How Hal Jordan Actually Dies in the Green Lantern Comics

The death of Hal Jordan has become a major talking point again now that HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ has put the character back in front of a mainstream audience. Viewers who only know Hal Jordan from the show are discovering that his comic book history includes far more tragedy, and far more redemption, than a single television episode could capture.

Longtime readers of ‘Green Lantern’ already know that Hal Jordan has died before, and that his death is tied to one of the most controversial arcs in DC Comics history. Beyond dying, Hal also turned evil, destroyed the Green Lantern Corps, saved the world and became a vengeful ghost across a decade spanning saga. Understanding that history helps explain why his fictional death carries so much weight among fans.

Emerald Twilight and Hal’s Fall to Parallax

The chain of events that leads to Hal Jordan’s death begins with tragedy in his hometown. After Superman was killed by Doomsday in the early nineties, the villainous Cyborg Superman teamed up with Mongul to destroy Coast City, the home of Green Lantern Hal Jordan. That loss sends Hal into a spiral that reshapes the character for years to come.

Writer Ron Marz then kicked off the story known as ‘Emerald Twilight’, a three issue arc in which Hal attempts to use his ring to recreate Coast City and everyone in it, including his own father who died when Hal was a child. That arc ran through ‘Green Lantern’ volume three, issues 48 through 50, in early 1994. The Guardians of the Universe refuse to allow him to bend reality that way, and their refusal pushes Hal further into despair.

During the resulting battle on Oa, Hal Jordan kills Sinestro along with his fellow Green Lantern Kilowog, unintentionally striking Kilowog down with a burst of energy while consumed by grief. Later stories complicate that moment further. Subsequent issues reveal that the version of Sinestro who died in that fight was actually an illusion created by Parallax to help break Hal’s will, even though it was originally presented as their final duel.

The Guardians, realizing their cause was lost, gave the last of their energy to the Guardian Ganthet before dying themselves, and Hal absorbed all the power stored in the Central Power Battery, emerging with a new costume and a new identity. That identity is Parallax, and it turns Hal from hero to villain for the story that follows.

Hal Jordan’s Death in Final Night

Hal’s time as Parallax does not end with a redemption arc right away. Left badly weakened after trying to save Coast City and rewrite his own history, Hal is finally stopped when his friend Green Arrow is forced to shoot him in the chest. That confrontation sets up his eventual path back toward heroism.

Many fans did not embrace the change to Hal’s character in ‘Emerald Twilight’, particularly when Parallax attempted to alter the DC timeline during the 1994 event ‘Zero Hour’. After being defeated by the Justice League and other heroes, Hal begins to recognize the damage he has caused.

In the 1996 event series ‘Final Night’, Hal Jordan sacrifices his life to reignite a sun that had gone dark, an act that leaves Earth facing a deep freeze without his intervention. That death occurred in the miniseries ‘Final Night’, with ‘Green Lantern’ volume three issue 81 later serving as a funeral issue for the character. His role as Green Lantern of Earth then passes fully to the rookie Lantern Kyle Rayner, who becomes the only Green Lantern left in the universe, and Hal Jordan dies a hero’s death saving the entire world.

The Spectre Era and Hal’s Return

Death does not end Hal’s story in the comics. He is resurrected as the spectral Spirit of Vengeance, taking on the mantle of the Spectre for a run of stories that follow his death, though it proves to be an unsatisfying fit and fans largely were not pleased with the arrangement. As atonement for his crimes, the soul of Hal Jordan takes on that new role beginning in 1999.

The character eventually gets a more complete return to form. ‘Green Lantern Rebirth’, the miniseries by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, reveals that Parallax was actually a separate fear entity that had infected Hal rather than simply being an identity he chose for himself. That retcon allows Hal to separate his soul from both the Spectre and Parallax, reuniting him with his own identity as a hero.

As longtime DC fans know, Hal has beaten death before in the comics, with arcs like ‘Rebirth’ standing as a well known example of a character resurrection. That precedent is a big part of why comic readers do not treat any single Hal Jordan death as necessarily permanent.

Why Lanterns Draws From Hal Jordan’s Comic Book Death

The connection between the comics and the new HBO series is hard to miss. In the show, Kerry and John find Hal half covered in snow, with a bullet wound and no ring on his finger, ending the premiere on a stark image of his death. The first episode closes on a time jump revealing that Hal Jordan, Earth’s first Green Lantern, is dead, a surprising turn for a series still finding its footing but one with plenty of precedent in the comics.

The creative team behind the adaptation has spoken about that choice. The show’s creative team includes Damon Lindelof of ‘Lost’ and HBO’s ‘Watchmen’, comic writer Tom King, and showrunner Chris Mundy of Netflix’s ‘Ozark’, and the trio has said the pilot’s cliffhanger reflects that the series is ultimately John Stewart’s show. Lindelof pointed to the film ‘Ghost’ as an example of how a story can still explore a character deeply even after that character has died early on.

Whether the show will follow the comics toward some form of return remains an open question. Hal Jordan being dead in 2026 does not mean Kyle Chandler is finished with the season, since much of it is expected to unfold during 2016 and the years that followed. Hal dying and finding a way back from the afterlife is fully in line with the comics, so his death on ‘Lanterns’ may not be the last audiences see of him in the present day DCU timeline.

Given how many times Hal Jordan has died and returned on the page, how do you think ‘Lanterns’ should handle his fate on screen, and would you want to see his own version of a comic book style resurrection play out in the DCU.