Earth 2 #25 - A Review

Earth 2 #25 is the distillation of everything that makes up great superhero comics.  It is hope.  It is love.  It is idealism.  It is the eleventh-hour, million-to-one long-shot that just... might... work.  It is the kind of book where characters can say that they accidentally pushed a villain into infinity or that they are going to hold the entire Earth in place and you believe it.  You honestly believe it with all your heart.


What Tom Taylor, Nicola Scott and Trevor Scott have done with this title is truly magical.  This issue is perhaps the best of the series so far and I will eat my hat if it is not nominated for an Eisner or an Eagle or some manner of award for Best Single Issue.  If it has a flaw, it is that as the penultimate part of the current storyline it is not easily accessible to new readers.  As such, I advise those of you who have yet to read this series to start with Issue #0 and start catching-up.  You won't regret it.

Earth 2 #24 - A Review

I remember having a conversation at a convention a few months back, describing Earth 2 to a skeptical comic fan who loved the Golden Age heroes but didn't like much of what The New 52 had offered so far.  He was excited about the concepts as I described them - how they were taking the basic idea of the original characters (man who can run fast, man with a magic ring, woman who can fly, etc.) but creating whole new takes on those base ideas while staying true to the core character.   So we have a Jay Garrick who is still a curious science student who is now blessed with the power of the Roman god Mercury and an Alan Scott who is given the power to harness the energy of the Earth itself through the engagement ring he bought for his lost love.


The part where this skeptic froze up was when I described Jimmy Olsen and how he has a superpower in this world.  He said he wasn't sure that he could get into any series where Jimmy Olsen had powers.  Now, ignoring that Jimmy developed superpowers more than a few times back in the day (temporarily, of course), that doesn't change that Tom Taylor still writes Jimmy like Jimmy.  Indeed, Tom Taylor writes one of the best takes on Jimmy Olsen I've ever read.

Sure, the boy has the power to absorb and recall information like a sponge and is a living wi-fi connection but that's completely incidental to who Jimmy is.  Jimmy is honest.  Jimmy is courageous.  Jimmy is an idealist in a world of cynics. And all of that comes to the front in this issue's most glorious scene, in which Jimmy Olsen delivers a The Reason You Suck Speech to Batman.

And yet, Jimmy is still enough of a fanboy to want to be Robin and enough of an egoist to think he'd be doing Batman a favor.  Hell of it is, I think the kid's right and this new Batman would be lucky to have Jimmy as his moral compass to keep him from going over the edge.  God knows he needs one.

I didn't say much about the artwork of Eddy Barrows and  Eber Ferreira  in all of this talking.  How could my words do it justice without panels to show off right then and there?  Just look at the pages above and I think you'll see for yourself how good it is and why I think everyone should be reading this book.  I said as much then and I'll say it again - this is one of the best books on the stands and everyone should be reading it.

Earth 2 #23 - A Review

I have no idea why Earth 2 isn't the most acclaimed title that DC Comics publishes right now.  It can't be because of the artwork.  Nicola Scott and Trevor Scott turn in Eisner-worthy pages every month.  Just look at this splash of Green Lantern below!


It can't be because of the writing.  Tom Taylor has an amazing grasp of the characters of the DC Universe but enough of a creative spirit to play with several classic concepts in ways that change the game while still remaining true to the heart of the characters' histories.  Consider how he has turned Lois Lane into the new Red Tornado and Jimmy Olsen into a living social network called Accountable yet the two characters are still largely unchanged despite their super-powers.  This issue sees them conspiring together to use their powers in tandem in a way that is reminiscent of the two working together as Superman's allies in other stories.


Earth 2 is a hidden treasure that deserves a wider audience.  The stories and characters are great.  The artwork is amazing.  And more than any other book DC Comics has published in recent memory, it lives up to the promise that the New 52 universe had to offer.

Earth 2 #22 - A Review

The cover of Earth 2 #22 is somewhat misleading.  Based on it, one might conclude this issue would feature Green Lantern fighting hordes of Parademons.  In truth, Green Lantern does appear briefly at the start of the issue but only to confirm that - despite all appearances to the contrary several months ago - he is still alive and well.


The main focus of this issue is on Lois Lane (restored to life in a robot body known as The Red Tornado) and the Kryptonian Val-Zod.  An agoraphobic raised in a space capsule and imprisoned underground, Val is an innocent who has just been exposed to the outside world for the first time and is only now beginning to show signs of the powers that Kryptonians display under Earth's yellow sun.  There is a magical sequence where Lois tries to teach Val how to fly which evokes memories of Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder.  This sort of sequence is the bread and butter of writer Tom Taylor, who has made this book his own following James Robinson's departure from this title.


The artwork by Nicola Scott and Trevor Scott is as amazing as the story.  I've said repeatedly that The Scotts are one of the most underrated art teams in the business and I will stand by that statement.  It is a crime they have not been nominated for an Eisner for their work on this title.

Earth 2 #12 - A Review

Perhaps I'm biased, but at this point I think Earth 2 may be the strongest title to come out of DC Comics New 52 wave.  Amid a number of series that promised us a whole new world, Earth 2 delivered both literally and figuratively.  The series has progressed at a leisurely pace but I think that has been to its' benefit.  James Robinson took an equally lengthy time in establishing the cast of Starman nearly two decades ago and few will deny that series was well worth the wait.


Consider this issue, which is dominated by one long action scene.  This is uncharacteristic for Robinson's stories in general but it proves a potent payoff after several months of setting up the new Doctor Fate and adding further development to this world's versions of The Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl.  Robinson's characters are real people who just happen to have unusual powers - a surprisingly rare thing in most American superhero comics, where the focus on introducing a character sometimes falls on powers and abilities instead of personalities.  Here, our heroes are still finding their footing and learning their limits and Robinson does a masterful job of revealing our hero's souls as they experiment with their new found gifts.  He also unites several of the series' subplots - such as the revelation that the disaster which turned Alan Scott into the Green Lantern was meant to kill his boyfriend and not him.


Nicola Scott is a wonder of an artist.  Most of the artwork in this issue is made up of two-page spreads which, for once, merit the larger canvas.  Despite this, Scott's fine eye for detail still shines through even in the smaller panels.  These details are expertly emphasized by inker Trevor Scott.

Earth 2 is one of DC Comics best written and best drawn comic books.  This issue is not a good one to jump on with, but I highly advise new readers jump on with the next issue.  Better yet, pick up the first story collection or grab the earlier issues on-line.  This series is a must read for all fans of superhero stories in specific and comics in general. 

Earth 2 #10 - A Review

Despite continuing an increasingly involved storyline, Earth 2 #10 is a good jumping-on point for new readers.  I love James Robinson's work but he's better known for his sprawling epics and finely detailed scripts than his accessibility.  Yet this issue begins with a flashback illustrating events that were mentioned before but not shown in detail and a pompous new villain explaining the current state of affairs to half of our confused heroes and, by proxy, the reader. 


Robinson's main plot evokes the memory of H.P. Lovecraft, with ancient, powerful beings playing sport with humanity and magical artifacts best left untouched.  Like many of Robinson's revisions of the classic concepts behind the original Justice Society of America characters, this idea leaves the larger character concept intact while putting a twist on it that will make the character interesting to long-time readers while still respecting DC Comics' rich past.  Such is the case with the new Dr. Fate - a mild-mannered archeologist who has become the unwitting recipient of a magical helm that offers great power and great madness to the one who wears it.

We see something of this in the B-Plot as well.  More, we see Robinson's uncanny ability to develop a complex character in a short span of time.  The scene where Alan Scott makes peace with his boyfriend's father is short but no less touching for that brevity.  Too, the revelation that the violent attack which triggered Scott's transformation into The Green Lantern was aimed at his boyfriend promises to add to the drama of the upcoming issues. 


I've spoken before at length of my love for Nicola Scott's artwork.  This issue is now my Exhibit A in the case for why Scott is perhaps the most underrated artist working in the industry today.  There are few artists who could manage the level of detail and scale required to depict The Tower of Fate but Scott manages the task with style.  This image moves past being simply Escheresque or simply surreal, suggesting an actual depth and solidity that boggles the mind as we rebel against the impossibility of what we see. 


If you haven't picked up Earth 2 yet, now is a fine time to start.  The artwork is amazing in its' scope.  The writing is similarly detailed yet the stories remain simple enough to be accessible to new readers.  And the whole thing is basically a gigantic love-letter to the characters and stories that got DC Comics - and indeed, superhero comics as a genre - started.  It's awesome stuff and I can't recommend it enough.   

Earth 2 #7 - A Review

Earth 2 #7 sees James Robinson taking a bit of a breather from the world-ending catastrophes so that we may take a closer look at this parallel world.  This is not to suggest that this issue is completely free of action.  Indeed, there is one wonderful sequence where we get to see a team known as The Sandmen fight against a seemingly brainwashed Mister Terrific - a refugee hero from the main DC Universe.  


This issue offers us full backgrounds for some characters who had been shrouded in mystery until now, including Hawkgirl and Wesley Dodds - leader of The Sandmen.  We also get further hints at new versions of other classic heroes including Commander Steel and The Red Tornado.  Robinson has done a wonderful job taking the base concepts for these classic DC Comics characters and doing something new while still respecting their roots.  Taken on those terms, this book is a great read and a fun intellectual exercise for long-time DC Comics fans like me who enjoy the oh-so-clever feeling we receive whenever we "get" the hidden references to the classic lore. 


Guest artist Yildiray Cinar proves a capable substitute for Nicola Scott.  I wasn't particularly impressed by Cinar's work on The Fury of Firestorm but neither did I dislike it.  Maybe I was tainted by my antipathy for the character before, because this time I really enjoyed Cinar's work.

If you haven't been reading Earth 2 so far, you've been missing out on one of the hidden treasures of The New 52.  I'd suggest picking this issue up, but you'll get a lot more out of it if you've been reading from the beginning though there's little chance of you being lost by the story in this issue.  Track down the first seven issues (1-6 plus a Zero issue) or wait three months for the upcoming hardcover collection.  I think you'll be glad you did. 

Earth 2 #5 - A Review

Earth 2 #5 continues the action from the previous issue, with the being called Grundy continuing to drain the life force from the Earth itself while combating a group of Wonders (i.e. superheroes) never before seen by the public. We see the fight between these heroes - Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkgirl and The Atom - play out over most of the issue.  At the same time, we are introduced to The World Army - the organization which has taken over much of the world's defenses in the wake of the invasion by Apokolips which killed or displaced most of this Earth's Wonders.  Our P.O.V. character for most of these sequences is Commander Kahn, head of SENTINEL.  SENTINEL, as we are informed, is the branch of the World Army in charge of intelligence and organizing their own group of covert Wonders. 


James Robinson's script provides a lot of action but also manages a surprising amount of subtle characterization.  At first Commander Kahn seems little more than Nick Fury in a turban but - after confronting a government adviser who Kahn has personal reasons for wanting to see dead - we see that he is hardly the standard career military man and that he holds certain principals higher than obeying orders.  Sadly, we get no such introduction to The Sandman (one of my favorite Golden Age heroes) though we do get to see several Sandmen in action and see that Wesley Dodds is their leader.  I can't wait to see how that plays out!


Nicola Scott's artwork is, as always, a wonder unto itself.  Few artists can manage this level of detail without their line work threatening to obscure the picture.  Such is the miracle that is Nicola Scott.  Inker Trevor Scott proves wise enough to emphasize the original lines with a light touch.  And colorist Alex Sinclar's palette perfectly highlights each scene. 

I love this book but I can't recommend this issue to new readers.  Try and find the first few issues or wait for the upcoming collected edition.  You'll be glad you did.

Friday Comic Con News Round Up - Part Two

All news from the DC Comics Justice League & Green Lantern panel.

* Earth 2 #0 will show us more of the Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman of that earth before their deaths. There will be eight superheroes or "Wonders" of that time. One of them is apparently Terry Sloan, who is now a villain but has some kind of noble motivation for what he does.

* Alan Scott will basically be the Superman of Earth 2. The heavy hitter and paragon of virtue.

* Wesley Dodds is now Canadian and works for The World Army that has taken over protecting this Earth without superheroes. There will also be an original character leading the World Army named Amir Khan, whom Robinson describes as "Captain Nemo meets Nick Fury."

* Upcoming issues of Earth 2 will reveal Wildcat (who will have some kind of connection to The Red, though they won't use that name) and Dr. Fate, along with several other familiar names working for the government Nicola Scott says we've already met one, but nobody noticed.

* Justice League Dark will be introducing a new character who is described as "the Moriarity to John Constaintine's Sherlock Holmes". Shazam will also be showing up in JL Dark

* Robinson called bringing back the Ma Hunkle Red Tornado "a nice challenge", when one fan asked about her returning in Earth 2.

* Geoff Johns is planing to bring back The Metal Men at some point in the future.

* There's no plans for Plastic Man... yet.

* Blue Beetle will NOT be joining the Teen Titans.

Earth 2 #3 - A Review

Earth 2 #3 is primarily focused upon Alan Scott and his becoming The Green Lantern.  So far, it's been interesting seeing how James Robinson has taken the base concepts for these classic characters and tweaked them slightly for a new universe.  The big change here is that the energy used by The Green Lantern (which was always rather ill-defined in the original Alan Scott stories) is clearly defined as the power of The Earth itself. 

This is an idea that is so simple it is brilliant and while previous writers have made the connection between the Green Lantern energy and the creative aspects of fire, this is the first time that "The Green Energy" has been given an environmental context.  There's also something of a nod to the Green Knight concept of Arthurian Legend here.  And I dare say that it also ties in to Alan Moore's concept of "The Green", as the awakening of Earth's new champion also awakens a champion of "The Grey" a.k.a the spirit of decay.  I won't spoil who this champion is save to say it is a character with a connection to the classic Green Lantern whom Robinson has worked with extensively in the past.


While I still share some reservations about the fact that Alan's origin story involves the death of a "fridged" lover, I do like how Robinson carries off Alan's assuming his heroic identity.  His first thoughts are of his would-be fiancee and when asked to chose a token to focus his power, he suggests the engagement ring he was going to use to propose without hesitation.  There's some powerful symbolism in that, given the nature of rings as a symbol of both love, infinity and power and it does say that while Sam may be dead, he will never be forgotten.  I also like that Alan's sexuality is just a footnote to the story and not his major defining personality trait - a frequent problem with gay male superheroes in the past.

The rest of the issue continues the story of Jay Garrick and his first meeting with the Hawkgirl of Earth 2.  We don't learn very much about her, save that she's a skilled combatant, easily able to handle Garrick despite the advantages his super-speed gives him.  She also apparently knows someone named "Fate", who gave her directions to start looking for others like herself due to a coming crisis that will require a new band of heroes.


I've said before that Nicola Scott is one of my favorite artists and this issue is a fine example of Scott's work.  Her pencils are smooth, full of detail without getting cluttered and she draws a fine figure of a hero.  Inker Trevor Scott does a good job defining those pencils without making things too shadowy, perfectly contrasting the scenes where the only illumination is the glow of the green energy.  And the coloring team of Alex Sinclair and Pete Pantazis make everything look vibrant and radiant.

This title has grown on me, despite some worrying early on.  I'd recommend tracking down the first three issues while you can and picking up the rest as they come out.  This book is one to watch!

Earth 2 #2 - A Review

The second issue of Earth 2 is light on action and heavy on set-up.  This is to be expected given that James Robinson is having to build an entire world from the ground up.  Thankfully, while what few moments of action exist are brief, Robinson does find a way to keep things interesting - particularly for those of us with a little knowledge of the original Earth 2 and the heroes of the JSA.




Case In Point: This issue not only shows us the fate of Michael Holt following Mister Terrific #8 but it also introduces us to Terry Sloan - a.k.a. the original Golden Age Mister Terrific.  Shockingly, he seems to have been expecting Michael Holt.  And, even more shockingly, his intentions seem to be less than benevolent.

Cliche as it may be to say this, "Everything old is new again".  Robinson may be utilizing the same names and gimmicks as he did his classic Golden Age miniseries but the devil is in the details.  Jay Garrick is still the hero known as The Flash but the whys and wherefores are completely different.  Originally, Jay Garrick gained his super-speed through an ill-defined college chemistry experiment involving "hard water".  This time, with a tip of the hat to Grant Morrison's theories that modern day superheroes fill the void left by tales of heroes and gods, Jay Garrick is literally elevated to the status of a living god by a dying Mercury.



And speaking of big changes, I am going to address the elephant in the room.  Yes, Alan Scott - the man who will be Green Lantern - is revealed to be gay in this issue.  And no, it's not really a big deal.  Nor should it be. His sexuality has about as much bearing on this issue as whether or not he is left-handed.   There is no big sex scene.  No shocking revelation.  Just one kiss and a hug.  That's it.   

 

As always, Nicola Scott's artwork is excellent.  I've been a fan of her work for a while now and she's one of the few artists who can get me to buy a book regardless of the writer or the characters involved.  You can only imagine how overjoyed I was when I found out she'd be the monthly artist on this, a title I was looking forward to since it was announced.  I don't think I need to say anything more about her art, other than to point to the above scans and say again that you should all be reading this book.

DC's Latest Gay Hero? Earth 2's Green Lantern, Alan Scott.

SOURCE: Yes, America, It’s Alan Scott

I can't say that I'm at all shocked and I can't say that I'm at all pleased. 

Do not misunderstand me.  I think, given my vast body of work, I can safely be said to be a straight supporter and a friend of the GLBT community.  So please don't think that any objections I might have to Alan Scott having been revamped into a gay man are based on homophobia or a general adverse reaction to change. 

No.  No, my objections are far more complex than that, if somewhat tongue in cheek and based on my imagining the worst possible reasons for precisely why Alan Scott was chosen.  So with that in mind, here's five reasons why we should all be a little annoyed and/or worried about Alan Scott being outed.


1.The Far Too Obvious Jokes

How many times have we heard some variant of this gag over the weekend?  "He gets his powers from a magical flame and his weakness is wood.  Of course he's gay!"  Get used to it.  We're going to be hearing that line a lot from now on.


2. The Slightly Less Obvious Jokes


  
Granting that he may be getting a new costume in Earth 2, expect to hear a lot of jokes about how no straight man would ever dare wear that outfit in public.  Conversely, expect a lot of lines about Alan is breaking stereotypes, as most gay men would have better fashion sense than to dress like that.


3. Where Does This Leave The Molly Mayne Harlequin?



For those of you who aren't big Golden Age fans, let me explain.  The Harlequin was a villainess who fought Green Lantern several times.  Her crimes were strictly small-time and she never intentionally hurt anyone, seemingly being in it for the fun of it.  In truth, she had fallen in love with the flashy Green Lantern but could think of no other way to get his attention and asking for a date than by dressing up in a clown costume and committing crimes.  Eventually she reformed and she and Alan Scott hooked up and got married years later. 

A part of me is deeply suspicious that the move to make Alan Scott gay may be a way for The Powers That Be to eliminate any and all reference to any Harlequin-themed villainesses other than the current Suicide Girl model.  This would be a shame, as I always had a soft spot for Molly Mayne and thought that she and Alan made for an interesting couple.  Granted, her motivations for turning to costumed villainy haven't aged well and may cause some teeth-gritting in some modern readers (i.e. I have a crush and want the hero to notice me!) but there's something whimsical about the concept I find refreshing.

Of course it occurs to me that they could be planning to bring Harlequin back for cheap laughs, having her chasing after a hero whose disinterest in her is less due to her criminal ways and more due to his playing for the other team.  I'd like to think James Robinson is better than that.  And then I remember all the comedy in Starman that made light of various characters' sexuality and I worry some more.


4. Gay Alan Scott = No Children = No Infinity Inc. ?

Granting that it is possible for a gay man to have fathered children in some form or fashion, having Alan Scott be uninterested in women does increase the chances that the DCnU will not ever have a Jade or Obsidian in it.  And if they never existed, then as the most prominent members of the second-generation hero team Infinity Inc. it's likely that the rest of the team never existed either.

Why is that a big deal?  Because most of the Infinity Inc. characters could potentially cause problems if you tried to fit them into the new Earth 2.    Wonder Woman's daughter Fury alone could cause a Crisis...


5. Like Father, Like Son.  Think About It, Won't You?

Going along with the above point, if there's no Obsidian in the DCnU then there's one less gay hero in the DCnU as well.  Having Alan Scott's orientation changed keeps the count even.  Of course the idea that you can replace one character so easily brings up some rather disturbing implications... 

Looking To The Stars: One Ring To Confuse Them All: 2005.5 Edition

With Green Lantern: Rebirth concluded, a new Green Lantern series begun and with a lot of changes to the Green Lantern Mythos made, it seems that it is time for me to once again update one of the most popular features I’ve ever written: a guide to the little differences in the various Green Lantern rings. Particularly since it now seems the rings are not as different as we thought.

For the purposes of simplicity, the “different” rings shall be discussed using these four qualifying terms: Alpha Ring, Beta Ring and Omega Ring. A new section, describing the state of the ring now, Delta Ring, has been added to explain how the rings function in the wake of Green Lantern: Rebirth. Definitions follow.

Alpha Ring – Standard GL Corps. Ring

Description: The ring created by the Guardians of the Universe to serve as a weapon and tool for their Green Lantern Corps.

Power Source: The Central Power Battery on the Guardian’s home planet of Oa.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is yellow or beings with yellow skin pigmentation. This weakness was reportedly programmed into the Central Power Battery itself, but the Guardians were not completely honest about the nature of the impurity. For more details upon this, see the Q&A following the ring definitions.

Powers of the Ring: The ring nominally allows the bearer to do anything, given sufficient willpower to accomplish it. The ring has a number or programmed safeguards that keep it from being used for certain tasks (such as killing) but these can be overridden by a Green Lantern with exceptional willpower or a mind that does not function in a normal way. Classified examples of standard ring uses are…

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Limited Healing
* Protective Shields
* Space Travel (Produces whatever gases and temperature the bearer needs to breathe and live)
* Universal Translator
* Invisibility
* Astral Projection (through an energy double of the bearer)
* Mind Tampering
* Communication Device (with standard transmission devices or other Green Lantern rings)
* Remote Control of Ring
* Ring Duplication
* Ring AI/Database – Ring allows bearer to access information from the Central Power Battery on Oa, similar to a series of networked computers and a file server.
* Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support – An energy reserve in the ring allows it to protect its’ bearer from surprise attacks. Additionally, this charge can be used to sustain a Green Lantern if knocked unconscious in the void of space until help can be summoned. This charge has proven strong enough in the past as to prevent a Green Lantern from dying for many years.

Beta Ring – Alan Scott’s Ring

Description: Fashioned from the lantern of deceased Green Lantern Yalan Gur and bonded to the chaotic magical energy of the colossal gem known as The Starheart, train engineer Alan Scott survived a fatal wreck thanks to the magic of the lantern, Carving a ring from it, Alan used its’ magic to fight evil as The Green Lantern during WWII and into the present day.

While its’ powers and origin have changed slightly over the years, Alan Scott’s ring has always been treated as a magical artifact while the other GL rings have been products of science and advanced alien technology. A link to the original Green Lanterns was forged in Green Lantern #19 (2nd series), when it was revealed that rather than being forged from a piece of the magical Starheart itself, Alan Scott’s lantern was an old GL Lantern, lain dormant after the death of its’ owner, Yalan Gur.

Yalan Gur was the subject of an experiment by the Guardians to see if their best and brightest could handle the strain of omnipotence. It was revealed in this story that the yellow weakness of the Green Lantern rings was a programmed flaw, which was meant to push the Corps to greater versatility as well as insuring the Guardians had a way to deal with those who rebelled.

Gur, however, fell to the temptation of limitless power and became a despot in Ancient China. He was defeated after the Guardians programmed a new weakness into his battery, which made him vulnerable to the wooden weapons of the peasants he was ruling.

This dead battery was later charged and taken over by the Starheart; a gigantic gem made up of all the wild chaotic magic from the beginning of the universe, which the Guardians gathered up as part of their efforts to make the universe more organized.

Of course this story may be out of continuity now. It did occur before Zero Hour (which could have effectively removed this story from continuity) and recent events suggest that the idea of the yellow weakness being programmed by the Guardians is totally inaccurate.

Power Source: The Starheart; a gem made of pure chaos magic, created by The Guardians.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is made of wood.

Powers of the Ring: Like the Alpha Ring, Alan Scott could use his ring to do anything he willed. However, since his ring was not “programmed” by the Guardians, it lacked some of the powers and the limits of the Alpha Ring. There was nothing, for example, to stop Alan Scott from killing aside from his own moral code. Alan Scott lamented this fact and spoke in one story about how he had the power to wish for every person in the world to become a decent human being, but how denying people the choice for good and evil would be more evil than the crimes he sought to stop. Regardless, aside from his time as The Sentinel when Alan Scott seemed to be a magician on par with Dr. Fate, Scott had shown the following abilities as a Green Lantern:

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Healing
* Protective Shields
* Space Travel
* Universal Translator
* Invisibility
* Astral Projection
* Mind Tampering – Alan has never said how he knows the ring can do this, but he has referred to avoiding using said power.

Omega Ring -Kyle Rayner’s Ring, Pre-Rebirth

Description: Forged from the broken remains of the ring of rogue Green Lantern Hal Jordan, all but one of the Guardians gave their life force to create a new Green Lantern ring. The last Guardian, Ganthet, went to Earth to try and convince the former Green Lantern Guy Gardner to use this ring and to stand against Hal, who was now wielding all the energy of the Central Power Battery. Gardner refused, saying he did not want to bail out the Guardians now that they realized he was the better man. With not much time left, Ganthet was forced to give the ring to an untested youth and unlikely hero- an artist named Kyle Rayner, in the hopes that his strong imagination would prove able to weave around Jordan’s strong will.

Power Source: Lacking a connection to The Central Power Battery, Kyle’s battery originally drew power directly from “The Source”; a cosmic energy field responsible for creating The New Gods and empowering certain other energy fields throughout he universe.

With the Central Power Battery reforged and repowered as of Green Lantern #150 and the “Legacy: The Last Will And Testament of Hal Jordan” graphic novel, it appeared from that time afterward that Kyle’s battery as well as that of John Stewart, were drawing their power from the new Central Power Battery.

Weaknesses: Unlike the Alpha Rings, the Omega Ring was not originally connected to the Central Power Battery of Oa. As such, it lacked access to the information databases the Alpha Ring drew upon and was unable to communicate with the other, now dormant, Green Lantern rings across the universe. Still, the Omega Ring made up for these flaws in two important respects.

First, it lacked the yellow weakness of the Alpha Rings. The exact reasons for this would be explained in Green Lantern: Rebirth but for years it was assumed that without the Central Power Battery, there was nothing to impose limits on the direct source of the Green Lantern power.

Second, unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring did not need to be recharged on a daily basis. The Omega Ring functioned as a normal power tool; being able to lie unused for days, slowly draining its’ supply until recharged.

Powers of the Ring: At first appearance, the Omega Ring lacked many of the powers of the Alpha Ring. While Kyle Rayner would later gain some of the powers as he became more experienced in using the ring, he started out very limited in terms of ability, though unhindered by the yellow weakness and 24 hour time time-limit of previous Lanterns. Indeed, Kyle only displayed three powers in his first outing as Green Lantern…

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Protective Shields

Despite this shaky start, Kyle did wind up developing nearly ALL of the powers of the Alpha Ring. This suggests that Kyle’s low power levels were more the result of ignorance and a lack of training than any limit within the ring itself. Consider the list of Alpha Ring powers and how many of them Kyle later used…

Limited Healing – In JLA #17, Kyle says he can use his ring to heal a bullet wound after being shot. In Green Lantern: Rebirth #2, his internal dialogue explains how he could use the ring to make stitches to sew together a cut. Also, having this power would explain his quick recovery from other various injuries he picked up in the line of fire that would have required explanation to those not aware of his secret identity.

Space Travel/ Life Support – Too many examples to count them all, but the first time was in the wake of the destruction of the Planet Oa in GL #0

Universal Translator – Very likely the first time he did this was in Green Lantern #56, when Kyle makes his first contact with an alien world. There have been countless examples since then, unless Kyle has been very lucky about finding aliens who either knew English or had their own translation devices.

Invisibility – Kyle used the ring to mask his presence in GL #154, as he confronted the man responsible for beating his friend Terry Berg in prison.

Astral Projection – JLA #15, where an energy projection of Kyle’s face was able to deliver a warning to Superman from some distance away. Also, in last GL #174, Kyle communicated with the rest of his Corps with an energy projection of his thoughts.

Mind Tampering – Used by Hal sparingly to erase memories in Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II, Kyle has never used this ability despite experimenting with telepathic abilities during his time as Ion.

Communication Device – See countless JLA issues where Kyle stays in touch with the team without an apparent separate communicator.

Remote Control of Ring – GL #124. Kyle summons his ring to his hand as he is being chased by the Controllers’ Effigy squad. He has since then programmed his ring so that it will always return to his hand if it is forcibly taken from him.

Ring Duplication – This power has never been demonstrated and, apparently, is impossible with an Omega Ring. Kyle used the Alpha Ring given to him by a young Hal Jordan after the events of “Emerald Knights” (Green Lantern 100-106) to create rings for the new GL Corps that he was creating in The New Corps (2-part special miniseries) and had to take one spare Alpha Ring Copy as a master in edition to his own Omega Ring. Ring Duplication is apparently impossible, as we can assume that Kyle would have at least tried to make a copy of his own ring just for the sake of trying after the events of Emerald Knights. Or can we? Kyle may have just assumed his ring was too different to have ever tried it.

Ring AI/Database – Never demonstrated, but with the lack of the Central Battery “Hub”, this makes sense.

Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support – This emergency power supply is apparently missing from the Omega Ring, as great play was made of this in GL #100, where Kyle and a young Hal Jordan switch rings when fighting Sinestro, so as to catch the villain off-guard. Considering how many times Kyle has been fatally wounded and nearly killed (his being sniped by an assassin in GL #120, to give one example), it would seem likely he doesn’t have this power.

Going through this list, we see only two powers that Kyle has not demonstrated directly in some capacity before Green Lantern: Rebirth; a ring AI and an Emergency Power supply. Kyle created an Emergency Power Supply of sorts for the ring in GL #150. As of Green Lantern Secret Files 2005, Kyle’s ring has developed an AI.

This suggests that Kyle’s ring has been changed to become a Standard Alpha Ring, further suggesting that the only true difference between Kyle’s Omega Ring and the Alpha Rings was the lack of two features, caused by the lack of the Central Power Battery. This means that only three things now separate the Omega Ring from the Alpha Ring, assuming these features have not been removed following the Guardians reprogramming of Kyle’s ring.

1. DNA Lock – The Omega ring only works for Kyle Rayner, a member of his family (one of Kyle’s descendants used the ring in the future) and, because it was his ring for many years and it still holds a “memory” of him, Hal Jordan. Reportedly, Kyle can will the ring to function for other people as well.

2. Emergency Energy Supply – In GL #150, Kyle programmed his ring so that it would always have a small reserve of energy. The ring would still need to be recharged to be at full power, but the ring could never really run out of energy. This could be tied into the reconstruction of the Central Power Battery and be considered a substitute for the Protection From Mortal Harm energy reserve.

3. Boomerang Effect – Kyle programmed his ring in GL #150 so that it can never be taken from him by force. While a bit redundant when he can just pull the ring back to his hand at will, this makes the process automatic and would protect Kyle from having his ring stolen by a mind-controlling enemy.

Delta Ring – All Green Lantern Rings, Post-Rebirth

Description: As of Green Lantern #1, it seems that all GL Rings have reverted back to their original Alpha Ring state in most respects. It has yet to be seen if some of the features of the Omega Ring (DNA lock, etc) have been added into all of the rings or if they have been removed outright.

Power Source: All Green Lantern rings now draw energy from the new Central Power Battery on the planet Oa. It has been revealed that rather than drawing off “The Source” itself, the Guardians actually harvest the collected willpower of every being in the universe as a power source. The Central Power Battery collects and harnesses this power and turns it into a tangible energy that manifests itself on the emotional prism as green light.

Weaknesses: It was revealed in Rebirth that the reason for the Green Lantern’s famed weakness against yellow was due to another purpose for the Central Power Battery. In addition to collecting the willpower of all intelligent life in the universe, it also acted as a prison for a being called Parallax. Parallax was a monster made up of pure fear, who fed off the fears of other beings. The Guardians imprisoned Parallax during their early efforts at organizing the universe and found that their battery made an effective prison. Nearly perfect in fact, save that Parallax was still able to influence the energy holding him, making it ineffective against the color of fear- yellow.

With Parallax imprisoned again in the new power battery, it appears that the Green Lanterns once again have a weakness to yellow. However, it also seems that this weakness can be overcome by Green Lanterns of sufficient experience and willpower. In Green Lantern #1, Hal Jordan and John Stewart are able to slice through a spaceship of yellow-metal by allowing themselves to feel fear and then overcoming it.

The Delta rings also appear to function as per the Omega ring in regards to recharging. The new rings are able to give an estimated amount of how much charge remains inside them (as of Green Lantern #1), suggesting that they now act like a standard power tool rather than as a limitless abyss of power for a limited time.

Powers of the Ring: Thus far, the Delta Rings appear to have all the same powers as the Alpha Ring.

Questions and Answers

Q: How many Green Lanterns are there now and where did their rings come from?

A: Ignoring Alan Scott (who is not officially part of the Green Lantern Corps) there are five active Green Lanterns with active rings. The rings came from the following sources…

Hal Jordan: Delta Ring; copy of his original ring, given to best friend Oliver Queen.

John Stewart: Delta Ring; given to Kyle Rayner by Batman. Presumed by some scholars to be retrieved from Anarky, who stole the ring from Jade, who got it from Kyle Rayner, who got it from a time-displaced Hal Jordan.

Guy Garder: Delta Ring; copied from Hal Jordan’s current ring.

Kyle Rayner: Delta Ring; his original Omega ring modified to function as a standard Alpha Ring, possibly with some added features.

Kilowog: Delta Ring, forged new by The Guardians.

Q: How exactly did the Yellow Impurity work and what does it have to do with Parallax?

A: As mentioned earlier, Parallax was a being made up of pure fear who lived off the fears of others. The Guardians imprisoned Parallax inside The Central Power Battery on Oa, hoping that the Battery, which collected the willpower of every being in the universe would be strong enough to contain Parallax.

While the prison was strong enough to hold Parallax’s physical form in check, Parallax was still able to make his presence felt through the energy released from the battery. The Rings the Guardians had fashioned to channel this energy proved inefficient against yellow- the color on the emotional spectrum that Parallax drew energy from. In order to counteract the risk that Parallax might influence their agents, The Guardians required all members of their Green Lantern Corps to be completely fearless.

This would nearly prove to the the Corps downfall, as Parallax was eventually able to find a way to influence the Lanterns through their rings without praying on their fears. Their total fearlessness left them unable to feel Parallax’s subtle influence and gave him free reign over their minds and bodies. Only Kyle Rayner, who had become a Green Lantern without being tested for fearlessness, felt another presence trying to influence his mind. It was he who discovered Parallax’s long-forgotten origins and determined that Parallax could be overcome by recognizing the feeling of fear and then working past them.

All of Hal Jordan’s acts as “Parallax” during Zero Hour and up until Final Night, are colored by Parallax’s influence, having fully taken over Hal’s mind during the moment of great stress brought about by the destruction of his hometown.

Q: Does this mean Hal has been totally absolved of his actions?

A: Far from it. Hal still blames himself for falling prey to Parallax, though the rest of the Corps. seems to have been quick to forgive him as have most of his old friends in the superhero community. Some, like Batman, are still unconvinced that Hal was being influenced and are watching him carefully.

Q: How well does the “Hal as Parallax” possessed story stand up to past stories?

A: Pretty well, actually.

In Zero Hour, Hal/Parallax was working toward a goal of using the Guardians’ power to reboot time and rebuild the universe. While Hal stated he wanted to make a universe free of pain, Parallax could have used the opportunity to create a universe where fear ruled supreme.

Most of the stories between Zero Hour and Final Night showed that Hal was regaining some small measure of his sanity back and was more concerned with righting wrongs than in continuing his big master plan. Even his actions in Final Night, sacrificing himself to save the world, suggest that Hal was resisting Parallax’s influence except when under great stress, such as in the heat of battle.

Q: What’s all this about Kyle’s role in Rebirth being pre-ordained?

A: In JLA #23, Kyle was told by Dream of the Endless that he would one day surpass Hal Jordan because of the one thing he knew that Hal did not: fear. This came to pass in Rebirth, as Kyle was the only Green Lantern to feel Parallax’s influence through the ring, by the simple fact that Kyle knew what it was to be afraid and resist fear.

Q: What is the status of Hal’s secret identity?

A: In Green Lantern #1, it is suggested that Hal has been presumed dead for the few years since Coast City. Ditto the Green Lantern who used to watch over Coast City. As such, it seems that Hal’s secret identity is still a secret.

Q: I thought Hal had been outed to the world at large as a killer and a murderer?

A: This point is a bit unclear and might be glossed over were all the references to this point not a part of some key Green Lantern stories.

In the Parallax special during The Final Night, Hal spoke with his old mechanic and sidekick Tom Kalmaku, who was working on a book about Hal’s life and that it would remind everyone of the hero he really was. Tom made reference to not believing a word that was said about what he had done.

Later, in Legacy: The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan it was suggested that he couldn’t find a buyer for the book because everyone he showed it to wanted a trashy tell-all about a fallen hero and not a story of true heroism Tom had written.

One way around this might be to suggest that Tom, who was drunk during the time of his ranting about the book, had not actually submitted the book to any publishers but was more upset about how one of his closest friends and a man he had admired had turned out to be everything that everyone said he is and he was worried more about what would be asked of him in telling his story. As for “what he heard”, it is more than likely some of the superhero community would have contacted Tom after “Zero Hour”, warning him to contact them should Hal ever come back to talk to him.

Q: Is this kind of thing par for the course for DC Comics resurrections?

A: Well, Carter Hall came back from the dead without ever having really died. Superman is a big question mark. And Oliver Queen is quite nicely managing a secret identity now despite having been a federally hunted fugitive, operating several years in Seattle without a real secret identity and having his name and picture splashed across the cover of the Daily Planet as a hero for giving his life to save Metropolis. So… yes.

Any more questions? You know how to e-mail me. And I’m sure there’s a few questions about Green Lantern I have yet to answer…

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt Website.

Looking To The Stars: One Ring To Confuse Them All - 2005 Ediition

With Green Lantern: Rebirth drawing a lot of attention as it clarifies and redefines the Green Lantern mythos, it seems that it is time for me to update one of the most popular features I've ever written: a guide to the little differences in the various Green Lantern rings.

For the purposes of simplicity, the rings shall be discussed using these three qualifying terms: Alpha Ring, Beta Ring and Omega Ring. Definitions follow.

Alpha Ring - Standard GL Corps. Ring

Description: The ring created by the Guardians of the Universe to serve as a weapon and tool for their Green Lantern Corps.

Power Source: The Central Power Battery on the Guardian’s home planet of Oa.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is yellow or beings with yellow skin pigmentation. This weakness was, we found out recently, programmed into the Central Power Battery itself. The yellow weakness is apparently no longer an issue, as the new Central Power Battery does not have this weakness, according to John Stewart in Green Lantern: Rebirth #2.

Powers of the Ring: The ring nominally allows the bearer to do anything, given sufficient willpower to accomplish it. The ring has a number or programmed safeguards that keep it from being used for certain tasks (such as killing) but these can be overridden by Green Lantern with exceptional willpower or a mind that does not function in a normal way. Classified examples of standard ring uses are.

• Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
• Flight
• Limited Healing
• Protective Shields
• Space Travel (Produces whatever gases and temperature the bearer needs to breathe and live)
• Universal Translator
• Invisibility
• Astral Projection (through an energy double of the bearer)
• Mind Tampering
• Communication Device (with standard transmission devices or other Green Lantern rings)
• Remote Control of Ring
• Ring Duplication
• Ring AI/Database - " Ring allows bearer to access information from the Central Power Battery on Oa, similar to a series of networked computers and a file server.
• Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support - " An energy reserve in the ring allows it to protect its’ bearer from surprise attacks. Additionally, this charge can be used to sustain a Green Lantern if knocked unconscious in the void of space until help can be summoned.


Beta Ring - Alan Scott’s Ring

Description: Fashioned from the lantern of deceased Green Lantern Yalan Gur and bonded to the chaotic magical energy of the colossal gem known as The Starheart, train engineer Alan Scott survived a fatal wreck thanks to the magic of the lantern, Carving a ring from it, Alan used its magic to fight evil as The Green Lantern during WWII and into the present day.

While its’ powers and origin have changed slightly over the years, Alan Scott’s ring has always been treated as a magical artifact while the other GL rings have been products of science and advanced alien technology. A link to the original Green Lanterns was forged in Green Lantern #19 (current series), when it was revealed that rather than being forged from a piece of the magical Starheart itself, his lantern was an old GL Lantern, lain dormant after the death of its’ owner, Yalan Gur.

Yalan Gur was the subject of an experiment by the Guardians to see if their best and brightest could handle the strain of omnipotence. It was revealed in this issue that the yellow weakness of the Green Lantern rings was a programmed flaw, which was meant to push the Corps to greater versatility as well as insuring the Guardians had a way to deal with those who rebelled. Gur, however, fell to the temptation of limitless power and became a despot in Ancient China. He was defeated after the Guardians programmed a new weakness into his battery, which made him vulnerable to the wooden weapons of the peasants he was ruling. This battery was later taken over by the Starheart; a gem made up of all the wild chaotic magic from the beginning of the universe, which the Guardians gathered up as part of their efforts to make the universe more organized.

Power Source: The Starheart; a gem made of pure chaos magic, created by The Guardians.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is made of wood.

Powers of the Ring: Like the Alpha Ring, Alan Scott could use his ring to do anything he willed. However, since his ring was not “programmed” by the Guardians, it lacked some of the powers and the limits of the Alpha Ring. There was nothing, for example, to stop Alan Scott from killing aside from his own moral code. Alan Scott lamented this fact and spoke in one story about how he had the power to wish for every person in the world to become a decent human being, but how denying people the choice for good and evil would be more evil than the crimes he sought to stop. Regardless, aside from his time as Sentinel when Alan Scott seemed to be a magician on par with Dr. Fate, Scott has shown the following abilities as a Green Lantern:


• Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
• Flight
• Healing
• Protective Shields
• Space Travel
• Universal Translator
• Invisibility
• Astral Projection
• Mind Tampering - Alan has never said how he knows the ring can do this, but he has referred to avoiding using said power.

Omega Ring - Kyle Rayner’s Ring

Description: Forged from the broken remains of the ring of rogue Green Lantern Hal Jordan, all but one of the Guardians gave their life force to create a new Green Lantern ring. The last Guardian, Ganthet, went to Earth to try and convince the former GL Guy Gardner to use this ring and to stand against Hal, who was now wielding all the energy of the Central Power Battery.. Gardner refused, saying he did not want to bail out the Guardians now that they realized he was the better man. With not much time left, Ganthet was forced to give the ring to the untested and unlikely artist Kyle Rayner in the hopes that his strong imagination would prove able to weave around Jordan’s strong will.

Power Source: Lacking a connection to The Central Power Battery, Kyle’s battery originally drew power directly from “The Source”; a cosmic energy field responsible for creating The New Gods and empowering certain other energy fields throughout he universe.

With the Central Power Battery reforged and repowered as of Green Lantern #150 and the "Legacy: The Last Will And Testament of Hal Jordan" graphic novel, it appears that Kyle's battery as well as those of the other Green Lanterns, are drawing their power from the new Central Power Battery..

Weaknesses: Unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring was not connected to the Central Power Battery of Oa. As such, it lacked access to the information databases the Alpha Ring drew upon and was unable to communicate with the other, now dormant, Green Lantern rings. Still, the Omega Ring made up for these flaws in two important respects.

First, it lacked the yellow weakness of the Alpha Ring, confirming that the weakness is indeed a programmable event in the rings; a point of contention among many GL fans for years.

Second, unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring did not need to be recharged on a daily basis. The Omega Ring functioned as a normal power tool; being able to lie unused for days, slowly draining its’ supply until recharged.

Powers of the Ring: At first appearance, the Omega Ring lacked many of the powers of the Alpha Ring. While Kyle Rayner would later gain some of the powers as he became more experienced in using the ring, he started out very limited in terms of ability though unhindered by the yellow weakness and 24 hour time time-limit of previous Lanterns. Indeed, Kyle only displayed three powers in his first outing as Green Lantern…

• Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
• Flight
• Protective Shields

Despite this shaky start, Kyle did wind up developing nearly ALL of the powers of the Alpha Ring. This suggests that Kyle's low power levels were more the result of ignorance and a lack of training than any limit within the ring itself. Consider the list of Alpha Ring powers and how many of them Kyle later used...

Limited Healing - In JLA #17, Kyle says he can use his ring to heal a bullet wound after being shot. In Green Lantern: Rebirth #2, he internal dialogue explains how he could use the ring to make stitches to sew together a cut. Also, having this power would explain his quick recovery from other various injuries he picked up in the line of fire that would have required explaining to friends and neighbors.

Space Travel/ Life Support - Too many examples to count, but the first time was probably in the wake of the destruction of the Planet Oa in GL #0

Universal Translator - Very likely the first time he did this was in Green Lantern #56, when Kyle makes his first contact with an alien world. Countless examples since then.

Invisibility - Kyle used the ring to mask his presence in GL #154, as he confronted the man responsible for beating his friend Terry Berg in prison.

Astral Projection - JLA #15, where an energy projection of Kyle's face was able to deliver a warning to Superman from some distance away. Also, in last GL #174, Kyle communicated with the rest of his Corps with an energy projection of his thoughts.

Mind Tampering - Used by Hal sparingly to erase memories in Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II, Kyle has never used this ability despite experimenting with telepathic abilities during his time as Ion.

Communication Device - See countless JLA issues where Kyle stays in touch with the team without an apparent separate communicator.

Remote Control of Ring - GL #124. Kyle summons his ring to his hand as he is being chased by the Controller's Effigy squad. He has since then programmed his ring so that it will always return to his hand if it is forcibly taken from him.

Ring Duplication - This power has never been demonstrated and, apparently, is impossible with an Omega Ring. Kyle used the Alpha Ring given to him by a young Hal Jordan after the events of "Emerald Knights" to create rings for the new GL Corps that he was creating in "The New Corps" and had to take one spare Alpha Ring Copy as a master in edition to his own Omega Ring.

Ring AI/Database - Never demonstrated, but with the lack of the Central Battery "Hub", this makes sense.

Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support - This emergency power supply is apparently missing from the Omega Ring, as great play was made of this in GL #100, where Kyle and a young Hal Jordan switch rings when fighting Sinestro, so as to catch the villain off-guard. Considering how many times Kyle has been wounded and nearly killed (his being sniped by an assassin in GL #120, to give one example), it would seem likely he doesn't have this power.

Going through this list, we see only four powers that Kyle has not demonstrated directly in some capacity. The lack of a Ring AI is explained by the lack of a Central Power Battery to act as a database. Mind Tampering may not be impossible, but would likely be distasteful to a free-spirit like Kyle who would avoid such options even if he knew they were possible.

Ring Duplication is apparently impossible, as we can assume that Kyle would have at least tried to make a copy of his own ring just for the sake of trying after the events of Emerald Knights. Or can we? Kyle may have just assumed his ring was too different to have ever tried it.

As for the emergency power supply, no logical answers can be determined from the text. Perhaps it was, like the Ring AI, tied to the Central Power Battery whose network had the capability to monitor every individual Green Lantern at once and determine if they needed assistance?

Regardless, looking at this list the differences between the Omega Ring and Alpha Ring are not very great. In fact, were it not for the ability to copy itself and the emergency power supply they might well be the same ring but with a few features added ( the DNA lock that allows only Kyle or a family member to use the ring) or taken away ( the yellow weakness, and 24 hour time limit)

Indeed, in the wake of the reforging of the Central Power Battery, it seems that the Yellow Weakness is no longer a concern for ANY Green Lantern, regardless of whether or what ring they use. In Green Lantern: Rebirth #2, John Stewart confirmed that the yellow weakness hadn't been an issue since the destruction of the old Central Power Battery. This confirms that the Yellow Weakness was a programmed flaw and that the new battery does not impose such limits on Green Lanterns.

This means that only three things now separate the Omega Ring from the Alpha Ring.

1. DNA Lock " The Omega ring only works for Kyle Rayner, a member of his family (one of Kyle's descendants used the ring in the future) and, because it was his ring for many years and it still holds a "memory" of him, Hal Jordan. Reportedly, Kyle can will the ring to function for other people as well.
2. Emergency Energy Supply - " In GL #150, Kyle programmed his ring so that it would always have a small reserve of energy. The ring would still need to be recharged to be at full power, but the ring could never really run out of energy. This could be tied into the reconstruction of the Central Power Battery and be a substitute for the Protection From Mortal Harm energy reserve
3. Boomerang Effect - " Kyle programmed his ring in GL #150 so that it can never be taken from him by force. While a bit redundant when he can just pull the ring back to his hand at will, this makes the process automatic and would protect Kyle from having his ring stolen by a mind-controlling enemy.


Currently, the number of ring bearers as of Green Lantern: Rebirth #2 and where they got their ring from is as follows.

John Stewart: Alpha Ring. His ring is an emergency spare that was given to him by Kyle Rayner, who originally got it from a young Hal Jordan.

Oliver Queen: Alpha Ring. Hal Jordan's best friend, he was given a "for emergency only" ring by Hal Jordan.

Guy Gardner: Alpha Ring. Former Green Lantern, he recently got a new ring after a copy inexplicably split off of Oliver Queen's ring and flew onto his hand.

Killowog: Alpha Ring. Formerly dead Green Lantern, restored to life by Kyle Rayner. When last we saw him he was ringless, helping Kyle along with other former Lanterns in his effort to bring down the intergalactic Black Circle crime syndicate from the inside. As of GL: Rebirth #2, he is back in uniform with an active ring, presumably provided by Ganthet, the last Guardian.

Alan Scott: Beta Ring.

Kyle Rayner: Omega Ring.

Any questions? You know how to e-mail me.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt Website.

Looking To The Stars: One Ring To Confuse Them All - Part Two

When last we left off our discussion of Ring Lore, we discussed the differences between the three various recorded types of Green Lantern rings and Kyle Rayner's development as a ring bearer.

* Alpha - The Standard Corps Ring
* Beta - The Alan Scott Ring
* Omega - The Kyle Rayner Ring

While we're on the subject, one error from last week I should note: due to a production error, the list of powers for the Beta ring was not printed. However, since the list was going to be exactly the same as the Alpha Ring plus a note that "Aside from being vulnerable to Wood, Alan has shown no limits at all". So there.

Getting back to the topic at hand, the Alpha Ring, as we discussed last week, had a wide variety of powers that the Omega Ring seemingly lacked.

Alpha Ring Powers

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Limited Healing
* Protective Shields
* Space Travel (Produces whatever gases and temperature the bearer needs to breathe and live)
* Universal Translator
* Invisibility
* Astral Projection (through an energy double of the bearer)
* Mind Tampering
* Communication Device (with standard transmissions or other Green Lantern rings)
* Remote Control of Ring
* Ring Duplication
* Ring AI/Database - Ring allows bearer to access information from the Central Power
* Battery on Oa, similar to a series of networked computers and a file server.
* Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support - An energy reserve in the ring allows it to protect its' bearer from surprise attacks. Additionally, this charge can be used to sustain a Green Lantern if knocked unconscious in the void of space until help can be summoned.

Omega Ring Powers (that Kyle showed in his first appearance)

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Protective Shields

This makes Kyle look severely underpowered. However, lacking the advanced training that a Corps Member usually received, Kyle was forced to learn some of the power and abilities he had on the fly. Indeed, it didn't occur to him to use the ring to fly until his girlfriend Alex recognized his costume as that of a Green Lantern and told Kyle that the ring he was given should let him fly. He figured out how to make simple shields and energy objects shortly after that.

Going down the list of Alpha Ring Powers and consulting the handy Guide To Kyle Rayner as well as my own collection of all things Green Lantern related in the last few years, we can make a reference list of when Kyle used his ring to replicate certain powers.

* Limited Healing - In JLA #17, Kyle says he can use his ring to heal a bullet wound after being shot. Also, it would explain his quick recovery from other various cuts and scrapes that would have required explaining.

* Space Travel/ Life Support - Too many examples to count, but the first time was probably in the wake of the destruction of the Planet Oa in GL #0

* Universal Translator - Very likely the first time he did this was in Green Lantern #56, when Kyle makes his first contact with an alien world. Countless examples since then.

* Invisibility - Kyle used the ring to mask his presence in GL #154, as he confronted the man responsible for beating Terry, in prison.

* Astral Projection - JLA #15, where an energy projection of Kyle's face warned Superman not to destroy the Philosopher's Stone. Also, in last week's GL #174, where Kyle communicated with the rest of his Corps with an energy projection of his thoughts.

* Mind Tampering - Used by Hal sparingly to erase memories in Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II, Kyle has never used this ability despite experimenting with telepathic abilities during his time as Ion.

* Communication Device - See countless JLA issues where Kyle stays in touch with the team without an apparent separate communicator.

* Remote Control of Ring - GL #124. Kyle summons his ring to his hand as he is being chased by the Controller's Effigy squad.

* Ring Duplication - This power has never been demonstrated and, apparently, is impossible with an Omega Ring. Kyle used the Alpha Ring given to him by Hal Jordan after the events of "Emerald Knights" to create rings for the new GL Corps that he was creating in "The New Corps" and had to take one spare Alpha Ring Copy as a master in edition to his own Omega Ring.

* Ring AI/Database - Never demonstrated, but with the lack of the Central Battery "Hub", this makes sense.

* Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support - This emergency power supply is apparently missing from the Omega Ring, as great play was made of this in GL #100. Also, considering how many times Kyle has been fatally wounded and nearly killed (his being sniped by an assassin in GL #120, to give one example), it would seem likely he doesn't have this power.


Going through this list, we see only four powers that Kyle has not demonstrated in some capacity. The lack of a Ring AI is explained by the lack of a Central Power Battery to act as a database. Mind Tampering may not be impossible, but would likely be distasteful to a free-spirit like Kyle who would avoid such options even if he knew they were possible. Ring Duplication is apparently impossible, as we can assume that Kyle would have at least tried to make a copy of his own ring just for the sake of trying after the events of Emerald Knights.

As for the emergency power supply, no logical answers can be determined from the text. Perhaps this is tied into the removable yellow impurity (see GL #19, where the yellow weakness is confirmed as being removable) or perhaps it was, like the Ring AI, tied to the Central Power Battery, whose network could have had the capability to monitor every individual Green Lantern and determine if they needed assistance?

Regardless, looking at this list the differences between the Omega Ring and Alpha Ring are not very great. In fact, were it not for the ability to copy itself and the emergency power supply they might well be the same ring but with a few features added ( the DNA lock that allows only Kyle or a family member to use the ring) or taken away ( the yellow weakness, and 24 hour time limit)

However, things changed again in the wake of Green Lantern #150 and "Legacy: The Last Will And Testament Of Hal Jordan". The latter of these stories restored the planet Oa and its' Central Power Battery in physical form, though the Battery itself lay dormant. Kyle Rayner recharged the Battery and restored the Guardians to life, giving up the power he had gained as Ion, after absorbing the power that Hal Jordan had taken to become Parallax. At the end of the same issue, Kyle revealed a new costume and two changes that he made to his ring before giving up the Ion power...

"This bad boy can't get away from me anymore. Anyone takes it off, it comes right back."

A seemingly needless addition if Kyle can simply will the ring back to his hand at will already. Though ill-defined here, perhaps he has simply made the process automatic, so he can focus all his will on using the ring from a distance while the ring itself comes home.

"It also doesn't need to be recharged. I do have to charge it to get it to full power, but it always has a reserve amount. More than enough to get me out of almost anything."

Ill-defined and, to put it in the terms of a gamer, "twinkish", this power as given eliminates one of the weaknesses of a Green Lantern. Indeed, the only one Kyle had left - the fact that his power was limited. Then again, taken in another tact, might this mean that Kyle restored the Emergency Power Supply that powered the ring's Protection From Mortal Harm and Life Support features as well as allowing himself the ability to tap into this reserve in an emergency?

The restoration of the Central Power Battery raises another question; with Ganthet once again on Oa and the battery operational (Kyle did recharge his ring from it GL #169), is it possible for the Ring AI/Database to be restored? Presumably if the ring is "smart" enough for Kyle to program it to return to him automatically, it can still support the feature and the Central Power Battery, as far as we know, is no different than it was before.

And here is another question; even if Kyle IS unable to copy his ring now, there is one Alpha Ring that should be able to copy itself that is still active and on the hand of John Stewart. What then, is to stop Kyle from mass producing the rings again and giving them out to new recruits… such as the old GL's recruited at the beginning of Ben Raab's run? If nothing else, Ganthet is there and can probably make some new rings when he isn't busy watching the Guardian children. Kids have to sleep sometime, right?

In conclusion, it appears that we are upon the verge of having a new Green Lantern Corps just as it was ten years ago, before Hal Jordan's madness. The capabilities are there, even if the writing team has yet to achieve them. Still, it cannot be denied that while we GL fans may lack the Corps we have long wanted, Judd Winick and Ben Raab have done much to take things in that direction. But will the Corps fly again sometime soon with new rings, free of the Yellow weakness and unburdened by the need to recharge their rings completely? Only time will tell.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

Looking To The Stars: One Ring To Confuse Them All - Part One

A few weeks back, Mathan Erhardt wrote a review of Green Lantern #173 , in which he talked about some of the continuity problems in the book since Ron Marz’s departure from the series. While most of his complaints centered upon characterization, there was one comment that got my attention…

“I was (also) under the impression that one of the things Kyle changed about his ring post-Ion was the need to charge.”

This is, I admit, a bit obtuse a statement to any who isn’t familiar with the last 30 issues of so of Green Lantern and the changes that Kyle Rayner (one of the two current Ring Bearers) made to his in Green Lantern #150. Perhaps the most impressive weapon in all of comics-literature, The Green Lantern Power Ring has gone through a lot of evolution since the days when Alan Scott protected the streets of Gotham with a ring that could manipulate metals.

Over the next few weeks, we shall examine how the limits and capabilities of the Ring (and indeed, the individual Green Lanterns) has changed dramatically within the last few years of the book. Before we can do that, however, we have to define the three types of Green Lantern rings and how they have appeared standardly.

The three rings shall henceforth be defined as Alpha Ring (Standard GL Corps Ring), Beta Ring (Alan Scott’s Ring) and Omega Ring (Kyle Rayner’s Ring).

Alpha Ring – Standard GL Corps. Ring

Description: The ring created by the Guardians of the Universe to serve as a weapon and tool for their Green Lantern Corps, in order to protect the universe.

Power Source: The Central Power Battery on the Guardian’s home planet of Oa.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is yellow or beings with yellow skin pigmentation.

Powers of the Ring: The ring nominally allows the bearer to do anything, given sufficient willpower to accomplish it. The ring has a number or programmed safeguards that keep it from being used for certain tasks (such as killing) but these can be overridden by Green Lantern with exceptional willpower or a mind that does not function in a normal way. Classified examples of standard ring uses are.

· Energy Object Creation and Manipulation

· Flight

· Limited Healing

· Protective Shields

· Space Travel (Produces whatever gases and temperature the bearer needs to breathe and live)

· Universal Translator

· Invisibility

· Astral Projection (through an energy double of the bearer)

· Mind Tampering

· Communication Device (with standard transmissions or other Green Lantern rings)

· Remote Control of Ring

· Ring Duplication

· Ring AI/Database – Ring allows bearer to access information from the Central Power Battery on Oa, similar to a series of networked computers and a file server.

· Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support – An energy reserve in the ring allows it to protect its’ bearer from surprise attacks. Additionally, this charge can be used to sustain a Green Lantern if knocked unconscious in the void of space until help can be summoned.

Beta Ring – Alan Scott’s Ring

Description: Fashioned from the lantern of deceased Green Lantern Yalan Gur and bonded to the chaotic magical energy of the colossal gem known as The Starheart, train engineer Alan Scott survived a fatal wreck thanks to the magic of the lantern, Carving a ring from it, Alan used its magic to fight evil as The Green Lantern during WWII and into the present day.

While its’ powers and origin have changed slightly over the years, Alan Scott’s ring has always been treated as a magical artifact while the other GL rings have been products of science and advanced alien technology. A link to the original Green Lanterns was forged in Green Lantern #19 (current series), when it was revealed that rather than being forged from a piece of the magical Starheart, his lantern was an old GL Lantern, lain dormant after the death of its’ owner, Yalan Gur.

Yalan Gur was the subject of an experiment by the Guardians to see if their best and brightest could handle the strain of omnipotence. It was revealed in this issue that the yellow weakness of the Green Lantern rings was a programmed flaw, which was meant to push the Corps to greater versatility as well as insuring the Guardians had a way to deal with those who rebelled. Gur, however, fell to the temptation of limitless power and became a despot in Ancient China. He was defeated after the Guardians programmed a new weakness into his battery, which made him vulnerable to the wooden weapons of the peasants he was ruling. This batter was later taken over by the Starheart; a gem made up of all the wild chaotic magic from the beginning of the universe, which the Guardians gathered up in order to make the universe more organized.

Power Source: The Starheart; a gem made of chaos magic, created by The Guardians.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is made of wood. Also, the ring lacks many of the Alpha Ring powers that are dependent upon the Guardian’s programming and the link to the Central Power Battery.

Powers of the Ring: Like the Alpha Ring, Alan Scott could use his ring to do anything he willed. However, since his ring was not “programmed” by the Guardians, it lacked some of the powers and the limits of the Alpha Ring. Alan Scott lamented this fact, and often talked about how he could wish for every person in the world to become a decent human being, but how denying people the choice for good and evil would be more evil than the crimes he sought to stop. Regardless, Scott has shown the following abilities.

• Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
• Flight
• Healing
• Protective Shields
• Space Travel
• Universal Translator
• Invisibility
• Astral Projection
• Mind Tampering - Alan has never said how he knows the ring can do this, but he has referred to avoiding using said power.

Omega Ring –Kyle Rayner’s Ring

Description: Forged from the broken remains of the ring of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, the last Guardian Ganthet went to Earth to try and convince the former GL Guy Gardner (a rival to Jordan)to use it to stand against the rogue lantern, now armed with the power of the Central Power Battery of Oa. Gardner refused, saying he did not want to bail out the Guardians now that they realized he was the better man. With not much time left, Ganthet was forced to give the ring to the untested and unlikely artist Kyle Rayner in the hopes that his strong imagination would prove able to weave around Jordan’s strong will.

Power Source: Lacking a connection to The Central Power Battery, Kyle’s battery draws power directly from “The Source”; a cosmic energy field responsible for creating The New Gods and empowering certain other energies throughout he universe.

Weaknesses: Unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring is not connected to the Central Power Battery of Oa. As such, it lacks access to the information databases of the Alpha Ring and is unable to communicate with the other, now dormant, Green Lantern rings.

Still, for what it lacks in the versatility of the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring does make up in two important respects

First, it lacks the yellow weakness of the Alpha Ring, confirming that the weakness is indeed a programmable event in the rings; a point of contention among many GL fans for years. Also, unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring does not need to be charged on a daily basis. The Omega Ring functions as a normal power tool; being able to lie unused for days, slowly draining its’ supply until recharged.

Powers of the Ring: At first appearance, the Omega Ring lacked many of the powers of the Alpha Ring. While Kyle Rayner would later gain some of the powers as he became more experienced (which we will discuss in Part Two of this series), he started out very limited in terms of ability, though unhindered by the yellow weakness and 24 hour time limit.

· Energy Object Creation and Manipulation

· Flight

· Limited Healing

· Protective Shields

· Space Travel

· Universal Translator

· Communication Device

As we can see, the rings were all enhanced and limited in varying respects and indeed, had different power sources. Still, what is equally amazing is that each of the three ring bearers has shown the ability to use their powers without the ring through one bond or another.

· Perhaps most troublingly, Alan Scott would switch back and forth between needing the ring for his powers and not needing it, having a weakness to wood or not, calling himself Green Lantern or Sentinel and changing his apparent age several times throughout the course of the late 90’s / early 00’s.

· Hal Jordan, perhaps the best known example of this, was able to draw the entirety of the Central Power Battery into his being and renamed himself Parallax.

· Years later, Kyle Rayner would take this energy, released at Hal Jordan’s death along with energy he had drained away during “Circle of Fire”, and absorb it into himself to become the nigh-powerful Ion.

Still, the lack of the ring did little to change the powers. Alan Scott remained the same magical man, no matter how old he looked, what his name was or whether or not a wooden stake could kill him where bullet’s failed. Likewise, Jordan had much the same powers as a Green Lantern as Parallax; he just had access to much more energy and no qualms about doing potentially dangerous things such as altering the flow of time.

The exception to this is Kyle Rayner, who experienced some rather drastic changes after his bout with omnipotence and not needing a ring. However, this and his development of new abilities using the ring is very complicated and is a whole column unto itself.

How very fortunate that I have another one planned then, isn’t it?

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.