #cysco #avalon #apollo #ocs #alien #alien ocs

[evilhorse]

Eclipso: The Darkness Within house ad from July 1991

#Eclipso: the darkness within #eclipso #crossover #house ads #bart sears #dc comics #90s comics

[dailydccomics]

her authority >>> Justice League America Annual #6

#diana of themyscira #diana prince #dc comics #wonder woman #jli #justice league #justice league america #dc #vintage #eclipso #comics #she's my everything

[cgbcomics]

#the spectre #jim corrigan #etrigan #madame xanadu #phantom stranger #eclipso #dr. fate #dc comics #90s comics

[greenlantern94to04]

Those Weird Hal Jordan Comics Between "Reign of the Supermen" and "Emerald Twilight"

I've always been fascinated by that brief, strange period in Green Lantern and Justice League comics between Coast City's destruction and Hal Jordan's heel turn, also known as "The Sling Era" (known by me, I just came up with it). The way Hal was handling the death of his 7 million bestest friends varied wildly from issue to issue, almost as if the writers were trying to tell us that he was already having a psychotic breakdown.

Of course, we all know that Hal only behaved that way because DC had no clue what they were gonna do with the character until they went and did it, but it's still kinda fun to look back at that period and search for hints that couldn't possibly be there. So let's do that:

Justice League International #56-57 (October 1993)

These issues came out on the same month as Green Lantern #46 (the Hal vs. Mongul issue) and clearly take place before Coast City went boom, since Hal isn't wearing the sling on his arm yet. I'm including them here anyway because of this telling exchange between Hal and Power Girl, who'd recently found out she was pregnant. For context, Hal and PG had gotten pretty close while they were both in the JLI... but not as close as Hal would have liked:

Maybe it wasn't Coast City's destruction what drove Hal mad -- it was the thought of Aquaman getting into his "girlfriend's" pants before him. (It turned out PG had been magically impregnated by Atlantean wizards, so at least Hal was in the right ballpark.)

JLI #57 includes this amusing moment after Metamorpho says the League won't be the same without Elongated Man and his wife Sue:

Haha, yeah, a member of the JLI turning evil... can you imagine?

Green Lantern #47 (November 1993)

This Green Arrow team-up is pretty much a filler issue with a couple of references to Coast City's destruction thrown in. No one seems that distraught about the fact that their city just exploded. For the most part, you wouldn't know this was a post-"Reign of the Supermen" issue if Hal wasn't wearing that sling on his arm.

Hal and Oliver Queen get caught up in a dumb plot involving Hal's ex, Carol Ferris, his pal Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku, and robot doubles of Carol's dead dad created by her mom due to her "nervous problems." The most intriguing part is Ollie telling Hal "I'm seeing something in your eyes that I never saw there before." (Spoilers: it's murder.)

Later, Hal gives a speech about finally moving on from Carol and "letting go of the past" (so, the opposite of what he's about to do). He also implies that he's gonna be pursuing another of his love interests, Olivia Reynolds, who's trying to get financing for a GL toy line.

The issue ends with Olivia noticing that one of her Green Lantern action figures "lost his head." That's probably the only intentional foreshadowing for "Emerald Twilight" in these issues, but it could just as easily be a tease for another dumb plot that never happened because they switched writers after this issue.

Superman #83 (November 1993)

As mentioned when I covered this issue at the Superman '86 to '99 blog, Hal is in a pretty dark mood here. When Lex Luthor Jr. shows up uninvited to the superheroes' "funeral" for Coast City, Hal bluntly says "This is a private affair. Get rid of him." Then, when Lex says they could salvage some alien tech from Engine City, Hal insists that they just "let it die."

Aquaman (there's that jerk again) takes issue with Hal's idea of dumping a city-sized engine into the ocean. Superman tries to calm everyone down, but Hal snaps and says: "I'm tired of talking! (...) My friends are buried under this junk heap and I'm not about to let it stand as their tombstone!" Later, after Engine City has been safely disposed of and Superman has erected the monument to the dead, there's an exchange between Hal and Ollie that's more meaningful than anything in Green Lantern #47:

Okay, "Can't win 'em all!" isn't the most sensitive way to talk about genocide, but you have to admit it's in-character.

Justice League International #59-60 (December 1993-January 1994)

Hal skipped JLI #58, and the next two issues are mostly set in an alternate timeline caused by a time-traveler who undid the origins of several superheroes, including Hal himself. Conveniently, this means that these issues don't have to deal with our Hal's mental state. In the alternate timeline, Guy Gardner is the heroic Green Lantern while Hal is his biggest fan. Once they figure out the truth, Guy decides to use the ring to go back in time and fix the timeline but Hal tries to stop him, because he knows Heroic Guy will turn into Guy Guy in the corrected reality.

Pretty ironic that Hal didn't want to restore the timeline because he was afraid of Guy losing his "sanity," and then he was the one who went insane (while Guy entered what's probably his most heroic period). Good Guy ultimately sacrifices himself for the greater good, making Hal think: "If this does turn me into Green Lantern... I can only pray that I'll have half the courage and nobility of Guy Gardner!"

Once Hal's memory is restored, they ask him if he can use the ring to travel to the 70th century and stop the villain from creating this whole mess in the first place, but he says he'd "need the whole Green Lantern Corps to do that!" So Hal thinks that if he had the power of every GL, he could change the course of history? Interesting.

Justice League America #83 (December 1993)

Hal is wearing the sling in this issue, so it's definitely set after Coast City's destruction, but he's perfectly calm and seems more concerned with regular League business than reshaping the universe. Maybe he's just trying to bury himself in work?

Valor #14 (December 1993)

Another Sling Era issue. Valor asks some Justice Leaguers if by any chance they know any cures to lead poisoning, which he's currently dying of. Hal says "I wish to God I could help... but there are limits to what my power ring can do." But... maybe there shouldn't be?!

Bloodbath #1-2 (December 1993)

A sling-wearing Hal shows up in the two-part finale of the regrettable "Bloodlines" crossover, though the sling is missing in some panels (perhaps he was already getting better). The only noteworthy interactions here are: 1) Deathstroke telling Hal "Remember that I'm one of the good guys today," 2) Hal referring to the Guardians of the Universe as "control freaks," and 3) Hal telling Superman not to beat himself up because he wasn't around to stop the alien invasion of Metropolis (he was dead at the time). This last scene is by far the best part of the issue, because of a typo when Superman is supposed to say "Poor Metropolis":

Geez, what are they feeding those cows down there?

Eclipso #15-16 (January-February 1994)

Sling Hal and other superheroes (plus Lex Jr., for some reason) talk in the United Nations about the menace of Eclipso, who at the time was president of a small country and had access to nuclear weapons. Then Eclipso shows up and beats them all in two panels, literally.

Hal's only role in Eclipso #16 is as an unconscious body on the floor of the UN. I think I'd also go crazy from the humiliation.

Justice League International #61 (February 1994)

And finally, Hal's last appearance as a member of the JLI consisted of him saying he wished he could help, but he has "pressing business as a Green Lantern!" That pressing business turned out to be crying on a crater and then... well, we'll see that soon enough.

I agree with whoever that guy is: Hal's "I'll be in touch soon" DOES sound pretty ominous. Note that this issue takes place directly after the end of JLI #60 (Hal must have put on the sling between panels). This means that the last thing Hal Jordan did before the start of "Emerald Twilight" was traveling to the far future to stop a supervillain from reshaping history. Wonder if that gave him any ideas...

NEXT: "Emerald Twilight"! And the guy this blog is supposed to be about finally shows up!

#green lantern #hal jordan #justice league #power girl #aquaman #coast city #green arrow #oliver queen #carol ferris #tom kalmaku #olivia reynolds #guy gardner #valor #superman #eclipso #cucked by aquaman #aquacucked #that guy #dc comics

[hero-israel]

In honor of today's solar eclipse, have a scene from DC Comics' "Eclipso: The Darkness Within" #1, published July 1992.

#Eclipso #comics antisemitism

[coolcomicbookcovers]

#eclipso

[weirdlookindog]

Eclipso #47 - Arédit-Artima, France, December 1974.

#eclipso #arédit artima #horror comics #french comics #horror art

[splooosh]

“The Darkness”

Joe Quesada

#Eclipso the Darkness Within #Lobo #Guy Gardner #Superman #Eclipso #Joe Quesada

[onlylonelylatino]

Blue Beetle and Traci 13 versus Eclipso by Rafael Albuquerque

#blue beetle #jaime reyes #traci 13 #eclipso #rafael albuquerque #dc comics #modern age #john rogers

[cosmica-candy]

Smug bastard

#milkys art #celestians #clestians #apollo #Eclipso #avalon #midas

[mistrezzofmagic]

Been thinking about the concept of Zatanna getting posessed by Eclipso... which lead to this edit.

#zatanna #zatanna zatara #eclipso #dc comics #dc edit #my edits #okay but literally imagine how terrifying an eclipso posessed zee would be #the world might actually end

[comfortfoodcontent]

2007 DC Countdown DC Comics House Ad

#mary marvel #countdown #dc countdown #dc #dc comics #dc comics house ads #house ads #comic house ads #comic ads #print ads #2007 #eclipso #2000s

[evilhorse]

DC superheroes house ad from November 1992

#eclipso #nightwing #vigilante #comics posters #dc comics #90s comics #house ads

[momachan]

"Michael... But I'm no innocent! In my hubris, I drove an innocent man-- Michael Landau-- to hang himself in his cell. In my grief and rage, I destroyed an entire country! I killed innocent beings! What sins did the children commit who died that day?! How am I better than those I was sent to judge?!.. I have failed to understand. Amy tried to teach me and I wouldn't hear. Without mercy, there is no justice-- only vengeance. I must confront evil and understand better the darkness, the evil, within my own soul."

The Spectre (1992-1998) Vol. 2: Wrath Of God. "Final Judgements."

*This comic is a work of fiction. If you need help please call your local crisis lifeline. They will give you free and confidential support. Remember: Your life matters.

#dc comics #the spectre #jim corrigan #phantom stranger #madame xanadu #ramban #jason blood #etrigan #eclipso #zatanna #zatanna zatara #inza nelson #doctor fate #archangel michael #dc universe #dc magic