This was my first experience with "Nerd Rage". A grown man, close to 30, fuming over events that "ruined" his favorite comic character "forever". The 90's were a glorious and strange time in Comics.
In a lot of ways Bill was my nemesis. I looked up to him for his vast knowledge, but I was a little shit-head kid and liked to pick at him because I knew he was easily agitated. The store tolerated my shenanigans because they knew I genuinely loved comics and that I'd spend $20 every time I walked in the door. But on this day Bill was HOT and I had no idea why. After a few more exchanges with Mike, the store's owner, I heard Bill loudly say "I'll be bringing you every Goddamned Green Lantern book I own next week.", and I was a little terrified... That was an extreme statement and I remember my eyes growing wider than they ever had before.
At 12 years old you're pretty oblivious to the drama of the adult world. While I was feeding my addiction I had no idea that there had been a Revolution in the Comic Industry. It would be several years later before I would begin to realize just how much Todd McFarlane and the Image crew inadvertently shaped my life... As Image Comics redefined the marketplace, DC and Marvel were forced to follow suit and the result is what I like to call the "Shock Value Era". This resulted in drastic measures by the "Big Two" and within a year Superman was dead and Batman's back was broken. Marvel didn't quite go so drastic, but they certainly made some changes.
Even at such a young age I knew that Superman would return and Batman would walk again. These were giant dramatic leaps for DC, but it hadn't been so long since Jason Todd had been beaten to death (and blown up), and Flash & Supergirl were lost to THE Crisis. But what I don't think anyone was prepared for was what DC did to Hal Jordan.
Hal Jordan's fall from grace was framed as an irreconcilable event. He murdered his friends and betrayed 35 years of characterization that had been built on the foundation of never giving up and staying true to his principles... unwavering willpower. But it 3 short issues DC threw Hal into the deepest of holes. There was no fixing this (anytime soon) and they made that abundantly clear.
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| Green Lantern #48, #49, and #50 by Ron Marz & Bill Willingham |
Poor, poor Bill... When I look back on that memory I can hear his voice crack when he spoke. His anger was fueled by passion because he was a massive Hal Jordan fan. I had fallen in love with The Flash and Bill would occasionally tease me about Wally West being a poor substitute for Barry Allen. I didn't get into comics until well after Barry was gone... But my oh my how the tides had suddenly turned.
In that moment I knew it was serious enough to him that I needed to keep my distance and my mouth shut, but when I saw him a week later I couldn't resist... I poured salt before I even knew what that meant... I walked in the store and Bill was browsing the new books and I spoke to Mike.
"Hey Mike, can you add Green Lantern to my pull list? I heard it's finally getting good."... I wasn't subtle in the slightest. I spoke loudly and clearly... And then for the first time in my life (not the last), a grown man said "Fuck You" to me... Poor, poor Bill was about to make poor, poor little Orville almost piss himself.... Before I go any further, I'd like say that I completely deserved this. I had provoked Bill several times in the past and he always bit his tongue because I was a kid, but that's also why I kept pushing his buttons. I was clearly in the wrong.
"F*** you, you little shit"... "You're a spoiled brat and no one up here likes you. So get on your bike and go home." ... 😬😬😬 ... This is the only part of the story that I remember crystal clear. Those were his exact words.
He mouthed a few other things and a vague threat to get me ban before storming out of the store. I laughed hard. I remember feeling my face turn red and laughing at how riled up I had made this grown ass man... But then Mike chimed in and a lesson was learned.
Mike was super friendly and laid back and he treated me well. He directed me towards some great titles and helped teach me the basic nuances of collecting and how to interpret stories for what they really were saying. He was a fantastic store owner (at the time), and really cared about all of his customer. I liked Mike a lot. But in this moment, Mike didn't like me.
"Hey little man, I'm sorry, but you're ban for a month."Little Orville's head exploded. BAN?! ME?!
A MONTH?!
At 12 that was forever. It also meant I'd have a month's worth of comics to catch up on and I had to bust my hump just to pay for my week to week purchases. It soaked in for about 3 seconds before I started crying. Not quite like a baby, but almost. And I cried all the way home.
Mike explained that Bill was a friend, a good customer, and that I was being too obnoxious. I knew he was right but I tried to talk my way out of it... No dice. He told me I could come back in a month and that when I did I couldn't grief Bill anymore. Looking back I'm lucky he didn't call my mom. I used a very different vocabulary at the Shop, one that my folks didn't need to know about (thanks HBO!). Mike went easy on me despite coming down so hard. I had poked the bear and the bear finally poked back. He told me he liked me but that if I was going to hang with adults I couldn't act like a child.
Mike let me buy my comics and graciously told me that he would welcome me back with open arms. It was a tough pill to swallow and I never really gave Bill shit again until I was old enough to monitor it better. Over the next decade Bill still held that grudge until I was about 21 or so and purchased him a Green Lantern #7 (1st Sinestro) signed by Gil Kane. He had just beaten cancer and I was old enough to know some bridges needed mending. We eventually became buddies for a while, but these days we mostly trade playful jabs on social media.
The memory of his initial eruption is especially impactful to me now that I've experienced the disappointment that Bill had. Not to beat a dead horse, but as kid Star Wars comics were the coolest thing I had ever seen and I read them all. I followed the adventures of Luke and the gang in the aftermath of Return of the Jedi and when I saw The Last Jedi I felt the rage Bill had experienced in 1994. My favorite childhood hero had been stripped of the rich history and characterization I had fallen in love with over the last 25 years. Eventually I compartmentalized those feelings and realized that the film had no baring on the Luke I knew and loved. I can still revisit that world in print. (I just tell myself the new triology is bad Hollywood fan fiction 😁)
But jumping back in my time machine, Hal Jordan's fate was something truly world shattering in the community. He had become a major character who had a large fan base. Without the internet really available, the outrage of this decision wasn't as widely vocalized as it probably should have been, but people were still pissed. As a kid, I wasn't plugged into the great fan base network, but I didn't have to be to know it was a major shift in the landscape of things. This wasn't a major death or crossover event, this was DC sacrificing Hal Jordan to the comic gods in order to pivot the creative direction of their entire universe. (see Zero Hour)
But personally, Hal's fall from grace fell flat with me. I had only been reading comics for a little less than 2 years and Green Lantern wasn't a title I was super into. I had no emotional investment in him at the time, and I think that's what DC was banking on. The drama it caused lured me in and I jumped onboard with issue #51. It didn't blow my hair back, but the drama that Hal Jordan caused was just too juicy. He would eventually go on to become THE villain of the 90's. Not Bane. Not Doomsday. Hal F'ing Jordan. Parallax was a bad bad man. About 2 years later I started my quest to complete a Silver Age run of The Flash, and I'm proud to say that before I graduated High School I obtained issues 105 - 350. But early on in that quest I discovered the relationship between Hal and Barry and I soon found myself diving deep into Green Lantern, and by the time the Final Night event occurred, I was on the Hal Jordan train and I was happy they let him sacrifice himself for the greater good in the end... Of course that wasn't his real end, but in that era I had no idea they'd bring him back so soon.
In a lot of ways I think I should thank Ron Marz, Bill Willingham, and the powers that ran DC for sparking that life lesson in humility, but to be honest Mike's little talk with me was coming down the pipeline one way or another. In retrospect I now understand that part of the outrage with Hal's turn was due to the fact of how sudden it was and the feeling that it was rushed. Hal went from Hero to Zero in the span of about 30 pages, and after 3 simple comics he was a full on Super Villain and people just weren't ready for that. The story itself is written well and I still reread it once a year or so, but now that I'm older and more seasoned, I can see where the outrage was coming from.
Well, I guess that's it for now. Next time I think I'll be writing about minor characters that I wish had been nurtured more or given greater opportunities. The one that comes to mind the most is Jake "Bobo" Benetti from James Robinson's Starman. I loved that guy and would love to see him in a mini series... I'm also partial to the mutant Maggot because I'm a 90's kid, so don't judge! But I might also explore a robbery that occurred at Mike's shop when I was in my 20's. An Amazing Fantasy #15, Amazing Spiderman #1, Action Comics #242, and a handful of golden age Batman books along with 20 others were stolen and presumably buried... Treasure hunt anyone?
Till next time!!!
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