Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 28, 2024 | 6 comments

13 THINGS to love about the Emerald Gladiator in the Silver Age…

Pin-up from Green Lantern #46 (July 1966). Art by Gil Kane.

By PETER BOSCH

July 28 marks the 65th anniversary of the 1959 release of Showcase #22 — the first appearance of Green Lantern Hal Jordan — so when Dan asked if I would like to write something on it, I jumped at the chance. Write 13 things about GL? Easy!

Showcase #22 (cover dated Oct. 1959) – Gil Kane (pencils) and Murphy Anderson (inks).

But for that, we have to start with the creators…

1. Julius Schwartz. Schwartz was the person most responsible for the success of DC’s Silver Age. As editor, he worked with writers Robert Kanigher, Gardner Fox and John Broome to update the concepts of the Golden Age Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Atom, and the Justice Society of America, and create heroes for a new generation… the Baby Boomer Generation, of which I’m a member.

Justice League of America #22 (Sept. 1963) – Art by Murphy Anderson.

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2. John Broome. “In the Beginning was the Word.“ Schwartz and Broome worked out everything about the new Green Lantern — his character, and those who would appear in upcoming stories, including the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe. When it comes to creativity, Broome was definitely the right man.

Showcase #22 – The passing of the torch (or, in this case, lantern). Script by John Broome. Pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Joe Giella.

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3. Gil Kane. Just prior to Showcase #22, Kane had been drawing for DC for over a decade without making much of a wave. (In Kane’s own one-word description, he thought his work to that point “stunk.”) But just as the power ring allowed the full inner hero of Hal Jordan to materialize, so too the series let Kane develop into a dynamic artist. (He drew the three Showcase tryout issues, #22-24, and the first 61 issues of Green Lantern.)

Green Lantern #59 (Mar. 1968). Kane inked by Anderson.

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4. Gil Kane’s Inkers. Though he had some exceptional inkers, including Murphy Anderson, Kane was usually unhappy with their efforts. He preferred to ink his own pencils but only got the chance to do so occasionally. And when you look below at this splash page from Green Lantern #50 (Jan. 1967), who’s to say he was wrong?

Green Lantern #50 (Jan. 1967). A spectacular splash pencilled and inked by Kane.

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5. GL’s Costume. Of the superhero costumes that Kane designed over the years (which included the Atom, Captain Mar-Vell, and Iron Fist – the latter two co-designed with Roy Thomas), Green Lantern’s was probably the coolest of them all. Kane said he was trying for an hourglass design that would subliminally indicate the ring’s 24-hour charge (but he felt it was lost in the early issues’ inking by Joe Giella).

Green Lantern #17 (Dec. 1962). Kane and Giella.

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6. Sometimes A Great Notion. According to Julius Schwartz, Gil Kane loosely based the look of Hal Jordan on a former Kane neighbor, Paul Newman.

Paul Newman publicity photo, circa 1959, and drawing of Hal Jordan from Showcase #22 (Oct. 1959). Art by Kane and Giella.

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7. Romance On the Ferris Wheel. Once upon a time, Carol Ferris was pretty nuts about Hal Jordan. But then her father put her in charge of his aircraft company — and she became Hal’s boss. She told him she would now have no time for romance… but then she immediately fell for Green Lantern. However, even in love, she wanted things her way…

Showcase #22 (Oct. 1959).

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8. When #1 DIDN’T Appear on the Cover. The first issue of Green Lantern (July-Aug. 1960) came and went without any indication on its cover it was #1. The business heads at DC believed that kids would not want to buy a comic if they knew it was the very first of a new title, thinking they would much rather pick up a comic book in a series that had reached into the hundreds, which is why they started up the Silver Age Flash’s title using the numbering from the Golden Age Flash Comics. Other DC titles of the period also kept #1 off the cover, including Justice League of America, Superman Annual, Rip Hunter…Time Master, Batman Annual, Secret Origins, Sea Devils, and Aquaman.

Green Lantern #1 (July-Aug. 1960). Pencils by Kane, inks by Giella.

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9. Villains. Just as the Flash had his Rogues Gallery, Green Lantern assembled a good group of bad guys during the Silver Age, even if they were not as memorable: Black Hand, Sonar, Sinestro, Hector Hammond, the Shark, Doctor Polaris, the Weaponers of Qward, and the Tattooed Man (whom Kane drew to look like John Wayne). Plus, there was one more. And she was in a class by herself.

Green Lantern #23 (Sept. 1963). Kane and Anderson.

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10. Star Sapphire. In Green Lantern #16 (Oct. 1962), a group of space-travelling Amazon-types called Zamarons put the snatch on Carol in order to take her back to their planet because she looked exactly like their dead queen. When she protests that she loves GL and won’t go, they give her some of their power through a star sapphire, have her wear a costume worn by their past queen, and alter her thoughts to battle Green Lantern to show “what a weakling he really is.” Needless to say, she is really conflicted, wanting to defeat him but also hoping he would win. Which he did… but this tortured part of her mind would reappear from time to time and she would become Star Sapphire again.

Carol Ferris’s second appearance as Star Sapphire. Green Lantern #26 (Jan. 1964). Pencils by Kane, inks by Anderson (with possible fixes by Giella).

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11. At Least Hal Jordan Didn’t Sport a Crewcut Like Barry Allen. It’s surprising that it took nearly three years for DC to team GL up with the Flash, given they were the first two heroes revived in the Silver Age, but team them they did. The first time was in Green Lantern #13 (June 1962) and it became a semi-regular event for years to come, with the Emerald Gladiator visiting the Scarlet Speedster in his title and vice versa.

Green Lantern #13 (June 1962) – pencils by Kane, inks by Giella.

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12. Oh, Brother(s)! Hal Jordan was almost unique among super heroes, whether they were in the Silver Age or going back to the Golden Age. Most of them were loners, without any living family. Not so for Hal. As a matter of fact, he had two families. In the first one, the biological one, he had two brothers. They were introduced in Green Lantern #9 (Nov.-Dec. 1961), where Hal’s older brother, Jack, was running for the office of District Attorney, while his younger brother, Jim, acted as Jack’s campaign manager. Writer John Broome introduced a comedy element into the tale by having Sue Williams, a Lois Lane wannabe, realize that Jordan was really the Emerald Crusader… Jim Jordan, that is. A few backup stories followed with the pair, they fell in love, and married.

Left: Green Lantern #9 (Nov.-Dec. 1961, with pencils by Kane, inks by Giella, and script by Broome). Right: Green Lantern #46 (July 1966), with pencils and inks by Kane.

The second group of brothers (and sisters) were, obviously, his fellow Green Lanterns. Though Hal met the Guardians of the Universe in the first issue of his series, they made him forget it, and it wasn’t until Green Lantern #6 (May-June 1961) when, for the first time, he met another GL (Tomar-Re) and began to remember the Guardians. The Guardians taught him responsibility, but it was the Lanterns throughout the universe who gave him friendship and loyalty.

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13. Cool Covers. There were so many! Here are just four of my favorites:

Pencils by Kane on all: #8 (Sept.-Oct. 1961, Jack Adler wash); inks by Anderson on #12 (Apr. 1962), #31 (Sept. 1964), and #40 (Oct. 1965).

And there is so much more still to discuss. Did I mention his identity of Pol Manning in the 58th century? Oh, well, next time.

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MORE

— Class in Session: THE DC COMICS SCHOOL OF ART Is Now Open. Click here.

–– The WEIRD WORLDS OF MURPHY ANDERSON. Click here.

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13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, was published by TwoMorrows. He is currently at work on a sequel, about movie comics. Peter has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. He lives in Hollywood.