Green Lantern

Green Lantern is also the name of several comic book series starring the various individuals who have used the name.

Publication history

Green Lantern (sometimes called The Green Lantern in the early days) first appeared in All-American Comics #16 (1940). This Green Lantern was Alan Scott, who had come into possession of a magic lantern, from whose metal he created a ring, which gave him the power to control any object made of metal, and which had to be charged every 24 hours by touching it to the battery for a time. His powers were soon retconned such that his ring was able to affect any material except wood.

Scott was a founding member of the Justice Society of America, and starred in his own title, Green Lantern, during the 1940s. His adventures during the Golden Age of comic books came to an end when superheroes fell into disfavor in the industry in the early 1950s, when the JSA's adventures ended with All-Star Comics #57 (1951).

A few years later, DC Comics had successfully revived The Flash in a new incarnation, with the name and powers being used by an entirely new character, and it was decided that Green Lantern would be similarly revived. This Green Lantern was Hal Jordan, a test pilot who was given the ring by a dying alien, and who became a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intersteller organization of police overseen by the Guardians of the Universe. The Corps' rings were powerless against anything colored yellow. Jordan's creation was motivated by a desire to make him more of a science fiction hero (editor Julius Schwartz being a longtime SF fan) to boost sales. The Green Lantern Corps was clearly based upon the Lensman stories of E.E. Doc Smith.

This Green Lantern was a member of the Justice League of America and starred in his own title, and eventually met his predecessor, who was established to live on the parallel world of Earth-2, separate from Jordan's Earth-1. The two Lanterns struck up a close friendship and periodically come to each other's aid in various adventures.

By the late 1960s, however, Green Lantern's popularity was flagging. Creators Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams attempted to spark new interest in the book by adding the character Green Arrow to the series, and having them travel through America encounting various "real world" issues, to which they reacted in different ways, Green Lantern being fundamentally a lawman while Green Arrow was a liberal iconoclast. Although not a commercial success, this "relevant" era is considered to have spearheaded the efforts of comic books to become more than light fantasy.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the focus of the series (which was cancelled and restarted several times) gradually shifted from Jordan to the Green Lantern Corps as a whole. Jordan gave up the role for a time, surrendering his role to fellow Earthman John Stewart. After he took up the ring again, Jordan was joined by a legion of other Green Lanterns, both human and alien.

Jordan's career came to an end when he went insane following the destruction of his old home, Coast City, by the villainous alien Mongul. He destroyed the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians, absorbing their power and taking the name Parallax. One Guardian survived, however, and passed one remaining ring on to a human named Kyle Rayner. This ring lacked the flaws of the earlier rings, and Rayner gradually molded himself into a hero, joining a new incarnation of the Justice League.

Jordan eventually died in the events of Zero Hour, in which he tried to restructure the universe's history to his liking, and he was later resurrected as The Spectre. Rayner had a brief fling with godhood himself, as Ion, but his adventures as Green Lantern continue to this day.

Fictional biographies

The Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott)

Thousands of years ago, a mystical "green flame" fell to Earth. The voice of the flame prophesied that it would act three times: Once to bring death, once to bring life, and once to bring power. By 1940, the flame had been fashioned into a metal lantern, which fell into the hands of Alan Scott, a young engineer. Following a railroad bridge collapse, the flame instructed Scott how to fashion a ring from its metal, to give him fantastic powers as the superhero Green Lantern. He adopted a colorful costume and became a crimefighter.

(Years later, the green flame would be retconned as the expunged magical characteristics of the Guardians of the Universe from the Earth-1 universe.)

Scott used his ring to fly, to create rays of energy and occasionally solid objects, and force fields. His ring was unable to affect any object made of wood.

Scott was a charter member of the Justice Society of America, beginning in All-Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940). He served as the team's second chairman, in #7, but departed following that issue, only to return a few years later. He has been a key member of the group ever since.

During the 1940s, Green Lantern seemed to alternate between serious adventure - particularly when his arch-nemesis, Solomon Grundy, appeared - and light comedy, such as his sidekick Doiby Dickles. Toward the end of his Golden Age adventures, he was even reduced to the role of a sidekick to Streaky the Wonder Dog, a heroic canine cut from the mold of Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie.

Scott was a member of the JSA in 1951 when the team was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee for possible Communist sympathies and asked to reveal their identities. The JSA declined, and most of the membership retired for the 1950s.

(One piece of retroactive continuity fills out early Scott history. All-Star Squadron Annual #3 states that the JSA fought a being who imbued them with energy which retarded their aging, allowing Scott and many others - as well as their spouses - to remain active into the late 20th century without infirmity.)

The team re-formed in the 1960s with Scott as a member, though little is known of their adventures during this time save for their team-ups with the Justice League of America of the parallel world Earth-1, and a few cross-universe adventures Scott shared with Earth-1's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.

It was eventually revealed that in the late 1950s or early 1960s, Scott had married the woman with the dual identity Rose and Thorn, and the two had a pair of children, who would grow up to become the superheroes Jade and Obsidian, of the team Infinity Inc..

In the late 1970s, Scott ran a broadcasting corporation, which was ruined by creditors. Scott was temporarily driven mad by the Psycho-Pirate, but the rest of the JSA helped him back from the brink. His friend The Flash helped him start a new career as a scientist.

In the 1980s, Scott married his longtime nemesis (now reformed), The Harlequin, and reconciled with his son and daughter. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which merged all parallel realities into one, Scott's power was revealed to be the mystical "Starheart", which additionally helped retard Scott's aging process. For a while the Starheart was part of Scott's body, and he adopted the name Sentinel, and became a founding member of a new JSA. In the early 2000s, the Starheart was again restored to its lantern form, and Scott again took the name Green Lantern.

Thanks to the rejuvinative properties of the Starheart, Scott is physically a man in his 30s or early 40s, and continues to fight crime in his costumed identity.

The Silver Age Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

The second Green Lantern was Hal Jordan, who in 1959 was a test pilot who was given the power ring and battery (lantern) by a dying alien named Abin Sur. When Abin Sur's spaceship crashed onEarth, the alien used his ring to seek out an individual to take his place as Green Lantern: someone who was "utterly honest and born without fear."

Though treated on Earth like a superhero, Jordan soon learned that Abin Sur was a member of an elite force of intergalactic police called the Green Lantern Corps, who worked for the Guardians of the Universe. Instead of one Green Lantern wielding a magic ring, there were 3600 Green Lanterns patrolling the entire universe. Their rings were powered by the central power battery at the planet Oa, where the Guardians lived. Oan power rings had to be recharged every 24 hours, and were ineffective against direct contact with the color yellow, due to a "necessary impurity" in the design of the rings.

Jordan had a longtime on-again off-again love affair with his boss, Carol Ferris. He fought colorful 1960s villains such as Star Sapphire (a mind-altered Ferris), Hector Hammond, and the rogue Green Lantern, Sinestro. He was also a founding member of the Justice League of America in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1959).

In 1971, feeling the tension between dealing with the intergalactic problems of the Guardians and the individual, personal miseries on Earth, Jordan left his test pilot career behind and travelled across the United States with fellow hero Green Arrow in a "search for America", highlighted by tensions between the pair due to their different outlooks on life. One memorable scene from this period saw Green Lantern confronted by an elderly black man, who noted that the Green Lantern had done much for aliens with fantastic skin colors, but asked what he had done for the "black skinned people".

In the early 1980s, Jordan was exiled into space for a year by the Guardians in order to prove his loyalty to the Green Lantern Corps, having been accused with paying too much attention to Earth when he had an entire "sector" of the cosmos to patrol. When he returned to Earth he found himself embroiled in a dispute with Carol Ferris. Faced with a choice between love and the power ring, Jordan chose to resign from the Green Lantern Corps. The Guardians called Jordan's backup, John Stewart, to regular duty as his replacement.

In 1985, the Crisis on Infinite Earths saw Jordan once again take up the mantle of Green Lantern, even as the Guardians withdrew from our dimension for a while. Jordan helped organize the new Corps, with seven members residing on Earth, including several aliens, John Stewart, and Jordan's slightly-unbalanced "other backup", Guy Gardner. For a while Jordan was romantically involved with a younger, alien Lantern named Arisia. The alien Lanterns took a more direct hand in human affairs, a fact not appreciated by human governments (Kilowog helped create the Rocket Reds for the Soviet Union). Eventually, the Earth corps broke up, several members returning to their home sectors.

The Guardians soon returned to this dimension, and Jordan worked with them to rebuild the fractured Corps. Then, however, the villainous alien Mongul came to Earth in a plot to take advantage of the then-deceased Superman. During this encounter, Coast City - Jordan's one-time home - was destroyed. Though Jordan defeated Mongul, he went insane as a result and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps and Guardians to acquire the full power of the central battery. He then renounced his life as Green Lantern, and adopted the name Parallax.

As Parallax he initiated the Zero Hour crisis, attempting to rewrite history to his own liking, but he was eventually defeated by a gathering of heroes. Ultimately, Jordan returned to his heroic roots to save the Earth from the Sun-Eater, but died in the process.

A few years later, Jordan was resurrected as a new incarnation of The Spectre, a role he still fills.

The Modern Age Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)

Kyle Rayner was a comic book artist when he was approached by the last Guardian of the Universe, Ganthet, to become a new Green Lantern with the last power ring. Ganthet did not choose Rayner for any particular reason, he simply needed to find someone to fill the role; even so, Kyle Rayner proved to have his fans despite not being cut from the same cloth of bravery and fearlessness as Hal Jordan. Rayner's ring can affect yellow and does not have a set time limit on its power, though through repeated use it can be depleted and require charging.

Rayner has also joined the Justice League. His adventures have mostly been confined to Earth, with a recent fling with godhood as the imposing Ion, and an even more recent exile into space for a time.

Hal Jordan/Kyle Rayner controversy

The editorial decision to turn Jordan into an homicidal maniac and his replacement by Rayner has been very controversial in comic book fandom, sparking a debate which has lasted for years in forums such as USENET. Many fans consider the treatment of Jordan to be a betrayal of the character (some fans created a Jordan defense organization called H.E.A.T., "Hal's Emerald Advancement Team"), while other fans feel that Jordan's fate should not reflect badly on Rayner. Caught in the middle has been writer Ron Marz, who executed the editorial decision to replace Jordan with Rayner, and who has been defended as having done the best he could with a bad decision which was out of his hands.

The controversy is somewhat similar to that of replacing Barry Allen as The Flash with Wally West, except that Allen was, fans feel, given an heroic send-off while Jordan was not. Moreover, writer Mark Waid addressed the Allen/West controversy head-on and developed West into a fully-rounded character, while despite several attempts it is widely felt that no similar catharsis has been provided in the case of Green Lantern.

Other Green Lanterns

The Green Lantern Corps was comprised of 3600 different members at its peak. Some of the more notable ones:

• Abin Sur was an alien who incongruously travelled using a spaceship, rather than the power of his ring. The Post-Crisis explanation for this was that he was psychologically attacked by aliens to lose faith in his ring, thereby using a ship sometimes which led to his fatal crash. His ship crash-landed on Earth and while dying passed his ring on to Hal Jordan.

• Kilowog was an alien who recruited and trained new members of the Green Lantern Corps. His most illustrious student was Hal Jordan. When Jordan went insane, Kilowog was one of the last Green Lanterns to try stop Jordan from destroying the central battery. He was subsequently killed by Jordan.

• Guy Gardner is an earthman whom Abin Sur's ring selected as an alternative to Hal Jordan, but Jordan was closer so Sur chose him instead. Gardner later suffered brain damage, and was unbalanced when he recovered enough to function. He was awarded a ring by a Guardian during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and later was merged with some alien technology to become the hero Warrior.

• John Stewart is a African American man who was Jordan's back-up while Jordan was active, and occasionally filled that role when Jordan was unavailable. When Jordan gave up being Green Lantern in the 1980s, the Guardians selected Stewart to replace him. Stewart filled that role for some years, before losing the use of his legs. He has recently regained the use of his legs, and is Green Lantern once again.

• Sinestro was the Green Lantern from the planet Koregar before he turned to evil. The Guardians convicted him of criminal actions and banished him to the antimatter universe of Qward, where he was given a yellow power ring, and returned to our universe to become Hal Jordan's greatest enemy. He was killed by Jordan helping defend the central power battery on Oa from an insane Jordan.

• Katma Tui was Sinestro's successor. She later fell in love with John Stewart, but was later killed in action by Star Sapphire.

Powers & abilities

All Green Lanterns wield a power ring which can generate a variety of effects and energy constructs, powered purely by the user thinking about it. The greater the user's willpower, the more effective the ring is.

Power rings allow the user to fly and to cover themselves and others with a protective force field, suitable for travelling through outer space. They can also generated beams of energy, and solid structures of energy which can be moved simply by thinking about doing so, thus allowing the user to create cages, transportation platforms, walls, and battering rams. The ring can also be used to search for energy signatures or particular objects.

The rings of the Green Lantern Corps appear to be semi-sentient computers, able to talk to and advise the user as to various courses of action.

Rings typically hold a limited charge. Alan Scott's ring and the Green Lantern Corps rings must be recharged once every 24 hours. Kyle Rayner's ring holds a certain quantity of energy, which is exhausted through use rather than at a set period of time.

Alan Scott's ring is unable to affect objects made of wood. Green Lantern Corps rings are unable to directly affect objects colored yellow. Kyle Rayner's ring possesses neither of these weaknesses.

Other media

Green Lantern John Stewart in Justice League

Kyle Rayner appeared as Green Lantern in one episode of , in which he was inducted into the Green Lantern Corps.

John Stewart is a member of the Justice League in the Justice League animated series, though Rayner was briefly mentioned in one episode. In this series, Stewart's ring is constrained to permitting him to fly, generating a protective force field, creating walls, and generating energy blasts (though this limitation may be less from the ring, and more from the fact that Stewart was a Marine prior to becoming a Green Lantern - the mindset of a Lantern affects how their powers manifest.) Kilowog, Katma Tui, and Sinestro have also appeared in the series.

Trivia

• Green Lantern is famous for the oath he recites when he charges his ring. Originally, the oath was simple:

"...and I shall shed my light over dark evil.

For the dark things cannot stand the light,

The light of the Green Lantern!"

In the mid-1940s, this was revised by science fiction writer Alfred Bester into the form that became famous during the Hal Jordan era:

"In brightest day, in blackest night

No evil shall escape my sight

Let those who worship evil's might

Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"

Referenced By