Green Lantern (Alan Scott)
I suppose if I were to list all of the Green Lantern's out there we'd have a bit larger list, but we'll just stick with the two main ones for the purpose of this list. You might say I'm cheating, and I guess I might be a little.
Alan Scott became the first Green Lantern, with a strange weakness to wood that left him pretty vulnerable. He was a charter member of the JSA and due to several really weird occurrences was able to stay young pretty much forever.
Eventually he absorbed the power of the ring into himself and lost it altogether.
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
The latest hot DC property to headline a movie, there can be no doubt this character's popularity has dramatically increased thanks to Geoff Johns' dedication to him.
At one point in the 90's his title was on the brink of cancellation, but a villain turn to Parallax and the introduction of Kyle Rayner brought in a new bump in sales. Hal even died to save the universe in one final act of heroism. But it would forever be the "Rebirth" miniseries that began the upward trend. After years of teasing his return, Hal Jordan came back to the mainstream comics and has been selling strong ever since.
Green Arrow
Another "back from the dead" character (what is it about the color green that kills these guys?), Green Arrow hasn't had it easy lately. Aside from several seasons on "Smallville" and some of the most memorable episodes of "Justice League Unlimited", Oliver Queen has spent most of his time making one mistake after another. He and Black Canary have this love/hate relationship that may never really be ironed out.
His most recent turn has left him living in a forest in the middle of Star City while fighting to get his company back. All of this after killing the villain who was responsible for his granddaughter Lian's death. No doubt things will turn around for him eventually though and he'll be back with Black Canary and with the JLA someday.
Green Hornet
It's might seem wrong to put him here, but he is a superhero and does have a comic book. Let's just ignore the profanity-laced movie that came out recently, the real Green Hornet was a hero who knew how to handle himself. Kato was the better fighter all along, but GH knew how to fight too when he needed to.
The old radio shows are the best, though the 60's television series comes in a close second. Seeing Bruce Lee tag those bad guys always makes me happy. The Green Hornet actually had his own comic book in the 40's, at the same time his radio show was going on and a few movie serials came out. He's recently returned to comics thanks to Kevin Smith's script-turned-comic book and a few other series boosts.
Green Goblin
Guess what? This character died and came back!
Norman Osborn became the Green Goblin and somehow was decided to become Spider-Man's iconic villain. I guess I can understand the fascination since he knew Spidey's secret identity and eventually killed his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy...but still, I'm not sure I'd have picked him as the constant villain for the character.
You can't fault the guy for trying though! He's been through everything and even became the head of SHIELD for a while, and still he keeps coming back.
This character was one of the Project Superpowers heroes that Alex Ross has brought back to the limelight recently. I can't really say I'm in love with the name or even the costume, but he does deserve a place in our list.
While his name might make you think his powers would involve spitting or something, instead he was a halfway decent crimefighter back in the early days of comic books. Ross has a slightly different turn for the character's costume and demeanor now, but you can still see where the inspiration came from.
Green Lama
This character was one of the Project Superpowers heroes that Alex Ross has brought back to the limelight recently. I can't really say I'm in love with the name or even the costume, but he does deserve a place in our list.
While his name might make you think his powers would involve spitting or something, instead he was a halfway decent crimefighter back in the early days of comic books. Ross has a slightly different turn for the character's costume and demeanor now, but you can still see where the inspiration came from.
Honorable Mention: Jade
No way, but yes, she came back from the dead too during the recent "Blackest Night" miniseries. The daughter of Alan Scott and one-time girlfriend of Kyle Rayner, Jade had the power of the Green Lantern inside of her.
Eventually she would become a casualty in the Rann Thanagar War, though her death was a lot shorter-lived than the others on this list.
Next week, we look at the characters who loved the color blue!
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1 comment:
Good listing. You are right about the Green Goblin. However, asking who is Spiderman's arch foe depends on what generation you started reading comics. For my generation it wavered between the Green Gobling and Doc Ock. Another generation might say Venom or the Kingpin.
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