The first Green Lantern, Alan Scott, debuted back in the Golden Age and since then, there have been many Green Lanterns. Since the Silver Age, the main Green Lantern has been Hal Jordan— but he’s been joined by the other human and alien Lanterns on many adventures. Green Lantern has become a huge part of the DC Universe over the years and there are tons of great Green Lantern stories out there.
There have been some Green Lantern stories, though, that are more important than others. They’ve had a massive bearing on Jordan and the other Lanterns and are stories every Green Lantern fan should read.
10 Tygers Inspired Some Of The Biggest Green Lantern Stories Ever
Alan Moore’s ’80s DC output is legendary but there are actually way more gems to discover than things like Swamp Thing or V For Vendetta. Moore cut his teeth in England doing sci-fi short stories for the comic magazine 2000 A.D., something he took up again at DC with back-up shorts in books like Tales of the Green Lantern Corps. Not only did he introduce Mogo in a story with artist Dave Gibbons but he did a short that would inspire years of Green Lantern stories.
In “Tygers,” with artist Kevin O’Neill, Moore told an Abin Sur story when the prophecy of the Blackest Night was revealed to him. Writer Geoff Johns would take elements of this short story and use them in his later Green Lantern tales. It’s a hard-to-find story but well worth the search.
9 Blackest Night Told The Story Of The Last Battle Of The War Of Light
Writer Geoff Johns and artist Ivan Reis were the team supreme of 2000s Green Lantern comics and their biggest story was Blackest Night. The story represented the culmination of years of plots, as the Black Lanterns made their move to destroy all life in the universe. Blackest Night was the big 2010 event book for DC but it was a Green Lantern story at its core.
One of Johns’s best Green Lantern stories, Blackest Night sees an entire universe of dead resurrected as Black Lanterns and thrown at the Earth. It’s full of big battles, beautiful art, thrills, and chills.
8 Green Lanterns: Rage Planet Saw Simon Baz & Jessica Cruz Become The Main Earth Lanterns
DC’s Rebirth initiative did wonders for the publisher after the New 52. While many books represented a back to basics approach, the main Lantern book took a different route. It was called Green Lanterns and starred two of the newest Green Lanterns: Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Rage Planet, by writer Sam Humphries and artist Robson Rocha, gave readers their first adventure as partners.
The story pit them against the leader of the Red Lanterns, Atrocitus, and did a great job of presenting each character, who they were, and how they worked together. Their adventures are some of the most underrated GL adventures of them all.
7 Cosmic Odyssey Was Very Important For John Stewart
John Stewart is many fans’ favorite Green Lantern, having starred in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He’s taken the role of main Green Lantern many times over the years— and one of the most important John Stewart stories takes place in writer Jim Starlin and artist Mike Mignola’s Cosmic Odyssey, which teams the heroes of the Earth up with Darkseid to stop the sentient Anti-Life Equation.
Stewart would serve as Green Lantern for this story and one of the biggest moments of his career took place in this arc, one that would change the character and the way he interacted with the universe forever. Beyond that, it’s just a great cosmic DC story.
6 The Green Lantern: Intergalactic Lawman Was Grant Morrison’s Take On Hal Jordan
Grant Morrison is one of DC’s most prolific writers but one character they didn’t get to do much with was Hal Jordan. All of that changed with 2018’s The Green Lantern: Intergalactic Lawman. Joined by artist Liam Sharpe, Morrison unleashed their gonzo imagination on the Green Lantern concept, creating a unique Green Lantern story.
Morrison and Sharpe proved to be a potent team on the book, crafting amazing sci-fi epics. Over their twenty four issue run on on the series they presented some of the best Green Lantern stories of the last twenty years— and it all began here.
5 Justice League International Vol. 1 Has Some Of The Best Guy Gardner Moments Ever
Guy Gardner is one of the most popular Green Lanterns of them all, his irreverent, cocky attitude making him one of the more entertaining. While he’s rarely starred in his own book, his biggest showcase was during his time in the Justice League International. The best place to start is, of course, the beginning.
Justice League International Vol. 1, by writers J.M. DeMatteis & Keith Giffen and artist Kevin Maguire, sees the beginning of a new Justice League, one that would prove to be one of the most popular. Its blend of humor and heroics are a wonderful match, and Guy Gardner gets one of his most iconic moments in this volume.
4 Green Lantern: A New Dawn Was Kyle Rayner’s First Full Story
Kyle Rayner was introduced at the end of Emerald Twilight but wouldn’t really become Green Lantern until A New Dawn, by writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks. Rayner was a new kind of Green Lantern; gone were the simplistic constructs of the Silver Age, with Rayner using his background as a graphic designer to use the ring like never before.
Pitting Rayner against villains like Major Force, A New Dawn did an amazing job of introducing the new Green Lantern to audiences and it was a hit. Marz was an expert at superhero sci-fi and Banks’s pencils brought the whole thing lovingly to life.
3 The Sinestro Corps War Was The Opening Salvo In The War Of Light
The Sinestro Corps War— by writers Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi, and Dave Gibbons & artists Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis, and Patrick Gleason— saw the introduction of Sinestro’s fear-based Corps and their war on the Green Lantern Corps. Crossing through Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, it was one of the biggest Green Lantern stories of all time.
The Sinestro Corps War took everything great about Green Lantern and his mythos and put them front and center. It was a big, fun action extravaganza and it’s a must for every Green Lantern fan.
2 Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight Saw Hal Jordan Corrupted
From the Silver Age until the mid-’90s, Hal Jordan was the main Green Lantern with a few short sabbaticals. His popularity was waning, so DC turned to writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks to shake things up. Spinning out of The Return Of Superman, Emerald Twilight would see Jordan despondent over the destruction of Coast City and ready to do something about it.
His quest for power would pit him against the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians. By the end of it, Jordan would be the villain Parallax and there would be a new Green Lantern in town: Kyle Rayner.
1 Green Lantern: Rebirth Saw The Return Of Hal Jordan
For almost a decade, Hal Jordan was no longer Green Lantern— but all of that would change with Green Lantern: Rebirth, by writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver. The story would bring back all of the classic trappings of Green Lantern: The Corps, the Guardians, and of course, Hal Jordan.
Revealing the truth behind Jordan’s corruption and seeing him tackle the horrors of the things he’s done, as well as battle his most frightening foe, this story was a fitting reintroduction of the classic Green Lantern mythos and reinvested 21st century fans with a love for Green Lantern. Johns was playing the long game with this one, as he planted many of the seeds of his extended stint with this story.
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