Green Lantern: A Celebration Of 75 Years
“In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those who worship evil’s might beware my power… Green Lantern’s light”
Green Lantern first appeared in All American Comics #16 in July 1940, created by artists Martin Nodell and Batman co-creator Bill Finger. Though casual comic readers may associate the emerald crusader with the more famous version of the character Hal Jordan, the original Lantern was actually very different to his later variants. Alan Scott was created by Nodell after seeing the opera cycle Ring Of The Nibelung, where he first noticed a trainman’s green railway lantern, which became his initial inspiration for the creation of a Superhero who wielded a magic ring that granted him a wide variety of supernatural powers.
Alan Scott proved popular amongst comic fans and initially joined super-team Justice Society Of America as a regular member, before being granted his own comic series in Winter of 1940. After the cessation of World War 2, the popularity of Superheroes was in decline and Green Lantern was subsequently cancelled after just 38 issues. In 1959, DC Comics editor of the time Julius Schwartz, revived the character under a new guise. This new Lantern was named Hal Jordan and was empowered by the Guardians of the Universe, the Oans, as an interstellar law enforcement officer.
Hal was created by John Broome and Gil Kane and made his first appearance in Showcase #22. A member of the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps whose task is to bring peace and stability to the universe through the use of a power ring that enables its user to create absolutely anything they can visualise, constructs such as weapons and vehicles are all possible, ultimately only limited by the imagination of the ring wielder themselves.
In October DC Comics will celebrate seventy five years in the company of the green guardian of space sector 2814, by releasing a hardcover anthology that features stories taken from throughout GL’s long reign as the ultimate space cop. 400 pages in length, this epic tome features some of the greatest talent the world of comics has ever seen including the likes of – Neal Adams, Geoff Johns, Denny O’Neil, Jim Lee, Gil Kane and John Broome.
Green Lantern: A Celebration Of 75 Years will be available at your local comic book emporium and all stockists of emerald clad, universe spanning adventurers, from October 14.
Green Lantern is copyright: DC Comics.