You Can Only Keep 3 Green Lanterns, Who Do You Choose?

[J. D. Guy]

John, Jessica, Simon

These are also my three Green Lanterns.

[Alan2099]

Kyle, Guy, and John.

John handles the heroic role and most of the sapce stuff. Let Kyle be Earth's Green lantern and build back his life and supporting cast. Guy is just too fun to ditch. Let him pop up here and there causing trouble.


Hal was more interesting as Paralax, an older hero that fell from grace.

[CaptCleghorn]

Mullein is the only modern Green Lantern I've actually enjoyed reading, Far Sector was hands down the best Green Lantern book in decades so she's a must to keep.

John Stewart was previously the only other Green Lantern I really enjoyed, his personality, relationships and flaws made him actually interesting.

Last would be Alan Scott...who wasn't included. How is he not on this list?

A) This
B) QFT
C) What they said
D) All of the above

[krazijoe]

Since Alan is not on the list, I will go with the John, Guy and the #1 GL Hal. Everyone else pales in comparison.

[SJNeal]

Hal, John, and Jessica.

Kyle is a very close 4th though; and while I say I like Guy, when I think about it I really only like him within the context of 80's/90's JLI.

[Batgrayson]

Hal, Guy and Jessica. They are my favorites.

[Ascended]

Went with John, Jessica, and Kyle.

Seems like the best spread. John the stoic soldier and deep thinker. Kyle the likeable Everyman, Jess and her struggle with deeper psychological elements within the franchise. Each capable of stepping into a wide range of subgenres and story structures. Each with a fanbase capable of keeping the book alive, and these days even Hal seems to struggle to sell *well* without a name like Morrison's attached, so I don't think leaving him out would hurt *too* badly.

I lament having to cut Guy. I almost picked him instead of Kyle. But DC has a lot of fun, quality characters who're mouthy blowhards. They don't have a ton of quality Everymen. But I wouldn't be terribly upset if Guy took Kyle's place.

[PCN24454]

Everyone but Guy Gardner

[Captain Nostalgia]

Allright I'll go with Hal, John & Guy.

I wanted to stick Kyle in there, but John and Guy are a bit of a duo a lot of the time.

Nothing against the other GL's....but there are just too many for me to follow these days.

[ClassicalComics]

I would pick Jordan, Stewart, and Gardner.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Why only three? I honestly think limiting the Green Lantern Corps doesn't make a lot of sense for the nature of the concept. It's like saying there can only be a few policemen for an entire city.

They should all be allowed to exist. Now, who would I have starring in the "Green Lantern" book? Well, IMO, Hal Jordan is the choice that makes the most sense from a commercial perspective. He was first Silver Age Green Lantern. He's by far the one who sells the most out of all of them. The others can of course have stints where they're in the main book and maybe John should be the resident GL of the League and Kyle and Guy should be the stars of a Green Lantern Corps book (hey, remember when DC published a GLC book? Whatever happened to that??), but Hal Jordan for the most part is the face that most people associate with the GL franchise.

The point is, if the editors at DC were smart, they'd position each Lantern in an optimal spot to take advantage of their unique character traits so that the franchise could become a well-oiled machine and re-establish itself as a cornerstone of the DCU like how it was when Johns was at the helm of the franchise. Remember when the GL books felt like a huge blockbuster part of DC Comics?? I do. I miss that time.

For me, it would be:

Hal Jordan - star of the main GL book; out in space for the most part as he likes to be given that he is a test pilot known for his adventurous personality, with periodic visits on Earth. He's the one who usually deals with the likes of Sinestro or Krona or Atrocitus.

John Stewart - GL of the Justice League; aside from his adventures with the League, he could get his own book where he tackles more Earth-based crime and supervillains. Maybe finally revisit some of those forgotten Green Lantern villains like Sonar and Goldface and Tattooed Man. Maybe also introduce new ones for a more modern audience.

Kyle and Guy - Co-stars of the Green Lantern Corps book that focuses on the police procedural aspects of the Green Lantern Corps as an paramilitary organization; Have Kyle conflict with the violent, regimented, and soul-killing aspects of the organization because of his more kind personality while Guy relishes that and loves to prove himself as a badass; Simon also as a periodic guest star who falls somewhere in between Guy and Kyle.

Jessica - Have her star in her own series that is essentially Green Lantern meets supernatural horror. Her anxiety and agoraphobia would give her a unique perspective on the more horrific and mystical parts of GL lore. Have her explore the more mystical-driven parts of DC cosmic lore but like not in a superhero way, but in a "this is a straight up horror comic and I literally don't know if Jessica will survive this" kind of way. Black Hand, Lyssa Drak, The Spider Guild, The Five Inversions, Nekron, etc. should all be making appearances in that comic.

Also, for the people who keep saying that Hal Jordan was more interesting as Parallax, he's really not. Maybe in the 90s, the idea of a "hero fallen from grace" was unique and "edgy" but today, the idea has become so overused that needless to say it's become a cliché. How many heroes at DC and Marvel have become essentially villains in the past several years/decades?

Well, there's:

- Jean Grey as the Dark Phoenix
- Scarlet Witch in House of M
- Cyclops after murdering Professor X
- Captain America as HydraCap
- Several alternate universe versions of Superman, including Injustice Superman and Superboy-Prime
- The Batman Who Laughs
- Ultimate Reed Richards as The Maker
- Jason Todd/Red Hood
- Ozymandias from Watchmen
- Bucky Barnes as Winter Soldier
- Alex Wilder from Runaways
- Hawk when he became Monarch

Like, we could go on. In the end, a hero "breaking bad" just isn't that unique and what's more, the idea is kind of a relic of the "edgy" late 80s and 90s. And it is mostly an excuse for those who just want to remove Hal from the franchise because, well, Hal as Parallax had already gone through a redemption arc before dying in Final Night. So, it's not like Parallax was active as a villain in the GL books before GL: Rebirth.

Plus, imo, Parallax just works better as a giant yellow-light space parasite that prays on the pre-existing insecurities of its hosts and corrupts them. That retcon did a lot to expand the GL lore and mythology aside from "here's a Green Lantern who went craaaaaaaaaazy and then died."

[BohemiaDrinker]

Mullein is the only modern Green Lantern I've actually enjoyed reading, Far Sector was hands down the best Green Lantern book in decades so she's a must to keep.

Yup.

Jo is peak Green Lantern.

[Triniking1234]

This Far Sector book better be good from all the butt-kissing I'm seeing.

[silly]

Is it just me or are we getting a number of threads about killing GLs recently?

Wonder if tbere's a similar thread for Robins.

[Riv86672]

In keeping with the DC tradition of the establishing a Trinity and the fact that the GL franchise is so overcrowded, I felt inspired to ask everyone which 3 GL’s you would keep around? There’s currently a total of 8 (9 if you count Tai) human Lanterns, so who would you keep around?

^^^I can’t pick three.
Like w. the LoSH, once this question is posed, cutting the team to under ten characters always leaves me unfulfilled.

Hal, John, Guy, Kyle (who I liken to Marvel’s Steve, Sam, Walker, Bucky) are the GL’s Quadrinity.
Alan Scott’s the grandad of GLs and has a unique link to the Corps.
Jessica Cruz is a strong character, her time on the Odyssey team really fleshed her out.
Far ranging Sojourner has an interesting niche.
Tai Pham is just waiting for a good creative team to have him break out.
Teen Lantern’s a good character; she reminds me of how Tim Drake wasn’t chosen by Batman but proved himself in various ways.
Heck even Kai-Ro from Justice League Beyond has stories to be told.