Green Lantern

[Green Lantern]

Some time after this, Schwartz invited O’Neil to take over Green Lantern. Wanting to represent his own political beliefs in comics and take on social issues of the late sixties and early seventies, O’Neil came up with the idea of pitting Hal Jordan, who as an intergalactic cop stood for not only Law and Order but The Establishment, against Oliver Queen, who O’Neil had characterized as a profoundly outspoken liberal and stood for the Counter-Culture Movement[citation needed]. The first issue he wrote had Green Lantern capturing a street "punk" who was pushing around a man. All around him, people start throwing things at the bewildered Jordan. As he steps in to attack, he is stopped by Green Arrow, who explains that the man he defended was a slum lord "fat cat" and goes even further to show Lantern the conditions of the slum. At the roof, in a now famous scene, an elderly African-American man grills Jordan as to why he has not done much for the "black skins" of his own planet while helping out other different colored aliens of other planets.

[Green Lantern]

Following Schwartz's approval of the story, Neal Adams was brought in to replace Gil Kane, much to the surprise of Denny O'Neil. And yet, the pair had already been working together on Batman (where Adams successfully reconstructed the character into a more dramatic "Dark Knight"), Adams had been the one to redesign Green Arrow's costume, and the artist had a growing reputation for one who did not back down and pushed for innovative, good ideas and therefore, was the perfect candidate to work with O'Neil.

[Green Lantern]

The pair tackled a number of social issues including corruption, sexism, cults, consumerism, the environment, racism, poverty, and even (subtly) child molestation[citation needed]. However, none were more shocking and controversial[citation needed] than the issue explored in the famous "Snowbirds Don't Fly" issues #85 and #86. Neal Adams drew the cover, which showed Green Arrow’s youthful side-kick, Speedy, shooting heroin. Editor Julius Schwartz did not want it published[citation needed]. Neither did publisher Carmine Infantino[citation needed]. But over at Marvel Comics, Stan Lee had green-lit Amazing Spider-Man #96, which featured pills and presented an anti-drug message without the Comics Code Authority seal. Facing opposition and controversy, the Comics Code Authority revised its rules in regard to what could and could not be presented in comic books and, while still restrictive, became more lenient. As a result[citation needed], DC approved Adams’ cover and O’Neil wrote a two-part story involving drugs with Speedy being hooked. Green Arrow, who was usually presented as being the more understanding and mentoring of the Arrow/Lantern duo, now had his world turned upside-down, not only unable to understand his own part in leading Speedy toward drugs, but even coming off as uncompassionate toward the troubled youth. With this story, Adams and O’Neil not only tackled a difficult social ill, but looked inward at the ways that their “champion of the everyman” could be wrong.

[Green Lantern]

New York Mayor John V. Lindsay wrote a letter to DC in response to the issue commending them, which was printed in issue #86.

Due to losing sales Green Lantern/Green Arrow was canceled, one of many titles that ended publication under the reign of Carmine Infantino. Julius Schwartz had a reprint of an older story published for issue #88 and saw the comic he began back in 1959 come to an end in 1972 with issue #89. However, he had Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams do one last story together, stretched out over Flash #217-219 as a backup story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Jordan

[Green Lantern]

Three panels ushering in the O'Neil/Adams run in Green Lantern #76.

[Green Lantern]

Modern Era

In December 1989, following the cancellation of Green Lantern Corps at issue #224 (May 1988) (originally Green Lantern vol. 2 until the title was changed with issue #201 (Jun. 1986)), DC made Green Lantern and his adventures exclusive to Action Comics Weekly for a bit less than a year in 1988-1989. The origin of Hal Jordan was retold/retconned (in a similar manner to Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and John Byrne's The Man of Steel) in the 6-issue limited series Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, written by Jim Owsley (issue #1), Keith Giffen & Gerard Jones (#2-6) with art by M.D. Bright and Romeo Tanghal. This story, published between the second and third volumes of Green Lantern is chronologically the first Hal Jordan story in the modern day post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity. The story is followed by Emerald Dawn II. The six-issue limited series (released from April to September 1991, again by the Emerald Dawn I creative team of writers Keith Giffen & Gerard Jones and artists M.D. Bright and Romeo Tanghal).

In 1994, the Green Lantern books were becoming less profitable, so DC Comics decided to do away with Hal Jordan, hoping to replace him with a new character Kyle Rayner, in order to attract new readers to the failing title. The "Emerald Twilight" storyline began in Green Lantern (vol. 3) #48 (January 1994). Following the complete destruction of his home town Coast City by the villain Mongul, Hal Jordan descends into madness. Jordan went on a rampage, destroying the Green Lantern Corps, killing his friend Kilowog and all of the Guardians except for Ganthet.

Jordan's origin was revamped again in 2008, this time by Geoff Johns in the fourth volume of Green Lantern. This story, Secret Origin, is Hal Jordan's New Earth origin in the post-Infinite Crisis continuity, and also features a new villain, Atrocitus, who will appear in 2009's GL crossover The Blackest Night. He currently has one hand.

[Green Lantern]

Green Lantern History at Large

It is important to note that Green Lantern is something of an anomaly in the greater DC Comics universe. While most titles were "rebooted" with the 1980s Crisis on Infinite Earths, Green Lantern's continuity remained (for the most part) intact with relatively few exceptions (the only rule being, if a future issue contradicted something that came before, the subsequent issue would have precedence).

The second Green Lantern is Harold "Hal" Jordan, who in comics published in 1959 was a second-generation test pilot (having followed in the footsteps of his father, Martin Jordan) who was given the power ring and battery (lantern) by a dying alien named Abin Sur.[5] When Abin Sur's spaceship crashed on Earth, 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" (which would be later retconned in Green Lantern vol. 4 as someone instead who would "overcome great fear").

[Green Lantern]

The Beginning

Hal Jordan had a longtime on-again off-again love affair with his boss, Carol Ferris. He fought colorful 1960s-published 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), where he became friends with the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen. Later, Hal became friends with Barry's nephew, Wally West, the third Flash (then known as Kid Flash).

Near the end of the sixties, Hal decided to finally propose to Carol only to discover that she'd already agreed to marry another man named Jason Belmore. Heartbroken, Hal quit his job as a test pilot at Ferris Aircraft and began traveling around America in a series of different jobs including a commercial pilot, an insurance investigator and a traveling toy salesman (where met and began dating Olivia Reynolds). The lack of interest led to diminishing sales on Green Lantern, prompting a startling new direction...

[Green Lantern]

Cover to Showcase #22 (October 1959), the first appearance of Hal Jordan. Art by Gil Kane

[Green Lantern]

Hard Traveling Heroes

In comics published in 1970, torn between dealing with the intergalactic problems of the Guardians and his individual, personal issues on Earth, Jordan traveled 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 skins".

The Guardians assigned one of their own to accompany the pair for a time, while temporarily reducing the power of their insubordinate Lantern's ring[citation needed]. Meanwhile, a new character was introduced named John Stewart, who was designated by the Guardians to assume the role of the Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814 should Jordan ever become unable to perform his duties. John was chosen for this task when Jordan's previous back-up, Guy Gardner, was injured saving a young girl during an earthquake. Gardner later recovered, but was left a vegetable when his Power Battery exploded and hurled him into the Phantom Zone and the Anti-Matter Universe of Qward.

[Green Lantern]

During this period, Hal had fallen in love with psychic Kari Limbo, whom he met following Gardner's presumed death. When Gardner was discovered alive on Hal & Kari's wedding day, Kari left Hal at the altar to care for Gardner, now in a coma. Soon afterwards, Hal dissolved his partnership with Green Arrow and returned to Ferris Aircraft to work as a test pilot once again.

[Green Lantern]

Green Lantern vol. 2, #76 (April 1970). Cover art by Neal Adams.

[Green Lantern]

The 80s Exile

In comics published 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 of 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 upon 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 his dimension for a while to consort with their female counterparts, the Zamarons. The new Corps, with seven members residing on Earth, including several aliens, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner. For a while, Jordan was romantically involved with an 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.

[Green Lantern]

1990s

During this time, the character's origin story is re-told and expanded in two limited series by Gerard Jones, Emerald Dawn and Emerald Dawn II. The first series expanded the role of the Corps in his origin and also provided more details about his childhood and his relationship with his father and brothers, while the sequel detailed the role of Jordan in the downfall of Sinestro.

In the 1992 prestige format graphic novel Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale (ISBN 1-56389-026-7) (story by Larry Niven, script & art by John Byrne), Hal Jordan first encounters Ganthet, one of the Guardians of the Universe. He asks Hal to help Ganthet battle a renegade Guardian, Dawlakispokpok (or Dawly, for short) who has attempted to use a time machine to change history.

[Green Lantern]

In the 1994 Emerald Twilight storyline in Green Lantern vol. 3, #48-50, the villainous alien Mongul comes to Earth in a plot to take advantage of the death of Superman. Jordan defeats Mongul, but not before Coast City (Jordan's former home) is destroyed and all of its inhabitants murdered. He tries to use his ring to recreate the city, but the Guardians condemned this use of the ring for personal gain and demand that Jordan come to Oa for trial. Angered at what he saw as the Guardians' ungrateful and callous behavior, Jordan goes insane and attacks Oa to seize the full power of the Central Power Battery, destroying the Corps in the process. He then renounces his life as Green Lantern, adopting the name Parallax.