“I’ve had a tattoo of the Kanji characters for “determination” on my chest since I was a teenager. [Green Lantern Hal Jordan’s] willpower and resulting stubbornness ring true to me (no pun intended).”
-Josh Keaton (Hal Jordan)

by Dylan Burke, Reporter

Bruce Timm’s animation dawns a new look with the premiere of his newest animated series, starring Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern. This new series is set to premiere November 11th on Cartoon Network, before taking a break and returning in the spring.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series centers itself around Hal Jordan (Josh Keaton – Spectacular Spider-Man, Transformers Prime), who is obviously very comfortable in the role of being a Green Lantern. He is later joined by Kilowog (Kevin Michael Richardson – Young Justice, Thundercats), as they both end up searching the very edges of space for their missing comrades. They are also searching for a new enemy: The Red Lanterns, who are killing off Green Lanterns for some type of evil revenge scheme they have concocted. Of course, this all snowballs into some pretty awesome fights, and a very interesting and compelling story.

When I sat in the audience at New York Comic Con waiting for the show to start, I had my doubts about the animation choice since I was so fond of the hand drawn animation of Bruce Timm’s previous work. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout of the show, and very excited to see what the rest of Green Lantern: The Animated Series had in store.

Unlike many heroes with new series, Hal doesn’t get the ‘origins’ treatment for the pilot episode of Green Lantern: The Animated Series. It was Timm’s choice to not start the show off with the origin story of how Hal came to be the green clad hero, since the movie had only recently debuted on the big screen this summer, and pretty much covered Hal’s origin. As for the main villains, it also strays away from the obvious when it comes to the enemies of the Green Lantern Corps. Timm decided to back away from the fear-wielding Yellow Lanterns, and instead, chose to use the wrathful Red Lanterns as the show’s initial antagonists. Of course, they had to make the Red Lanterns more kid friendly to be fit for television, since their habit in the comic series of vomiting blood is probably not the most appropriate thing for all ages programming.

However, Timm does not dumb down the material for children, or take the spirit of the characters out of turn. Green Lantern: The Animated Series is actually a very refreshing take on the characters as a whole, and it’s very exciting thinking about how these characters will grow throughout the show (especially Hal, who has a nasty reputation for becoming ‘boring’). I’m sure the rest of the audience at the NYCC panel agree that there is a lot of promise in this new series.

“I also like how self assured he is. He runs on instinct and doesn’t censor himself with minutiae. I get in my head and am my own worst enemy at times. I respect that Hal just does it, although he can be his own worst enemy at times as well. I suppose I’d just like to be more badass in my everyday life.”
-Josh Keaton (Hal Jordan)

ComicsOnline gives the debut episode of Green Lantern: The Animated Series 5 out of 5 power batteries.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series debuts the evening of 11/11/11 on Cartoon Network. Check your local listings for showtimes, or just buy it on iTunes!

Keep recharging your power rings at ComicsOnline.com for more Green Lantern reviews, more Josh Keaton interviews, and everything geek pop culture!