Green Lantern | |
---|---|
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | All-American Comics #16 (July 1940) |
Created by | Alan Scott: Martin Nodell Bill Finger Hal Jordan: John Broome Gil Kane John Stewart: Dennis O'Neil Neal Adams |
Characters | Alan Scott Hal Jordan Guy Gardner John Stewart Kyle Rayner Simon Baz Jessica Cruz Sojourner Mullein |
See also | Green Lantern Corps |
Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, and the electromagnetic spectrum of emotional willpower. [1] The characters are typically depicted as members of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic law enforcement agency.
The first Green Lantern character, Alan Scott, was created in 1940 by Martin Nodell with scripting or co-scripting of the first stories by Bill Finger [2] during the Golden Age of Comic Books and usually fought common criminals in Capitol City (and later, Gotham City) with the aid of his magic ring. For the Silver Age of Comic Books, John Broome and Gil Kane reinvented the character as Hal Jordan in 1959 and introduced the Green Lantern Corps, shifting the nature of the character from fantasy to science fiction. During the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams introduced John Stewart, a new member of the Corps who was one of DC's first black superheroes. Other notable Green Lanterns include Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Simon Baz, Jessica Cruz and Jo Mullein.
The Green Lanterns are among DC Comics' longest lasting sets of characters. They have been adapted to television, video games, and motion pictures.
Martin Nodell (initially using the pen-name Mart Dellon) created the first Green Lantern in collaboration with Bill Finger. He first appeared in the Golden Age of Comic Books in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940), published by All-American Publications, one of three companies that would eventually merge to form DC Comics. [3]
This Green Lantern's real name was Alan Scott, a railroad engineer who, after a railway crash, came into possession of a magic lantern which spoke to him and said it would bring power. From this, he crafted a magic ring that gave him a wide variety of powers. The limitations of the ring were that it had to be "charged" every 24 hours by touching it to the lantern for a time and that it could not directly affect objects made of wood. Alan Scott fought mostly ordinary human villains, but he did have a few paranormal ones such as the immortal Vandal Savage and the zombie Solomon Grundy. Most stories took place in New York. Green Lantern rings are made from magic.
As a popular character in the 1940s, the Green Lantern featured both in anthology books such as All-American Comics and Comic Cavalcade , as well as his own book, Green Lantern. He also appeared in All Star Comics as a member of the superhero team known as the Justice Society of America.
After World War II the popularity of superheroes in general declined. The Green Lantern comic book was cancelled with issue #38 (May–June 1949), and All Star Comics #57 (1951) was the character's last Golden Age appearance. When superheroes came back in fashion in later decades, the character Alan Scott was revived, but he was forever marginalized by the new Hal Jordan character who had been created to supplant him (see below). Initially, he made guest appearances in other superheroes' books, but eventually got regular roles in books featuring the Justice Society. He never got another solo series, although he did star in individual stories and in the single-issue 2002 comic book Brightest Day, Blackest Night. [4] Between 1995 and 2003, DC Comics changed Alan Scott's superhero codename to "Sentinel" in order to distinguish him from the newer and more popular science fictional Green Lanterns.
In 2011, the Alan Scott character was revamped. His costume was redesigned to be all green and the source of his powers was changed to that of the mystical power of nature (referred to in the stories as "the Green").
In 1959, Julius Schwartz reinvented the Green Lantern character as a science fiction hero named Hal Jordan. Hal Jordan's powers were more or less the same as Alan Scott's, but otherwise this character was completely different from the Green Lantern character of the 1940s. He had a new name, a redesigned costume, and a rewritten origin story. Hal Jordan received his ring from a dying alien and was commissioned as an officer of the Green Lantern Corps, an interstellar law enforcement agency overseen by the Guardians of the Universe. [5]
Hal Jordan was introduced in Showcase #22 (September–October 1959). Gil Kane and Sid Greene were the art team most notable on the title in its early years, along with writer John Broome. His initial physical appearance, according to Kane, was patterned after his one-time neighbor, actor Paul Newman. [6]
With issue #76 (April 1970), the series made a radical stylistic departure. Editor Schwartz, in one of the company's earliest efforts to provide more than fantasy, worked with the writer-artist team of Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams to spark new interest in the comic book series and address a perceived need for social relevance. They added the character Green Arrow (with the cover, but not the official name, retitled Green Lantern Co-Starring Green Arrow) and had the pair travel through America encountering "real world" issues, to which they reacted in different ways — Green Lantern as fundamentally a lawman, Green Arrow as a liberal iconoclast. Additionally during this run, the groundbreaking "Snowbirds Don't Fly" story was published (issues #85–86) in which Green Arrow's teen sidekick Speedy (the later grown-up hero Red Arrow) developed a heroin addiction that he was forcibly made to quit. The stories were critically acclaimed, with publications such as The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , and Newsweek citing it as an example of how comic books were "growing up". [7] However, the O'Neil/Adams run was not a commercial success, and the series was cancelled after only 14 issues, though an additional unpublished three installments were finally published as back-ups in The Flash #217–219. [8]
The title saw a number of revivals and cancellations. It changed to Green Lantern Corps at one point as the popularity rose and waned. During a time there were two regular titles, each with a Green Lantern, and a third member in the Justice League. A new character, Kyle Rayner, was created to become the feature while Hal Jordan first became the villain Parallax, then died and came back as the Spectre.
In the wake of The New Frontier , writer Geoff Johns returned Hal Jordan as Green Lantern in Green Lantern: Rebirth (2004–05). Johns began to lay the groundwork for "Blackest Night" (released July 13, 2010) [9] ), viewing it as the third part of the trilogy started by Rebirth. Expanding on the Green Lantern mythology in the second part, "Sinestro Corps War" (2007), Johns, with artist Ethan van Sciver, found wide critical acclaim and commercial success with the series, which promised the introduction of a spectrum of colored "lanterns".
The series and its creators have received several awards over the years, including the 1961 Alley Award for Best Adventure Hero/Heroine with Own Book [10] and the Academy of Comic Book Arts Shazam Award for Best Continuing Feature in 1970, for Best Individual Story ("No Evil Shall Escape My Sight", Green Lantern (vol. 2) #76 by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams), [11] and in 1971 for Best Individual Story ("Snowbirds Don't Fly", Green Lantern (vol. 2) #85 by O'Neil and Adams). [12]
Writer O'Neil received the Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic Division) in 1970 for his work on Green Lantern, Batman , Superman and other titles, while artist Adams received the Shazam for Best Artist (Dramatic Division) in 1970 for his work on Green Lantern and Batman. [11] Inker Dick Giordano received the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) for his work on Green Lantern and other titles. [11]
In Judd Winick's first regular writing assignment on Green Lantern, he wrote a storyline in which an assistant of Kyle Rayner's emerged as a gay character in Green Lantern (vol. 3) #137 (June 2001). In Green Lantern (vol. 3) #154 (November 2001) the story entitled "Hate Crime" gained media recognition when his friend Terry Berg was brutally beaten in a homophobic attack. Winick was interviewed on Phil Donahue's show on MSNBC for that storyline on August 15, 2002 [13] and received two GLAAD Media Awards for his Green Lantern work. [14]
In May 2011, Green Lantern placed 7th on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time. [15]
DC Comics has been involved in two disputes concerning Green Lantern trade marks before the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office, the first in 2012 and the second in 2016. [16]
Each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants them a variety of abilities. The ring is powered by willpower. The full extent of the ring's abilities has never been rigorously defined in the stories, but two consistent traits are that it grants the power of flight and that all of its effects are accompanied by a green light.
In issue #9 of the original Alan Scott Green Lantern comic book, scriptwriter Alfred Bester, best known as a major science fiction novelist of the 1950s (and one who had included rhymed couplets in his work) introduced the Green Lantern Oaths: [27]
In brightest day, in darkest night
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power ― Green Lantern's light!
This oath was revived for the Hal Jordan version of the character. Alan Moore and Geoff Johns introduced variants. [28] Oftentimes "darkest night" is changed to "blackest night", which inspired the name of the crossover event Blackest Night. In reference to the oath, the sequel to Blackest Night was called Brightest Day.
Hal Jordan made his live-action debut in the 2011 film of the same name, portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. [29] The film originally intended on launching a new DC Comics cinematic franchise with a sequel and an untitled Flash film, but due to the film's failure, nothing moved forward.
John Stewart was scheduled to appear in Zack Snyder's director cut of Justice League , portrayed by Wayne T. Carr, but the scene was reworked with Martian Manhunter, portrayed by Harry Lennix, at the request of Warner Bros. [30]
In the live-action television series Stargirl , Alan Scott's power battery is shown in a flashback to when the Injustice Society attacked the Justice Society of America's headquarters. JSA member Pat Dugan hid his power battery in his basement. In the second season, Alan Scott's daughter Jennie-Lynn Scott finds Alan's power battery and activates it. She absorbs the battery's energy and breaks it. She then leaves Blue Valley to find her missing brother Todd Rice.
A live-action Green Lantern television series was announced to be in development at HBO Max set to feature the Alan Scott, Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, and Simon Baz versions of Green Lantern along with an original character Bree Jarta with Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Irvine portraying Gardner and Scott respectively. [31] The series will be set in multiple time periods focusing on a separate story for each of the Green Lanterns for that time. [32] In October 2022, it was announced that the series had instead been extensively redeveloped into a solo project centered around John Stewart. [33] In December 2022, sources claimed the series was scrapped, but James Gunn say the series is still in production. [34] [35] The series' title was revealed to be Lanterns in January 2023. The version with Berlanti was confirmed to have been cancelled, with this new series focusing on Stewart and Hal Jordan as part of DC Studios' new DC Universe. [36] In October 2024, Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre were cast as the DCU's Jordan and Stewart. [37] [38]
Some political pundits and academic political scientists use the phrase "Green Lanternism" (or "political Green Lanternism") to refer to the common tendency to demand perfection or omnipotence from political leaders, and to blame actually unsolvable or inevitable problems on political leaders' alleged weakness or malice, as if political office-holders' powers and abilities, like Green Lantern's powers and abilities, were limited only by their personal strength of will. [39] [40]
The Green Lantern Corps is a fictional intergalactic law enforcement agency and superhero team appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the planet Oa. According to DC continuity, the Green Lantern Corps have been in existence for three billion years. Currently operating amongst the 3600 "sectors" of the universe, there are 7204 members. Each Green Lantern is given a power ring, a weapon granting the use of incredible abilities that are directed by the wearer's own willpower.
Harold"Hal"Jordan, one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created in 1959 by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane, and first appeared in Showcase #22. Hal Jordan is a reinvention of the previous Green Lantern, who appeared in 1940s comic books as the character Alan Scott.
Martin Nodell was an American cartoonist and commercial artist, best known as the creator of the Golden Age superhero Green Lantern. Some of his work appeared under the pen name Mart Dellon.
Parallax is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps. It is the embodiment of the emotion of fear, and serves as the power source for the Sinestro Corps.
Katma Tui is a comic book superhero, an extraterrestrial from the planet Korugar, and a member of the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. She is the Green Lantern successor of the supervillain Sinestro and the predecessor of Sinestro's daughter, Soranik Natu.
John Stewart is one of the principal fictional superheroes known as Green Lantern appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams, and first appeared in Green Lantern #87. Stewart's original design was based on actor Sidney Poitier and he was one of the first African-American superheroes to appear in DC Comics.
Alan Ladd Wellington Scott is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, and the first character to bear the name Green Lantern. He fights evil with the aid of his mystical ring, which grants him a variety of powers. He was created by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger, first appearing in the comic book All-American Comics #16, published on July 10, 1940.
Air Wave is the name of three superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first two were active in the Golden Age of Comic Books. The third appears in comics in the 21st century.
Green Lantern: Rebirth is a six-issue monthly American comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Ethan Van Sciver. Published by DC Comics between October 2004 and May 2005, the series featured characters from throughout the sixty-year history of Green Lantern comics.
A power ring is an object featured in American comic books published by DC Comics. The power ring first appeared in All-American Comics #16 on July 14, 1940.
Black Hand is a supervillain and a recurring foe to Green Lantern.
Nekron is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps. Created by Mike W. Barr, Len Wein and Joe Staton, the character, who exists as an embodiment of Death, first appeared in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #2. He is the primary antagonist in the 2009-2010 Blackest Night storyline.
The many incarnations of the DC Comics superhero Green Lantern have appeared in numerous media over the years.
The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of corporeal revenants appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of deceased fictional characters in zombie form that seek to eliminate all life from the DC Universe.
"Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in issues. Blackest Night involves Nekron, a personified force of death who reanimates deceased superheroes and seeks to eliminate all life and emotion from the universe. Geoff Johns has identified the series' central theme as emotion. The crossover was published for eight months as a limited series and in both the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps comic titles. Various other limited series and tie-ins, including an audio drama from Darker Projects, were published.
The Indigo Tribe is a fictional organization that appears in DC Comics publications, primarily those of the Green Lantern series. In the DC Universe, it is one of the seven major groups known to comprise the Lantern Corps. The group was created by comic book writer Geoff Johns and comic book artist Ethan Van Sciver. It made its debut in the issue #25 of Green Lantern in December 2007.
Green Lantern is an ongoing American comic-book series featuring the DC Comics heroes of the same name. The character's first incarnation, Alan Scott, appeared in All-American Comics #16, and was later spun off into the first volume of Green Lantern in 1941. After 38 issues, that series was cancelled in 1949. When the Silver Age Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was introduced, the character starred in a new volume of Green Lantern starting in 1960.
Brightest Day is a 2010–2011 crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of a year-long comic book maxiseries that began in April 2010, and a number of tie-in books. The story is a direct follow-up to the Blackest Night storyline that depicts the aftermath of the events of that storyline on the DC Universe.
Tomar-Re is a character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. He is a member of the Green Lantern Corps, as well as the predecessor and father of Tomar-Tu.
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