The History of the Jordan Family
By Mikishawm

The Jordan family history has been a trifle confused since CRISIS. In GREEN LANTERN CORPS # 221, Jack Jordan (minus the wife and kids) was at a barbecue with Jim, Sue and Howard in Coast City. In GREEN LANTERN [current] # 36, Jim and family visited Jack in Alaska. There was no sign of Jason and Jennifer and Jack's wife was now named Sonja. From this, one might conclude that Jack had divorced, with Jan getting custody of the kids while Jack remarried to Sonja. Then came LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE # 33, where Jack was once again married to Jan and the father of Jennifer Katherine Jordan. Ominously, Jason was not mentioned. And suddenly, in THE SPECTRE [current] # 1, Jennifer had been rechristened Helen --Helen Katherine, according to issue # 7. (Previously, the only Helen Jordan in the family had been the wife of Jack's uncle Larry [Air Wave I] and the mother of Harold Lawrence [Air Wave II]).

How, then, do we explain all of this ?

1) Janice Jordan sometimes goes by her middle name, Sonja.

2) Jason Jordan was visiting friends in Coast City when it was destroyed (worst case scenario) or he's simply on an extended trip to summer camp and will return home to West Lake Village shortly (best case scenario) .

3) The final time that Jack referred to his daughter as Jennifer was in LEGENDS # 36, just before he realized that the man they'd previously met in the park was the spirit of his brother, Hal. “It's as if we each had two different sets of memories -- as if we saw through the lie ... into the reality,” Jack later told a psychiatrist in SPECTRE # 1. We've since learned in SPECTRE # 7 that Jack's daughter is fated to be “the Chosen One who will lead this planet out of misery” ... or she will commit suicide. “Two destinies imprinted on her soul-disc. Two possible futures. In one, the world rises ... in the other -- it falls.” Perhaps, when Jack and Jennifer realized whom they'd met in the park, it awakened the soul of one of the little girl's past lives. Without even realizing it, Jack, Jan, Hal and everyone else suddenly began referring to Jennifer by that old soul's name ... Helen.

4) Still unsettled is the status of Jim and Sue Jordan and their three kids. As lifelong residents of Coast City, it would come as no surprise to learn that they'd died there. And yet ... we've read much of Jack's grief for Hal but nothing of his feelings for Jim. Even Hal, who has twice been visited by self-created images of his late parents and other dead friends (GL [third series] # 48 and LEGENDS # 33, has made no direct reference to his younger brother's fate.

Here's what we know about the Jordan family:

Henry Lee Jordan served as territorial marshal of the Arizona Territory circa 1882, during which time he also crossed paths with the Green Lantern known as Abin Sur (LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE # 20-21).

One of Henry’s descendants eventually became the father of five boys, Lawrence (DETECTIVE COMICS # 60; family connection revealed in GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 100), Jeremiah (GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 22, 31), Titus Thomas (GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 44, 71), Martin H. (GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD DAWN # 1) and an unnamed fifth son (GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 71).

Lawrence (“Larry”) served as District Attorney in his home city and was also active as the costumed hero Air Wave during World War Two and beyond. He eventually married a woman named Helen and they had just become the parents of a son, Harold Lawrence, when the D.A. was murdered by a vengeful prison escapee (DC COMICS PRESENTS # 40).

Jeremiah eventually became a judge in Coast City, California. He was last seen during the Christmas after Superman's “death” at the hands of Doomsday (GREEN LANTERN [third series] # 36).

Titus became a multimillionaire architect with a mansion in an unidentified California community. Though he had no children of his own, Titus was close to Martin's sons and the family of his late wife (including one of her nephews, Steven -- GL (2) # 71). He was last seen during the Christmas after Superman's “death” at the hands of Doomsday (GREEN LANTERN [third series] # 36).

Martin was a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft in Coast City and was killed in an airplane crash. He was survived by his wife (GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD DAWN # 1) and three sons, Jack, Harold (“Hal”) and James(GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 9). Martin's middle initial of “H” could variously stand for Henry (his ancestor), Harold (also his son) or Howard (also his grandson).

The fifth Jordan brother was regarded as a black sheep for his moonshining activities in Tennessee. His son, Douglas, proved to be a similarly notorious character (GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 71).

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Harold Lawrence “Hal” Jordan eventually took the identity of Air Wave for himself (GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 100) and, after a prolonged period in the persona of Maser, he recently returned to his father's code name (JSA: OUR WORLDS AT WAR # 1).

When they were in their early forties (noted in LEGENDS OF THE DCU # 33), Jack Jordan and his wife (Janice Sonya) became parents to twins (Jason and Jennifer Katherine). They subsequently moved to Dallas, Texas, where Jack served as District Attorney (ACTION COMICS # 488). While in Texas, Jack and Janice also opened their household to Harold Lawrence, the son of Uncle Larry (who was Jack's inspiration for going into law). Eventually, Jack and family moved to Alaska, where he made a presumably unsuccessful bid for the Governor's office (GREEN LANTERN [third series] # 36). Afterwards, the Jordans moved back to Coast City until a job offer lured them to West Lake Village, California (noted in THE SPECTRE # 7).

Harold “Hal” Jordan became Green Lantern and, well, it's a long story ...

James went into a career in public relations in Coast City, eventually marrying reporter Susan Williams (GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 31) and having three children, Howard (GL [2] # 53), Arthur and Jane (GL [3] # 36). They were last seen during the Christmas after Superman's “death” at the hands of Doomsday (GREEN LANTERN [third series] # 36).