Green Lantern: Comics' Secretary of Culture

Alan Scott, the first hero to don the costume, in a context the brand would rarely see after the 50's

You know you've become a pop-culture icon when you start becoming the shorthand for your own premise. It's pretty obvious  how Greek mythology has influenced our language. A task can be Herculean, an especially self-involved person is a Narcissist. This spreads even to the modern day, and the comic book medium; An overworked human being will reiterate his limitations by pointing out he's not Superman. An individual about to lose his temper will be accused of "Hulking out." The most iconic characters sort of become personifications. Platonic ideals. The interesting thing about Green Lantern is, he's kind of become the shorthand for comic book superheroes.

Now, one could lay that honor at Superman's feet. And it's true that a hastily thrown together cape and set of muscles on any given person instantly conjures up the image of "superhero". But I would argue, in that flying with a cape is essentially a public domain concept by now, that Superman has transcended the comic book medium. He's shorthand for himself. Not to mention it's too easy.  You certainly can't be too esoteric with comic book references, so I would say that the Green Lantern is the superhero you want to mention when you want to quickly say "A superhero is this", but feel that Spider-Man or the Flash is just too specific or quirky.

With so many people donning the fabled ring, he's an easy hero to "cast".

In the late 50's when DC comics revamped their dormant Golden Age staple of characters, some were given more radical revamps than others. The direction they took Green Lantern in, however, was unheard of; The idea of someone's mystery man identity being one soldier in an entire army. Green Lantern wasn't just an identity, it was profession, a title that a vast supporting cast held as well. This was combined with his "power", a special ring that could create just about any object. Clean, simple, and with a large amount of potential. This, in a lot ways, freed the Lantern from the kind of specifics, both in actions and character, that tend to manifest themselves when your hero has abilities like super-speed or controlling fire. To a certain degree, the concept says "Who could be Green Lantern? Anyone the writer wants him to be."

It's not for nothing, relatively early on, Hal Jordan (Generally considered the definitive Green Lantern) had potential replacements looming just around the corner. Jordan barely entered the sixties before the mythology i;;ustrated both Guy Gardner and John Stewart were waiting in the wings. In fact, Hal largely spent a huge chunk of the 80's having to give up the spotlight to his understudies. Guy, because he's one of those characters who make a great foil, and John Stewart, because he provides a much needed boost of diversity to the superhero genre. When Cartoon Network aired Justice League in the early 2000's, the creators felt it much better to highlight characters who weren't white males, when possible. While I feel the "more people know John" argument is a little specious, given that it was a basic cable cartoon that was erratically aired, whenever people ask "Why can't a minority occupy the Green Lantern slot?", it's a pretty solid question. Because the idea is ANYONE can be the Green Lantern. Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner...even Daffy Duck. It's a perfect wish-fulfillment fantasy. You don't have to be born with anything, you don't have to train, you don't even have to be partially mutated. (It's funny that in stories where Batman is overlooked because he doesn't have any powers, nobody mentions that GL technically isn't a superhuman either.)

No comic geek's trophy room would be complete without it

It should be mentioned that not once, but twice Green Lantern was optioned for a movie that would serve as a vehicle for a comedian; Jack Black and Eddie Murphy, respectively. In fact, who they eventually got to play him wasn't too off that mark. Ryan Ryenolds did start out as a more comedic actor, and while a couple of sit-ups did help cement him as a credible action movie star, the point remains--in Hollywood's mind, the concept was always perfect for an everyman who could crack wise. Now of course this misinterprets Hal Jordan's  character grossly, and of course fans were outraged. But something to keep in mind is that Hollywood has often depicted superheroes with a less than stellar quality. It has even attempted ill-conceived farces like Superman 3 and Batman and Robin. But there's usually the sense the superhero himself will be played pretty straight. Very rarely has even your uninspired studio executive felt the only one who could do justice to a comic book character is a comedian. Most diehard fans will tell you that the conceit of the Green Lantern Corps is they pursue the best, and that's not an invalid point. But in the popular consciousness, inasmuch as the character exists in it, that Green Lantern is a job means anything goes.


To wit, in Justice League Unlimited episode, "The Greatest Story Never Told" Booster Gold, an obscure hero in both real world parlance and the story's narrative, is constantly mistaken for Green Lantern. (Especially amusing as Booster had not such color in his ensemble.) An episode of Sienfeld also has a running joke about "Green Lantern" being the side job of Elaine's mysterious new beau. Batman can sometimes be referenced to this end, but once again, Batman is familiar and specific enough figure that he's kind of a symbol for himself. Green Lantern is just vague enough to be catch-all allusion.

Hal Jordan. Fans say he's the embodiment of heroism, anti-fans say he's blandness incarnate.

There's also the sense that Green Lantern makes a good icon for comic book culture. In some ways, it's the answer to Marvel's X-Men franchise, with its complicated history, and "Just add..." method of character creation. In fact, just as throughout the eighties, the popularity of the X-Men franchise had Marvel (sometimes arbitrarily) handing out the "mutant" title to boost a character's popularity, so had DC thought to assign powers rings found of all colors of the spectrum to various DC characters. (For those who don't know what I'm talking about, a couple years back, it was decided there were Red Lanterns, Yellow Lanterns, Black Lanterns, etc) I suppose just as the X-Men taps into the stereotypical comic book reader's feeling of isolation and rejection, so does Green Lantern tap into the stereotypical comic reader's love of amassing collectibles. (He's certainly amongst the easiest characters to merchandise.)

It should also be mentioned that Green Lantern fans have a reputation as being particularly...ardent, even for the medium. Back when Hal Jordan was written out of the book (In an admittedly extreme form of character assassinations), fans of the book were outraged beyond all measure--hassling the writer, as well as setting up clubs and memberships. In today's pop-culture world, where the line between fanboy and teenybopper is irrevocably blurred, that may seem positively quaint, but it was serious business back in the day. This soon led to "Who's the best Green Lantern?" to be the quintessential nerd debate topic, up there with Kirk vs. Picard. As a result, the very idea one could be invested in the question signified that one really was a disciple of the medium. A badge of geekiness, if you will. This was probably even more cemented by the ascendance of DC power Broker Geoff Johns. Johns himself is the ultimate fanboy made good, and as he has shown a particular favor towards the Lantern franchise, once again illustrated that insignia as the symbol for ultimate comics insiderdom.

Does this all make Green Lantern in general, and Hal Jordan in particular, generic? Well, I think more than anything, a good word is "utilitarian". The  concept of the superhero is so extremely idiosyncratic, that the Campbellian "Hero's Journey" doesn't always fit. The concept of a nondescript person having to "answer the call" is always a classic storytelling device. The Green Lantern concept is highly flexible, and whatever permutation it takes, to whatever backlash detractors provide, there will always be room for it.