White Lantern Hal Jordan

The New York Comic Convention has had a sort of meteoric rise to becoming the second-biggest comic con (i.e. Nerd/Pop Culture con) in the country over just a few short years. It's second only to the world-famous San Diego Comic Con, and has flourished for much the same reason: proximity to high profile companies. The good news is that attendance is strong enough that several companies have taken to offering exclusives figures to attendees. 2010 saw an especially high number and in some regards the centerpiece was DC Direct & Graphitti Designs' offering of White Lantern Hal Jordan. The figure follows in the footsteps of SDCC 2010's Black Lantern Hal and White Lantern Sinestro and, of course, the infamous Rainbow Hal nightmare of SDCC 2009. Green Lantern Hal Jordan was forced to confront the full scope of the emotional spectrum throughout the trials of the Blackest Night, culminating in an encounter with the ultimate force of life, the White Lantern entity. Although Sinestro was the first to serve as the entity's host, his hubris and ego proved him unworthy. As Nekron was poised to achieve his ultimate goal - destroying all life through the entity - Hal's will to live drew the power to him. Emerging as the White Lantern, he formed a Corps with the resurrected Black Lantern heroes. Ultimately, the power of life defeated the Lord of the Undead by returning his earthly agent, Black Hand, to life and setting off the chain of events known as the Brightest Day. White Hal keeps that dream alive first and foremost by following the packaging style. It's a book-esque thin cardboard card than wraps around the bubble. The exteriors follows the patten of the SDCC 2010 figures by having the figure on the cover, Rainbow Hals in the background, on the spine, and overlaying over the Black Hal and White Sinestro figures from earlier the same year - as they were a series, even though White Hal was announced after the other two were no longer available. The interior also features series of the Blackest Night toyline not yet featured in the other packages. While this figures uses metallic colored paints (unlike Black Hal), it uses a totally different body than all those that preceded. As a result he definitely does not fit with the other Hals sculpturally, but it's not so bad as his brightness also makes him stick out like a sore thumb. Conversely, however, he will fit in with the White Lanterns particularly well because he uses the brand new Hal Jordan body from Blackest Night Series 6. Actually, he is nothing more than a repaint of that figure - a pre-paint, in reality, since he came out months before the Green Lantern iteration. This Hal has a more stylized body than the other Hals. His musculature and detailing is more pronounced and angular. I like the style, but I'm not sold on how well it fits in with the rest of the line. Hal also looks much younger than he has in perhaps ever. This figure is certainly mid-20. Hal needs to be at least mid-30s, and I'd even prefer a bit older. It's not like DCD has a shortage of Green Lantern Hal Jordan figures, so if you're not crazy about the look you don't need the GL version, and can simply assume the WL version is youth-ified by the power of Life, the "emotion" of the White Lanterns. One thing this figure has over all previous Hals, though, is articulation - he has 15 points to be exact. Balljointed head, balljointed shoulders, swivel above the bicep, hinged elbows, swivel forearms, T-crotch, hinged knees and swivel calves. Not stellar but quite remarkable for the notoriously limited DC Direct. The swivel biceps are hugely appreciated improvements to the figure and it's no doubt that they've been added to many figures following their introduction. As mentioned, the paint has a metallic sheen to it, or at least the silver does. The white is a more pearlescent quality. The colors match the White Lantern Sinestro and they do indeed make a nice pair. The apps are well done and are pretty clean, so nothing really to complain or comment on there. Just more work from the fine folks at DC Direct. They've always gotten a lot of heat for their high prices (which ironically are now cheaper than Mattel's DC Universe Classics in some areas) but it's never really bothered me that much. One the whole, you get a higher quality of sculpt and paint with DCD and that justifies the extra cost for. Much like his brothers last year, White Hal gets only two accessories - a clear stand with the White Lantern logo painted on it and a one-size-fits-all White Lantern Ring. I get that the White Lanterns don't really have Lanterns, but the lack of that accessory is definitely felt and it is missed. If DC Direct will produce a light version in resin then they should also include one with the figures. Unlike the previous DCD/Graphitti exclusive figure team-ups, White Hal was actually fairly easy to get. At first it looked like we were wholly screwed on this guy, but after the show Graphitti did the unthinkable and put a substantial amount up on their website! I was able to easily order myself two, thinking I would need one for my Rainbow Hal display and my White Lantern display, but boy was I wrong. All in all this is another very welcome addition to my DC Direct Green Lantern/Blackest Night collection, and a fairly significant one considering it's Hal in the costume of the saviors. -- 07/29/11

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