Imagine my surprise when I suddenly realized I did NOT actually own a reprint of this story! I have a reprint of Green Lantern's origin being abbreviated and recapped in
Green Lantern #1, but somehow, I was unaware that this specific story was missing from my library.
In a state of panic, I went to the local, public library to check out
Green Lantern Archives. Little did I realize they only had a copy of
Green Lantern Archives vol. 6!
Thankfully, that blogger's blogger and all-around good guy Mykal Banta helped me out with a scan of this landmark story. Incidentally, If you're a big fan of Gil Kane's artwork, (and who wouldn't be?) you may want to check out Mykal's newest blog, "
Kingdom Kane".
As I alluded to yesterday, the unbridled success of DC's remake of The Flash in
Showcase #4 struck a chord with the powers that be at DC. It was decided to try the formula again, this time with another cancelled hero, Green Lantern. The original Green Lantern (created by Martin Nodell) had been a railroad construction engineer who found a mysterious and ancient lantern fashioned from metal from a meteorite. This lantern and the ring fashioned from it had almost magical powers, a sort of Aladdin's lamp.
Editor Julius Schwartz had come from sci-fi publishing and he liked the idea of modernizing DC's heroes with more "scientific" explanations. There were hints of that in The Flash's origin, but sci-fi takes a front seat in this, the debut of Green Lantern. From Showcase #22, September-October 1959 here's Green Lantern's origin from "S.O.S. Green Lantern" by John Broome, drawn by Gil Kane and inked by Joe Giella.
