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Hal Jordan quickly became one of the
best test pilots in America and came to work for Ferris Aircraft, based in Coast City,
California. Hal fell in love with Carol Ferris, the daughter of the owner of Ferris
Aircraft, and the two began an on-again off-again relationship. One day, while Hal was
testing a new experimental simulator, the simulator was ripped from its housing and
carried through the roof of the hangar. Brought out to the desert near the Sierra Madre
mountains, Hal discovered a crashed spaceship and its pilot. The alien, named Abin Sur,
was dying, and needed someone to pass along his title. Abin Sur was a Green Lantern, a
member of an elite peacekeeping force that kept order in the universe. Abin Sur gave Hal
Jordan his power ring, a ring which could do whatever its wearer willed it do and a
power lantern, which recharged the ring every 24 hours. Abin Sur had chosen Hal because he
was honest and born without fear. Though Hal was Abin's first choice, Abin had a back-up,
a gym teacher named Guy Gardner. Hal donned Abin's uniform and became the Green Lantern of
space sector 2814.
Deciding
to keep his identity secret, Hal buried Abin Sur and his spacecraft beneath a mountain and
fought crime as Green Lantern, using the following oath: "In brightest day, in
darkest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might beware my
power: Green Lantern's Light!."
When Hal returned, he found his love Carol Ferris
became head of Ferris Aircraft when her father Carl left for two years. Not wanting to
jeopardize her career, Carol decided to end the relationship between her and Hal, but over
the next few years would find herself in love with both Hal Jordan and Green Lantern, much
to Hal's chagrin.
Hal fought against such menaces as the Invisible
Destroyer, a creature from the Dulong Experiment Center, and saved the populace of Venus
from giant winged lizards. Hal soon learned of his mysterious employers, the Guardians of
the Universe. The Guardians of the Universe were small blue aliens of the planet Oa who
created the Green Lantern Corps to keep peace throughout their sectors. They revealed
their existence to Hal when they sent him to the planet Calor, his first assignment
outside of the Solar System.
It was near this time that an alien race called the
Appellaxians invaded Earth. Green Lantern detected an unusual asteroid approaching Africa
and when he arrived discovered a huge yellow bird. The alien bird was transforming other
creatures into duplicates of itself. Hal defeated the Appellaxian by freezing it in a
waterfall. Learning that another asteroid had landed on the Carolina coast, Hal headed
there, where he, and four other heroes, fell under sway of an Appellaxian composed of
wood. Hal, along with Aquaman, the Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman, defeated
the wood Appellaxian using teamwork. Yet another asteroid landed in Greenland, and the
five heroes rushed off. Teaming with Superman and Batman, the last Appellaxian was
defeated, and the seven heroes decided to permanently band together as the Justice League
of America.
Hal found out about another universe, an
anti-matter universe, when a hole opened between the two worlds in his hometown Coast
City. A strange being named Telle-Teg approached Hal and told him he knew of Hal's secret
identity. Telle-Teg then told Hal about the anti-matter universe of Qward, where the
rulers are criminals called the Weaponers and honest people are outlaws. Telle-Teg, an
honest Qwardian, escaped to the positive-matter universe for help, but was followed by the
Weaponers. Together, Telle-Teg and Green Lantern defeated the Weaponers, but they would
become longtime enemies of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern Corps, and the Guardians of the
Universe.
Hal Jordan soon found a buddy in an Eskimo named
Tom Kalmaku. When Tom, whom Jordan nicknamed "Pieface," approached Hal for help
in finding a lost treasure, Green Lantern came to Pieface's aid. Tom, a mechanic for
Ferris Aircraft, soon deduced that his friend Hal was indeed Green Lantern, and he became
Hal's trusted friend, often helping Hal defeat villains and maintaining his secret
identity of Green Lantern. During this time, Green Lantern went up against such villains
as the Puppet Master, Hector Hammond, and such League villains as Starro, Despero, and
Amazo. Hal also met a fellow Green Lantern, Tomar Re of neighboring space sector 2813, who
would be one of Hal's closest friends in the Corps.
Meanwhile, on the planet Korugar in space sector
1417, Green Lantern Sinestro had set himself up as absolute ruler of the planet. The
Guardians of the Universe had taken his ring and banished him to the anti-matter world of
Qward. To gain revenge upon the Guardians of the Universe and their Green Lantern Corps,
Sinestro joined forces with the Weaponers of Qward, who gave Sinestro a yellow power ring
to fight the Lanterns' green power ring. Sinestro returned to the positive-matter
universe, and confronted Earth's Green Lantern. Hal defeated the renegade Corpsman, but
gained a deadly adversary, one that he would repeatedly clash with over the years.
One of the few times that the Guardians of the
Universe called the entire 3600 Green Lantern Corps members to Oa occurred when Krona, the
renegade Guardian, once again threatened the universe. Krona, who was now dead, teamed up
with the dimensional entity Nekron (not to be confused with the alien Nekron) and returned
from the dead for revenge upon the Guardians. Hal Jordan and Tomar Re lead the other 3598
members of the Corps against Krona and his army of the dead, while the Guardians handled
Nekron's collapsing of the universe. Though the Corps lost a lot of their number in
battle, such as Stel of Grenda, the Corps defeated Krona. While the Guardians tried to
hold together the fabric of the universe, the Corps continued to battle the army of the
dead, and Hal Jordan entered the realm of the dead to attack Nekron directly. Aided by the
spirit of the deceased Abin Sur, Hal managed to close the portal between dimensions. When
the battle was over, the Guardians offered Hal a place amongst the Green Lantern Corps
Honor Guard, which consists of the best Green Lanterns assigned to guard Oa and the
Guardians. Hal declined, preferring to remain assigned to sector 2814.
After years of faithful service, Hal Jordan was
banished from Earth for a period of no less than one year by the Guardians for failing to
follow their orders., While in deep space, Hal faced menaces such as Evil Star, and fought
alongside The Omega Men. Following his exile, Hal resigned from The Corps, due to a
change in his faith in the Guardians' abilities to keep peace throughout the universe. Hal
returned to Ferris Aircraft, but soon returned to The Corps during The Crisis on Infinite
Earths. The Guardians, realizing that they might have fared better in The Crisis
had they
not been so rigidly against massing The Corps for battle against The Anti-Monitor, allowed
The Corps to choose their postings for the first time. Several Green Lanterns, including
John Stewart (Green Lantern IV), Arisia, Kilowog, Salaak, Chip, & Katma Tui chose to
base themselves on Earth, forming a Green Corps of their own, with as many as 11 Green
Lanterns based on Earth during one period. The Corps remained effective through the
Millennium crisis, guarding the next generation of Guardians from the Manhunters. The New
Guardians, birthed on Earth by a combining of Oan & Zamaron power, was the result of
this endeavor. During this time, Hal often opposed the Guardians decision to award a power
ring to Guy Gardner, whom Hal considered too brash to be worthy of the responsibilities
of
the green power. The Corps soon broke up following the destruction of the Central Power
Battery, leaving only the few Green Lanterns who were not currently in life threatening
situations intact. The Guardians returned from their retreat with the Zamarons to reform
the Corps, of which Hal remained an active member.
Hal soon spent a period as Earth's only Green
Lantern, and eventually returned to reform Justice League Europe, becoming it's leader.
Hal remained one of Earth's greatest heroes until the destruction of Coast City during the
invasion of Earth by the alien Mongul during & The Cyborg II. Hal pleaded with the
Guardians for the power needed to resurrect Coast City, but the Guardians refused. Hal
then decided to steal the power he needed, opposing and killing many of the Green Lanterns
dispatched to stop his approach to Oa, including Kilowog and Tomar Re. Hal prevailed
against them all, collecting their power rings to add to his own, vastly increasing his
power. Hal reached Oa and succeeded in draining the Central Power Battery, which drained
the life force of all of the guardians except Ganthet. Having finally gained the power he
needed to change history and restore Coast city, Hal renamed himself Parallax, and was
soon opposed by many of Earth's heroes, including Green Arrow, who had apparently stopped
Hal by shooting him through the chest with an arrow. Hal would return again during the
Final Night, when Earth's sun had been extinguished by a Sun-Eater, and died heroically
using his power as Parallax reigniting the sun.
Hal would resurface approximately a year and a half
later when the current Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern V) was cast through time
to Oa of 10 years past, aiding Hal in his first battle with Sinestro. When The Guardians
combined their powers to return Kyle to his present, Sinestro struck again, causing Hal to
be thrown through time along with Kyle. In our present, Hal soon learned of his fate as
Parallax and swore to take whatever steps were necessary to prevent those
events from
happening. Not fully trusting Hal with the knowledge of Coast City's demise, The JLA
decide to make him a member in order to keep a close watch on him. While returning to the
recent past from the future, Parallax sensed the chronal disruptions caused by Hal's
presence in our time, and sought to force Hal back into the past so his own timeline could
continue. Kyle eventually convinced both to return to their respective time periods
without any memory of future events so that the current timeline could be preserved, thus
Hal lost his knowledge of his own future and Parallax lost the knowledge that he would
fail to resurrect Coast City. During the recent
Judgment Day events, Hal was returned from Purgatory by several
magical\supernatural heroes in order to contain the power of The Spectre,
who then existed without the spirit of Jim Corrigan to control the actions
of The Spirit of Vengeance that resided as part of The Spectre. Besting
both Neron and Asmodel in the battle to control the power of The Spectre,
Hal first struggled to grasp humanity's worth, then caused the world to
forget his true identity. Having recently separated himself from the
Spirit of Vengeance, Hal is now in singular control of The Spectre's
power, often being drawn into the plots of beings seeking to control the
power of The Spectre, or of the Spirit of Vengeance, who is seeking to
re-merge with Hal.]
Notes:
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As a Green Lantern, Hal's power ring was
impervious to anything except materials colored yellow, due to necessary
impurity in the ring. Ring could create anything wearer imagined but had to
be recharged every 24 hours. After absorbing the energies of Oa's Central
Battery, Jordan became a being of nearly limitless power.
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Hal's Oath: "In brightest day, in
Blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's
might, beware my power Green Lantern's light!"
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Upon his death, Hal found himself consigned
to Purgatory, until offered one final opportunity to redeem himself. When
Asmodel usurped the power of the Spectre, Hal joined his fellow champions in
order to save all creation. Ultimately Hal allowed the Spirit of Wrath to
bond with his own soul and end the destructive conflict.
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