Simply the Best: "Beware Our Power, Green Lanterns' Light!"

Before the paradigm shift brought on by computer-generated imagery (CGI), science fiction TV shows and movies had a tough time creating truly alien-looking aliens.  Due to obvious budget and technology limitations, most of the "aliens" would be 95% human looking with a few odd facial features here and there. Where were the really bizarre, utterly alien beings that our imaginations conjured up as we read science fiction novels or doodled in our school notebooks?

Fortunately, a few comic books featured aliens that lived up to the high standards of our imaginations...none moreso than DC's sprawling Green Lantern Corps.  Formed by the Guardians of the Universe, the Corps was a galactic "police force" spanning the entire universe, with each member assigned to one of 3600 sectors.

Beyond the impressive number, what really made the Corps special was the mind-blowing diversity of its membership which, more than anything, conveyed the staggering size of the universe they patrolled. Sure, there were plenty of humanoid aliens with the minor cosmetic alterations I was griping about earlier, but so many more deeply weird life forms...each wearing a modified Green Lantern ring and uniform to fit their peculiar physiology.

A gaseous cloud, a grasshopper, a giant manta ray, a snake, even a sentient planet...you name it, it was probably wearing a ring and a Green Lantern logo.

Occasionally there were issues that featured the combined power of the entire Green Lantern Corps, all of which were immediately snatched up into my comic book collection. One of my favorite All-Corps team-up covers is Green Lantern #127 (1980), illustrated by the amazing Brian Bolland and chronicling their clash with the Weaponers of Qward.

Banished from DC Comics continuity for a number of years, the Green Lantern Corps has recently returned and is stronger than ever.  In fact, their ranks have swelled from 3600 members to 7200 (since two Green Lanterns are now assigned to each sector), so I look forward to many more years of enjoying green-garbed crowd scenes like the one above.   

Comments

[Matt]

Hal is such a prima donna. TWO power rings?

Seriously?

-M

[Mark Engblom]

Actually, that was the ring of a fallen Green Lantern (who looked like a crayfish) that Hal was "avenging". Of course, that doesn't change the fact that Hal is a prima donna. ;)

[Siskoid]

My favorite alien Lantern was Salaak, I even played him in an RPG once.

Sadly, he's not on that cover.

[Guido Rosas]

Totally agree about the coolness of the corps. By the way, Mark, I have to at least partially thank you for bringing me into the GL kickass mythology. After reading many glowing Sinestro Corps reviews (including yours) I decided to give it a shot and was blown away! Now I've added both GL books to my pull list and I'm getting the Geoff Johns TPBs starting with rebirth. I think he's definitely pushed to unimaginable heights the great GL concepts. What other classic GL stories would you recommend?

[Siskoid]

Personally, I was surprised at how well the original stories (in Showcase Presents) have stood up. I'm reading all of them simultaneously, so theoretically one story from each collection each month, but when I got to GL, I kept on going for a few stories.

I was into the Green Lantern titles when all three of them had titles. Hal was on GL, John was on Mosaic, Guy was on Guy Gardner, and Alan and G'nort were in GLCQuarterly. They could do worse than collect Mosaic, it was awesome and strange.

So without regard to what's been collected or not, I might recommend, the first 2 Emerald Dawn mini-series, the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annuals, which even include some Alan Moore stories, quarter bins probably have issues of Green Lantern Corps Quarterly - if you're just looking to expand on the legend, that might be interesting, but I wouldn't spend too much money there - I dunno, Ganthet's Tale?

[Mark Engblom]

Guido-

Glad I helped turn you on to Green Lantern! As for what the best GL stories are, I believe the best ones are the current ones. Geoff Johns is the architect of some really cool new directions, only part of which we've seen so far, so keep reading.

As for the older stuff, Siskoid had some good suggestions, though I differ with his views on Emerald Dawn and the earliest Hal Jordan adventures (both aren't my cup of tea). Here are mine:

1. Green Lantern Annual #2(1986): "Tygers" is the Alan Moore story Siskoid was referring to. Like anything written by Moore, it's some amazing, mindblowing stuff. The story centers on Hal's predecessor Abin Sur and answers questions like "why was Abin Sur driving a spaceship when he could fly through space under his own power?". The answers are incredibly creepy, made moreso by the disturbing artwork of Kevin O'Neill. I should also note that this story plays a prominent role in the current GL storylines, with references to "The Empire of Tears" and their terrifying prophecy for the Green Lantern Corps. The story is also reprinted in the trade DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore

2. The Tales of the Green Lantern Corps three issue mini-series (1981). Though the interior artwork by Joe Staton is pretty crude, the story was the first "All Corps team up" I'd read, so it's a sentimental favorite. The Brian Bolland covers are his first American comic book work.

3. A somewhat obscure, but nonetheless great Green Lantern story appeared as the backup feature in Superman #257 (1972). Titled "The Greatest Green Lantern of Them All", it featured the story of Tomar-Re (the bird-headed humanoid) and how he valiantly tried to prevent Krypton from exploding. Obviously, he failed, but not before ensuring the escape of baby Kal-El, whom the Guardians identified as a potential future leader of the Green Lantern Corps. Little did they know, right?

4. Emerald Knights, a fantastic storyline appearing in Green Lantern (vol. 3) #100-106, reprinted as a trade paperback.. Then-current Green Lantern Kyle Rayner brings a pre-Parallax Hal Jordan on a time-travel journey into the present, where he meets the JLA and battles his villainous future self. Despite Hal being back in all his glory now, this was a bittersweet story that presented the Hal we all fondly remembered and wished was back.

5. Though technically a story involving the entire DC pantheon, DC: The New Frontier was a Green Lantern story at its core (no pun intended). Primarily set in the "actual" Silver Age (the 50's and early 60's), the Hal Jordan presented here was a refreshing (almost startling) change from the whiney, wishy-washy Hal of so many past GL stories and...I believe...the catalyst for "Rebirth". You can pick up Volume One and Volume Two, or pay a little more for the gorgeous Absolute Edition. Whichever version you pick up, I'm sure you'll like it.

6. You may also want to pick up Green Lantern: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, which collects a hodge-podge of stories featuring various Green Lantern characters of decades past. I've never read it, but I'm sure there's some good stuff in there for new Green Lantern fans like you.

Conspicuously missing from my list is are the "classic" Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams stories featuring Green Lantern and Green Arrow. While the art is breathtakingly beautiful, the "Hard Traveling Heroes" series of stories are heavy-handed political screeds that usually made Hal Jordan look like a clueless naif in contast to Green Arrow's streetwise self-righteousness. Again, they're pretty to look at, but I simply can't recommend the stories beyond their status as historical relics.