The two Future State: Green Lantern issues contain a total of five stories. Combined, the five stories each provide a puzzle piece in the timeline of Future State. According to the official Future State timeline the main Green Lantern story, Last Lanterns featuring Earth Lantern John Stewart, takes place in the year 2035. We join the story in the midst of action defending the homeworld of the Shaar from the Khund. A ringless Stewart is fighting alongside G’nort and Salaak (plus two others, Ilo and Hood, who may or may not be former Lanterns). We don’t know what happened to their rings or the power battery.
Continue Reading →Tag Archives | Green lantern
Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #8 (2018)
There are few team-ups more iconic than that of Green Arrow and Green Lantern. The odd couple team-up, a moralistic space cop and an anti-establishment vigilante, was defined by the creative team of Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams. The relationship was fleshed out in the pages of the Green Lantern series, which became Green Lantern/Green Arrow in a historic storyline that ran from issue 76 through 87. The run included the classic story “Snowbirds Don’t Fly” which introduced Green Arrow’s sidekick Speedy as a junkie. The cover of The Green Lantern #8 is a nod to that issue.
Continue Reading →Who Are The Multiverse Green Lanterns?
Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp’s The Green Lantern issue 10 cracked open the Multiverse and introduced as to the “Guardians of the Multiverse.” This team is a collection of Green Lanterns from different Earths (perhaps more correctly Universes because they aren’t all from the Earth in their Universe). Thanks to the solicitation for issue 10 we know Morrison plans for 12 Lanterns to join the team.
Twelve parallel worlds! Twelve Green Lanterns! And one unstoppable menace! Hal Jordan joins the Green Lanterns of the Multiverse—including Bat-Lantern, Tangent Green Lantern and more—to save a dying Multiverse, defeat the relentless Anti-Man and embark upon their “Quest for the Cosmic Grail”! It’s another Morrison/Sharp science fantasy epic!
Thanks to the cover for the issue we have a decent guess as to who seven of those Lanterns joining Earth Prime’s Hal Jordan will be. Three more appear in issue 10 bringing the total of known Lanterns to 10. Two, including the mysterious black, fin-headed Lantern on the cover, will likely be revealed in issue 11. I’ve pulled together an explainer for these ten light slingers starting with the seven from the cover. They’re listed below from left to right in the above image.
Continue Reading →Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #6 (2018)
This one is much later than usual. As I’m hitting “publish” issue 7 is already on the shelves.
The Green Lantern #6 marks the end of the first volume of Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp’s run on this groundbreaking series. In addition to leaving us with a whammy of a cliffhanger for our emerald hero it also fills in a lot of gaps for Adam Strange that haven’t been filled with Rebirth. I believe this is the first confirmation since rebirth that both Alanna and Aleea Strange are alive and canon.
Here’s where you can find my previous The Green Lantern Deep Dives:
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #1 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #2 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #3 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #4 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #5 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #6 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #7 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #8 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #9 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #10 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #11 (2018) (in progress)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #12 (2018) (release date Oct. 4)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern Annual #1 (in progress)
The Lanterns
Blackstar Parallax (a.k.a. Hal Jordan)
Another issue where Hal Jordan is THE Green Lantern. Much like the last issue, Hal is the only Lantern who shows up slinging a ring. It makes sense because to the rest of the Corps he’s still a Blackstar traitor (with exception of the Guardians who are in on the subterfuge). This issue ends (spoilers) with Hal seemingly sacrificing himself to save the known Universe.
Continue Reading →Deep Dive: The Green Lantern Issue 3 (2018)
We’ve reached the third issue of Liam Sharp and Grant Morrison’s The Green Lantern and, wowza, is it a doozy. This one is a little more compact in scope. It mostly takes place at a Dhorian planet auction and aboard the spaceship of this issue’s main antagonist, The Shepard. What it lacks in locales it more than makes up in character appearances.
Before we start gutting this issue here are the links for the previous deep dives.
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #1 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #2 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #3 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #4 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #5 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #6 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #7 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #8 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #9 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #10 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #11 (2018) (in progress)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #12 (2018) (release date Oct. 4)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern Annual #1 (in progress)
Let’s jump in!
Continue Reading →Who is DC’s Queen Bee Zazzala?
There are several Queen Bee’s in the DC Universe but there’s only one Zazzala of
Created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky, her first appearance was in Justice League of America #23. Queen Zazzala hides a machine in the core of the Earth and threatens to blow up the planet unless the League helps her acquire an elixir of immortality (blackmailing the JLA into helping was a fairly common trope in those early days of comics). They don’t have a choice, so they agree to become “drone-workers” and help the villain. The team locates the vial but before handing it over Green Lantern secretly uses his power ring so she’ll never be able to open it (this is a questionable plan).
Continue Reading →Deep Dive: The Green Lantern Issue 2 (2018)
The Green Lantern issue 2 was released on December 5 and, much like the first issue, has been met with wide critical acclaim. The story is packed with nods to DC history and little nuggets suggesting a larger mystery is unfolding in the background. Once again, I’ve attempted to dive deep into the ink to puzzle out and annotate the many references Liam Sharp and Grant Morrison have packed into the issue. If something previously appeared in the deep dive for The Green Lantern #1 I’ll refer you to that post for the meat, but will add any second issue specific comments below. If something is new it’ll receive the full annotated The Green Lantern treatment.
Here are all of my Deep Dives so far:
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #1 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #2 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #3 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #4 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #5 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #6 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #7 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #8 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #9 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #10 (2018)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #11 (2018) (in progress)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern #12 (2018) (release date Oct. 4)
- Deep Dive: The Green Lantern Annual #1 (in progress)
Let’s get to it…
Deep Dive: Grant Morrison’s The Green Lantern Issue 1
Grant Morrison’s The Green Lantern issue 1 hit shelves in November 2018. The highly anticipated comic, with beautiful art and design by Liam Sharp and stunning colors by Steve Oliff, is Morisson’s first time writing Hal Jordan and diving into the rich history of the Green Lantern Corps. The writer, who’s previously tackled Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, and the JLA, is notorious for his encyclopedic knowledge of DC canon and how he uses that knowledge to pack obscure references into his stories. This monthly feature (over)analyzes each issue and seeks to provide context and history to the characters, places, and things. So make yourself a Hal Jordan cocktail and enjoy this annotated break down of Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp’s The Green Lantern issue 1.
Seeing as this is issue one, we first need to catch everyone up on how Hal Jordan ended up where he is at the start of The Green Lantern issue 1.
How we ended up here.
Hal Jordan’s been having a rough few years. A sacrifice was required after a series of incidents that basically turned the Universe against the Green Lantern Corps. That sacrifice was the leader of the Corps, Jordan, who made himself a fall guy to save the reputation of the Lanterns. Working under secret orders from the Guardians he stole Krona’s power gauntlet from the Corps and went on the lam. During this time, the Corps disappeared from this Universe for an assortment of complicated reasons. Jordan’s continued use of the gauntlet slowly starts to transform him into the living embodiment of Will.
In an effort to save himself, he uses the last bit of his true self to become the first non-Guardian to craft a power ring. It was a badass moment in Jordan history (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth).
He manages to find the Corps and bring them back. Their numbers are significantly reduced, so they need to rebuild. This effort is documented in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps which ends with an epic battle against the Darkstars. In order to beat the Darkstars, the Corps teams-up with unlikely allies including General Zod, Hector Hammond, and Orion of the New Gods. Phew.
After all of this Jordan is understandably exhausted and decides to head back to Earth for some “unfinished business.” Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps concludes with Jordan darkening the doorstep of Carol Ferris. They make-out. End scene….
but wait! It doesn’t end there. His story continues in Green Lanterns. After what seems to be a rather short time reuniting with his longtime on-again-off-again girlfriend, Jordan decides to go on a trip to Space Sector 066 to unwind some more. His vacation is short-lived when the Corps finds itself against the wall thanks to a brilliant bit of subterfuge by Hank Henshaw, a.k.a Cyborg Superman, and the Ravagers.
The story, by Dan Jurgens, is a long overdue full circle redemption moment for Jordan. For the last *squints and cries* 25 years, the destruction of Coast City and the resulting fallout has sort of been a weight around Jordan’s neck. In Green Lanterns, Henshaw is hell-bent on once again reducing Coast City to rubble. This time, Jordan, with the help of a cadre of Lanterns, is strong enough to defend his home city. Henshaw finds himself on the verge of losing to the Lanterns and is forced to flee with the Phantom Ring.
Here’s the status of the Corps right before Morrison picks up the storyline:
Whitechapel bartender goes global with a Hal Jordan cocktail
If you’re creating a Hal Jordan cocktail you can’t get much more on the nose than making it an Aviation variation using Aviation American Gin. Whitechapel‘s Megan Daniel did exactly that for Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse pop-up bar at London Cocktail Week.
The San Francisco bartender took top prize at Virgin Atlantic’s cocktail competition. The fierce but friendly competition asked 13 bartenders to create an original cocktail using Aviation Gin as the base spirit. Daniel’s Hal Jordan cocktail, a riff on the classic pre-Prohibition era Aviation cocktail, is described by Virgin Atlantic as “a beautiful riff on the classic Aviation. Simple and elegant in presentation.”
She stirred together a combination of Aviation American Gin, Pomp and Whimsy gin liqueur, Maraschino Luxardo, and lemon bitters. The cocktail bearing the alias of the first Green Lantern Space Sector 2814 will be served in Virgin Atlantic clubhouses around the globe.
As mentioned above, when it comes to designing a cocktail after Hal Jordan using Aviation American Gin in a Aviation variation is an inspired concept. In the comics, prior to becoming a member of the Green Lantern Corps and for a time while concealing his identity on Earth, Jordan is a fearless aviator. The base spirit of the cocktail, Aviation American Gin, is partially owned by Ryan Reynolds. The actor famously portrayed Hal Jordan in the 2011 Green Lantern film.
Liam Sharp Signing “The Green Lantern” at Escapist Comics Nov. 10
Liam Sharp, fresh off his critically acclaimed runs on both Wonder Woman alongside Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott and his dual writer/artist gig on The Brave and The Bold, is turning his artist pen skyward. He’s joining forces with comics maestro Grant Morrison to tell new stories about Space Sector 2814’s first Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. As part of the kick-off for the new title, Sharp will be visiting Berkeley’s Escapist Comics on November 10.