Green Lantern Franchise: What Would YOU do?

[Daedra]

1 earth green lantern is more than enough ( i don’t care who) the others can change lantern color or be forced to retire.

[TheBatman]

I don’t agree with this idea that GL needs to be a team franchise. You can just do what they have done: The main title with one lead GL, and a corps book.

I don’t see why GL can’t be structured like the Bat franchise. Plenty of the Bat Family characters have their own fanbases, but at the end of the day, Bruce is the head of the franchise.

I think the main difference is that, for example, Dick Grayson actually gets a book to himself. Barbara gets a book to herself, without needing to be the face of the Bat-Franchise.

If I were running DC, the GL franchise would be:

Green Lantern: Honestly, I agree with Captain Nostalgia a lot here. Hal should be the star of the main book, and he should be the JL’s Green Lantern. Hal has consistently been the most successful GL in the comics. I’d have him do adventures in earth and space, but mainly earth, as it’s time to really rebuild his supporting cast and have him interact with the wider DCU.

John Stewart: Green Lantern: John would mainly be in space, having his own adventures, mixing it up with a primarily alien supporting cast. Maybe we make Shayera his love interest, but I don’t know the current situation with the Hawks in the comics.

Green Lantern Corps: This would be the team book, of course. Jessica would be more of the lead character, with Guy and Kyle not too far behind. I’d get rid of Simon at this point, to be honest. The book would deal with intergalactic political intrigue.

Teen Titans would get whoever is the current teenage GL is

JSA gets Alan, of course.

[Daedra]

More musical chair and a bunch of one trick pony books, while we are at it dc should also blow up the central power battery even though we don’t have one anymore or do we ?

[Doctor Know]

Recently reminded of this clip from Justice League vs The Fatal Five from 2019.

Looking at the Hall of Lanterns in Legion HQ (from Starboy's memories) the main Lanterns to make it into history from the Timmverse were Hal, Guy, John, Kyle and Jessica. Hal and Guy never do anything in the Timm shows. Kyle was in one episode of Superman TAS. But Simon Baz predates Jessica's comic debut by 2 years and he was once again ignored. Damn. Can't catch a break, Simon Says.






Maybe 5 should be the limit. Retire the others.

[Factor]

I think 5 is a good enough limit, but the 5 I’d save are Hal, John, Kyle, Jess and Jo (only because she has potential).
Guy works really well as a Red Lantern, so he’d either retire to run his bar and be a recurring character in one of the books or become a Red Lantern.
Simon either retires or becomes a support in Oa.
Keli shouldn’t have been a part of the GL book in the first place. She’s an ancillary character created for a team book, not a lantern.

So if John is now Emerald Knight in the Dark Sectors, that would leave 4 active GLs from Earth.
Two of them should be the lanterns of Home Sector 2814. To me Kyle and Jo could be a good fit as I said in my OP, but I would be fine with any combination of the remaining 4.
I do think that Hal deserves a bigger level of importance than most others, so I still like my idea of making him an ambassador to the other Corps, which would allow him to not be stuck on a single sector.
Jessica could work as a Yellow Lantern as long as she’s not sidelined.

If I were DC I would commit to 3 books for at least 12 issues each and see how fans responded.
- GREEN LANTERNS: HOME SECTOR (featuring Kyle and Jo on Earth, with Guy as supporting character).
- GREEN LANTERN CORPS (featuring Hal in Deep Space with Star Sapphire, Jessica, Kilowog and others as supporting characters)
- EMERAL KNIGHT (featuring John Stewart and other Emerald Knights on the Dark Sectors)

[Dataweaver]

If it were up to me I’d redefine the forces behind the spectrum, I would like to see the meaning behind the colors reinterpreted along wider concepts in oder to avoid having the different ring bearers be too monotone or one note characters.

RED war, chaos, fury, rage, warrior’s spirit, devilish
ORANGE ambition, greed, growth, strength, appetite for life, pursuit of the body
YELLOW power, energy, ability to exercise dominion over others (subjects feel fear), scientific logic (order), dictatorial
GREEN will, pursuit of fair justice, balance, life, resolve, the good cops
BLUE hope, faith, goodwill, idealistic, angelic, visionaries
INDIGO empathy, intellect, knowledge, ability to see trough, understanding, pursuit of the mind
VIOLET love, magic, passion, mystic, arcane

I'd be inclined to evolve the various Lantern Corps so that each becomes more distinct. In fact, most of them shouldn't be Corps at all. For instance, I like how you don't have an “Indigo Lantern Corps”; you have the Indigo Tribe. And the Indigo Tribe doesn't exist to “police sectors”; their mission is to rehabilitate criminals, and to facilitate negotiations. I like the Star Sapphires (not the “Violet Lantern Corps”); and I'd like the others to abandon the cookie cutter naming convention of “[color] Lantern Corps”.

For instance, remake the “Blue Lantern Corps” as a monastic order: the Order of Adara. While the “Red Lantern Corps” does consist of warriors, “Corps” implies a bit too much in terms of discipline and organization: they tend to be a bit more wild. They're basically superpowered berserkers. I'd call them Crimson Gladiators, or something to that effect.

I would break Larfleeze's monopoly on the orange light. Having only one Orange Lantern means that there's only one way that we're allowed to express what the essence of the Orange Light is. Instead, I'd present the Orange Lanterns as a financial enterprise: an Amber Syndicate whose members engage in Faustian-like dealing, effectively trapping unwary “clients” in amber, figuratively if not literally.

And I'd reformulate the Sinestro Corps as “secret police” and/or some sort of watchmen or sentinels, rather than being a more oppressive version of the Green Lantern Corps. Call them the Sinestral Overwatch.

But the biggest change I'd make would be to end the War of Light concept. These seven factions are no longer mutual antagonists; instead, they strive to cooperate in a grand alliance of sorts where each color has a role to fill.

And the White Lanterns, headed up by Kyle Rayner, serve as the mediators who enable this co-op to function.

Or maybe go with a smaller scale, where Kyle heads up an eight-man team, where the other seven members each represent one color of the emotional spectrum: the purpose of the team is to show how the full emotional spectrum can be harmonized.

In short, I'd feature Kyle Rayner in SPECTRUM FORCE.

[Daedra]

I'd be inclined to evolve the various Lantern Corps so that reach becomes more distinct. In fact, most of them shouldn't be Corps at all. For instance, I like how you don't have an “Indigo Lantern Corps”; you have the Indigo Tribe. And the Indigo Tribe doesn't exist to “police sectors”; their mission is to rehabilitate criminals, and to facilitate negotiations. I like the Star Sapphires (not the “Violet Lantern Corps”); and I'd like the others to abandon the cookie cutter naming convention of “[color] Lantern Corps”.

For instance, remake the “Blue Lantern Corps” as a monastic order: the Order of Adara. While the “Red Lantern Corps” does consist of warriors, “Corps” implies a bit too much in terms of discipline and organization: they tend to be a bit more wild. They're basically superpowered berserkers. I'd call them Crimson Gladiators, or something to that effect.

I would break Larfleeze's monopoly on the orange light. Having only one Orange Lantern means that there's only one way that we're allowed to express what the essence of the Orange Light is. Instead, I'd present the Orange Lanterns as a financial enterprise: an Amber Syndicate whose members engage in Faustian-like dealing, effectively trapping unwary “clients” in amber, figuratively if not literally.

And I'd reformulate the Sinestro Corps as “secret police” and/or some sort of watchmen or sentinels, rather than being a more oppressive version of the Green Lantern Corps. Call them the Sinestral Overwatch.

But the biggest change I'd make would be to end the War of Light concept. These seven factions are no longer mutual antagonists; instead, they strive to cooperate in a grand alliance of sorts where each color has a role to fill.

And the White Lanterns, headed up by Kyle Rayner, serve as the mediators who enable this co-op to function.

Or maybe go with a smaller scale, where Kyle heads up an eight-man team, where the other seven members each represent one color of the emotional spectrum: the purpose of the team is to show how the full emotional spectrum can be harmonized.

In short, I'd feature Kyle Rayner in SPECTRUM FORCE.

I love your take and I think you really nailed what the writers should be striving for each time they deal with the different color coded cosmic factions/organizations, this is a very good way to deal, generate and organize conflict without having the spectrum users step on each other’s toes.
Reds berserkers and barbarians, oranges evil corporation bent on universal acquisition, yellows as cosmic gestapo, greens (we know the deal), blue peaceful monks promoters if freedom and heroic when time calls for it, indigo (i’d avoid the mind control) i like the idea of a tribe looking for greater knowledge, in a way they should oppose the very materialistic color orange, last the star sapphires should be all about mystique, mystery, charisma, they should go around promoting free love and psychedelic violet lights like a 70’s band

[Dataweaver]

I love your take and I think you really nailed what the writers should be striving for each time they deal with the different color coded cosmic factions/organizations, this is a very good way to deal, generate and organize conflict without having the spectrum users step on each other’s toes.
Reds berserkers and barbarians, oranges evil corporation bent on universal acquisition, yellows as cosmic gestapo, greens (we know the deal), blue peaceful monks promoters if freedom and heroic when time calls for it, indigo (i’d avoid the mind control) i like the idea of a tribe looking for greater knowledge, in a way they should oppose the very materialistic color orange, last the star sapphire should be all about mystique, mystery, charisma, they should go around promoting free love and psychedelic violet lights like a 70’s band

I don't think you quite got my take. I'm going with “there's a time and place for everything”: that includes red, orange, and yellow.

Conversely, you're talking about how red, orange, and yellow can go wrong — which absolutely should be addressed. But violet, indigo, blue and even green can go wrong, too. Kyle's Spectrum Force could end up addressing that, too.

[Daedra]

I don't think you quite got my take. I'm going with “there's a time and place for everything”: that includes red, orange, and yellow.

Conversely, you're talking about how red, orange, and yellow can go wrong — which absolutely should be addressed. But violet, indigo, blue and even green can go wrong, too. Kyle's Spectrum Force could end up addressing that, too.

Sure, it’s a good idea not to polarize any of these factions as inherently bad or good, I just highlighted some angles about them I personally like

[Dataweaver]

How about this: an all-Earth Spectrum Force.

Representing the Red Light, Guy Gardner.
Representing the Orange Light, Lena Luthor.
Representing the Yellow Light, Jessica Cruz.
Representing the Green Light, Simon Baz.
Representing the Blue Light, Nicole Morrison.
Representing the Indigo Light, Shane Thompson.
Representing the Violet Light, Jillian Pearlman.
Representing the White Light, Kyle Rayner.

Guy Gardner and Jessica Cruz would essentially be taking the Red and Yellow Lights, respectively, and showing how they can be harnessed in healthy, positive ways.

Nicole Morrison and Shane Thompson come from the War of Light story arc, where they were possessed by the Blue and Indigo Emotional Entities, respectively. The Entities are gone now; but I could see these two getting inducted into the appropriate factions again.

Likewise, Jillian Pearlman briefly was possessed by the Star Sapphire early in Johns' run on Green Lantern. While the incident wasn't a healthy one, neither was Carol Ferris's original induction as a Star Sapphire. Give her another chance — and one where she willingly accepts the gem instead of it being forced on her — and I suspect she could do the Star Sapphires proud.

Lena Luthor would be new to the Green Lantern mythology, but borrowed from Superman. The comics version of her is a paralyzed woman living in Smallville with her daughter; my thought here is to borrow some of the characterization that was given to her counterpart on CW's Supergirl: she's business-savvy and ambitious, but has been prevented from doing anything with her life because of her paralysis and her brother's interference. And then an orange ring finds her.

[WebLurker]

Lena Luthor would be new to the Green Lantern mythology, but borrowed from Superman. The comics version of her is a paralyzed woman living in Smallville with her daughter; my thought here is to borrow some of the characterization that was given to her counterpart on CW's Supergirl: she's business-savvy and ambitious, but has been prevented from doing anything with her life because of her paralysis and her brother's interference. And then an orange ring finds her.

How would an Orange Lantern work positively?

[DABellWrites]

I don’t agree with this idea that GL needs to be a team franchise. You can just do what they have done: The main title with one lead GL, and a corps book.

I don’t see why GL can’t be structured like the Bat franchise. Plenty of the Bat Family characters have their own fanbases, but at the end of the day, Bruce is the head of the franchise.

I think the main difference is that, for example, Dick Grayson actually gets a book to himself. Barbara gets a book to herself, without needing to be the face of the Bat-Franchise.

If I were running DC, the GL franchise would be:

Green Lantern: Honestly, I agree with Captain Nostalgia a lot here. Hal should be the star of the main book, and he should be the JL’s Green Lantern. Hal has consistently been the most successful GL in the comics. I’d have him do adventures in earth and space, but mainly earth, as it’s time to really rebuild his supporting cast and have him interact with the wider DCU.

John Stewart: Green Lantern: John would mainly be in space, having his own adventures, mixing it up with a primarily alien supporting cast. Maybe we make Shayera his love interest, but I don’t know the current situation with the Hawks in the comics.

Green Lantern Corps: This would be the team book, of course. Jessica would be more of the lead character, with Guy and Kyle not too far behind. I’d get rid of Simon at this point, to be honest. The book would deal with intergalactic political intrigue.

Teen Titans would get whoever is the current teenage GL is

JSA gets Alan, of course.

John and Shayera as a couple? Has that been a thing in the comics?

[Daedra]

How would an Orange Lantern work positively?

Ambition in my opinion can be a positive side of the Oranges as greed can be the negative one, desire to grow, development of intergalactic commerce, contracts, projects to build greater structures, creativity & capitalism, if you are familiar with star trek think about the Ferengi.

[Alpha]

I'd be inclined to evolve the various Lantern Corps so that reach becomes more distinct. In fact, most of them shouldn't be Corps at all. For instance, I like how you don't have an “Indigo Lantern Corps”; you have the Indigo Tribe. And the Indigo Tribe doesn't exist to “police sectors”; their mission is to rehabilitate criminals, and to facilitate negotiations. I like the Star Sapphires (not the “Violet Lantern Corps”); and I'd like the others to abandon the cookie cutter naming convention of “[color] Lantern Corps”.

For instance, remake the “Blue Lantern Corps” as a monastic order: the Order of Adara. While the “Red Lantern Corps” does consist of warriors, “Corps” implies a bit too much in terms of discipline and organization: they tend to be a bit more wild. They're basically superpowered berserkers. I'd call them Crimson Gladiators, or something to that effect.

I would break Larfleeze's monopoly on the orange light. Having only one Orange Lantern means that there's only one way that we're allowed to express what the essence of the Orange Light is. Instead, I'd present the Orange Lanterns as a financial enterprise: an Amber Syndicate whose members engage in Faustian-like dealing, effectively trapping unwary “clients” in amber, figuratively if not literally.

And I'd reformulate the Sinestro Corps as “secret police” and/or some sort of watchmen or sentinels, rather than being a more oppressive version of the Green Lantern Corps. Call them the Sinestral Overwatch.

But the biggest change I'd make would be to end the War of Light concept. These seven factions are no longer mutual antagonists; instead, they strive to cooperate in a grand alliance of sorts where each color has a role to fill.

And the White Lanterns, headed up by Kyle Rayner, serve as the mediators who enable this co-op to function.

Or maybe go with a smaller scale, where Kyle heads up an eight-man team, where the other seven members each represent one color of the emotional spectrum: the purpose of the team is to show how the full emotional spectrum can be harmonized.

In short, I'd feature Kyle Rayner in SPECTRUM FORCE.

Oh I love this. These are absolutely great ideas. I wonder how the Gestapo angle would work in the same world as Green Lantern. Really interesting

[Dataweaver]

Ambition in my opinion can be a positive side of the Oranges as greed can be the negative one, desire to grow, development of intergalactic commerce, contracts, projects to build greater structures, creativity & capitalism, if you are familiar with star trek think about the Ferengi.

I would also point out that the Orange Light needn't just be about the ringbearer satisfying his or her own desires; it's also about inspiring and satisfying wants in others; in short, advertising and sales. While I originally addressed it in terms of trapping the unwary (in a “let the buyer beware” sort of way), it doesn't need to be that exploitative. A salesman who builds up a clientele that has benefitted from buying her services will end up being more profitable than if she goes for the quick buck.