The Green And The Bold?

You know what the nu52 needs? A team up book.

We're a year into the project now, and if you were to ask me, one of the things the rebooted DC Universe is sorely lacking is a sense of interconnectedness, a feeling that all of these books are operating in a shared universe.

Another major problem is that, post-Flushpoint, DC has 10,472 characters who are unaccounted for. Do they still exist? Have they been "born" yet? How are they different (or the same) in this crazy new rebooted shared universe?

Yes, DC does have DC Universe Presents...but that acts more as a Marvel Premiere or Marvel Spotlight--extended arcs that act more as pilots for potential projects, and not a particularly swift way to reintroduce new characters, or to explore some of the nooks and crevices of the nu52. The same goes for the DCU mags that have back-ups.

No, what they need is a team-up book, the perfect vehicle for character interaction, for establishing that all of our heroes are playing in the same sandbox, and to help take care of fan cries of "what about character X?"

That doesn't mean the book has to be a quick series of one-offs, either. With skilled writers given a licence to thrill, Marvel gave us some really grand arcs in their team-up books, like...

...the time Chris Claremont gave us the four-parter where Spider-Man teamed up with Black Widow, Nick Fury and Shang-Chi(!) to keep the Viper and Silver Samurai from assassinating Jimmy Carter!!

Or...
...the time Bill Mantlo gave us a four-parter with Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, The Vision, Doctor Doom, and Moondragon versus and evil super-Puritan witch hunter.

And Marvel Two-In-One, while less consistently brilliant, did give us...

...the six-part Project Pegasus saga, which let Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio explore the obscure cul-de-sacs of the Marvel Universe by teaming Ben Grimm with Quasar, Deathlok, Giant-Man (aka Black Goliath), Thundra, and Wundarr (plus, half the issues had art by Byrne, half by Perez!).

But, but...team-up books that don't have a regular star don't seem survive very well. So who should be the regular star in DC's new team-up book?

Brave & The Bold might suggest Batman. And that would probably sell pretty damn well. But let's be honest--the last thing DC needs right now is yet another Bat book, am I right? Plus, the current incarnation of Batman is not exactly conducive to team-ups, is he? The broody loner who (depending on the writer) holds most other heroes in contempt? There's a reason Batman team-ups lost their luster post-Frank Miller...

Superman? well, nu52 Superman is almost as much a broody loner as Batman. And if DC Comics Presents taught us anything, it's that it is hard to write good team-up stories when your character is that powerful. Then again, forced interaction with other heroes might lighten Clark up a little.

No, we need someone else. Someone who is more of an everyman, like Spidey or the Thing. Someone who is a down-to-earth character, someone who wouldn't overwhelm every story, someone who would benefit from interacting with other DC characters. I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need:

Yes, Hal Jordan.

He's pretty much perfect for this scenario. He's powerful, but not, ahem, overwhelmingly bright, so he can use the help most of the time.
His background gives him ties both to Earth (remember when Green Lantern was supposed to patrol our sector? And had adventures on our planet? Remember?!?) and the cosmic spots of the DCU, making teaming up with Green Lantern the perfect vehicle to go all over the freaking universe.

Plus, as a bonus, you could occasionally stick one of the other Green Lanterns in there instead of Hal.

And, let's face it--aren't you tired of Hal Jordan et al being stuck in these interminable "Color Corp Wars" and other never-ending Geoff Johnsian epics? Don't you long for at least a peek at Green Lantern fighting crooks, rescuing babies...just being a hero, a part of the DC Universe?

So cancel Red Lanterns--seriously, WTF, guys?!?--break Hal Jordan out of the current Green Lantern ghetto, and give us a nu52 team-up mag. Hell, you can even call it Brave & The Bold if you want.