History ComicBook / GreenLantern1960

* IdiotBall: Denny O'Neil hands this to Hal once Green Arrow is added to the series as a co-lead. The type of comic book writing that was used during the Silver Age doesn't make any character look particularly intelligent, but even so, Hal was often written as a thoughtful and clever character, working around the ring's limitations and figuring out different ways to use the power to accomplish his goals and to defeat dangerous enemies. But once Green Arrow enters the scene in issue #76, Hal becomes a naive, clueless follower orders, albeit one who has good intentions, just to make Green Arrow look better by comparison. This does not last, and as the series goes on, Hal returns to something more like his earlier characterization.

* StatusQuoIsGod: Averted several times over the course of the series. The first is when Carol Ferris becomes engaged and Hal leaves Coast City and his supporting cast behind in issue #49. He gets a temporary job as a tour pilot, then moves into insurance claims investigation in Evergreen City. The series gets a serious shakeup when it adds Green Arrow as a co-star in issue #76.

* AlternateUniverse: There are two of these that Hal visits from time to time. There is the anti-matter universe where Qward exists, where Sinestro was exiled and had the Weaponers construct his yellow power ring. The second is the universe where Earth 2 exists. Hal interacts with Alan Scott from time to time, the Golden Age Green Lantern, who is still active on his own Earth.

* JustFollowingOrders: Green Arrow is not impressed when Hal explains that he works for the Guardians and follows orders, accusing Hal of not being a hero or a man, and he even brings up the Nazi war crimes trials... all because Hal sided with a slumlord who was legally right but morally wrong.

* WeaksauceWeakness: The mighty power of the Green Lanterns is useless against the color yellow. When written poorly, it's a too-easy crutch to stop GL from winning too easily and ending the story early. When written well, it forces Hal or some other Lantern to think their way out of a tricky situation and to work around the limitation. Various attempts are made to explain why the "yellow impurity" is necessary over the years.

The Silver Age Green Lantern first appeared in September 1959 in DC's Showcase series, issues 22-24. The Golden Age concept of a superhero fueled by willpower, using a ring and power battery to fight crime and injustice was revised and updated. Instead of Alan Scott, readers were introduced to Hal Jordan, test pilot for Ferris Air. Hal's supporting cast included Carol Ferris, his boss and love interest, and Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku, aircraft mechanic and Hal's best friend and confidant. The Showcase issues sold well and Hal was given his own series, titled Green Lantern. The first issue was dated July-August 1960 and would run for 200 issues through May 1986 before being retitled as Green Lantern Corps. Issues 76-122 would carry the title Green Lantern co-starring Green Arrow.

So much of the modern Green Lantern mythology has roots in this era. Many of Hal's rogues gallery of enemies originated during the Silver Age. Hector Hammond, Sinestro, Black Hand, the Shark, the weaponers of Qward and many others all had their origins in the 1960s, though they would change quite a bit between then and the modern day. Likewise the Green Lantern Corps (not even called that until near the end of the 1960s) began as a small group and grew into a Corps of thousands patrolling the entire universe. The Green Lantern mythology grew and developed into something vast during this series. Guy Gardner and John Stewart first appeared in the pages of this Green Lantern series, along with Kilowog and many other familiar Green Lantern characters.

It came to an end with issue 200 when the series was retitled the Green Lantern Corps, which kept the numbering and ran to issue 224. Green Lantern would move to Action Comics Weekly after that, then to a series of one-shot specials before Hal's origin would be rewritten for the post-Crisis continuity with Emerald Dawn I and II. Nevertheless, most of the events of this series remained in continuity, even after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and would be revisited by later writers.

!!Examples:

* WeaksauceWeakness: The mighty power of the Green Lanterns is useless against the color yellow. When written poorly, it's a too-easy crutch to stop GL from winning too easily and ending the story early. When written well, it forces Hal or some other Lantern to think their way out of a tricky situation and to work around the limitation. Various attempts are made to explain why the "yellow impurity" is necessary over the years.

* TwoPersonLoveTriangle: Carol Ferris and Hal in both his civilian and Green Lantern identities. Hal wants to date Carol, but since her father took a sabbatical and left her in charge of Ferris Air, she's the boss and will not date employees. However she's quite taken with the new superhero, Green Lantern, meaning Hal gets to date her as GL, while getting the cold shoulder as himself. He's his own rival, a fact that constantly irritates him, but he brought the situation on himself. This is only the situation during the early years of the Silver Age and changes first when Hal leaves Coast City in issue #49, and later during the Bronze Age once Hal reveals his secret identity to Carol.

* TwoPersonLoveTriangle: Carol Ferris and Hal in both his civilian and Green Lantern identities. Hal wants to date Carol, but since her father took a sabbatical and left her in charge of Ferris Air, she's the boss and will not date employees. However she's quite taken with the new superhero, Green Lantern, meaning Hal gets to date her as GL, while getting the cold shoulder as himself. He's his own rival, a fact that constantly irritates him, but he brought the situation on himself.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Guardians of the Universe during the 1960s. They are wise, encouraging, friendly and helpful to Hal and all the other Green Lanterns. When Denny O'Neil became the main writer at the beginning of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow era, the Guardians changed into short-tempered and demanding bosses who made constant demands of their best Green Lantern while constantly telling Green Arrow how wise his advice was.

It came to an end with issue 200 when the series was retitled the Green Lantern Corps, which kept the numbering and ran to issue 224. Green Lantern would move to Action Comics Weekly after that, then to a series of one-shot specials before Hal's origin would be rewritten for the post-Crisis continuity with Emerald Dawn I and II. Nevertheless, most of the events of this series remained in continuity, even after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and would be revisited by later writers.

So much of the modern Green Lantern mythology has roots in this era. Many of Hal's rogues gallery of enemies originated during the Silver Age, and the Green Lantern Corps began there and slowly grew and developed over the decade of the 1960s before really taking off during the Bronze Age.

Instead of an Earth-based hero with a mysterious power source of ancient origin, the new Green Lantern was a member of an intergalactic peacekeeping organization, headed by the immortal and wise Guardians of the Universe. Hal was given his ring by a member of this organization, Abin Sur, who was dying after his spacecraft crashed on Earth. The ring searched out someone who was honest and fearless, and settled on Hal Jordan, bringing him to Abin Sur. After giving a brief set of instructions, Abin died and left Hal to discover how to use the ring. Unlike later retellings of his origin, in the original issues Hal had no training and had to learn via trial and error, much as Kyle Rayner would decades later. Green Lanterns had little contact with each other, and even the Guardians kept their existence shrouded in mystery, speaking through the power battery to give instructions to their agents.

The Silver Age Green Lantern first appeared in September 1959 in DC's Showcase series, issues 22-24. The Golden Age concept of a superhero fueled by willpower, using a ring and power battery to fight crime and injustice was revised and updated. Instead of Alan Scott, readers were introduced to Hal Jordan, test pilot for Ferris Air. Hal's supporting cast included Carol Ferris, his boss and love interest, and Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku, aircraft mechanic and Hal's best friend and confidant. The Showcase issues sold well and Hal was given his own series, titled Green Lantern. The first issue was dated July-August 1960 and would run for 200 issues through May 1986 before being retitled as Green Lantern Corps. Issues 76-122 would carry the title Green Lantern co-starring Green Arrow.

The Silver Age Green Lantern first appeared in the Showcase series, issues 22-24, dated September 1959 through February 1960. The Golden Age concept of a superhero fueled by willpower, using a ring and power battery to fight crime and injustice was updated. Instead of Alan Scott, readers were introduced to Hal Jordan, test pilot for Ferris Air. Hal's supporting cast included Carol Ferris, his boss and love interest, and Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku, aircraft mechanic and Hal's best friend and confidant. The Showcase issues sold well and Hal was given his own series, titled Green Lantern. The first issue appeared dated July-August 1960 and would run for 200 issues through May 1986 before being retitled as Green Lantern Corps.

The Silver Age Green Lantern first appeared in the Showcase series, issues 22-24 dated September 1959 through February 1960. The Golden Age concept of a superhero fueled by willpower, using a ring and power battery to fight crime and injustice was updated. Instead of Alan Scott, readers were introduced to Hal Jordan, test pilot for Ferris Air. Hal's supporting cast included Carol Ferris, his boss and love interest, and Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku, aircraft mechanic and Hal's best friend and confidant.