In nearly every version of the Green Lantern stories, and Lanterns is no exception, Abin Sur is the Lantern of 2814 prior to Hal Jordan. After crashing to Earth, a dying Abin Sur tells Jordan to overcome great fear and become the first Green Lantern of Earth. He’s an incredibly important character in the mythos, but is rarely more than simply the instigator of the plot. Not quite Hal’s mentor, as that’s Sinestro’s bag. He’s more or less in the same boat as Sifo Dyas in Star Wars. A dead guy you hear about.
In Lanterns episode five, we learn that Abin Sur, though never appearing on screen, was a major reason the plot of the series unfolds the way it has. So, we’re going to tell you how Abin Sur generally appears in the Green Lantern mythos and how Lanterns has drastically shifted it.
Abin Sur’s First Appearance
Abin Sur first appeared in DC Showcase #22 in 1959. This title was a launching pad for the publisher’s new characters. If their debut issues in Showcase did well, they’d get their own book. Barry Allen’s version of the Flash debuted in issue #4 and, quite important for our purposes, the Manhunters debuted in Showcase #5. The twenty-second issue was the origin of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, which therefore made it Abin Sur’s as well.
Initially, Abin Sur’s spacecraft sustained considerable damage and crash landed on Earth. As he was dying, Sur sent his ring to find his replacement, thus recruiting test pilot Hal Jordan to the Green Lantern Corps.
Abin Sur Changes Depending on the Creative Team
Over the years, various writers and artists have recontextualized Abin Sur’s final act in order to change Hal Jordan’s beginning. For example, some versions have the ring selecting Clark Kent first, however his not being a native Earthling makes it move on to Jordan. Sometimes Guy Gardner was the first choice but since Hal was physically nearer, he got the ring instead.
Writer-artist Keith Giffen and writer Gerard Jones expanded on Sur’s earlier life and time as a Green Lantern in the 1990 miniseries Emerald Dawn. This series gave Hal’s origins in a Post-Crisis timeline. We learn here that Abin Sur’s ship crashed due to the insectoid alien villain Legion. Following Hal Jordan’s fall from grace and turn to evil as Parallax, and his eventual defeat and penance as the undead Spectre entity, we learn Abin Sur’s soul went to Hell. I guess the Judeo-Christian Hell exists even to space cultures? In either case, Sur becomes a spiritual mentor of sorts to Jordan as the Spectre.
Abin Sur Becomes Integral to All of 2000s Green Lantern
During writer Geoff Johns’ historic run on the Green Lantern title, Abin Sur’s importance and circumstances change yet again. Johns’ run sets up Sinestro’s Yellow Lantern Corps (aka, the Sinestro Corp) and we learn of the entire spectrum of Lanterns. In “Secret Origins,” which once again changes Hal’s beginnings, Sur learns of the oncoming cosmic threat “the Blackest Night,” which would see the dead rise to destroy the living. While visiting the Five Inversions—the five remaining beings of Sector 666 after the Manhunters killed them all—Sur places one, Atrocitus, into his holding cell on his ship. Atrocitus escapes and mortally wounds Sur, leading to his crashing on Earth.
Atrocitus goes on to become a Red Lantern—the Lanterns whose power comes from deep rage—and another such recruit is Abin Sur’s own son.
Abin Sur in the Awful Green Lantern Movie
Abin Sur, as played by Temeura Morrison, plays a similar role in the 2009 Green Lantern movie as he does in the “Secret Origins” comic. Here, he investigates the Parallax entity rather than the Five Inversions, but he nevertheless crashes to Earth and gives his ring to Hal.
How Lanterns Changes Abin Sur Yet Again
Though we never see as much as an image of Abin Sur in Lanterns, he once again proves to be a supremely important figure. The DCU’s version of Abin Sur fulfills the same function as usual, with his death leading to Hal Jordan ascending to Green Lantern status.
Earlier in the season, we learned the show makes it so John Stewart’s father was the first choice to replace Abin Sur, but he admitted his fear and therefore lost out. But episode five of Lanterns explains why exactly Sur died. We learn Sur broke Guardians protocol and decided to allow the fugitive Manhunter (who turns out to be Poorna Jagannathan’s Zoe Macon) to live, bringing her to Earth. However, in order to remove anyone who might be able to identify her, the Manhunter kills Sur, leaving him only enough time to find a replacement.
What This Means for the DCU’s Green Lantern
This change to comic lore does a few things. It ties in the Manhunter plot to the very creation of Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern in the first place. Rather than the desert as is usual, the Lantern brought Hal to Rushville, NE, which is where Sur attempted to hide the Manhunter. It also shows how, just like John, Sur—and indeed the alien Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor)—succumbed to the Manhunter’s wiles as a means of giving her what she wants.
Thus, as John points out to the Guardian, all of this was their own fault. The Guardians’ attempt to bury their past mistakes led to the death of many humans and Lanterns alike. In that way, as ever, Abin Sur remains perhaps the greatest tragedy in the Green Lantern Corps.