I'm looking at YOU, Kari Limbo!
Kari holds a unique position in the the story of Hal and Guy, the only woman to be engaged to TWO Green Lanterns...and yet, she never actually ended up married to either one of them. But she came close...oh so very very close.
Which, you must admit is a better track record than Carol, or Arisia, Veronna or even my sweet Tora. So obviously, she had SOMETHING compelling or attractive about her.
And yet...I simply can't STAND Kari Limbo...an opinion shared by quite a few.
It wasn't because she was so different from the average Super Hero Girl Friend. Instead of being a sassy reporter(Lois and Iris) an out and out psychotic (Jean Loring) or a competent businesswoman(Carol), she was a bit more exotic. A gypsy fortune-teller, no less, with raven black hair and an odd streak of blonde in the front. She had an acquiline nose and dark eyes, and wasn't the conventional blonde "good girl". She had a bit of an accent and spoke in broken English, which rather annoyed me, but fortunately, that seemed to pass with time.
It...it's just that she was so damned manipulative! Now it could be said, with perfect justification that Lois, Iris, Jean and Carol were all a bit on the manipulative side themselves. But I don't think that it could be said that they went from grieving for the (supposed) death of their fiancee one minute, to the arms of the man who was marginally responsible for that death in the next.
Yes, she was upset.
And really, who can blame her? But then, she was ALL OVER HIM! So...she needed some comfort. I can understand that. But next thing you know, they are wandering around solving crimes together, and she's just working him SO well. And Hal...being an idiot...FALLS for it!
She actually manages to get him to the Altar! And it is only at the last minute...the VERY last minute, that she "suddenly" realizes that Guy isn't dead after all. Did she really have a vision of Guy being tortured, or did it occur to her, that being married to Hal wasn't necessarily going to be a bed of roses?
So, she and Hal part on fairly amicable terms, with both of them no doubt thanking their lucky stars. And the minute that Guy is back, she goes back to trying to manipulate HIM. Guy is brain-damaged and violent and obnoxious and rude...but he's STILL smarter than Hal Jordan, and doesn't fall for her shenanigans. Of course the fact that he was WATCHING the two of them canoodling the whole time that he was in the zone, and being tortured by Sinestro may have had something to do with that.
What I want to see, and I don't know if I ever WILL see it...is having Hal and Guy get together and discuss the whole Kari Limbo situation. I'd like to see Hal have to come up with an explanation of why he did what he did. Because I don't think that Hal was ever in love with Kari. I don't think that Hal was ever in love with ANYone...with the possible exception of Carol, and even that is a bit debateable.
I also wonder if Hal ever wonders what Arisia meant to Guy. Guy made a big play for Arisia when they first met, but I think that was mostly just to annoy Hal. But later on, after she'd lost her ring, and was stranded on earth, and Hal had gone all Parallax on everyone's ass, Guy had gotten his brains back, and he took her in and gave her a home and a job. He DIDN'T try to marry her however. Their relationship was...and remains...more of a big brother/little sister one, in my view.
Actually, when you think about it, Guy was running quite the halfway house at Warriors for a while. He took in Arisia, he gave Lady Blackhawk a job and a home, and the same thing for Veronna. Heck, I wouldn't have been surprised if Bea had moved in either for a while. And they ALL GOT ALONG TOGETHER! Nobody ELSE was doing something like that, not the Justice League, or any of the big hitters. Just Guy.
Heck, he even gave his MOM a home!
And that took some serious courage. Green Lanterns really ARE without fear!
So. Would any of you like to have a discussion between Hal and Guy about the women in their lives? Hal and Guy have such a touch relationship most of the time, and it is apparently going to get touchier. But still...it would be interesting.
