By Kulbir Mann
Beware my (diluted and weakened) Power, Green Lantern’s Light!
The Green Lantern world boggles my mind. It is just too big; there are too many heroes and too many species!
The Green Lantern world boggles my mind. It is just too big; there are too many heroes and too many species! Essentially the writers have infinite universes and species at their creative disposal, but they have shaken the Green Lantern world to the core, repeatedly, leaving it in a completely jumbled mess. They were part of the New 52 reshuffle, but did not follow suit, instead they landed a further two titles in the form of Red Lanterns and New Guardians. Many of the DC books returned to a simpler, less complex, restarted universe, meaning they could create simpler stories and focus on some core ideals. The Lantern world is as intricate and confusing as ever. The point I am trying to make is that we have had a succession of major crossover, lantern life altering events, that have all returned life back a status quo. They even sometimes introduce a new character to replace another, who then carries on into another sub plot. No single character alone can carry a plot to fruition, there is a need for everyone to be involved, which is diluting the established characters and making if difficult for new ones to shine. I think the rationale for this lies in the GL history books, and the grandeur of its development. Let us look at a little bit of this and focus on Earth lanterns to examine why.
We cannot begin with anyone else but Hal Jordan, the man without fear. His story is a classic origin tome, the man who looked up to his heroic father, who was taken from him far too young. He lives his life, taking risks, trying to follow in his father’s footsteps, knowing there will be nothing more fearful than living without his Dad.
We cannot begin with anyone else but Hal Jordan, the man without fear. His story is a classic origin tome.
After Abin Sur crashes near Coast City, the ring sought out Hal and he became one of, if not the greatest, Green Lanterns there has ever been. There have been some classic adventures and well-written stories. He has had an archenemy in the form of Sinestro, who claimed to be the greatest prior to Jordan. With all heroes there must be a fall. Hal’s came when his hometown of Coast City was destroyed by Mogul and the Cyborg Superman. After defeating them he recreated his home using the power ring, and started using it for personal use. His friends and family were gone and he was powerless to bring them back, except that he wasn’t. The Guardians tried to stop him, but he went on an all out killing spree and essentially destroyed the entire corps and the guardians, on a rampage for more power. The image of him with multiple green power rings is genuinely harrowing. He accepts his newfound dominance and takes on the mantle Parallax.
The image of Hal with multiple green power rings is genuinely harrowing.
He was ultimately taken down in the Zero Hour Arc, where his former friends and superhero allies fire an arrow into his heart. After this injury, he realises his transgressions, and goes about reigniting the sun and refreshing the universe. However he does not die and spends a long period of time in purgatory, as a host for the Spectre; the spirit of vengeance. This was where he spent most of the 90’s until his rebirth storyline, and his promotion back to front and centre of the Green Lanterns. He is a character that is incredibly single minded and selfish. His love for Carol and others was always secondary to the power ring, and this realisation only occurred when he was stripped of his ring. He has charm and charisma but ultimately this can emanate his conceitedness. It is a moral imperative to do good, which is why, with his immense bout of stubbornness and will, he became the greatest Lantern there is. In the current age little is said about the destruction of the corps and he seemed to have moved on, well I guess he has saved the universe a few times since then! During his incarceration as Spectre, there was another who carried the GL title and wielded the only ring in existence.
With all heroes there must be a fall.
Kyle Rayner was the lantern that kept the Green Lanterns alive. After the destruction of the Corp, the remaining Guardian Ganthet takes the remnants of Jordan’s original ring and takes it to Earth. He finds a freelance graphic artist, down on his luck, struggling for money and bestows upon him the greatest weapon in the universe. Unfortunately for Kyle he was given the power of the ring and had to learn to use it quickly, as Major Force kills his girlfriend and leaves her in a refrigerator. After her death he vowed to be the greatest lantern he could be, though he was also the only lantern alive at that moment.
Ganthet finds a freelance graphic artist, down on his luck, struggling for money and bestows upon him the greatest weapon in the universe.
He then joined the Justice league and was part of the defence against Parallax. He holds Hal in a full nelson lock, while Green Arrow fires an arrow into his chest. Kyle’s style of construct was more imaginative and creative, meaning his usefulness in a battle was more unpredictable. He takes a more prominent role when he recaptures the Green Lantern energy left by Hal Jordan after defeating Oblivion. He becomes the all poweful Ion, who is almost godlike in power but struggles with the responsibility of his immense ability. He sacrifices this to regenerate the central power battery on Oa and recreate the Guardians. The Green Lantern Corps slowly returns, and Kyle becomes their torchbearer, the man who carried the Lantern light to its resurgence. He is responsible for the return of Hal Jordan, as it is he who realises the truth about the Parallax entity. It has been hiding in Hal all this time and finally awakens in the Spectre. The yellow power entity, which fuels the Sinestro corps in the future, escapes and is taken down by the GLC and Hal is returned to his human form.
The Green Lantern Corps slowly returns, and Kyle becomes their torchbearer, the man who carried the Lantern light to its resurgence.
Kyle was chosen as a green lantern because “he would have to do”. It is later revealed that it was his emotional side, which would allow him to overcome fear by embracing his feelings. This is something that the Guardians never could, and Kyle represented the opposite type of Lantern to Hal Jordan. He is not overly aggressive, he is kind to others and he is able to empathise. He is affected by his emotions, and feels for those who he hurts. This may not be what you want in a hero, but he is able to function despite these thoughts. He is able to understand his thoughts and actions in order to strategize a victory. However this was to become his downfall as it is his emotional lability that allowed Sinestro to fabricate a story of Kyle being responsible for his mother’s death. He succumbs to fear and become the second incarnation of Parallax. The Sinestro Corps War saw the unification of the green lanterns to take down the yellow fear entity corps of Sinestro. Peace was once again restored, until the next big crossover.
We may have come a long way in our little history lesson, but we have two further lanterns to discuss yet!
John Stewart is an architect and a former US marine.
John Stewart is an architect and a former US marine. He was recruited to the Green Lantern corps as support to Hal Jordan and to Kyle Rayner when required. He often took the Green Lantern chair at the Justice League headquarters when required. His constructs are immensely detailed and engineered, performing an efficient task. His ability with a sniper rifle makes him a great marksman. He carries heavy responsibility with him on a daily basis, because he made an arrogant mistake that led to the destruction of the planet Xanshi. He is a proficient tactician, marksman and incredibly loyal, but he is always serious and can come across as dull. Emotions do not come into play when it comes to the mission, and he can make the decision others cannot. During the War of the Lanterns he makes the choice to destroy Mogo, the green lantern planet. The destruction of not only another world, but a Green Lantern. John is opposite to Kyle in the fact that he does not reveal his emotion easily; he is more similar to Hal but doesn’t socialise well or boast about his abilities. He brings reason and rationale to the corps and is key to battles that ensue; he was probably the Justice League’s most useful member.
Guy Gardener is a very different character to the others; he is a douchebag.
Guy Gardener is a very different character to the others; he is a douchebag. He is the second human to wield the ring, after he was chosen whilst saving a kid from a bus accident. He has always been loud, obnoxious, cocky and reckless, but most importantly his short fuse and predilection to violence makes him angry and unpredictable. He was never as good as he thought he was, and injury and recklessness cost him his sporting career and his job. His life is spent in continual shame from being expelled from the police force and disgracing his father’s family legacy. There has been a tale told in the Booster Gold book, that insinuates the ring could have easily have chosen Guy instead of Hal. He certainly has the will, but never had the focus or forethought of his actions. Guy has had his role in the Justice League of America, wielded a yellow ring, played the hero with intertwined Vuldarian warrior DNA and opened a pub on Oa! Despite all this, Guy wears a façade as he is really a man of passion, be it negative or positive; he wears his heart on his sleeve. This is very apparent over the last couple of years in the Green Lantern arcs with his friendships with Kyle and John and his love of Ice. He has mass quantities of loyalty, dedication and love to give. He continually fights to remove his family shame and is determined to be the greatest hero there is. Overcoming adversity and his previous transgressions gives meaning to Guy’s will, which is why he was chosen as a Green Lantern and why he brings something unique to the GL corps.
You can see that we have already had some epic battles over the years. Each character has their own personalities and depth. Now take these four characters through the Sinestro Corps War, the Blackest Night and then the War of the Lanterns, all coming out the other side alive and look where we have ended up, in the same place. Most books have one character that is the staple, but the lantern books have at least four. Create a world where there are other colour spectrums and power guardians, make them fight together and destroy each other. How can we up the scale even further? Give them three books to go round, GL is almost always Hal centric, GLC is for John but mainly Guy and NG is a book focused on Kyle. They all move along in their side plots but ultimately they will reconvene together, for another final battle. Have we not created a library full of earth shattering, timeline shaking, dead rising, story arcs to last a lifetime? Where do you take these guys next? Can they keep saving the universe? Are there even bigger bad guys to face? Apparently so as the Rise of the Third Army is currently taking place. Not only have the Guardians turned their back on the lanterns, they have created a collective hive mind that will change the universe FOREVER!!!!!
Where do you take these guys next? Can they keep saving the universe?
What can we do to stop them? I am not sure that four lanterns are enough because out of nowhere we appear to have added a fifth. Given that Hal and Kyle have single handedly destroyed and resurrected the GLC, we now have another universal threat that they may need help with. Is Simon Baz that person? What does he bring to the table given that he seems to be a risk taking stunt driver, reckless, full of himself and clearly takes care of his family? Does he not sound a little like Hal? Oh do not forget that he is Middle Eastern, Muslim, and another citizen of the United States. I am hoping that his outward appearance is not all that is different to his character. A fifth lantern needs to bring a new element to the lantern core, something that we have not seen before, apart from the fact he wields a gun. But I worry that there will be a return to status quo with a new set of guardians and five refreshed green lanterns.
I am not sure that four lanterns are enough because out of nowhere we appear to have added a fifth.
The Sinestro Corps war was incredible because it had an underlying theme, fear vs will. After the victory Hal goes to see Sinestro in his cell where they have a superb conversation about who really won the war. Though Sinestro lost, he claimed he had won because the lantern corps gave into fear. This was brilliant psychological warfare and is one of the reasons why Sinestro is so amazingly popular. Blackest Night was interesting because it allowed the whole DC universe to face up to their inner demons, in the form of the living dead. There was a possibility of redemption and peace, but most of the time it ended in fighting! However it was in interesting concept and the story was well played out. Since then I have been thoroughly uninspired, and the stories remind me of Larfreeze, where it is all about gaining more power to become victorius. Even the third army story is focused around the Guardians becoming stronger from a secret power source. It is a basic epitome of comic writing, heroes have powers that make them stronger then others, so they do good and help to achieve justice. This is so dull and played out in so many ways, that in the modern age we need to excel beyond the physical manifestations of power. I love the lanterns I really do, but sometimes I wish there was more time devoted to the characters created so far. They all have sufficient depth to progress in their own stories without the need for massive crossover tales.
Maybe Ron Marz had it right when Hal destroyed the GLC, they had become too big and crazy to be sustainable and the reset button was hit, leaving poor Kyle alone to continue the legacy. Maybe their imaginations weren’t big enough but creativity or not, the GLC has expanded to extreme borders at the moment and there is too much to hold onto and control. With all the lantern corps and five central characters, bear in mind I have forgotten the essential archenemy/good guy Sinestro, I do not think we can have more all-encompassing stories. I hope we spend time with the characters we love instead of creating new ones, dilating the old and designing new bad guys that are impossible to beat. The mantra states;
In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those that worship evil’s might, beware my power, green lanterns light!
“Beware my power” has been taken too literally over the years, and its time to bring some thoughtful, character based tales. Make us believe again in the GL power again, it just doesn’t seem enough to beware of anymore.
For more comic views and reviews follow Kulbir on Twitter at @Kooliebear and check out his website over at houseofflyingscalpels.com
Posted on February 7th, 2013
Category: DEVIL IN THE DETAIL, NEWS & VIEWS, REVIEWS
Tags: Comic Reviews, DC Comics, Devil in the Detail, Green lantern, Green lantern corps, Guy Gardner, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kulbir Mann, Simon Baz