The Appeal of Hal Jordan

Most readers would agree that Hal Jordan is appealing because of his willpower in pushing through fear -- but what makes him unique among the Green Lanterns? All Green Lanterns use their will to overcome fear, in that they all fight dangerous criminals and space monsters and persevere during risky battles with fearsome enemies. What I think sets Hal Jordan apart is that he is shown overcoming not only grand, superhero-level fears like all other Green Lanterns, but that he also constantly overcomes mundane fears that you and I can relate to.

These mundane fears are possible events that we think about every day, and then shove into the back of our minds as worst case scenarios that we're afraid of ever happening. But these events are realities for Hal Jordan. Hal's life is a mess and he goes through many of the things that we live in fear of, in the following ways:

1. We're afraid of losing our job and our security in life. Hal has lost his job as a pilot before, and has ended up driving around the country without a stable home for himself. He's also lost his ring before and had to struggle to get it back [GL Vol. 2 #181-198].

2. We're afraid of relationship conflicts and the person we love most slipping away. Hal always struggles with his relationship with Carol Ferris and even has to watch her move on from him, as she dates other men.

3. We're afraid of bad things happening to our loved ones. Hal's father died when he was a boy, Carol often turns into Star Sapphire, Barry Allen died during the Crisis, and everyone he knew in Coast City died when the city was destroyed.

4. We're afraid of our trust being broken by people close to us. Hal's mentor, Sinestro, turned to evil.

5. We're afraid of getting in trouble with our bosses. Hal gets into arguments with the Guardians of the Universe and with Carol Ferris all the time.

6. We're afraid of losing ourselves and giving in to our darker urges. Hal faced a complete breakdown of his psyche when Coast City was destroyed, he wiped out the Green Lantern Corps, and he threatened the universe as Parallax.

7. We're afraid of dying. Hal died and went to Purgatory.

The bottom line is that Hal Jordan has undergone many experiences that we spend our lives living in fear of. But you virtually never see him being weighed down by the fear of those experiences -- he always stays fervent and unfazed, with a smirk on his face. He's like Peter Parker with his life being a constant disaster; but unlike Peter, he keeps a whimsical and cocky attitude about it because he's not afraid -- and that's inspiring.

I think this is why he's given the title of "the greatest Green Lantern". Green Lanterns are fearless when confronting a space monster; Hal Jordan is fearless when confronting homelessness, or a breakup, or death. His ability to persist, without fear, through an onslaught of mundane things that most people are afraid of makes him uniquely inspiring, and makes him one of the strongest representatives for what the Green Lantern story stands for.