GREEN LANTERN #87

Script: Denny O’Neil (story A) & Elliot Maggin (story B)
Art: Neal Adams | Inks: Dick Giordano (#87) | Editor: Julie Schwartz

“BEWARE MY POWER” | “WHAT CAN ONE MAN DO?”

Well, you learn something new every day, and for me today, it's this: until the very instant I looked at this issue’s cover before reading the stories inside, I never had any idea that John Stewart was created by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams. For whatever reason, I thought he came along later and was perhaps the brainchild of Steve Englehart during his GREEN LANTERN CORPS run from the eighties.

Anyway – GREEN LANTERN (co-starring Green Arrow) #87 splits the title heroes into two separate solo stories. In the first, Earth’s backup Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, is injured during an earthquake and the Guardians choose architect John Stewart as his replacement. Hal Jordan spends the story training Stewart and even forces him to protect a bigoted senator at a presidential rally in order to test his devotion to the GL uniform. Stewart comes through, protecting the senator from an assassination attempt (which turns out to be a publicity stunt) and earning Hal’s respect.

I like John Stewart, though pretty much everything I know about the character comes from the JUSTICE LEAGUE cartoon series. Here, in his original incarnation, he's a bit rougher and more quippy than his animated counterpart, but he's still an entertaining character.

And hey, speaking of original incarnations, who knew that the pre-CRISIS Guy Gardner was a selfless schoolteacher? Certainly not me! The only version of the character I've ever known is the arrogant loudmouth from the Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMarreis JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL.

Lastly, check out the story’s splash page at right. Whoever put together the table of contents for the GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW trade paperback thought the story title was “Earthquake Beware My Power”. Now, I can see how a really quick glance might make someone believe that was the title, considering that all the words are colored in the same shade of pink, but shouldn't a little common sense say that the phrase “Earthquake Beware My Power” makes no sense? And shouldn't a quick perusal of the story itself easily illustrate that the earthquake only fills up the first few pages before things move along to a completely earthquake-free adventure?

This is just one example among many of why Marvel’s collected editions department is so far ahead of DC’s in terms of quality: they actually care about the stories in their books!

The issue’s second tale is a spotlight on Green Arrow as, in his civilian guise of Oliver Queen, he's asked to run for mayor of Star City. Arrow seeks advice from a number of his super friends and all tell him it's a bad idea – with Clark Kent’s reasoning being the funniest in my opinion. Dinah Lance, Bruce Wayne, and Hal Jordan all tell Oliver that the job will be too much for him, while Clark’s concern is simply that two blond public figures in Star City with Green Arrow’s distinctive facial hair would blow his secret identity.

Incidentally, during the above scene, as Oliver speaks with Hal over the phone, the latter is dressed in a suit and appears to be seated in an office. It suddenly occurs to me that throughout this entire O’Neil/Adams run, at no point has Green Lantern’s secret identity “day job” been addressed. He's spent all his civilian time “off duty” with Oliver. He mentioned at one point that he used to be an insurance adjuster, and I know he was originally a test pilot, but what's his job at this point? It's never come up!

Also of note in the scene is that Hal mentions his brother is a district attorney, and Oliver states that, at least in pre-CRISIS continuity, Bruce Wayne was once a senator! (I know Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon was a senator pre-CRISIS, but I had no idea about Bruce.)

Anyway – to clear his head, Green Arrow heads out in costume, runs afoul of a riot, and, in a scene apparently ripped from today’s headlines, sees a young black man gunned down from behind (though the story doesn't state whether police are responsible). Following this incident, Oliver decides to accept the mayoral candidacy.

Which brings to mind something interesting about pre-CRISIS DC, especially in the seventies: they liked their heroes to have high profile secret identities. Bruce Wayne, of course, is a millionaire playboy and philanthropist. Oliver Queen was once the same and is now about to throw his hat into the political arena. Barbara Gordon, as noted above, would soon become a senator. Clark Kent, at this point in time, was the anchor on a nationally televised news broadcast – and so on.

Mind you, I'm not sure what, if anything, this says – I just find it interesting.