Retro Comics are Awesome

[andersonh1]

Continuing through the Hard-Traveling Heroes Omnibus...

The Flash #226
March-April 1974

The Powerless Power Ring!
Script - Denny O'Neil Pencils - Neal Adams, Dick Giordano Inks - Dick Giordano

I have to disagree with the caption box that opens this story. "Exploits" is not the word I would use to describe it. At first glance it might be exciting to have Neal Adams back on Green Lantern, but "The Powerless Power Ring" and a terrified Hal Jordan about to fall to his death doesn't promise a great adventure...

As the story opens, Hal is out hiking and camping in the mountains. He's still unemployed and still broke, griping about the sorry state of civilization. Yep, it's a Denny O'Neil script all right. He makes Oliver Queen's chili recipe and adds some mushrooms to it. Time to charge up the power ring, which he does in uniform, and then after seeing a mysterious flash of light which he can't explain, GL settles down to sleep. Everything's great until a bear wanders up and GL tries to remove it with the power ring, only for the beam to malfunction. He tests it on a tree and it doesn't do what he wants. The ring is malfunctioning yet again, and GL does not know why.

Just then he hears a scream, and sees a mountain climber in serious danger. Afraid to use the power ring, he climbs the cliff himself to go and help her out. This ultimately leads him to where we saw Hal on the splash page, clinging to the cliff for dear life. But when he falls, he is of course able to make the power ring work as it should, saving his life and the life of the climber. They settle at his campsite, where GL asks if she saw the flash of light last night. She did and thought it was great. She sees his open can of mushrooms and asks if he's been eating them. Turns out that brand is dangerous, causes weird things to happen to people. Yes, Green Lantern's great enemy this issue was... bad mushrooms. How low can O'Neil drag the character?

What a waste. A waste of Neal Adams's talent, a waste of the eight pages of space, and probably a waste of my time to read it. O'Neil seemed far more interested in humiliating the character than in telling fun and interesting sci-fi adventure stories with him. Hal is essentially homeless, jobless, and half the time he lacks the self-confidence needed to be a good Green Lantern. And now brought down by bad mushrooms. This may genuinely be one of the worst Green Lantern stories I've ever read.