Too Many Earth Lanterns...

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'm not even sure who the current 2814 GL's are supposed to be...Simon's seemingly gone, Jessica's in a whole different Sector far from Earth, and John and Hal seem to be the only ones who actually show up when something happens on Earth now.

Hal and John are now the official GLs of Sector 2814 again. Guy and Kyle remain Honor Guards, Jessica was reassigned to the Ghost Sector and Simon is waiting for anyone to care enough about him to notice he's gone

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I wouldn't consider it laziness or bad storytelling. Rather, it's the point. After all, it's been established time and time again that Earth is especially important for cosmic reasons. It's been called the center of the multiverse and where the Fifth World- the next big cosmic shift- will be birthed. It's where cosmological events like the various Crises have been waged with implications that spread the entire Multiverse and where artifacts like the Anti-Life Equation are to be found. On panel, in the cosmology of the DC Multiverse, Earth is important enough to warrant the attention from the Guardians of the Universe. If anything, other ancient, cosmic races should be paying it more attention. The entire point of works by guys like Kirby, Morrison and Johns revolve around the importance of Earth. To remove those as being 'bad storytelling' would be removing a huge part of the backbone of the shared universe.

I agree. The importance of Earth within the Multiverse has been established pretty well by multiple creators and all of their reasons make sense and don't feel handwavey.

Morrison's idea that the Earth will be where the Fifth World is born tracks with what Kirby established.

Johns's idea that Earth was secretly the birthplace of all life in the universe works perfectly with everything we've seen in the DCU so far.

Snyder's most recent notion that Earth was the spawning ground for the armies of Perpetua builds nicely on top of all that.

With all of this craziness, of course Earth is going to have more GLs than normal because there's nothing normal about Earth.

[Vampire Savior]

And I call that a contrived reason--some of the examples cited don't even originate from Green Lantern--to have a ridiculous number of incredibly redundant characters that cause problems with each other existing within the same fictional space. "What problems?" you might ask. Just take a look at the Green Lantern fanbase and all whining, moaning, and infighting that goes on there, all due to the overblown number of Green Lanterns from Earth.

If Earth was so important, the Guardians should have assigned 8 or so Lanterns to 2814 to begin with instead of just having one. Perhaps had Green Lantern built itself on that different foundation, the problems wouldn't exist. When you're writing...if you're trying to do a good job of it, at least--you have to ask yourself, "well, why did this happen," or "why didn't this happen," and if your story is going to hold water, you'll have relatively believable answers for those questions. Instead, now we have 9 or whatever Green Lanterns appear in an incredibly crunched period of time, and most of the time, they're not even guarding earth. Story doesn't make sense. Bad and lazy writing.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

And I call that a contrived reason--some of the examples cited don't even originate from Green Lantern--to have a ridiculous number of incredibly redundant characters that cause problems with each other existing within the same fictional space. "What problems?" you might ask. Just take a look at the Green Lantern fanbase and all whining, moaning, and infighting that goes on there, all due to the overblown number of Green Lanterns from Earth.

If Earth was so important, the Guardians should have assigned 8 or so Lanterns to 2814 to begin with instead of just having one. Perhaps had Green Lantern built itself on that different foundation, the problems wouldn't exist. When you're writing...if you're trying to do a good job of it, at least--you have to ask yourself, "well, why did this happen," or "why didn't this happen," and if your story is going to hold water, you'll have relatively believable answers for those questions. Instead, now we have 9 or whatever Green Lanterns appear in an incredibly crunched period of time, and most of the time, they're not even guarding earth. Story doesn't make sense. Bad and lazy writing.

The Guardians did assign 8 Green Lanterns to Earth right after the original Crisis for precisely the reasons that Morrison would later elaborate on. The later revelation that Earth was secretly the birthplace of the White Lantern Entity also made perfect sense because the Guardians were deliberately trying to hide that from the universe in order to protect Earth by trying to pretend it was an unimportant backwater world.

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, however, that lie clearly wasn't holding water anymore and the Guardians promptly assigned multiple GLs to Earth ever since.

If those explanations don't work for you, fair enough, but they all build upon each other pretty well from my perspective.

[Midnight_v]

If Earth was so important, the Guardians should have assigned 8 or so Lanterns to 2814 to begin with instead of just having one. Perhaps had Green Lantern built itself on that different foundation, the problems wouldn't exist. When you're writing...if you're trying to do a good job of it, at least--you have to ask yourself, "well, why did this happen," or "why didn't this happen," and if your story is going to hold water, you'll have relatively believable answers for those questions. Instead, now we have 9 or whatever Green Lanterns appear in an incredibly crunched period of time, and most of the time, they're not even guarding earth. Story doesn't make sense. Bad and lazy writing.

I agree with you. I think about it the way you seem to be overall here.

The Guardians did assign 8 Green Lanterns to Earth right after the original Crisis for precisely the reasons that Morrison would later elaborate on. The later revelation that Earth was secretly the birthplace of the White Lantern Entity also made perfect sense because the Guardians were deliberately trying to hide that from the universe in order to protect Earth by trying to pretend it was an unimportant backwater world.

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, however, that lie clearly wasn't holding water anymore and the Guardians promptly assigned multiple GLs to Earth ever since.

If those explanations don't work for you, fair enough, but they all build upon each other pretty well from my perspective.

I can... See those explanations working somewhat.
However if its those are the reasons, green lantern spam is occurring? Then this needs to be oft repeated. This NEEDS to be reinforced to the reader! It needs to be said WAAAAAYYYY more than "The greatest of all green lanterns"
All that being said "Earth, center of the multiverse... birthplace of the white lantern entity... Spawning ground for the armies of perpetua.... and Cradle for the 5th world of divine beings yet to be born...."
...Oh and the place where batman held back the dark multiverse, Dr.Manhattan stole time... and so on and so forth.

"Earth is special" can work, what VS is saying (and that I agree with) is that "EiS" become the most overused trope, and lazy type of writing because no writer has to ever give a reason "WHY" anything is happening or rather why EVERYTHING is happening based on this one small planet.

Myself, I don't think that it benefits DC comics to be so goddamn Ptolemaic, but if those are the beats I can accept that. Again they need to be saying things about that a LOT more. ESPECIALLY, in Green Lantern Books.

On another note, and super relevant to this issue.

If your hang up with any particular lantern of some kind of identitarianism then D.C. is right to ignore your opinions. I mean if, for example, RACE is your hang up with Hal Jordan. or John or... take your pic,
or religion with Simon... whatever. You just exist in a super-small minority of people with that hang up. Sadly, those people just seem to be exceptionally vocal and project that idea that everyone is like them
all over the place.
There are reasons for decisions that people make, everyday that are made without regards to race,religion,orientation,sex, or that transcend them. It doesn't take a conspiracy for you favorite character to NOT be used.
Or even a subconscious hate. Its just that some people have no reason to look at the world through the fear and hate based lens some of us have allowed ourselves to get accustomed to. Which they do everything they can
to shift the focus on everything OTHER than the most important things. The quality of the stories. The narrative at play.

Just as, being black*, I'd hate for a Klansman to have a guiding hand in my entertainment, I don't want Diversity junkies guiding it either.
I want someone in love the mythos, of Green Lantern for example, guiding the entertainment.

*actually just as being decent human being.

EDIT:

Jessica and Simon, part of the JL but literally kicked out for Hal any time an event would happen. What a lark that was.

Hello, I'm Diana, you know me as Wonder Woman, and as your justice league representative I just want to express to you in more common terms that we feel:

"Hal Jordan is the day-one homeboy, I've rode with many a GL but I know Hal bout that smoke. We 10 toes for da god. Gang ****"

Seriously. . . personal preference aside, of course get out of the way. He's known and trusted by them, they've had the most training together, and POSSIBLY
the most friendship opportunities. There's a trust on the battlefield with him to the point it makes SENSE that he'd be the first pick over anyone. They're his friends,
and battle buddies. That just makes the most narrative sense.

[Uncanny Mutie]

Personally, I don't have a particularly big problem with introducing new Lanterns from Earth as long as these new characters are worth reading about. I'd like them to spread out where they are from a little more. Having all but one of them be from America is kinda narrow-minded, and telling about how little imagination most creators and readers have in terms of being able to connect to characters that aren't exactly like them.

Exactly. It's like they tried to spice things up and at least add someone diversity by adding a Muslim male and a Latina, but they didn't go ALL THE WAY with it. What I mean by that is, if you're to create two more human Lanterns in an already overcrowded Earth sector, then AT LEAST base the Muslim character in Iraq or Saudi Arabia or something, and base the Latina in Mexico City or Madrid or somewhere; think of how much more interesting Keenan Kong was as a Hong Kong based Superman rather than just a Chinese American Superman flying around America, where Kal-El, Kara, AND Jon were already based.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I agree with you. I think about it the way you seem to be overall here.


I can... See those explanations working somewhat.
However if its those are the reasons, green lantern spam is occurring? Then this needs to be oft repeated. This NEEDS to be reinforced to the reader! It needs to be said WAAAAAYYYY more than "The greatest of all green lanterns"
All that being said "Earth, center of the multiverse... birthplace of the white lantern entity... Spawning ground for the armies of perpetua.... and Cradle for the 5th world of divine beings yet to be born...."
...Oh and the place where batman held back the dark multiverse, Dr.Manhattan stole time... and so on and so forth.

"Earth is special" can work, what VS is saying (and that I agree with) is that "EiS" become the most overused trope, and lazy type of writing because no writer has to ever give a reason "WHY" anything is happening or rather why EVERYTHING is happening based on this one small planet.

Like I said, the why's are already there and get brought up pretty regularly, usually when they reference Earth-0 as being the keystone of the Multiverse.

However, much like I don't particularly care for Hal being referenced as "The Greatest Green Lantern", I don't really want Earth's importance to require a long preamble. Earth's importance to the larger DCU should be self-evident by now. Its past history, particularly those of its defenders, should speak for itself.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Exactly. It's like they tried to spice things up and at least add someone diversity by adding a Muslim male and a Latina, but they didn't go ALL THE WAY with it. What I mean by that is, if you're to create two more human Lanterns in an already overcrowded Earth sector, then AT LEAST base the Muslim character in Iraq or Saudi Arabia or something, and base the Latina in Mexico City or Madrid or somewhere; think of how much more interesting Keenan Kong was as a Hong Kong based Superman rather than just a Chinese American Superman flying around America, where Kal-El, Kara, AND Jon were already based.

I agree, and I think it's very likely that New Superman wouldn't have lasted any longer had it been set in America than it did being set in China.

[Restingvoice]

(Edited. Nevermind)

[Sodam Yat]

I think there are too many earth lanterns.

Not because I want my "Favorite" lantern to be special, but because... It doesn't make narrative sense to the green lantern mythos.

Stories, even funny stories, even jokes, all the way to the greatest works of literature ever created need to make some kind of narrative sense.

I don't care if you *Gasp* and swoon at the diversity of "x" minority lantern. I don't care if you are staunchly devoted to HAL! Love the humor of guy, grew up with
Stewart.

Green Lantern stories and moreover the fan base grow more and more fractured with each new lantern until such time that D.C. says:

THIS is why. THIS is why earth has so many lanterns.

No one breaches the subject when this is brought up. It all about your favorite lantern.

Seriously, talk about science, tell me its because earth exists inside the KBC/Local void. Explain dragon king and black swan theory in relation to space exploration, or the
dark forest theory of the Cosmos.

GIVE A GOOD REASON why the Guardians of the UNIVERSE present since time immemorial. Who place a single Green Lantern ring, and assign it to ONE SECTOR decide in a 20 year span comics time
to put 7 on one planet (okay they didn't make the teen but still). It's not even that hard to do.

Thats why multiple green lanterns is so unsatisfying in my book. The situation doesn't push the narrative, really. Its just a cop out for an easy flavor of the "Timeframe" legacy character.
In a meta sense, its just bad story telling. Imho

Well said, sir. I couldn't have said this any better.

[j9ac9k]

The issue I see with this is that this is serial storytelling. Various writers have hinted or even outright stated why Earth is important, but unless you do have that text box at the beginning of every issue explaining it, what's the point? It's either one storyline, or it's just the premise for many stories from many writers when it comes to why there are so many GLs from earth. And yes, most of these premises are somewhat contrived. They aren't intended to go anywhere in particular, just allow for the freedom to introduce other characters and let the writers do what they will. And we all know the real-world reason for this, so ... y'know....

Once again, this is a world based on a man hiding his identity behind a pair of glasses and they haven't deemed it necessary to get rid of that yet.

[titanfan]

Could they just say that Human Beings have more willpower than most alien races and are statistically likely to be better Green Lanterns?

We don't know enough about alien races for that to be untrue, and would also explain why seemingly normal humans turn out to be pretty good GL's.

[lemonpeace]

I don't think there are too many human Lanterns, there are too many AMERICAN Lanterns.

[DevilBat66]

If you have to jump through that many hoops to make the Earth GL's make sense then that right there should tell you how much of a problem it is.

[phantom1592]

Could they just say that Human Beings have more willpower than most alien races and are statistically likely to be better Green Lanterns?

We don't know enough about alien races for that to be untrue, and would also explain why seemingly normal humans turn out to be pretty good GL's.

Biggest issue there is that there were ZERO earth lanterns before Abin Sur and the planet was too primitive (or something) to recruit on...

But yes, I always did love the idea that both Marvel and DC had where Earth was something special and diverse. It's the only planet where hundred of citizens randomly gain powers or meta genes or specially train themselves to protect the planet. Skrulls, kree… they all have their 'racial abilities'... but Earth?? We have the justice league and mutants and fantastic four and Spider-man… it's just a boiling pot of evolution breeding unique and independent results. None of that future-istic space people who all wear the exact same clothes here... This is EARTH!!!