So I have to ask...

So I have to ask, what was it like to be a Superman and/or Green Lantern fan when Death of Superman and Emerald Twilight happened ?

I was only a kid when these happened, mostly watching Lios and Clark and reading old trades that were actually translated into Polish at the time and only heard that one of the guys I was reading about died and the other went mad. Obviously as a kid I went "cool!".

Now I guess it's not that much from the constant game-changers writers try to pull we get these days, but as it was something that happened when I was a kid I can't help to see those two events as something ground shaking and magical, not knowing it will retconned or changed back sooner or later at the time. If anybody got any stories of their impressions from that time I would love to hear them.

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>Esmerald Twilight must have been way worse.

I think worst than killing your fav hero is to turn him into a crazy-shit villain and murderer for no good reason. And then killing him.

At least he went out as a hero. Look at what happened to Superman in Injustice 2.

Were people as mad about Hal becoming Parallax then as they are with Cap turning Hydra now?

Yes. Ever heard of HEAT?

Well, injustice is a different timeline so you are kind of allowed to do shit with it. If superman got villaned in the main timeline people would get crazy mad.

Pluuuus Hal murdered his lantern corp friends and walked away like nothing happened. And that parallax mindcontrol bulshit? I dont buy that.

Most people who were reading ongoings at the time enjoyed it. It was different and it felt like real stuff was happening, which it was. I like most of DC from that era. They took the grimdark 90s fad without over doing it like Marvel and Image were.

More

it probably could have worked if they stretched it out instead of doing it in 3 issues.

>Hal looked a decade older when he died than when he came back
Did they ever bother to explain why he's no longer a silver fox during Johns' run? N52 at least can argue everyone's younger there.

>Did they ever bother to explain why he's no longer a silver fox during Johns' run?
It was premature graying caused by fear bug. That is literally the explanation.

I remember rooting for Hal during Twilight. I mean, it was not cool that he was killing all lanterns (as a Kid, I thought he was only knocking them out), but all he wanted was a bit of power to bring back Coast City. Selfish guardians wouldn't let him, even though he was the best GL out there, and had saved their asses countless times.

Also that scene with his construct father made me really sad. Can't find the pic.

Found it!

That's when I got into DC Comic at the time. Basically, it was like this.
> Death of Superman
HOLY SHIT! Just twist after twist. The fact that Cyborg Superman had Mongul destroy Coast City. GEEZ!

Then I used the time period to buy some past GL issues. I found Hal boring as fuck. Guy and John were better more interesting GLs. So basically, when it came to Emerald Twilight I didn't much care that writers turned Hal into this villain. Instead, I found his heel turn more relatable and found the character more exciting.

I mean here you had these blue pricks refuse to restore the injustice that had happened to his city. So what happened made sense. Likewise, the epic fight that happened.

Then when Hal became Parallax. I was like, "Cool." I wanted to see were the story went next. Instead, I got Kyle. At first I was pissed but then I grew to like the damn GL. So when Kyle met Hal. Damn was that fun as fuck.

I just wish Hal's heel turn lasted longer. Hal as Parallax was the best thing to ever happen to him.

While I wasn't a contemporary reader, I feel like Hal had one of the better "hero goes insane" arcs. It showcased the Guardians' flaws well and it never felt like Hal became an evil caricature like Injustice Superman. He was also pretty sympathetic in his attempt to "fix" the universe.

Honestly, while Emerald Twilight is so obviously a hack rushjob (and this is coming from a Kylefag), I did like Death and Return of Superman a lot at the time, and even now. I like to separate it by stages though, because I don't feel like it's fair to judge the story all at once, since all the different parts are so different:

>Death
Just a dumb slugfest, and probably the weakest part of the story. There are some genuinely great parts, like when Clark has to choose between saving a family in a burning house or try and stop Doomsday once and for all.

>Funeral for a Friend
Fucking GOAT, this part right here is fan-fucking-tastic. Excellent character work by everyone involved, and seeing how much Superman impacted the world was donde wonderfully. This part is even better if you're well read with Superman comics from this era ('85-'92).

>Reign of the Supermen
Pretty hype stuff, and every "Superman" has a rather interesting story to follow. Superboy/Adventures is probably the strongest of the bunch, but I do like the rest.

>Return
This one's kinda dumb, and it's a shame the story finished as kind of a wet fart, but I'm sure it was a lot more interesting back then when you didn't know what was going to happen other than Superman coming back.

He wasn't bringing back Coast City, only a facsimile. GLs can't resurrect the dead.

huh somewhat relevant

youtube.com/watch?v=0PlwDbSYicM

It was actually pretty cool.
Nowadays storylines are so drawn out and BIG CHANGES happen so regularly that you kids are immunized to it, rather akin to getting beaten over and over again until you develop calluses and an immunity to pain.

Some newer readers STILL think "HYDRA Cap" actually matters and will last forever for example, not having the knowledge that older readers do of how temporary things are in modern comics by comparison due to a change in writing formats and a sheer desperation to make sales happen.

The outrage over Hal going crazy makes Hydra cap look like a fucking baby, that was fucking crazy

I think more relevant is that they killed Bucky again

it was kind of a big deal when they brought him back the first time, and Marvel is keeping some of their mainstays dead, like Professor X, so who knows where that's going. War machine and Tony aren't coming back for at least a few years, especially since there are already 3 Iron Persons (4 if Pepper keeps up being Rescue in Invinicble)

So it might very well be that regular Cap will be dead and Zola's son or whatever the new guy's deal is will be the new Cap. idk what to make of this so far

Daily reminder that Azzbats was one giant ruse that O'Neil did to show the readers how much of a bad idea a edgy batman is

It was a weak strawman. We don't really know what an edgy comic book Batman would be like until someone makes an earnest effort.

When his body got resurrected he came back physically younger

the gray hair was premature graying due to Parallax related stress

>weak strawman
He was a 90s character personified, he was better and more violent than Bruce but he was also more mentally unstable to the point that he was dangerous to everyone

Precisely what I mean, they piled on him all these flaws and didn't bother actually making an honest exploration of what an "edgier" Batman would be like.

Next you'll be telling me Manchester Black and his Elite weren't strawmen of the Authority.

Doesn't the Death and return of Superman prove that booster it the ultimate G?

>is from the future
>knows who the fuck doomsday is
>knows he kills superman
>still tanks hits from him to protect the others
>gets fucking punched into god damn space.

He also christened it.

We already know what an earnest edgy comic book Batman's like. It's called The Dark Knight Returns. Sure, he doesn't kill anyone but that's only because comic book humans are insanely durable.

Personally, I think if Bruce ever did end up killing anyone (probably the Joker), one of three things would happen:
1) He'd snap like a twig. The guy's crazy to begin with. If he did kill someone, it'd probably be out of desperation and the realization of what he'd done would break him. He'd just go on killing all the villains until he either creates a dystopia or gets caught.
2) Become so traumatized and disgusted by his actions that he either turns himself in or tries to permanently hang up to cape. He'd probably see himself as a worthless criminal no better than the other degenerates and live in eternal shame and self-loathing.
3) Miller Time.

I like how The Nail did it, although that did include the death of Robin and Batgirl