Lanterns has become a sensation on HBO Max, giving viewers a gritty take on the Green Lantern mythology. Although far more grounded than the stories it’s based on, Lanterns nevertheless draws plenty of inspiration from several Green Lantern comics from across DC Comics history. Here are seven we think Lanterns‘ newer fans would enjoy, and we explain how they influenced the current DCU streaming series.
Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard-Travelin’ Heroes (1970-1972) by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams
Even though Green Lantern has long been a series about cosmic threats, it needed a modern refresh in the early ’70s. So DC Comics hired Batman creative team Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams to rebrand it as Green Lantern/Green Arrow. DC now paired Hal with the liberal activist vigilante Ollie Queen, the Green Arrow. The two men journeyed across America in an effort to “find themselves,” and connect with folks in everyday America. The two would argue constantly and challenge each other’s values, all while finding a way to fight evil together. The vibes of this series definitely informed much of what the Lanterns creators are doing. Only on Lanterns, with Hal and John instead of Hal and Ollie.
Get Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes Omnibus
Green Lantern/Green Arrow #87 (1972) by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams
Technically, this issue is one of the stories in “Hard-Travelin’ Heroes.” But it’s worth singling out this one issue. If you love Aaron Pierre’s portrayal of John Stewart in Lanterns, we highly recommend you read the issue where it all began for him, in the story “Beware My Power.” This issue by O’Neil and Adams from 1972 introduced John as DC’s first superpowered African-American superhero. This is long before he was retconned into being a US Marine. But John’s earnestness, social activism, and belief that he’d make the superior Lantern are baked in from the very beginning. And it all started right here for the character.
Green Lantern Vol. 2 #182-199 (1984-1985) by Len Wein, Steve Englehart, Dave Gibbons, and Joe Staton
John Stewart famously first appeared in 1972’s Green Lantern #87, as mentioned above. He then made a mere four appearances throughout the rest of that decade, functioning only as Hal’s ‘backup.’ But eventually, Hal quits the Corps to stay with his girlfriend Carol Ferris on Earth. As a result, the Guardians of the Universe elevate John Stewart from backup to the main Green Lantern of Sector 2814. John holds that position for the better part of two years. Although at first he wears a mask, he eventually reveals his true identity to the world. These are the first stories where John Stewart truly takes over as Green Lantern, elevated to more than a replacement when Hal is injured. So these issues are highly influential on Lanterns.
Get Green Lantern Sector 2814 Vol. 2
Green Lantern: Secret Origin (2009) by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
DC Comics has explored Hal Jordan’s past as a test pilot before, starting in the 1989 series Emerald Dawn. Especially his relationship with his famous pilot father, Martin Jordan, who tragically died in a fighter jet accident when Hal was a kid. But it was in Geoff Johns’ storyline Secret Origin that really fleshed out Hal’s complicated relationship with his father, and the legacy he felt he had to live up to his whole life. Much of Hal’s early childhood, and the father/son dynamic we see in Lanterns, comes directly from how Johns and Reis portrayed it in Secret Origin.
Get Green Lantern: Secret Origin
Justice League #5 (1987) by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire
In episode six of Lanterns, we see that Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) has installed a “Green Lantern signal” in the town of Rushville. Something he did to mimic (and probably mock) that “Bat-guy in Gotham.” The way he spoke about Batman suggests that Guy does not have warm feelings toward him. In the comics, the two served on the Justice League International together. And in 1987’s Justice League #5, Guy attacked Batman without his ring to prove a point about his manliness, and Batman famously knocked him out cold on the floor after one punch. Guy would lie on the floor of JL headquarters for a good couple of issues. But this is where the long-running Guy vs. Bat animosity truly began.
Get Justice League International Book One
Action Comics Weekly (1988) by Christopher Priest and Gil Kane
In 1988, DC’s long-running Green Lantern series, which began in 1960, came to an end with Green Lantern Corps #224. In that issue, the central power battery on Oa collapses, leaving only three power rings in the cosmos, one of which was Hal Jordan’s. As a result, John Stewart goes back to Earth to resume civilian life in the short-lived Action Comics Weekly. But after his wife Katma Tui gets murdered by Star Sapphire, John’s life unravels. Hal’s ring goes to him when he becomes incapacitated, but he angrily rejects it, after being falsely arrested for his wife’s murder. This story is the first time John rejects the power ring out of righteous anger, and it’s an action that would happen on screen in live-action in Lanterns. Sadly, this story isn’t collected at all, but some issues are available on the DC Universe Infinite app.
DC Comics: The New Frontier (2004) by Darwyn Cooke
Although technically an Elseworlds tale, Darwyn Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier places DC’s heroes in the historical era they first appeared in. In this instance, that means the late ‘50s/early ‘60s, at the dawn of the space age. Our POV character throughout much of New Frontier is test pilot Hal Jordan, and Lanterns creators Tom King and Damon Lindelof cited it as a major inspiration for Hal Jordan’s gung-ho pilot portrayal in Lanterns. You can definitely view the Hal from this comic as the younger version of Kyle Chandler’s Hal. Also, New Frontier showcases novice heroes working with veterans to solve a cosmic mystery on Earth. All of which is very similar to the story of Lanterns.
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