Hal Jordan debuted in 1959's Showcase #22 during the Silver Age of Comics, created by John Broome and Gil Kane as a heroic, sci-fi test pilot succeeding Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott. In the 1970s Bronze Age, writers Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams evolved Hal in the Hard-Traveling Heroes run (Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76–89), pairing him with Oliver Queen on a cross-country journey to address real-world social problems such as racism, corruption, and addiction.

The 1990s marked Hal's darkest arc: following the destruction of Coast City in 1993, Hal succumbed to grief, slaughtered fellow Lanterns, destroyed the Central Power Battery on Oa, and became the villain Parallax in 1994's Emerald Twilight. He sought redemption in 1996's The Final Night by sacrificing his life to reignite the Sun, subsequently serving as the host for The Spectre in 1999's Day of Judgment. Writer Geoff Johns revitalized Hal in 2004's Green Lantern: Rebirth by establishing Parallax as a fear entity that possessed Hal, returning him to his role as Earth's premier Green Lantern. This era expanded the Green Lantern lore into an emotional spectrum during sagas like Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night. In the Dawn of DC run (2023), Hal returns home to Coast City, constructing a ring forged directly from his personal willpower.