The Green Lantern: Hal Jordan Might Be Turning Evil... Again

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Green Lantern #3 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp, on sale now.

At the core of Green Lantern is the idea that mankind -- and all sentient life -- can form order out of the chaos that is the universe. That there can be laws and regulation, even a fundamental concept of right and wrong, despite all the terrible things that happen to innocent people. The problem, of course, comes when you realize that the members of the Green Lantern Corps are still just as fallible as those they try to put away.

The Green Lanterns have always been depicted as a peacekeeping force, but in Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp's The Green Lantern, they are now space cops. There is protocol to follow and decorum to keep in mind, but everything goes wrong in Issue #3, when Hal Jordan straight up murders a criminal.

A Man Can Only Take So Much

Sometimes even the most experienced and skilled veterans see more than they can handle. After witnessing horrific acts across the universe, and even withstanding his own time as a maniacal space tyrant, it's hard to believe that anything could ever be too much for Hal Jordan. Still, it would seem that even one of the most decorated Green Lanterns of all time has his breaking point.

Earth has been shrunk and stolen to be sold at a black market auction to the worst villains in the cosmos. Despite the response from the Green Lantern Corps, the planet is still awarded to the godlike being known as the Shepard. Though Jordan attempts to save his home planet, this entity is able to influence the people of Earth into being comfortable with their fate.

Witnessing humanity's willingness to become food for a cosmic carnivore proves to be too much for Hal to bear. He forcefully takes the planet under his protection and returns to salve trader Vulgar Zo all sorts of pissed off. Unfortunately, there are far more disturbing activities still to be discovered by this very angry and very human police officer to the stars.

Apparently, the fuel used to power the slaver's ship is also incredibly toxic to those held captive on it. Hal returns to find that children have been poisoned with lethal doses of toxic radiation. These slaves have been mutated and are destined to die despite the Green Lanterns arriving to save them.

NEXT PAGE: Hal Jordan is Dangerously Close to His Parallax Days

Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

What would you do in this circumstance? After seemingly saving the day and stopping someone who cannot possibly value innocent life, you're too late. Not only that, but the offender also offers you a weak excuse as to why these people had to die for his own financial game. Vulgar Zo gives some explanation about there only being prey and predators in the universe, and it is the custom of his people to find ways to benefit off those who are weak.

How many travesties can one man witness? How long can a human being see the very worst that life has to offer before finally snapping and doing something about it? We have seen this story play out before. Jor-El turned against humanity over in Action Comics because he experienced the very worst that people had to offer. The entire mission of the Punisher is based around one man finally having enough. Now it seems it's Hal Jordan's turn.

After hearing what Vulgar Zo had to say about what he had done, Jordan did what he though in that moment to be just and right. He didn't arrest him, or read him his rights, or do anything an officer of the law should do. Hal Jordan murdered this villain in cold blood, right in front of his fellow Green Lanterns. Then, he lied about it and said he had attacked in self defense.

What is Next for Hal Jordan?

An officer of the law has now committed an act of murder, and every sense of justice demands that he pay for his crimes. After all, the Green Lantern comics just dealt with a similar situation, where ex-Green Lantern Tomar-Tu led the Darkstars on a crusade to kill every criminal in the universe and finally make the universe a safer place. Jordan condemned that method then, so if everything is as it appears to be, expect resistance to it now.

But what does it mean for a superhero to turn his back on justice and know only revenge? Punisher is an unhinged murderer, but at the end of the day, he does what the heroes of the Marvel Universe are incapable of doing -- making the world a safer place. Killing may not be the answer, but a permanent solution to the evils of man can be a satisfying alternative. After all, who out there doesn't think Batman should just kill the Joker at this point?

The problem with heroes taking the law into their own hands is a complex one. What ends up happening to the person underneath the mask when they take a life? When you kill one, it's easier to kill another, and another. It's the reason Batman still hasn't done what needs doing, because then you become the Punisher. Even if it makes you a monster, does it mean your methods aren't worth the results?

What makes this a different case for Hal Jordan is his history as a villain. We have seen him lose faith in his mission before and turn into the mass-murdering Parallax as a result. At the end of the day, he still wanted to save the world then too, but his methods had turned him into a monster. If Hal is going down that road again, how can the Green Lantern Corps hope to stop him? How can he hope to stop himself? If he's willing to murder one slave trader, where will he fall to next?