Warning: contains major spoilers for Green Arrow 80th Anniversary Spectacular #1!
DC isn't letting it go. Green Arrow 80th Anniversary Spectacular #1 features a story in which Green Arrow faces Hal in a fight - and brings up the past. Even though Hal is a hero again, his dark past will likely always loom over him, because his friends haven't forgotten about it.
In 1994, Hal Jordan, one of the greatest Green Lanterns, found himself in a situation where he wanted to do the wrong thing, for very good reasons, within the controversial storyline, Emerald Twilight. After the decimation of Coast City, Hal faced such immense grief that he turned against the Green Lantern Corps in the hopes of bringing the city - and all its inhabitants - back. He became Parallax and became so powerful and blinded by loss that he actually killed his longtime ally and friend Kilowog. Though he would eventually be absolved of all guilt and return as a hero, this is still one of his darkest moments - and even though he's generally been forgiven, it hasn't been forgotten.
Created by Phil Hester, Ande Parks, Trish Mulvihill, and Clem Robins for Hal Jordan about his time as Parallax.
While locked in battle with a fake representation of his friend, Ollie doesn't pull any punches. He calls Hal's ability to be a hero into question. He has a few good points too. Green Arrow spends a lot of his time on the ground, right in the action. He protects his city from the ground floor. Meanwhile, Green Lantern's jurisdiction is much broader, frequently causing him to be off-world. There's no question that both are some of DC's best heroes, but Green Lantern's Earth side efforts can definitely be questioned when compared to heroes who are pretty much always on Earth. As though this wasn't enough, Green Arrow also calls out when Hal was evil, claiming that he goes "both ways", due to his time as Parallax.
Since this isn't actually Hal, the retaliatory efforts against Green Arrow definitely aren't at optimal levels. Emerald Twilight is Hal's darkest moment as a Lantern and having it brought up so casually certainly wouldn't be welcome - no matter how removed it is. Nonetheless, Oliver was one of the Justice League who was brought in to fight Hal when he was Parallax. If anyone can offer criticism, Ollie has certainly earned the right. Regardless of if his foe is real or not, this moment really exemplifies the relationship that Green Lantern and Green Arrow have. As friends they typically have each other's back, but they aren't beyond taking personal jabs at each other. Had this really been Hal, he likely would have had just as biting a retort to throw back. As it is, Green Lantern's time as a villain has not been forgotten by his fellow DC heroes and it likely won't be forgotten anytime soon.
