Green Lantern‘s legend started way back in the Golden Age of comics, with Alan Scott finding a magical lantern and ring, becoming one of the greatest heroes in the world. Since then, there have been more Green Lanterns, legends like Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, and many more, all putting on the ring and fighting evil. It went from one man with a magic ring to thousands of aliens across the universe, an intergalactic police force unlike anything your imagination could conjure up. Throughout those years, creators gave readers some of the best superhero sci-fi imaginable, creating a legend that would reach past comics to the big and small screens.
Often times, these comics would have amazing covers from some of the greatest artists in the industry, getting people’s foot in the door of the book. Some of these covers weren’t just fantastic-looking but groundbreaking. These ten Green Lantern covers changed comic history, each of them a masterpiece of form and storytelling.
Geoff Johns is a DC legend and his time writing Green Lantern Vol. 4 and 5 helped make the character and his mythos into the most popular thing in the comic industry. He worked with amazing artists and you’ll see several covers from his books on here, including this one: Green Lantern (Vol. 5) #1, by Ivan Reis. This cover showed Sinestro, Hal Jordan’s greatest foe, as a Green Lantern again and was the first issue of the New 52 Green Lantern comics. This cover caused a massive stir and fans ate it up like hot cakes, kicking off the final arc of Johns’ run with the ring-slingers with style and aplomb.
The Green Lantern Corps is one of DC’s most powerful forces, but even they could be laid low, as Hal Jordan showed them in “Emerald Twilight”. It wouldn’t be until after Green Lantern: Rebirth that readers would get to see the Corps in all its glory again in Green Lantern Corps: ReCharge #1, with this fantastic cover from Patrick Gleason. It showcased the three stars of the book – Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, and Kilowog – announcing to readers that the Corps was back. Fans ate this book up back in the day, all because of this fantastic cover.
George Perez is one of the greatest writer/artists of all time and without him, DC Comics would be a very different place. In the late ’70s, the artist was still working at Marvel but he would soon make the jump to DC and it was announced by this stellar cover. Green Lantern (Vol. 1) #132 isn’t some super important, groundbreaking issue, it’s just one of the first Perez works published DC after he came back to the publisher for his legendary ’80s run. It’s a gorgeous cover, a true landmark in comic history.
“The Sinestro Corps War” is a masterpiece, a story that propelled Green Lantern (Vol. 4) into the stratosphere. The story was kicked off in Sinestro Corps War Special #1, with this unforgettable cover from Ethan Van Sciver. Sinestro crucifying the most popular Corpsmen was a startling image, something made all the more stark by Sinestro’s new Hitler-inspired look and eye-catching new costume. This story made everyone stop and take notice and helped make Green Lantern (Vol. 4) and Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 2) into two of the bestselling comics of their day.
Hal Jordan had been made into a villain in 1994, redeemed himself by sacrificing his life in 1996’s The Final Night, and became the Spectre in 1999’s Day of Vengeance. However, fans were just waiting for his glorious return to the Corps and they got it in 2004’s Green Lantern: Rebirth #1, with this cover from artist Ethan Van Sciver. Showing Hal as the Spectre with his old power battery, it caused an eruption in fan spaces of the day. The book sold out immediately and has remained hot ever since. Besides bringing Jordan back, this book was also the beginning of the “re-Bronze Age-ification” of DC in the ’00s, making it even more important to comic history.
In the ’90s, DC found a lot of success breaking their old characters and replacing them with newer versions. With sales down on Green Lantern (Vol. 3), “Emerald Twilight” was Hal’s turn and issue #50 finally showed readers his new villainous look with this spectacular cover by Mark Bright. The Parallax costume looked fantastic and the cover’s glow in the dark effect was a fun gimmick, which was the order of the day. Bright is one of those underappreciated talents in the industry nowadays, but this outstanding cover shows why he was always one of the best.
Green Lantern: Rebirth was a success that you could only understand if you were there. The first issue of the series was seriously under-ordered since sales on Green Lantern (Vol. 3) towards the end weren’t great (I put it on my pull because I was drinking the ’00s Johns Kool-Aid). This made the first issue an instant sellout and fans started snapping the next issues up every place they saw them. All of its covers are outstanding but the one that is the best is easily the final issue’s, by Ethan Van Sciver. It was the moment that fans knew that the old Green Lantern Corps was back, a triumphant moment that would lead to some of the best stories in DC history. It’s the image everyone thinks of it when they think of this book and it’s still amazing all these years later.
“Emerald Twilight” was wildly successful run out the gate and this is the cover that everyone remembers from it. Green Lantern (Vol. 3) #49 had this amazing cover from Daryl Banks and it was one that almost dared you not to buy it. This was Hal Jordan unlike anything readers had seen before, driven mad and hording power rings, and we knew there was only way he could have gotten all of them. It helped make the story into a must-read and has been homaged again and again over the decades. It’s truly one of the greatest covers in comics history.
Alan Scott is a DC icon and he birthed a legend that would stretch decades into the future. The hero first appeared in 1940’s All-American Comics #16, with this eye-catching cover from co-creator Sheldon Moldoff. While later Green Lanterns would go more sleek and sci-fi, Alan was Superman-style superheroism all the way, with his flowing, high-collared cape and garishly-colored costume. This cover captured a captivating moment in time perfectly, Moldoff taking readers to this very instant. It’s a Golden Age classic, one that began the legend of the Green Lantern.
The Silver Age was a new era for superheroes, with DC taking its old school Golden Age heroes, basically everyone other than Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, and repackaging them for this new age. This all started with new Flash Barry Allen in 1956’s Showcase #4, leading to the DC Multiverse we all know and love today. In 1959, it was the Green Lantern’s turn to get a reboot with Showcase (Vol. 1) #22 introducing Hal Jordan with this breathtaking cover from Gil Kane. It captures a moment of excitement from a mysterious man in an odd costume, one that looked nothing like the Green Lantern of old. It was the first shot of a new era for the mantle and one that would change sci-fi superhero comics forever.
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