In 1971, Earth's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan had a problem. Seems his back-up, gym teacher Guy Gardner, had been in a serious accident and sustained a head injury. That meant that, should something happen to Jordan, there would be no Green Lantern to patrol space sector 2814. Consulting his power ring to find another suitable candidate for the job, Hal Jordan and the rest of us, meets John Stewart (The architect, not the talk-show host).
Although sometimes accused of being yet another "Angry Black Man" superhero, John Stewart is significant for the following reasons:
1) He's DC's first Black superhero.
2) He's The Green Lantern. Not Black Lantern, not Black Green Lantern...
3) He sets a precedent wherein previously established white superheroes are sometimes replaced with a new, black version- i.e. Mr. Terrific or Captain Marvel.
I, for one, find it groundbreaking that John Stewart was just one more GL in a corps of intergalatic heroes.
John Stewart has always been my favorite GL. He rides the line between the "too perfect" Hal Jordan and the "too flawed" Guy Gardner perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI always liked John's reaction when he first heard the Green Lantern oath:
ReplyDelete"That's pretty corny. Except for the part that says 'Beware My Power.' Mmmmm -- I do dig those words!"