Changes to the original concept

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

S-L, they don't really bother me THAT much, although they do make me want to roll my eyes more often than I should have to. I'm not trying to be a jerk to the people who like them. They're entitled to. I hate it when someone tells me that something I like sucks. But as usual, what i'm talking about is new sales. I think they chase some new people away. Comics fandom shouldn't be the exclusive club that many habitues of CBR want to make it. That's a poor business model. You need to bring in new customers, especially in a mature industry like this one.

Don't put anything in your product that you have even a small issue with, because potential new customers will have a bigger issue with it than you do. It's like armpit odor. Buy the time you smell your own, other people have already smelled it.

And yes, the constructs are a bigger problem in the films, where I think they chase even more people away. Not to mention wreck the budget. I think they make a Green Lantern television show impossible to produce, and television might be where Green Lantern belongs.

Alan can keep the Starheart ring and the constructs. I'm OK with that. It'll set him off as different and won't do any harm in that setting. I had always wanted him to join the Corps, but DC's bringing in Baz and Cruz has made me start to favor a permanent ban on new Earth Lanterns. I wouldn't mind Jay having some unusual speed powers either, because there are too many Speed Force Flashes now.

Yes, I like the finite charge that runs out eventually, and the recharging with the oath.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

I don't see why willpower being a factor in how well somebody can operate their ring is a problem. In any profession there will always be people who are better or worse at their jobs (or certain parts of their jobs) based on their personal attributes and skillset. Most soldiers carry guns, but they aren't all equally effective with them.

The rings are controlled mentally (unless you want to change that to require verbal commands), so it actually makes some sense that a stronger will could control them better, more effectively. Sure, I'd go along with the Guardians taking the precaution of making rings only work for the person they are assigned to, but that doesn't mean the Guardians can necessarily make them work equally well for all of them, any more than the Army can make guns in such a way that all soldiers are equally effective with them. If the rings are controlled mentally, then greater mental strength would logically allow one to use them more effectively, I'd think.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

^I only read the bits that crossed over with GL, but you're making me want to check out the main book. Did they ever collect Darkstars in trade?

If you manage to get the entire series, make sure to get the Last Stand of the Darkstars that happened in GL when John's back was broken. Their next big appearance was around Infinite Crisis where they got the exo-suits I posted above, I think in one of those Rann/Thanagar tie in books like Mystery in Space where they became the puppets of Lady Styx.

On the subject of exo-suits *not working*, I think Trey had his back to Superman comics in the 90's too cause Steel's series lasted 53 issues, and around Infinite Crisis he was one of the stars of the weekly 52 series as well.

With DC it all falls down to execution. I think a lot of times the slightest things could make certain titles infinitely better. Mr. Terrific's new52 book for example, I think it would've been a thousand times better with a different artist. It kinda reminded me of the more cartoony days of Todd McFarland and that just wasn't what Holt needed. Hawk & Dove should've been by a team like David and Meredith Finch. And Static should've been introduced into the DCU as he was in high school, and not flying on some weird new tech and working for STAR Labs.

Sometimes books don't need dramatic overhauls. They just need the right talent working on them for the right reasons.

~//V\\~

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

No, they didn't. Coincidentally, I'm currently selling my entire The Darkstars collection. I have the entire run, all bagged and boarded, and in perfect condition. It's not an easy series to find complete like this, so it doesn't get any better if than this if you're looking to collect this series.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/112295893506...84.m1555.l2649...

That's actually really tempting and I'd probably have done it if I wasn't currently trying to pay off a credit card bill and keep charges to a minimum.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

The property really needs a rebirth -- not a reboot in the sense that you're going to trust someone to come in, completely redo everything and create something better. Nobody will be able to do that. I guarantee that would make it worse.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

You could say that rings work through will power. But why say that this guy's ring works "better" someone else's because he's got "more willpower?' What would be the point of designing rings poorly enough that they'd work that way?

If you're the Guardians, you'd design them to work optimally for every being you give one to. You'd want every Lantern to be able to do his or her job, because the job is dangerous. Nobody should have an edge over anyone else based on his ring's performance.

Like, "My computer will reach web sites that are farther away than yours will because I've got more willpower than you do." That doesn't mean you're cool. It means these computers have shitty engineering.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

^I don't mind there being a correlation like if you became really scared and doubtful it wouldn't work as well, but the mere idea that willpower is so quantifiable that the ring could say the percentage they're using is ridiculous.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

^I don't mind there being a correlation like if you became really scared and doubtful it wouldn't work as well, but the mere idea that willpower is so quantifiable that the ring could say the percentage they're using is ridiculous.

The energy that runs the ring is in the ting. It's not in your brain. Your thoughts would activate the ring, but not power it.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

I personally like the idea that more will means more power. All that really says is that if a GL "tries harder" then they can do their job better. That isn't all that unreasonable, to my mind.

Frankly I think it is absurd to insist that everybody should be able to use their tools equally well. That isn't true in the real world. All cops aren't equally good with a gun. Even with the computer example, you could give two people exactly the same computer and one of them will most likely be able to use it more effectively than the other. The technology may have the same CAPABILITIES no matter who is using it, but that doesn't mean everybody should automatically be just as effective at using those capabilities to their fullest.

GL rings are largely controlled with your MIND. They are an extension of the individual to a greater degree than any technology that I can think of in the real world, and so it seems only REASONABLE to me that people's ability to use them would not be equal, since people's abilities, mental and otherwise, aren't all equal.

The Guardians pick people with the strengths that will allow them to use the ring sufficiently well to be effective, but it stands to reason that they wouldn't all be EQUALLY effective. We're not talking about some of the GLs being unable to access some of the ring's functions, just that not all GLs can use all those functions equally well, though all must demonstrate that they can use them to whatever minimum degree the Guardians designate, or they are dropped from the Corps.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

The energy that runs the ring is in the ting. It's not in your brain. Your thoughts would activate the ring, but not power it.

The energy comes from the ring, yes, but your thoughts don't just ACTIVATE it, they CONTROL it. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me that it would take more mental effort to effectively control a huge amount of power than a small amount, just like it takes more muscular effort to control a fire hose than a garden hose. Say the ring is designed with a safety feature that will not allow you to draw more power at once than you can control.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Now that you mention it, that DOES sound like the subliminally communist version of the Green Lantern concept. Add to that Spy's desire to see all the human GLs on equal footing with no kind of advantage over the other, implied or otherwise.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Creating a hierarchy of Lanterns based on "how much willpower they've got" or "how much fear they've overcome" is dismal. It's that way only because a writer tells me it's that way.

If you're a writer, don't tell me what I should think about your characters. Just show me what the motherfuckers do, and I'll decide what I think about them.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

It took everything Ollie Queen had during the original GL Rebirth to make a single arrow construct. There are different degrees of willpower. Kyle can make giant mecha suits and battle mechs like it's nothing because his will is that great. Guy does better commanding smaller amounts of power to make him more effective in melee combat situations.

I think if they're gonna use all four of the Earth Lanterns in the GLC film, if Hal is partnering with John in the beginning... the likely situation is they'll both go MIA and Guy and Kyle will get drafted at the same time. They've never mentioned Guy though for the film, just Kyle.

~//V\\~

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

It took everything Ollie Queen had during the original GL Rebirth to make a single arrow construct.

I could actually do without THAT level of willpower gradient. The notion that to get the ring to do ANYTHING required a huge effort of will contradicts so much of GL history. The idea that every use of the ring is the equivalent of passing a kidney stone makes the casual use we've seen over the years absurd. Is Guy really that much of a masochist that he'd use the ring to create a French Maid construct to bring him a beer, if using the ring at all was that painful? I don't think so.

I prefer the notion that anybody can use the ring to SOME degree, but that if your will is weak, then a shield you make isn't going to be very effective, even though it will still appear, and your ring-generated bullets might break a window, but aren't going to go through a brick wall. Also, I liked that trained GLs, with their strong wills, could control the ring from a distance, with extra effort, even overpowering the control of somebody of weaker will who was wearing it. Like I said, I think will should make a DIFFERENCE in how effectively you use the ring, but I don't think it should keep you from using it at all, except to the extent that you shouldn't be able to use it if your will is completely absent.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

Ollie had already been blown up and beat the hell out of in that story. Makes since if he didn't have much fight in him that the ring took the rest out of him.

~//V\\~