One of the most anticipated cinematic events of the year will be flying our way soon; Green Lantern from Warner Brothers Studios will be smashing through Australian cinemas on the 11th of August. Directed by action movie veteran (Golden Eye, Casino Royale, Edge of Darkness) Martin Campbell and starring Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Marc Strong and Peter Sarsgaard, Green Lantern looks like it will be a vibrant, action packed space fantasy that will be sure to please the general populace as well as the rabid comic fans. Speaking of which, it is prudent to point out that Green Lantern is a film adaptation of a well established comic book phenomenon, one that is still well loved and well respected, I believe that before we can properly appreciate the adaptation we should be aware of the source material so the following is a brief (comparatively) history of the heroes of the Green Lantern. Warning spoilers ahead.
The first Green Lantern’s name was Alan Scott who was first devised by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in the pages of All American Comics #16 (1940). The Green Lanterns are made up of individuals, chosen because of their strength, honour and bravery,to possess the Power Ring, the power ring grants them the ability to obtain great control over the physical world that they are able to possess through will power, The lantern serves as a battery to recharge the source of their strength and later, as a symbol for their alliance, The Green Lantern Corps. After sales of comics declined after the second world war new artists and writers were assigned to recreate the DC universe and thus the silver age was created and inside was born Hal Jordan, the second human to be bestowed with the responsibility of the Green Lantern.
Hal Jordan has always been the most popular of the Green Lanterns, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart and Guy Gardiner are the humans who were brought into the fold, each with their unique personalities and attributes. The corps became complicated when new power rings were brought into the spectrum, with the yellow power ring (Green Lanterns have always been allergic to yellow, go figure) being the most powerful as it represents fear, The Green Lantern’s adversaries often used this against them in a constant struggle for supremacy in the universe. However through out all the different story lines and incarnations, the Green Lanterns will always be standing in the shadow of Hal Jordan, at his side ready to back him up. He has the best origin story (watch the movie) he has the best writers (Geoff Johns is a genius who reinvented Hal and made him into the most badass super hero in the Dc Universe) and he has the most captivating personality of all the Green Lanterns. He has turned bad, he has teamed up with other heroes in the Dc universe to fight the good fight, he has had doubts and felt anger toward the system he fights to uphold but throughout it all he has always been consistently enjoyable to read.
I am sure you will all understand after you watch the film and hopefully Ryan Reynolds is able to do him justice, he has is a character with a hefty history, they will simplify it I’m sure but the core of his character will be there and I hope you enjoy it.
