How would you make Green Lantern sell?

[Flash Gordon]

I'll echo that Green Lantern should be more about discovery and less about fighting supervillans. More Star Trek and a lot less Star Wars.

Hal Jordan should be out in the very farthest reaches of reality, meeting all sorts of strange creatures and visiting cultures/worlds. Hal works best as a cowboy. A lone ranger out in the darkness. He should rarely, if ever, come in contact with other humans- thus making his occasional returns to Earth even more jarring.

I think if Hal is a ranger, a rough and tumble cowboy, he should have a partner more versed in science mumbo jumbo. Maybe Hal is also into cartography and adding to his list of worlds he's been to.

As for the Justice League/superhero stuff, I'd give that to Jessica Cruz. I like her anxiety problems and it's nice to see a female GL. If I had to give it to someone else, I'd try and mix the best aspects of Guy, Kyle, and John into one character. 5 human GLs is overkill.

[jbmasta]

I'll take the franchise and split it to 3 books:

Green Lanterns:guy(mentor),baz,Jessica(earth based)

Green Lantern:space knights (Hal,John,Carol,Katama)epic space stories and drama (the book will also explore the dynamic between hal and John for the upcoming movie)

Green Lantern corps (Kyle,rest of the corps)the standard corps title only this time it will have kyle as the corps leader

I don't see Kyle as a leader. He's more the emotional heart of a team. I can see White Lantern Kyle as an ambassador, exploring the different emotions of the spectrum and using that experience to mediate conflicts that arise.

[Trey Strain]

-- Six Earth Lanterns is at least two too many.

-- The longtime promotion of Hal as "the greatest" has ensured that the other five can't sell a comic.

-- Hal is not a franchise carrier.

-- Green Lantern can't support more than two titles.

-- And DC can't sell a line of Justice League titles -- Justice League and the Justice Society are all it can sell.

Given all that, this is my solution. Because it's the simplest one, I think it's probably the best.

-- Reboot it so that the FOUR Earth Lanterns get their rings at the same time and are designated as equals. Erase everything in their history that has made them look bad and thus compromised their ability to sell a comic.

-- Stop trying to make Sinestro a hero.

-- Have the Corps run by the original, good Guardians, with no humans in positions of authority. No Honor Guard or anything like that.

-- Put Kyle in Titans.

-- Put John in Justice League.

-- Put Hal in an Earth-based comic that makes strong use of his supporting cast.

-- Put Guy in a space-based comic, but don't call it the Green Lantern Corps because that has come to connote a B title. A B comic has never sold. There should be two A Green Lantern titles that have contrasting scenarios.

-- Retire the emotional spectrum.

-- Admit that they were a mistake and something else for Baz and Cruz to do.

There's nothing complex there. It can be done. This is just a matter of doting it.

Geoff Johns would obviously not be the best person to write or to oversee the reboot.

[The Dying Detective]

-- Six Earth Lanterns is at least two too many.

-- The longtime promotion of Hal as "the greatest" has ensured that the other five can't sell a comic.

-- Hal is not a franchise carrier.

-- Green Lantern can't support more than two titles.

-- And DC can't sell a line of Justice League titles -- Justice League and the Justice Society are all it can sell.

Given all that, this is my solution. Because it's the simplest one, I think it's probably the best.

-- Reboot it so that the FOUR Earth Lanterns get their rings at the same time and are designated as equals. Erase everything in their history that has made them look bad and thus compromised their ability to sell a comic.

-- Put Kyle in Titans.

-- Put John in Justice League.

-- Put Hal in an Earth-based comic that makes strong use of his supporting cast.

-- Put Guy in a space-based comic, but don't call it the Green Lantern Corps because that has come to connote a B title. A B title has never sold. There should be two A Green Lantern titles.

-- Admit that they were a mistake and something else for Baz and Cruz to do.

There's nothing complex there. It can be done. This is just a matter of executing it.

But where could Simon and Jessica belong? And on top of that we have new kid Green Lantern who could achieve enough popularity to be integrated into the main DC Universe. But I would put Tai in the Teen Titans.

[Trey Strain]

Double post.

[Trey Strain]

But where could Simon and Jessica belong? And on top of that we have new kid Green Lantern who could achieve enough popularity to be integrated into the main DC Universe. But I would put Tai in the Teen Titans.

Where they could go is something for their fans to discuss. Let me start a thread about that.

Yeah, we've got SEVEN Earth Lanterns now, don't we? Even though the two Green Lantern titles are selling poorly, DC somehow perceived an opportunity to EXPAND THE FRANCHISE!

Wow. That'll certainly solve the problem of already having too many of them, won't it?

I expect Tai to get an appreciation thread any minute now.

[SebastianS]

Some of my ideas:

With regard the status quo:
-Get Hal back on Earth.
-John on GLC.
-Kyle on Titans/Legion of Superheroes.
-Guy on JL/JLA.

With regard titles:
-Green Lantern (on-going): Starring Hal Jordan, and his adventures on Earth. Sometimes guest-starring other Earth Lanterns, but for the most part, limited to Hal.
-Green Lantern Corps (on-going): Starring John Stewart, and his space adventures along the GLC. Sometimes guest-starring other Earthlings, but for the most part, alien Corp members.
-Green Lantern - Emerald Warriors (4 - 6 issues limited series): Starring Kyle and/or Guy as Sector 2814 partners.

With regard canon:
-Keep everything up to GL vol 3 181 in place.
-Hal Jordan was brought back, but no Yellow Entity, or Emotional Spectrum stuff. No need for a hard reboot. Just never bring those back.

[The Dying Detective]

Where they could go is something for their fans to discuss. Let me start a thread about that.

Yeah, we've got SEVEN Earth Lanterns now, don't we? Even though the two Green Lantern titles are selling poorly, DC somehow perceived an opportunity to expand the franchise! Wow. That'll certainly solve the problem of already having too many of them, won't it?

I expect Tai to get an appreciation thread any minute now.

Tai has done nothing to garner interest so there is not going to be one until he does do something.

[Trey Strain]

Every character who doesn't sell gets an appreciation thread and thus becomes a sacred cow.

[The Dying Detective]

Every character who doesn't sell gets an appreciation thread and thus becomes a sacred cow.

You're joking right? But don't Jessica and Simon sell well?

[The Dying Detective]

Green Lantern Corps (on-going): Starring John Stewart, and his space adventures along the GLC.

Perhaps Tai, Simon, and Jessica could serve under John as trainees and once they graduate they can just be supporting characters working with their alien corpmen. While Tai could be sent to the Teen Titans.

[numberthirty]

I don't mean a gimmick that might make it sell for three years. I mean, how would you make it sell permanently?

And please don't say you'd put a popular writer and artist on it. That's just a band-aid, because writers and artists come and go.

Sure. Avoid an actual solution for an arbitrary reason that every title in the history of the medium has had to contend with.

For this piece of IP, I'd say get Hickman(in a perfect world). The guy's work on other title where a writer had to keep a lot of things moving at once suggests that he is probably your best bet for getting this property to where it needs to be.

[Carabas]

I mean, how would you make it sell permanently?

I don't know. In the history of fiction no ongoing series has ever sold permanently before.

Just how well do you think Batman would do without all the A-list writers and artists those books get?

ETA: you want something to sell permanently? Don't make it an infinitely ongoing series. Give it an ending.
Stuff like Watchmen, The Sandman, Preacher, Transmetropolitan... those sell permantly. Stand-alone books without connection to canon, like The Dark Knight Returns or even Kingdom Come. That sells permanently too.

[LP22]

I don't see Kyle as a leader. He's more the emotional heart of a team. I can see White Lantern Kyle as an ambassador, exploring the different emotions of the spectrum and using that experience to mediate conflicts that arise.

everyone needs to grow up someday I see Kyle as a great potential leader who brings together everyone around him and shoulder the entire world's fate in on himself
he can be the Dick Grayson of the Green Lantern franchise

[HAN9000]

everyone needs to grow up someday I see Kyle as a great potential leader who brings together everyone around him and shoulder the entire world's fate in on himself
he can be the Dick Grayson of the Green Lantern franchise

They tried to make him the Dick Grayson of Green Lantern franchise by making him a White Lantern. And he became boring as hell. So they had to put him back huddling with the other three in one book.