APE IN A CAPE: A Question Of Character

APE IN A CAPE: A Question Of Character:

dangerous-ladies:

gailsimone:

My question is this…

…is there a comic book character who, for any reason or no good reason, you just plain don't like? One that others like perfectly fine, but whose appeal escapes you entirely?

No judgments, just wondering. Every time I say I'm not a huge fan of a certain character, as a…

Hal Jordan and Barry Allen.

Everything I have read with either of them, I have walked away thinking they are bland at best and insufferable, annoying douchebags at worst. I hate ~reckless heroes~ with a passion when the entire universe seems weighed in their favour so that they never have to face any consequences for their actions until some necessary moment where some chick or something gets killed off to ~teach them a lesson~, which they inevitably don't really learn. And Barry? I still have no idea what his personality actually is, but the fact that the nDCU is basically his fault renders him irredeemable in my books. Nothing could possibly make me like him after seeing how selfish he is.

That doesn't even touch on how emblematic both are of the generic Silver Age Hero, and how both were unnecessarily brought back, replacing much more interesting characters in the process, all for the sake of nostalgia. Blech.

But whenever I express this dislike of these characters outside of the Tumblr crowd, their fans seem to get all surprised, but when I ask them what is unique or quirky or special about either of them, I can never get a straight answer.

Seriously, can SOMEONE out there explain to me why Hal Jordan is the greatest Green Lantern of all time? The ongoing narrative in the DCU and the way fans and creators talk about him always suggested to me that he's supposed to be, but I haven't read a single thing to support that. 

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I will probably be drummed out of comics, but I agree. I don't dislike Hal or Barry, but I absolutely adore Wally and Guy and John and Kyle. 

Hal and Barry were from a blander time.