Green Lantern's Secret Codename Means More Than You Think
Hal Jordan, DC's most famous Green Lantern, is also an Air Force pilot when not engaged in superheroics — and his callsign contains multiple secret meanings of which even diehard fans of the character are not aware. The superhero is one of many military veterans in comics — Captain America, War Machine, and Captain Marvel immediately come to mind from the Marvel Universe — and as such, has a callsign like other pilots. But his codename — Highball — harkens back to the very first Green Lantern Alan Scott (and Hal's controversial past as well).
Hal Jordan, pre-Green Lantern, was a test pilot working for Ferris Aircraft. His training simulator on which he was working was lifted off its mounting points and propelled to the crash site of Abin Sur, the previous defender of Sector 2814. Explaining that the ring chose Hal, Abin Sur briefly explained the powers of the ring, the accompanying power battery, and the Green Lantern Corps one weakness (the constructs had no effect against any yellow-colored object; this «yellow impurity» was later retconned into Parallax, a fear entity and one of the Green Lantern Corps' enemies).
Related: Hal Jordan's Green Lantern Is Officially A B-List Hero, According To DC
The very first usage of Hal Jordan's callsign Highball was inGreen Lantern Volume 4 #1, written by Geoff Johns, who is now considered one of the better Green Lantern writers. The issue switches from a flashback of Hal's origin story (specifically the origin shown in the 1989-1991 retelling Emerald Dawn) to the present day, where another pilot calls Hal Jordan «Highball.» Fighter pilots never choose their own callsigns, meaning Hal's name was given to him by his comrades — and Highball could very well be a reference to Hal's car
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