What makes Green Lantern unique?

[Trey Strain]

As Steve Englehart said, it ain't the powers.

First, it's that the Green Lanterns are members of an intergalactic law-enforcement group.

And second, it's that there's more than one viable protagonist.

In recent years, the attitude that it's all about Hal has gotten Green Lantern too far away from that. Now, it's about Hal and the soldiers in his space army.

I don't think that's workable as a strong-selling franchise You're going to have to go back to a setting more like Englehart and Gerard Jones depicted, with Earth no longer ignored, and you're going to have to say that John and Guy are Hal's equals.

Look at the sales and they'll they tell you that the way they're doing it now isn't working.

[Anthony Shaw]

I agree. The strong sales following Hal's return were more about Geoff Johns than the title. In the end, Geoff seemed more interested in Sinestro than Hal.

What makes GL work is the cast of characters. They all have the same power source, but with different levels of intensity & creativity. The best move is to make the saga with more character-driven arcs to go along with the sci-fi. All the characters need a chance to shine moving forward. I like that a different GL can take the lead at any given story arc.

Character-driven space operas is the way to go, and would set the franchise apart from other comics.

These are all my opinions.

[Danileriver23]

I'm not gonna say whether or not I agree with you, but the low sales could be attributed to a myriad of other reasons than the ones provided.

[MadFacedKid]

Unless your speaking solely in comics and even then I don't think the Intergalactic Space Cop makes Green Lantern unique. It's definitely the powers.

[BohemiaDrinker]

I disagree with Englehart; it is the powers.

We've had several viable GLs in comics and other media to varying degrees of success (but most of them had success, at least for a while) with the only common thread among them being the powers.

It's the powers.

[BohemiaDrinker]

Also, there's the Nova Corps and the Darkstars and all.

They're all cool universal cosmic space corps. But they're no Green Lanterns.

[JBatmanFan05]

the low sales could be attributed to a myriad of other reasons than the ones provided.

Yea, this. GL is simply where a lot of other books are right now.

John & Guy do not have to be formally declared as Hal's equal, that's not a problem at all (that's just diehard GL fan agenda thinking). The stories need to be good mix of space stories, Earth stories, and mixed stories.

The powers are a big draw and unique enough.

[The Darknight Detective]

I disagree with Englehart; it is the powers.

We've had several viable GLs in comics and other media to varying degrees of success (but most of them had success, at least for a while) with the only common thread among them being the powers.

It's the powers.

I agree. In fact, isn't it always the powers?

[Carabas]

It's the constructs. Pretty much the only thing that is unique to the Green Lanterns (or at least they got first).

Apart from that they're basically green Lensmen.

[BohemiaDrinker]

I agree. In fact, isn't it always the powers?

That's funny coming from a Batman fan.

I'd not say "always", and that there are some factors with at least equal pull (looks being one among them).

But ion GL, specifically, when you distill it to basically "what makes it work?", it's the powers. The powers are the necessary twist to make the generic concept of "space cop" unique in Green Lantern.

[j9ac9k]

As with almost all things, I believe it's about a combination of elements, especially since GL fans are fans for various reasons.

One big element I think cannot be ignored is the history. GL (and yes, Hal in particular) has been around since the birth of the silver age and was a founding member of the JLA. That holds weight, despite how long ago it happened and despite how many people have wielded the ring since Hal's first appearance. If the idea of multiple "main" GL's had been established way back then, then it would be a more indelible aspect to the concept rather than a later development. The idea of the GLC was what initally made Hal unique, but they took a long time to really flesh all that out and decades before they had another earther wield the title longer than one story.

As it stands now, the GLC gives GL (whoever it is) a strong connection to space and the rest of the universe in a way that can't be said for many other heroes. It gives Green Lantern a scope that is limitless in its possibilities. (certainly more than just one multi-colored ring war after another)

[The Darknight Detective]

That's funny coming from a Batman fan.

Well, Superman has always been a very close second to him for me.

[Trey Strain]

I think moving the GLC away from law enforcement and more toward a military set-up was a bad move.

Also, junking thr Guardians so that Hal could be in charge just doesn't work. What killed the Guardians was having them on-camera all the time. They should have been seen very rarely, and should not have been an irritant when they were seen. But I think the idea of "seen very rarely" just wouldn't click with most creators. As authority figures, they were a potential focus of conflict, so therefore we had to see them causing problems all the time. Bad idea.

There is something to be said for a set-up where the protagonist is not the boss, and where the boss is not an obnoxious fool who is on-camera all the time.