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Green Lantern

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For the DJ, see DJ Green Lantern.
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Cover to Green Lantern: Rebirth #6, art by Ethan Van Sciver. Featured left to right are Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Kilowog.

Green Lantern is a DC Comics superhero. Created by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger, the original Green Lantern debuted in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940).

Several individuals have assumed the identity of Green Lantern over the years. Each of them possessed a special ring called a power ring which gives them great control over the physical world as long as the wielder has sufficient willpower. While the ring of the Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott) was magically powered, the rings worn by all subsequent Green Lanterns were the creations of the Guardians of the Universe who granted such rings to worthy candidates across the universe. These individuals made up the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps.

The Golden Age Green Lantern was a member of the Justice Society of America. When, after World War II, superhero comic book sales declined, his book was cancelled. At the beginning of the Silver Age, DC editor Julius Schwartz revived first The Flash and then Green Lantern (followed by The Atom and Hawkman) all with new origin stories. Hal Jordan, the Silver Age Green Lantern, was unique in several ways. He was the first DC superhero to use his powers selfishly (in his romance with Carol Ferris) and he was the first DC superhero with a family. Written by John Broome and drawn by Gil Kane, these stories have been reprinted in deluxe hardback editions. An even greater departure from the superhero norm came when Green Lantern teamed up with Green Arrow, in ground-breaking, socially conscious stories written by Denny O'Neil and drawn by Neal Adams. In the last twenty years, DC has placed different individuals in the role of Earth's Green Lantern, most prominently John Stewart, Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner.

Green Lantern is part of the all-star group the Justice League and is currently featured in the Justice League Unlimited animated series.

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Publication history

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 (July 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 a wide variety of powers, and which had to be charged every 24 hours by touching it to the lantern for a time. The one weakness of this power ring was that it did not work on objects composed of 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 1950s, when the JSA's adventures ended with All-Star Comics #57 (1951).

A few years later, DC Comics had successfully revived The Flash 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 alien, Abin Sur, and who became a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an interstellar organization of police 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.

Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was a founding 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. This new Green Lantern also became best friends with The Flash and the two heroes appeared frequently in each other's comics to team-up.

By the late 1960s, however, Green Lantern's popularity was flagging. New Green Lantern 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 encountering various "real world" issues, to which they reacted in different ways, Green Lantern being fundamentally a lawman while Green Arrow was a liberal iconoclast. The experiment was years ahead of its time, on the strength of Adams' stunning detailed and dramatic artwork and O'Neil's intelligent and thought provoking (but often heavy-handed) stories, and was not a commercial success. DC editor Julius Schwartz dubbed it "relevance" and the Adams/O'Neil era was one of the earliest efforts of comic books to become more than light fantasy.

Finally cancelled in 1972, the character became the back-up feature in The Flash until 1976, when Green Lantern/Green Arrow was relaunched minus the "relevance" of its previous incarnation. By the eighties, Green Arrow left the title as the focus gradually shifted from Hal Jordan to the Green Lantern Corps as a whole. After being exiled to space for a couple years, Jordan gave up his ring for a time and his role was assumed by fellow Earthman John Stewart, who had been introduced by O'Neil & Adams years earlier during the "relevance" era. Stewart was soon followed by yet another Green Lantern of Earth, Guy Gardner, created during the sixties to serve as Jordan's back-up within the GL Corps. After Jordan took up the ring again, he was joined by a legion of other Green Lanterns, both human and alien. The comic title switched at this point in the late 1980's from Green Lantern to the The Green Lantern Corps. Following a short hiatus the title returned in the early 1990's as Green Lantern and followed Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Guy Gardener for much of the early 1990's.

Sales had slumped again by the 1990s and, in a decision that would cause much outrage and controversy among fans of Hal Jordan, editor Kevin Dooley had writer Ron Marz script Emerald Twilight, detailing Jordan's descent into villiany and ultimate replacement as Green Lantern by a younger, more modern character. In the story, Jordan went insane following the destruction of his hometown, Coast City, by the villainous alien Mongul and the Cyborg Superman (an event spinning off of the Death of Superman). Jordan 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 (which incidentally lacked the flaws of the earlier rings) on to a randomly-chosen human named Kyle Rayner. After learning to use the ring and redesigning the costume, Rayner established himself as a new hero and joined a new incarnation of the Justice League (and succeeded in boosting sales of the series). Despite initial hostility towards the new character from fans, Kyle Rayner eventually won a sizable following of his own, such that when it was hinted that Hal Jordan might return to the role of Green Lantern, a furor of protest arose trying to keep Rayner in, comparable to that which had once tried to keep him out.

Hal Jordan eventually returned as Green Lantern, and was cleared of the crimes committed as Parallax in a 2005 miniseries called Green Lantern: Rebirth that revealed that it was the work of a cosmic fear parasite that possessed Jordan (see below). In current continuity, Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kilowog, and Kyle Rayner all operate concurrently as Green Lanterns.

The comic series has won several awards over the years, including the 1961 Alley Award for Best Adventure Hero/Heroine with Own Book.

Awards & Recognition

The series and its creators have received several awards over the years, including the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences Shazam Awards for Best Continuing Feature in 1970, for Best Individual Story for "No Evil Shall Escape My Sight" in Green Lantern #76 (by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams), and for Best Individual Story for {Snowbirds Don't Fly} in Green Lantern #85 (by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams).

In addition, writer Dennis O'Neil received the Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic Division) in 1970 for his work on Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, and other titles, artist Neal Adams received the Shazam Award for Best Artist (Dramatic Division) in 1970 for his work on Green Lantern and Batman, and inker Dick Giordano received the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) for his work on Green Lantern and other tirles.

The 1,000,000 issue was a part of the DC One Million storyline, which was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story for 1999. Issues 101 through 106 of the second series were parts of the Emerald Knights storyline which was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story for 1999.

The Green Lantern 1963 Annual was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Album for 1999, as were the collection Green Lantern: Fear Itself for 2000, and the trade paperback "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" for 2001.

Biographies of the Major Green Lanterns

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Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern.

Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott)

Main article Alan Scott

Thousands of years ago, a mystical "green flame" fell to Earth. The voice of the flame prophesied that it would act three times: Once to bring death, once to bring life, and once to bring power. By 1940, the flame had been fashioned into a metal lantern, which fell into the hands of Alan Scott, a young engineer. Following a railroad bridge collapse, the flame instructed Scott how to fashion a ring from its metal, to give him fantastic powers as the superhero Green Lantern. He adopted a colorful costume and became a crimefighter.

Silver Age Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

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Hal Jordan, the second and most well known Green Lantern.

Main article Hal Jordan

The second Green Lantern was Hal Jordan, who 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. 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."

Modern Age Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)

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Kyle Rayner, until recently the last Green Lantern.

Main article Kyle Rayner

Kyle Rayner was a struggling freelance artist when he was approached by the last Guardian of the Universe, Ganthet, to become a new Green Lantern with the last power ring. Ganthet did not choose Rayner for any particular reason; he simply needed to find someone to fill the role. Despite not being cut from the same cloth of bravery and fearlessness as Hal Jordan -- or perhaps because of that -- Kyle Rayner proved to have his fans..

Other Green Lanterns

The Green Lantern Corps has 7200 soldiers (previously 3600). Some of the more notable ones:

  • Abin Sur was an alien (whose planet, like Earth, is also located in Sector 2814), who incongruously travelled using a spaceship, rather than the power of his ring. The Post-Crisis explanation for this was that a psychological attack by a group of exiled demons caused him to lose faith in his ring and sometimes use a ship instead. His ship crash-landed on Earth; as he lay dying, he passed his ring on to Hal Jordan.
  • Kilowog of Bolovax Vik (Sector 647) was an alien who recruited and trained new members of the Green Lantern Corps. His most illustrious student was Hal Jordan. When Jordan went insane, Kilowog was one of the last Green Lanterns to try stop Jordan from destroying the central battery. He was killed by Jordan, but his spirit was summoned by a group of ex-Green Lanterns bent on avenging the destruction of the Corps at Jordan's hands. He has subsequently been restored to life by Kyle Rayner. His is the only ring that makes a sound, as revealed in Green Lantern: Rebirth #6 (May 2005).
  • Sinestro was the Green Lantern from the planet Korugar (in Sector 1417); however, he believed that the best way to maintain order on Korugar was by using his ring to become the planet's dictator. The Guardians convicted him of criminal actions and banished him to the antimatter universe of Qward, where he was given a yellow power ring, and returned to our universe to become Hal Jordan's greatest enemy. He was apparently killed in action, helping defend the central power battery on Oa from the insane Jordan. However, he was recently seen during Green Lantern: Rebirth, where he revealed that he had somehow faked his death as part of a ploy to drive Hal Jordan mad. In a battle against Jordan, he fled to the Anti-Matter Universe.
  • Katma Tui led the Korugarian rebellion against Sinestro, and became his successor after the Guardians arrested him. She eventually married John Stewart and served with him in the Darkstars, but was later murdered by Star Sapphire.
  • John Stewart (Earth's Green Lantern III) is an architect who was Hal Jordan's backup after Gardner was seriously injured and served with the JLA on occasion. After Jordan gave up being Green Lantern in the 1980s, the Guardians called Stewart to full time duty as the sector's main Lantern. Stewart filled that role for some years, during which time he married Katma Tui, the Green Lantern of the planet Korugar. After Tui's murder, Stewart became the administrator of the "Mosaic World", a patchwork of communities from multiple planets that had been brought to Oa by an insane Guardian. From this position, Stewart eventually ascended to Guardianhood, which he later relinquished. During the collapse of the Corps he was a member of the Darkstars. After a brief period of paraplegia, he became Green Lantern once again and is currently a member of the latest incarnation of the JLA.
  • Guy Gardner (Earth's Green Lantern IV) is a former schoolteacher whom Abin Sur's ring selected as an alternative to Hal Jordan, but Jordan was closer so Sur chose him instead. Gardner later suffered brain damage, and was unbalanced when he recovered enough to function. He was awarded a ring by a rogue faction of Guardians during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Eventually, forced to abandon his Green Lantern Ring, Guy acquired the yellow power ring of Sinestro and his own comic series began with him using that ring. The yellow ring did not use a battery to recharge but actually needed to be used against Green Lanterns to restore power. Gardner found this out by accident when a member of the GLC fought him while he had absolutely no power. As the yellow ring of Sinestro spoke Sinestro's native language, Guy was entirely unable to communicate with the ring, although it seemed to understand him to a degree. He served in Maxwell Lord's JLI until all Green Lantern rings lost their power when Hal Jordan (as Parallax) destroyed Oa. Finding himself powerless, he went on a quest for a mythical source of power deep in the jungle. This power source activated dormant extraterrestrial DNA in him, providing him with the ability to morph his body into various different forms -- mainly in the form of weapons. He then adopted the identity of Warrior. Gardner has since been purged of his extraterrestrial DNA and is currently a Green Lantern once more.
  • Mogo is not only a Green Lantern, but is also an entire planet. Most notably featured in the Alan Moore story "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" from Green Lantern (2nd series) #188. Mogo itself is powered by Green Lantern energy and has control over its own surface and natural defenses. Mogo was also the site of the DC/Dark Horse Comics crossover miniseries Green Lantern Versus Aliens - the Green Lantern Corps during Jordan's time encountered the predatory creatures, and felt that Mogo was the best chance for containment.
  • Ch'p of the planet H'lven was an anthropomorphic rodent-like creature who was appointed to the Corps to defend his homeworld from an invasion by the evil Crabster army. He served with the Corps on Earth and on Oa, but was tragically killed when a yellow truck ran him over.

Powers and abilities

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A typical Green Lantern Corps power ring.

All Green Lanterns wield a power ring that can generate a variety of effects and energy constructs, sustained purely by the ring wearer's strength of will. The greater the user's willpower, the more effective the ring. The power ring has been referred to on several occasions as the "most powerful weapon in the universe" and it is important to note that the limits of its power are not clearly defined. With sufficient willpower, a Green Lantern could conceivably wield nearly omnipotent power.

Power rings allow the user to fly and to cover themselves and others with a protective force field, suitable for travelling through outer space. They can also generate beams and solid structures of energy that can be moved simply by thinking about doing so, enabling the user to create cages, transportation platforms, walls, and battering rams. The ring can also be used to search for energy signatures or particular objects. It can serve as a universal translator. The ring can manipulate sub-atomic particles (effectively producing new elements) and split atoms, but those powers are rarely used by Green Lanterns.

The rings of the Green Lantern Corps appear to be semi-sentient computers, able to talk to and advise the user as to various courses of action.

Rings typically hold a limited charge. Alan Scott's ring and the Green Lantern Corps rings must be recharged every 24 hours. Kyle Rayner's ring also has limited energy, but no set time limit; the energy is expended by Rayner's use of the ring, so the duration of each charge is determined by his actions.

Alan Scott's ring cannot directly affect objects made of wood, and Green Lantern Corps rings cannot directly affect objects colored yellow. Originally it was believed that the Guardians wanted the rings to have a weakness to prevent a Green Lantern from becoming all powerful, although recent events have revealed that the yellow "impurity" was in fact a yellow-energy being of pure fear, trapped in the Central Power Battery. Lanterns have typically found ways to get around these limitations by affecting objects indirectly. For example, if the Lantern is faced with a yellow gas approaching him, a fan can be created to blow it away since the fan only directly affects the normal air around it, not the gas. Kyle Rayner's ring can affect both wooden and yellow objects, but his mind has proven to be susceptible to forms of external control (such as hallucinogens, psychic attacks, and other phenomena that disrupt his thought processes). Nowadays, a holder of a Corps ring can overcome the yellow weakness by recognizing the fear behind it, and facing that fear (Green Lantern (4th series) #1, July, 2005).

In addition, the effectiveness of a wielder's power ring can be adversely affected by a weakening of resolve and will. For example during the Millennium affair, Hal Jordan fought a Manhunter who psychologically attacked him in the battle to make him doubt that the people he was protecting valued the principles he was fighting for. Jordan's resolve began to weaken and his ring lost effectiveness until he was nearly defeated. However, one of his charges then struck the Manhunter and declared that she did deeply value Jordan's principles as well. With this dramatic affirmation, Jordan's faith in his cause was restored and the ring instantly returned to full power to defeat the Manhunter.

Green Lantern Corps rings typically reserve a small portion of their power for a passive force field that "protects the wielder from mortal harm". In dire emergency, that energy reserve can be tapped, at the expense of said protection, until it too is exhausted. Kyle Rayner's reconfigured ring can "run low", but never completely loses its charge; however, it doesn't shield him from harm if he's caught off-guard.

The GLC rings do not necessarily have to be worn to be wielded in some functions. For instance, the Green Lantern, Ch'p (comics), once faced a hostage situation where the villain demanded he take off his ring or the hostage would be harmed. Ch'p complied, but not before ordering the ring to fire a restraining beam on the villain seconds after being removed from physical contact (which was done, and the villain was captured). Rayner can will his ring to return to him if it is ever removed or lost.

GLC rings can also be used to emit simulated radiation from Green Kryptonite. This radiation is apparently just as powerful and painful to Superman and other Kryptonians as the genuine rays, but the ring wielder needs to concentrate to maintain this effect. An alien imposter who stole Jordan's ring used this ability to subdue Superman in order to kill him, only to be struck by Jordan to break his concentration to allow Superman to recover and attack.

Standard Green Lantern Corps and Alan Scott's rings can be used by anyone who wears them. Rayner's ring is keyed to his genetic pattern and is useless to anyone else, except for Hal Jordan, as shown in Green Lantern (3rd series) #99. However, this has also been subsequently changed. As of "Green Lantern: Rebirth", only people with exceptional wills can use power rings, a restriction which makes uses of the rings by average individuals improbable.

Normally an individual will only receive a power ring upon the death of the previous wielder, and then only if they pass the criteria for membership in the Corps. Often, the search for a new wielder is consciously initiated by a current Green Lantern when he realizes death is imminent, but it has also been demonstrated that a ring can conduct such a search on its own if circumstances require it. Also, though it is frequently implied that there are a fixed and finite number of power rings in existence, many stories show power rings creating duplicates of themselves for the purpose of arming auxiliary Green Lanterns. During a particular story arc in which a pre-Parallax Hal Jordan was cast forward in time to meet Kyle Rayner, it was stated that a ring of the Green Lantern Corp had the ability to duplicate itself without limit, thus allowing the entire Corps to be reconstituted from a single ring if necessary.

Television

Several Green Lanterns have appeared in animated TV shows, both as regular characters and as guest stars.

Regular roles

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Green Lantern John Stewart in Justice League

Hal Jordan was the featured character in a solo series which was part of The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure as well as part of the Justice League segment. In addition, the character was an occasional supporting character in the various Super Friends incarnations.

John Stewart is a member of the Justice League in the Justice League animated series. In this series, Stewart's ring was initially constrained to permitting him to fly, generating a protective force field, creating walls, and firing energy blasts; this limitation was established as being due to Stewart's mindset, not an inherent limitation of the ring itself (the series' version of John Stewart is a former Marine, not an architect.) After being berated by Katma Tui for his unimaginative use of the ring, Stewart has increasingly generated complex tools (to defuse a bomb in one instance) and weapons. In a development not seen in any other version of the Green Lantern mythos, Stewart's eyes glow green as a side effect of the Ring's radiation (the glow fades when the ring runs out of power). In addition, the ring is effective against yellow; Stewart is seen fighting Sinestro in one episode and the yellow energy does not prove to be a significant problem for the Lantern. Another feature of this series is Stewart's dramatic lovelife. After a failed romance with fellow Justice League member Hawkgirl, Stewart begins a relationship with Vixen, although an episode where he travels into the future seems to indicate that he will come to have a son with Hawkgirl later on. However, with the recent appearance of the Carter Hall/Katar Hol incarnation of Hawkman in the series, that might very well change.

Guest appearances

  • Kyle Rayner appeared as Green Lantern in one episode of Superman: The Animated Series. This incarnation appeared to be a hybrid of Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan, since he was recruited by Abin Sur, fought Jordan's old enemy Sinestro, and looked more like Jordan than Rayner. This character was later inducted into the Green Lantern Corps (in one scene, the name of test pilot Hal Jordan is clearly visible, painted on the nose of an airplane on the tarmac at a military base).
  • Rayner was briefly mentioned in one episode of Justice League and reappeared after the series became Justice League Unlimited, bearing a far greater resemblance to his comics counterpart. Kilowog, Katma Tui, and Sinestro have also appeared in the series.
  • A character known as Green Guardsman (real name Scott Mason) appeared in a Justice League episode in which John Stewart and several other members traveled to a parallel universe. This other universe had its own superhero group, the Justice Guild, whose members were modeled on Golden Age versions of the Justice Society of America characters. Green Guardsman was an homage to the Golden Age Green Lantern. His power was unable to affect aluminium.
  • The Justice League version of John Stewart has appeared in a few episodes of Static Shock, both as a member of the League and in a solo appearance.
  • A two-part episode of Batman Beyond featured a future Justice League Unlimited that included a Green Lantern who was an eight-year old Asian child; he later reappeared as a young adult in the Justice League Unlimited episode Epilogue (the character was created for this appearance, and has not appeared elsewhere). His name was Kai-ro, a tribute to Kairo, Green Lantern's alien sidekick on The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.
  • The John Stewart version from Justice League is also a fad on YTMND along with his quote "Transistors? They weren't invented until after the war!"
  • Hal Jordan appeared briefly in a two-part episode of Justice League Unlimited in which the time-traveling villain Chronos caused the timeline to become unstable, with characters changing or disappearing as their history was altered. At one point, John Stewart morphed into Jordan, who aided the other characters for several minutes before changing back into Stewart.

Trivia

  • The unsuccessful pilot for a live-action Justice League of America television series in 1997 included Matthew Settle as Guy Gardner, although the pilot's Green Lantern used only the name and costume of the comic-book Gardner. In personality and appearance, he more closely resembled Hal Jordan. He wore a mask similar to the one Kyle Rayner wore as a part of his original costume. His ring closely resembled that of Alan Scott. However, this ring didn't bestow the power of flight upon its wearer -- instead, Gardner flew by using the ring to generate a helicopter rotor.
  • The animated series Duck Dodgers has an episode in which a mixup at the dry cleaners results in Dodgers (AKA Daffy Duck) getting Hal Jordan's outfit -- and ring. The episode includes appearances by many well-known members of the Green Lantern Corps. Hal Jordan himself shows up at the episode's finale, voiced by film director Kevin Smith, a friend of producer Paul Dini, who co-wrote the episode.
  • DC Superheroes who have filled the role in DC's Elseworlds or other alternate universes include Clark Kent (Superman: Last Son of Earth), Bruce Wayne (In Darkest Knight), Barbara Gordon (JLA: Created Equal), Uncle Sam (Superman/Batman #15), and Big Barda in JLA: Another Nail.
  • In the Elseworlds publication Kingdom Come, Green Lantern (Alan Scott) is depicted wearing a suit apparently made of the same material as his power battery, and his description in the apocrypha is as follows: "Merging his lantern into himself, he is the most powerful champion of that name." Scott is also depicted as being at a UN meeting as ambassador of "New Oa".
  • Hal Jordan and Green Lantern in general are discussed in great detail in the low budget film Bite me, fanboy.
  • "The Green Lantern", a Washington, DC gay bar, was named in homage of the character. The interior features lithographs of both Green Lantern and Green Arrow.

Green Lantern oath

Green Lantern is famous for the oath he recites when he charges his ring. Originally, the oath was simple:

...and I shall shed my light over dark evil.
For the dark things cannot stand the light,
The light of the Green Lantern!

(This oath was later given as an in-joke to Tomar-Re, Green Lantern of sector 2813, and the first other Lantern Hal Jordan met)

In the mid-1940s, this was revised into the form that became famous during the Hal Jordan era:

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!

The word "blackest" is often replaced with "darkest" to avoid racist connotations. The above is the most popular version of Green Lantern's oath. Science fiction writer Alfred Bester, who wrote many Green Lantern stories in the 1940s, has been credited as the creator of this oath. However, in an interview with journalist F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre at the 1979 World Science Fiction Convention in Brighton, England, Bester stated that the "brightest day" oath was already in place before he began writing for the character.

It has since been established that each Green Lantern has his, her, or its own oath. Notable oaths include that of Jack T. Chance:

You who are wicked, evil and mean
I'm the nastiest creep you've ever seen!
Come one, come all, put up a fight
I'll pound your butts with Green Lantern's light!
Yowza.

and that of Rot Lop Fan, a Green Lantern whose species lacks sight, and thus has no concepts of brightness, darkness, day, night, color, or lanterns:

In loudest din or hush profound
My ears hear evil's slightest sound
Let those who toll out evil's knell
Beware my power, the F-Sharp Bell!

In Duck Dodgers, Daffy Duck temporarily becomes a Green Lantern after accidentally picking up Hal Jordan's laundry. In the first part of the episode he forgets the real quote and makes up his own version, which goes:

In blackest day or brightest night
Watermelon, cantaloupe, yadda-e-yadda
Erm...superstitious and cowardly lot
With liberty and justice for all!

Green Lantern parodies/references

  • Doctor Spectrum - There are three versions of Dr. Spectrum from three different dimensions in the Marvel Universe, none of which come from the normal Marvel continuity.
    • The version of Dr. Spectrum that had the most development was the version who was a member of the Squadron Supreme. Dr. Spectrum used to be an astronaut, adventurer and something of a playboy. On one of his space missions, he saved the life of a benevolent alien of the Skrull race. In gratitude for rescuing him, the Skrull gave Joe Ledger the Power Prism, an energy synthesizer his people had created.
    • The version of Dr. Spectrum in the "Supreme Power" comic is a rebooted version of this character. In this version, Joseph (Joe) Daniel Ledger is a Colonel in the United States Army, who perform covert operations missions. He is considered the perfect soldier: an army man who follows any and all orders and is a natural killer. Joe Ledger was the only candidate who was focused and single minded enough to be able to control the power prism found in Hyperion's space ship.
    • There is also an evil version of Dr. Spectrum who was a member of the Squadron Sinister, who had several incarnations. Although the Squadron Sinister Dr. Spectrum preceded the Squadron Supreme version in appearance, the former is considered the original as the latter was revealed to be just a copy.
  • The Beacon in Big Bang Comics.
    • Beacon of Earth A, corresponding to the 1960's version: Dr. Julia Gardner
    • Beacon of Earth B, corresponding to the 1940's version: Scott Martin
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