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Four Obscure Details About the Green Lantern Explained

In Brightest days, in blackest nights...

By Matthew BaileyPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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I've always liked the Green Lantern character, but even I can't always complete the famous oath that the Lantern Corp has uttered over their nearly 70 years in the comics. Outside of the brief hiatus in the early '50s, the Green Lantern has been one of the most consistent DC Comics publications.

Originally the Green Lantern started his superhero career as a single hero with a magical ring, but over the years the comic book line encompasses a massive armada of thousands of space police that bare the colors of the rainbow. The vastness of the Lanterns stretch across the universe and are filled with countless aliens who employ similar abilities as the Green Lantern (although utilizing different colors). But perhaps you're not fully up to speed on the vast history of the Green Lantern Corps and the multitude of enemies/heroes that have joined the story over the years. If you have a few questions then hopefully you'll find the answers here, so grab your lantern and charge your ring as we look at some of the more obscure mythology of the Green Lantern.

The Green Lantern Corps Were Not The First Space Police

The Guardians of the Galaxy (not Star-Lord, Groot, Gamora, etc. - they're Marvel) are one of the oldest forms of intelligent life in the galaxy. Billions of years ago, they decided to take it upon themselves to bring harmony and order to the universe by dividing the galaxy into 3600 sectors. The Guardians sent out self-aware androids called Manhunters to police each sector, and it worked for a while.

After some time the Manhunters determined that the cause of all the strife in the universe was caused by the organic lifeforms that populated each sector - so they began wiping out entire civilizations starting with Sector 666 (which is seen as one of the worst massacres in the history of DC Comics). The Guardians ended the Manhunters campaign, but determined that in order to police the sectors they needed to employ fearless, honorable people with free will. Thus the Green Lanterns were born.

The First Green Lantern Was Weakened By Wood

Not every character that DC Comics created, and the first Green Lantern which debuted in 1940 in All-American Comics #16 was one that even though he had a loyal following was quickly remodeled along with much of the DC Universe.

The first Green Lantern was Alan Scott, a young railroad engineer after a lantern made its way to him, the lantern was fashioned out of the metal of a mystical green-flamed meteor that landed on Earth thousands of years earlier. The lantern instructed Scott how to make a ring that could harness the power of the lantern. Once the ring was forged, Scott could use the incredible magical powers of the lantern - flight, energy rays, time travel and mental projections to fight crime.

However during a fight Scott learned about his one weakness: wood. After being hit over the head with a wooden club, Scott learned that he lost some of his power when near wood.

Earth's Green Lantern Was Responsible For Killing Billions Of People

Although John Stewart is not often seen as the most popular Green Lantern in comic book circles, he does have a faithful following because of his representation in the animated series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. In the animated series, John was introduced as one of the founding members of the Justice League rather than Hal Jordan.

In the now-classic storyline Cosmic Odyssey, Stewart teams up with several heroes and a team of New Gods to try and stop the powerful Anti-Life Equation from destroying four key planets. If any two planets were destroyed it would bring about the collapse of the universe and Anti-Life would win.

Stewart had always been confident, but this time his over-confidence resulted in the destruction of the planet Xanshi. When Stewart rushed off to stop the Anti-Life Equation on his own, he discovered that it had created a yellow bomb and had set it to destroy the planet. With Stewart unable to impact the bomb, the planet was destroyed and Stewart was wrecked with grief and even contemplated suicide, giving us one of the darkest moments in the Green Lantern history.

All The Flavors Of The Rainbow

Although initially the Green Lantern Corps were the only ring-bearing fighters in the universe, over time a Yellow Ring appeared fueled by the power of Fear itself. During the series, Blackest Night, it was revealed that there were seven different types of rings, each powered by a particular emotion. These seven emotions follow the ROYGBIV mnemonic scale of the rainbow with Green being in the center as the balance between the negative (R / O / Y) and positive (B / I / V)
  • RED - Rage
  • ORANGE - Avarice
  • YELLOW - Fear
  • GREEN - Willpower
  • BLUE - Hope
  • INDIGO - Compassion
  • VIOLET - Love

During the saga of Blackest Night, we also learned that there was also a Black and White Lantern as well. The Black Lantern Corps represented death itself, and were composed of zombified versions of previously deceased heroes. White Lanterns were the embodiment of Life, and through mastering all 7 emotions a Green Lantern Ring can function like a White Lantern Ring.

Hal Jordan Destroyed The Green Lantern Corps

Hal Jordan is considered by many fans to be the best Green Lantern, and for a while he was seen as the greatest (and most powerful) Green Lantern in the universe. His respect amongst the core was not in his fearless nature, but due to how he frequently followed his own ideals rather than just following the direction of the Guardians. Yet, his self-confidence and belief that he was always right led him down a very dark and violent path.

After the fall of Sinestro, Hal Jordan became the greatest Green Lantern, but when Mongul destroyed Coast City, where Hal's entire family lived, Hal's grasp on reality waned and he began to become consumed with the thought that he could bring back the entire city if only he had more power.

Hal petitioned the Guardians to grant him more power to change reality and bring back all of his loved ones, but when the Guardians and the rest of the Lantern Corp wouldn't surrender more power to Hal, he began killing his friends and taking their rings. Hal continued on his massacre, eventually destroying the Central Power Battery and all but one of the Guardians effectively destroying the entire Green Lantern Corps.

It's discovered that Hal wasn't completely to blame for his actions, as he had been secretly influenced for years by the fear entity Parallax (where the power of the Yellow Ring comes from). Eventually Hal breaks free from the power of Fear and defeats Parallax before sacrificing himself to save the Earth during the events of Zero Hour.

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About the Creator

Matthew Bailey

Husband. Father. Gamer. Cinema Lover. Mix it all together, and there I am. I love all things pop-culture and coffee; but coffee is the best.

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