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Green Lantern is also the name of several comic book series starring the various individuals who have used the name.
Green Lantern (sometimes called The Green Lantern in the early days) was created by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger and first appeared in All-American Comics #16 ( 1940). This Green Lantern was Alan Scott, an engineer who had come into possession of a magic lantern. From this he crafted a power ring which gave him the power to control any metal object, and which had to be charged every 24 hours by touching it to the lantern for a time. His powers were soon retconned such that his ring was able to affect any material except wood.
Scott was a founding member of the Justice Society of America, and starred in his own title, Green Lantern, during the 1940s. His adventures during the Golden Age of comic books came to an end when superheroes fell into disfavor in the industry in the early 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb., when the JSA's adventures ended with All-Star ComicsAll-Star Comics was a series published by DC Comics. It was notable for portraying the Justice Society of America, the first team of superheros. External links DC Comics titles. #57 ( 1951Events January events January 9 United Nations headquarters officially opens ( New York City). January 15 Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald," wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in We).
A few years later, DC Comics had successfully revived The FlashThe Golden Age Flash as created by Gardner Fox & Harry Lampert The Flash is a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe with the power of "super-speed", including the ability to run and generally move extremely fast, superhuman reflexes, and the abil in a new incarnation, with the name and powers being used by an entirely new character, and it was decided that Green Lantern would be similarly revived. This Green Lantern was Hal Jordan, a test pilot who was given the ring by a dying alienFor the 1979 movie, see Alien (movie). For live organisms which are not from Earth, see Extraterrestrial life Aliens are foreigners to their surroundings. The word is commonly used in law to denote non- citizens of the country of their whereabouts, and in, and who became a member of the Green Lantern CorpsJustice League Unlimited The Green Lantern Corps was a fictional, intergalactic police force of Green Lanterns that existed in the pages of DC Comics, chosen to patrol the vast reaches of the Universe, fighting evil whever it could be found. It was founde, an interstellar organization of policeFor the band, see The Police. For the Polish town, see Police, Poland. Police forces are government organisations ostensibly charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order. The word comes from the French, and less directly from the Greek pol overseen by the Guardians of the Universe. The Corps' rings were powerless against anything colored yellow. Jordan's creation was motivated by a desire to make him more of a science fiction hero (editor Julius Schwartz being a longtime SF fan and literary agent) to boost sales.
The Green Lantern Corps bears many similarities to the Lensmen from the stories of E.E. Doc Smith. The Lensmen, who hail from various alien races, bear a device known as the Lens which gives them enhanced physical and mental abilities, bequeathed to them by the advanced and benevolent Arisians. The Lensmen are the vanguard of the Galactic Patrol, an interstellar police force. However, both John Broome, writer of the early Hal Jordan tales, and Schwartz denied any connection. Broome, in particular, denied all knowledge of Smith's stories. Schwartz also denied reading them, although he admitted that, as an SF fan, he had of course heard of them.
This Green Lantern was a member of the Justice League of America and starred in his own title, and eventually met his predecessor, who was established to live on the parallel world of Earth-Two, separate from Jordan's Earth-One. The two Lanterns struck up a close friendship and periodically come to each other's aid in various adventures.
By the late 1960s, however, Green Lantern's popularity was flagging. Hal Jordan creators Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams attempted to spark new interest in the book by adding the character Green Arrow to the series, and having them travel through America encounting various "real world" issues, to which they reacted in different ways, Green Lantern being fundamentally a lawman while Green Arrow was a liberal iconoclast. Although not a commercial success, this "relevant" era is considered to have spearheaded the efforts of comic books to become more than light fantasy.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the focus of the series (which was cancelled and restarted several times) gradually shifted from Jordan to the Green Lantern Corps as a whole. Jordan gave up the role for a time, surrendering his role to fellow Earthman John Stewart. After he took up the ring again, Jordan was joined by a legion of other Green Lanterns, both human and alien.
Jordan's career came to an end when he went insane following the destruction of his old home, Coast City, by the villainous alien Mongul . He destroyed the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians, absorbing their power and taking the name Parallax . One Guardian survived, however, and passed one remaining ring on to a randomly-chosen human named Kyle Rayner. This ring lacked the flaws of the earlier rings, and Rayner gradually molded himself into a hero, joining a new incarnation of the Justice League.
Jordan eventually died in the events of The Final Night , when he used his power to reignite Earth's Sun (which had been threatened by a interstellar predator known as a Sun-Eater) and was later resurrected as the spirit of vengeance, The Spectre. Rayner had a brief fling with godhood himself, as Ion, but his adventures as Green Lantern continue to this day.