The most recent issue of DC’s Green Lantern changed John Stewart into The Emerald Knight. Now what?
WHAT HAPPENED?
The 12th and currently last issue of Green Lantern did some realignment of the Corps from the way it has existed for decades.
During that book, John Stewart “ascended” into a new godlike role. If that sounds anything like Batman’s nickname, I think that’s on purpose. Instead of The Dark Knight, Stewart is now The Emerald Knight.
Imagine that.
The rest of the Lanterns (even including the Star Sapphires and Blue Lanterns) got a serious upgrade, and that included apparently being able to interact on some level with Lanterns who passed previously.
Probably the strangest part of the issue was the fact that The Source, which we have seen before as a wall and other things godlike, became Jack Kirby. Really.
What Mr. Kirby has to do with the Green Lanterns, I honestly don’t know. But it was nice to see him get some recognition as the creative powerhouse he truly was. THAT I get!
The last panel of the issue shows The Emerald Knight saying that a planet is under his protection. No more Guardians (unless you count Mr. Kirby).
The question is: Now what?
HAL JORDAN
Another big part of the book was the return of Hal Jordan, now returning to something of a leadership role while still deferring to John.
It’s very satisfying for me, a long-time Jordan fan, to see him back in the saddle again. I don’t know what it is about him that makes creators turn away from him. They can’t decide what he does for a living. They can’t decide if he’s in the Corps or not. They can’t seem to think of things for him to do when he’s patrolling his sector.
I don’t get it. Is it because he’s an older white guy? That’s the only thing I can come up with!
In fact, for a time, there was H.E.A.T.—sometimes called Hal’s Emerald Advance Team. They fought for Hal for years, even taking out ads in comics news publications asking for him to come back. Maybe we need something like G.L.O.A.T.—Green Lanterns Overall Advancement Team or whatever!
I recently bought the earliest Hal stories from the 1960s, now collected in a trade paperback. I have been having fun re-reading them after all this time. There was a LOT of science fiction involved, including how the ring actually worked.
It was an adventure, something I seriously miss in today’s comics!
I mean, personal interactive conflict has its place in storytelling, but I enjoy a hero taking on apparently impossible odds and somehow figuring out how to beat them.
I like to understand the conflict a hero or heroine is involved in and want to cheer them to victory! A character’s skin color really doesn’t matter at all to me. A good story does!
ALIENS AND MORE ALIENS
One of the things that has been very forward-thinking about the Green Lantern Corps has been the inclusion of aliens into their ranks. Yes, the vast majority of them are from outer space.
This was also true of the Legion of Super-Heroes. While there were many humans there as well, a goodly number of them were from other worlds, and thus they had antennae or were in other forms that were distinctly non-human.
In fact, I really admired and enjoyed many of the alien Lanterns, including Kilowog and Salaak, just to name a couple of them.
Much like the aliens in Star Trek, these guys and gals and others often represented aspects of human nature.
I never thought they didn’t belong in either universe. In fact, I found them fascinating to interact with. In fact, I’m sure there are many aliens we could still come across who are still different from anything we’ve encountered before.
IMAGINATION
The thing that I find so much fun, and presently so lacking in many comics, is imagination. Going places and entering situations we’ve never come across before is what made the Green Lantern Corps so enjoyable to me! Even the Guardians were something I like learning more about. I hope we haven’t seen the last of them.
Hey, there was even a dead Green Lantern for a while. That challenged my thinking, I’ll tell you! We also had a squirrel Green Lantern. And a silly Green Lantern in G’nort, who made me laugh out loud.
This all tickles my imagination—seeing new and interesting aliens (and humans) who I learn from on several different levels.
Should they all be completely heroic? Of course not! They should be as varied as possible!
Is John dead as a result of Justice League #75? That’s a whole ‘nuther universe, as far as I’m concerned!
I know Batman is big right now. But I don’t ONLY want to read about the Dark Knight. I want to read interesting and entertaining stories about aliens and magic rings, about people and situations I’ll never encounter in real life. I can even still learn from them, okay?
I’ve also seen Marvel struggle with “cosmic” heroes and storylines. If it’s not taking place in New York City, some fans don’t seem able to grapple with it! But I think that’s changing. For instance, check out how popular Thanos is these days!
So, can we get a creative team who wants to explore outer (and even inner) space on interesting and gripping levels? The latest news is that DC is going to put out–count them–TWO Green Lantern titles, one with Hal and another with John! Could be great times ahead!
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