If you could redesign the lantern emotional spectrum how would you do it?

[Dataweaver]

More to the point, the dirty little secret here is that DC Comics are american comics; by definition, they’re Eurocentric.

[Crazy Diamond]

More to the point, the dirty little secret here is that DC Comics are american comics; by definition, they’re Eurocentric.

Green Lantern is a series that takes place in space. Why would an alien from a distant planet associate say anger with red? And that's assuming they can even seen red. Just comes off like a lack of imagination on the writer's part.

[Dataweaver]

Green Lantern is also space opera, not hard science fiction. That’s why the majority of Green Lanterns are humanoids, for instance,

[Kyer]

If it weren't for the fact that Disney would sue, I'd pattern them after the Seven Dwarfs.

[colonyofcells]

Getting out of the rainbow brite limitation would allow for more than 7 colors. Maybe the GL franchise should be patterned after the care bears or smurfs instead for more than 7 corps. If I use the care bears, Sinestro would be head of the funshine corps.

[Slaughter]

Green Lantern is a series that takes place in space. Why would an alien from a distant planet associate say anger with red? And that's assuming they can even seen red. Just comes off like a lack of imagination on the writer's part.

Humanoids make sense, because they're aparently all related. The others, through, its weird.

But yeah, it would be at least a nice touch to see some aliens naming certain corps diferently, or maybe not even perceiving them. F-Sharp Bell, anyone?

[Dataweaver]

I thought it was B-Sharp.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Green Lantern is a series that takes place in space. Why would an alien from a distant planet associate say anger with red? And that's assuming they can even seen red. Just comes off like a lack of imagination on the writer's part.

Uh, because those are the seven wavelengths in which light can visibly manifest itself...no matter where you are in the galaxy. So why would an alien NOT associate the color red with anger? If there are other colors, they're invisible, at least to the human eye.

Plus, there's nothing to suggest that red is essentially a symbol of anger for certain alien beings, but simply that it is the representation for anger in the COSMIC SPECTRUM. No specific being in the DC universe decided that red would represent rage, it just does.

[Dataweaver]

Uh, because those are the seven wavelengths in which light can visibly manifest itself...no matter where you are in the galaxy.

It’s a spectrum — a continuum of colors. There’s an infinite number of wavelengths of visible light, just like there’s an infinite number of, well, numbers between 0 and 1.

So why would an alien NOT associate the color red with anger? If there are other colors, they're invisible, at least to the human eye.

This is a crucial point: why are the colors of a supposedly universal principle being determined in terms of the human eyeball? And since the human eye has cones tuned to pick up red, green, and blue frequencies, with all other colors registering as blendings of these three, why aren’t there only three Lantern Corps?

[Justin Jordan]

Uh, because those are the seven wavelengths in which light can visibly manifest itself...no matter where you are in the galaxy. So why would an alien NOT associate the color red with anger? If there are other colors, they're invisible, at least to the human eye.

Plus, there's nothing to suggest that red is essentially a symbol of anger for certain alien beings, but simply that it is the representation for anger in the COSMIC SPECTRUM. No specific being in the DC universe decided that red would represent rage, it just does.

Indeed.

And if I am remembering the details on the background of Relic's universe correctly, the colors of the lightsmiths didn't correspond the the same emotion as they do in the New 52 multiverse. That never made it into the comics that I can recall, so it's not canon as such, but we did indeed think about these things.

There are a couple of other things going on here, too. One is that most of the alien dialogue in the book is translated through the rings, so yeah, regardless of what the aliens might be perceiving as a red as, the rings renders it as red for the sake of the humans. And the audience.

I'd note that there's no particular guarantee in actual reality that what I see as red and what you see as red are actually the same inside our heads. As long as it's consistent - if you and I are both acknowledging the same color when we say red - it doesn't matter what the color in our heads is. This doesn't work for the color blind because in that case it isn't consistent.

[colonyofcells]

For energy to power the color lanterns, since the constructs are similar to magical telekinesis, maybe can say the source of the energy is gathering of psychic energy or just say plain energies from the universe done by the guardians.

[DrNewGod]

Dump the whole thing, and put a kind of Jedi-Sith spin on it.

Define a GL's "willpower" as the ability to concentrate in almost perfect zen, while Sinestro's power is all about leveraging untamed emotion (anger, fear, etc). That would allow for a GL weakness (especially in the face of a raving Sinestro) without having to explain why a power as awesome as the Guardians falls apart when confronted by a daisy.

The whole spectrum thing made for a great story, like X-Men's "Days of Future Past". However, also like DoFP, it's now become something of a victim of its own success, and is going to be harder to build the series around as time goes on without a drastic solution.

Of course, DC seems to like painting itself into corners that require drastic solutions to rectify.

[Desh]

Dump the whole thing.

This, I agree with, more or less. I think Green Lantern frequently concentrates on all the wrong things. If I was in charge there would be more of a focus on politics and world building, which is a focal point of many space operas. Oa really should be a center for trade, negotiations, and a cultural melting pot. Their ought to be ambassadors, traders, and so on there. It is the center of the Universe, and should be a neutral zone for species to settle differences and build relations, and the Green Lantern Corps can oversee and moderate such things. Take a look at Star Trek: Deep Space 9 or Babylon 5 for an idea of what I'm talking about. I mean, there is this big ass city on Oa. What is it there for? It should be populated by people who aren't just Lanterns.

I would also involve more mook soldiers and fleets in these cosmic wars. For instance, during "Uprising" there should have been planets that supported the Lanterns that were willing to fight for them. There should have been battlefields all over the place that Lanterns weren't even at, because one side supported the Corps and another didn't, and this conflict spread all over, like the Clone Wars, or something. The Green Lantern universe often feels infantile because it doesn't pull off such things well.

One thing I like about the last Wheel of Time book is that the author found a way for standard troops to work on battlefields where other specialized people were hurling fireballs and lightning at each other. The real strength was in the mooks and the "channelers" (as they're so called) were often used for supporting mooks, similar to how you would have artillery supporting an infantry advance. This sort of idea can be applied to Green Lantern battles with fleets.

This is some of the type of stuff I'd concentrate more on if I was over Green Lantern... not... Emotional Spectrum.

[Sirzechs]

Indeed.

And if I am remembering the details on the background of Relic's universe correctly, the colors of the lightsmiths didn't correspond the the same emotion as they do in the New 52 multiverse. That never made it into the comics that I can recall, so it's not canon as such, but we did indeed think about these things.

There are a couple of other things going on here, too. One is that most of the alien dialogue in the book is translated through the rings, so yeah, regardless of what the aliens might be perceiving as a red as, the rings renders it as red for the sake of the humans. And the audience.

I'd note that there's no particular guarantee in actual reality that what I see as red and what you see as red are actually the same inside our heads. As long as it's consistent - if you and I are both acknowledging the same color when we say red - it doesn't matter what the color in our heads is. This doesn't work for the color blind because in that case it isn't consistent.

This is why it's nice to get the creators in here every now and then, may I ask why that never made it into the comics?

[BohemiaDrinker]

More to the point, the dirty little secret here is that DC Comics are american comics; by definition, they’re Eurocentric.

Well, I guess no movie with a 150 million dollar budget could really make itself worth it without the international markets.

On the same hand, I might be wrong with this one, but I guess the digital comic market would be pretty different without international customers.

So DC may have to rethink that.