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Green Lantern

John Stewart’s Evolution: From Green Lantern Backup to Corps Leader

Among the Green Lanterns from Earth, John Stewart is one of the most popular and he may be gaining more fans soon as he is one of the main characters in the Green Lantern TV Show coming on HBO–played by actor Aaron Pierre.

Created by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams in Green Lantern vol. 2 #87 (1971), John Stewart was one of the first African-American superheroes to appear in DC Comics. Still, he didn’t immediately become one of the most prominent ones.

In fact, after this first appearance, he only came back four years later for a team-up with the Justice League of America (in Justice League of America #110, in 1974). He then continued to pop up only sporadically in Green Lantern comics until the mid-1980s with Crisis on Infinite Earths and his time as the main protector of sector 2814 in Green Lantern (from #182 to #200).

It was a slow start but John Stewart’s cosmic adventures are still going strong today.

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Jessica Cruz Reading Order, member of the Green Lantern Corps

The Green Lantern Corps has at least 7,200 members! It would be easy to be just one among many, living in the shadows of brighter stars like Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner. Despite initially being forced to accept the famous ring and join the Corps, Jessica Cruz quickly made a name for herself with DC Comics readers.

For her co-creator Geoff Johns, Jessica Cruz is all “about fear.” In a Comic Book Resources interview, he explained that her character was about “a lot of emotional fears and someone dealing with crippling anxiety, depression, and worry. That was a totally different type of fear to tackle.” Jessica Cruz embodied this, starting with the ring as a curse—from Earth-3’s Power Ring—and eventually overcoming her own fears and personal struggles to earn a Green Lantern ring. Johns felt it was “a compelling story and a very different one than the other Lanterns.”

Jessica Cruz wasn’t the most willing member of the Green Lantern Corps, but she has left her mark, becoming an inspiration to readers facing anxiety. Like many DC superheroes and fellow ring-bearers, her journey is full of challenges, obstacles, and the determination to face her fears.
 
Discover now our Jessica Cruz reading order, guiding you through the essential comics and story arcs featuring the first female human Green Lantern!

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Green Lantern: The Emotional Spectrum Explained

When Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, made his debut in All-American Comics #16 (1940), created by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell, his powers came from a mystical green flame contained within a lantern, which he used to craft a ring. This power ring was magical. Those who followed were not.

With the Silver Age came test pilot Hal Jordan who became the official new Green Lantern in John Broome and Gil Kane’s comics Showcase #22 (1959). Like Alan, Hal got a ring, but this one was given to him by Abin Sur, a Green Lantern who crash-landed on Earth. This alien was a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force created by the Guardians of the Universe, immortal beings who watched over the cosmos from the planet Oa.

This new Power Ring was powered by the Central Power Battery that was installed on Oa by the Guardians of the Universe, immortal beings who watched over the cosmos. Each ring is charged by a personal lantern-shaped Power Battery–which is connected to the Central Power Battery—and allows those who, like Hal Jordan, were chosen to were one, to tap into the emotional spectrum, specifically the green light of willpower.

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Kyle Rayner Reading Order (Green Lantern)

Following the 1993’s Reign of Supermen saga, Hal Jordan–the main Green Lantern of that era–is pushed on a downward spiral during the famous Emerald Twilight storyline that will have grave consequences for everybody. Hal lost his mind and destroyed what was the heart of the Green Lantern, killing most of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the process, before going away for a time. During his absence, one surviving Guardian, Ganthet, visited Earth to find a replacement Lantern. He found Kyle Rayner.

Editor Kevin Dooley was faced with dropping sales and decided to let go of Hal Jordan, now considered a hero from a bygone era but a lot of readers, and introduced a new Green Lantern for the 1990s. As it was the era of the Death of Superman and backbreaking Batman, the trend was destruction and Hal (and Coast City) had to be destroyed to let an All-New Green Lantern take his place.

In Green Lantern (vol. 3) #48, writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks introduced Kyle Rayner, a freelance comic book artist working in Los Angeles. Unlike Hal Jordan, Kyle was not a fearless and somewhat perfect hero. In fact, he had his problems and knew fear, but it was his capacity to overcome it that led Ganthet to give him what was at the time the last working Green Lantern power ring.

Without the Green Lantern Corps to help him, Kyle had to learn the hard way how his ring works. When his girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, was murdered by the supervillain Major Force (who infamously stuffed her body in a refrigerator), Kyle was forced to confront the seriousness of his new job as a Lantern. He moved to New York and decided to become the best Lantern he could be–this storyline was the origin of controversy, but the Green Lantern series survived and thrived with his new hero.

Since then, Kyle Rayner joined the Justice League, achieved godhood, helped create a new group of Guardians of the Galaxy, helped carry on the legacy of the Corps, and fought Parallax and a lot of powerful enemies.

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Who are the Green Lanterns? A guide of the Emerald Warriors of the DC Universe

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In the DC Universe, there are multiple heroes known as The Flash or Robin, but not as many as there are Green Lanterns. The reason is that, even if the name came with one hero in the 1940s, it became a title. Being a Green Lantern is being a peacekeeper in the Galaxy. It’s being a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic law enforcement organization created by the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the planet Oa, in order to combat evil and create an orderly universe. 

In 1959, the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott was replaced by Hal Jordan. Introduced in the pages of Showcase #22 in a story written by John Broome and drawn by Gil Kane, Hal was a fearless jet pilot who received a power ring from an Alien named Abin Sur, a member of the Green Lantern Corps who’d just crashed on Earth. The idea by editor Julius Schwartz was to go from the vigilante type of stories told with Alan Scott to a full sci-fi reinvention with Hal Jordan.

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Green Lantern Reading Order

Created in 1940 by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger in DC Comics’ All-American Comics #16 (July 1940), the first superhero named Green Lantern was Alan Scott–one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America.

Alan Scott was the first, but certainly not the last. He was a Golden Age hero (read all about Alan Scott here) and, with the Silver Age, a new Green Lantern appeared: Hal Jordan. This test pilot was given a power ring and a battery (the famous lantern) by a dying alien named Abin Sur whose spaceship crashed on Earth. The ring wants only go to someone “utterly honest and born without fear,” and there is more than one human being fitting that description as new Green Lanterns from Earth appeared in the DC Comics Universe through the decades: John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Simon Baz, Jessica Cruz, and more.

Once chosen by the ring, Hal and the others automatically joined the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic law enforcement organization founded by the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the planet Oa. The Green Lanterns must protect the 3600 “sectors” of the universe–Earth is in Sector 2814.

The Lanterns have only one weapon, but it’s the most powerful one in the DC universe: the power ring. Those who wear a ring gain incredible abilities and control them with their own willpower. The ring protects the Lanterns and, with it, they can form constructs of Oan energy: thoughts become physical constructs. There are downsides, like the need to recharge the rings or the effects of the color yellow (for a time thought).

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Green Lantern Rebirth Reading Order

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After almost five years, the New 52 era came to an end to make way for a new era, a new beginning: Rebirth! It had, from a continuity point of view, minimal impact on the Green Lanterns, as their story simply continues from the previous era.

From a more behind-the-scene angle, new creative teams worked on the title. Or titles should I write, as the main Green Lantern series was replaced by two books. Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz headlined Green Lanterns, written by Sam Humphries for its first 32 issues and for the most part penciled by Robson Rocha. Humphries was followed by Tim Seeley (#33-47), Aaron Gillespie (#48-49), and Dan Jurgens (#50-57) with art from Ronan Cliquet, Carlo Barberi, V. Ken Marion, Mike Perkins and Marco Santucci. Our two Green Lanterns were also members of the Justice League during this period. At the same time, Hal Jordan was still flying with writer Robert Venditti and artist Rafa Sandoval in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. 

Things changed not long after Dark Nights: Metal. Grant Morrison took over and teamed up with British comic book artist Liam Sharp for a run on Green Lantern. There was also some shake-up in the Justice League, following the No Justice arc, with the creation of different teams. Simon Baz stayed with the classic Justice League, but Jessica Crews joined the Justice League Odyssey, a team formed to bring order to the newly created space sector known as the Ghost Sector. And a little bit later, a new Green Lantern was introduced…

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Green Lantern New 52 Reading Order, with the Green Lantern Corps, Red Lanterns, New Guardians and Sinestro

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Green Lantern New 52 Reading Order

A new era started in the DC Universe with the New 52. But the impact on the Green Lantern was quite limited. Geoff Johns took over creative duties on Green Lantern with the limited series Green Lantern: Rebirth in 2004 and was still the main writer for this relaunch with Doug Mahnke as penciler.

Like most DC characters, Green Lantern Hal Jordan was five years younger than his previous incarnations but there was no change in his history — all of Johns’ run on the Green Lantern title was still part of the continuity. During Geoff Johns’ time, Green Lantern Corps vol. 3 was written by Peter Tomasi, and the new Red Lantern series (written by Peter Milligan) was launched, as well as the Green Lantern: New Guardians series (written by Tony Bedard).

After issue #20, all the teams were changed with writer Robert Venditti and artist Billy Tan taking over as the main creative team for Green Lantern Vol. 5. Venditti also co-wrote Green Lantern Corps vol. 3 with Van Jensen before the latter became the sole writer. The Red Lanterns series continued with Charles Soule (#21-37) and Landry Q. Walker (#38-40), and the Green Lantern: New Guardians series was written by Justin Jordan (#21-40). The new Sinestro was launched, written by Cullen Bunn.

What to read before Green Lantern New 52?

First, you can check out our Green Lantern Reading Order which covers the history of the GL characters from start to finish. But it may be a bit too big. After all, we are here for the New 52 era. The DC Universe was rebooted after the Flashpoint event. It is not required reading, but you could take a look at it before reading anything else.

If New 52 was presented as a jumping point for new readers, Geoff Johns was the main writer for Green Lantern for almost 7 years at this stage, and, as said above, his run stayed in continuity. The events in Green Lantern Vol. 5 take place immediately after the last two books, War of the Green Lanterns and Aftermath. Don’t hesitate to check out Geoff Johns’ massive and celebrated run before entering the New 52 era. 

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Alan Scott, the comic origins of DC’s first Green Lantern

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If Hal Jordan can be considered the most famous Green Lantern, he was not the first human to bear the name. That title belongs to Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of the Golden Age.

A selfless and dedicated man, Alan Scott could only become a role model for others and inspired other men to take up the fight. Even though he serves as an inspiration for many Green Lanterns, Alan Scott always holds himself to a higher standard than anyone else.

Though Alan Scott has never been a member of the Green Lantern Corps, he was a founding member of the Justice Society of America. With or without other superheroes, Alan Scott always fought to protect others and choose to make his emerald glow a sign of hope and a source of inspiration for decades…

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The Final Night Reading Order, 1996 DC crossover event

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Published in 1996, The Final Night is a DC Comics crossover event written by Karl Kesel with art by Stuart Immonen. For a change, it was not about a Super-Villain fighting the Heroes, but about an extraterrestrial entity called the Sun-Eater that envelopes and extinguishes the Sun, causing Earth to freeze and wither into ecological collapse. It’s an End of the World scenario in which heroes, villains, and everybody else had to work together to surmount the impossible.

Here is the official synopsis: In The Final Night, the heroes and citizens of Earth face the impending end of the universe. When a cosmic force of nature known as the Sun-Eater extinguishes the Sun, Earth is thrust into its final night. Deprived of the massive star’s illumination and heat, the world experiences a catastrophe of epic proportions.

But even in a situation devoid of hope, the world’s greatest champions struggle on against the inevitable. Featuring many of the heroes of the DC Universe, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman, this book graphically illustrates the true definition of a hero, as Hal Jordan, the former Green Lantern, makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the world.

What to Read Before The Final Night?

The Final Night is a self-contained event, but you may want to be familiar with the character of Parallax to have a better understanding of his decisions in this story. First, the famous Emerald Twilight storyline (Green Lantern Vol. 3 #48–50), collected in:

Second, the event “Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!” You can find our reading order here.

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