Green Lantern: A Celebration of 75 Years

DC Anniversary Celebrations

by Geoff Johns, Gil Kane (Illustrator), Neal Adams

In brightest day and in blackest night, for three-quarters of a century, the hero known as Green Lantern has protected not just Earth, but the entire universe.

Bringing together stories from more than seven decades of comics, GREEN LANTERN: A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS features stories from all of Earth’s Green Lanterns—from the wartime avenger Alan Scott to brash Guy Gardner, from solemn John Stewart to young, cool Kyle. And, of course, read the rise, fall and redemption of the greatest Green Lantern of them all, Hal Jordan.

This crash course in the history of the Emerald Crusader contains GL’s Golden Age debut by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell and Silver Age reinvention at the hands of John Broome and Gil Kane, up through his modern adventures by Geoff Johns. Other legendary talents featured include Alex Toth, Dennis O’Neil, Neal Adams, Mike Grell, Darwyn Cooke, Ethan Van Sciver and Doug Mahnke.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Fiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2015

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[Liz Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book on Goodreads from DC Comics in exchange for an honest review.

Moment of truth: I have never really been a huge fan of Green Lantern, unless he is being a part of Justice League of America, I usually prefer to read that team that way, instead of them being split up. I was forced to watch the horrible film that came out a few years ago with Ryan Reynolds and directed by Martin Campbell, by one of my closest friends, on my birthday. So ever since then, my dislike for it only increased more. She loves it and all, but no, just no.

This collection was not disappointing per say, because I was not expecting much from it, but it could have been vastly better. It is a collection more about progression of the character and the different incarnations rather than a best of. It would have been better if it were a best of. (Except for the Geoff Johns parts, those were great)

So far the art was the most enjoyable, for the characters and plot were not very well developed. It goes from the old 1950 version of comics, to the more “advanced” version of 2011 or 2012. Aesthetically, it was a pleasing book, otherwise, it was just alright.


This previous image represents my favourite part of the collection. Not only because this version of Green Lantern was more developed, but also because it used two images to represent such an important part of American history. One can see in their eyes the fear, not only because of what happened and could occur to them, but also the fear of retaliation, which we all know will happen, since after 9/11 there was an increase of over 90% of crimes over Muslims.

My other favourite part of the characters, is the oath they make when becoming who they are, or when in the middle of transformation. It is very inspirational, even if I am not a part of their group.

…and I shall shed my light over dark evil.
For the dark things cannot stand the light,
The light of the Green Lantern!
— Alan Scott

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light!!!
— Hal Jordan/Many Current Lanterns

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Green Lantern: A Celebration of 75 Years is a compilation of some of the best representative Green Lantern stories over the years to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary debut of one of the most iconic comic characters (2015). Over the years, there were many incarnations and depictions of the Emerald Knight: Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Simon Baz and this collection explore them all somewhat well.

This anthology is divided into five sections or more precisely comic era. The first section depicts one of the Green Lanterns in the Golden Age of Comics, then Silver, Bronze, Modern, and Rebirth Ages follow with each successive section. It is very interesting to see the evolution of Green Lanterns throughout the years from his humble beginnings to being the powerful universal police around.

As a whole, Green: A Celebration of 75 Years is a somewhat imbalanced book. Each section of the book is rather even in number of issues given, but the Silver Age of Comics, which has twice as many issues. In retrospect, it makes sense, because when one thinks of Green Lantern – it is generally Hal Jordan that they think of. It does, however, give us a nice perception of the era in which these stories were produced – a reflection of the times. It is also unbalanced in representation. I wished the anthology was also fair in representing all six of the Green Lanterns that were mentioned in this anthology. It focuses mainly on Hal Jordan, which makes sense, given the reason above, but it would have been nice to see a well-balanced anthology.

Story selection must have been rather difficult – Green Lanterns had starred and appeared over many titles and it is no easy feat to pick out the best or favorites from the masses. Furthermore, there were six people who took up the mantle of Green Lantern (as of publication date) and that just complicate matter even further. The thing is those measuring sticks are subjective and will never reach perfect consensus.

We all can all possibly agree with the first issues that either Emerald Knight appears and probably their first issue as the Green Lantern of Earth: Allan Scott (All-American Comics #16), Hal Jordan (Showcase #22), Guy Gardner (Green Lantern #59), John Stewart (Green Lantern #87), Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern #48 (not included)), and Simon Baz (The New 52 Free Comic Book Day Special Edition #1 (not included)) – the rest is debatable.

Despite the difficulties, I think the editors picked a somewhat nice selection, would I swapped some stories out for others – sure I have my favorites, but it is difficult if not impossible to please everyone, since everyone is different. So overall, I was really happy of which stories were presented.

All in all, I think Green Lantern: A Celebration of 75 Years is a wonderful selection of stories over the three-quarters of a century that the Green Lantern has been around. It is a good anthology for both the avid and subdued fan alike. However, for the newly initiated I would recommend a collection that is more substantial and cohesive as there are a lot of issues that started, ended, or was in the middle of a story arc.

[Robert Reiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly I knew very little about Green Lantern’s character until I read this book. It does a great job of giving you a peek at some of the key moments in the character’s history. It was also neat to see the different artists’ perspective over the 75 years this superhero entertained comic book readers of multiple generations.

[Space Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay read if you treat it as a best of collection and want to get a taste of what GL has been like in the golden, silver, bronze and modern day.
I am thinking about reading Denny O Neil and Adams run from the 70s and Justice League International, as one of my next five in the DC universe.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey of Green Lantern publishing history. Probably better enjoyed by a kid just getting into comics than a cynical older reader with no prior experience. Can also be enjoyed by someone (like me) who knows and has read a great deal of Green Lantern comics already.

So yeah, I've always been a fan. As a kid, it probably didn't hurt that green was (and remains) my favorite color. I like to think that wasn't the only reason I became a fan, but who knows? Eventually, when he wasn't just an action figure to me, and I started reading comics, Green Lantern was the star of the first ones I ever bought. In middle school, Punisher was all the rage, and classmates made sure I knew under no uncertain terms that Green Lantern was no Punisher. I didn't care. I didn't care, years later, when the Green Lantern movie bombed. I loved it then, and I still love it now. Not uncritically, mind you. I love the movie itself, and could recite any number of elements about it that have nothing to do with "Green Lantern" or "Hal Jordan."

I've since read a lot of Green Lantern comics. As I said, my first comics were Green Lantern comics, including a reprint of Hal's first appearance. I was reading when Hal went nuts, and knew how much his fans hated the whole arc, and kept complaining about it for years, and was there when he finally did return to being a straight-up good guy, and Green Lantern. Geoff Johns spent years crafting an epic Green Lantern saga that culminated soon after the debut of Simon Baz (although ironically, he soon after introduced another new Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz, who arguably supplanted Baz in just about every way, but this is Green Lantern we're talking about; Alan Scott, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner have all stuck around well past their apparent expiration dates).

To a lot of fans, Green Lantern is sort of inexplicable. He's not just one guy? It's confusing, and he's the only superhero who really has to worry about this, despite a whole legacy of superheroes being replaced periodically, including his perennial pal The Flash. It didn't help when the Justice League cartoons in the early millennium chose John Stewart instead of Hal to represent Green Lantern. For a whole generation of fans, it's John they instinctively think about, John whose defining tragedy (literally losing a whole planet, in Cosmic Odyssey) was replicated in cartoon form (Hal's had two chances for even a glimmer of a spotlight on his tragedy, three if you count the movies, with two animated adaptions of the famous "Death of Superman," which tangentially, in the comics, launched Hal's when his beloved Coast City was destroyed, and it's never come up). It's nice to see John's representation in this collection is fairly strong. Probably those same fans are hardly familiar with his publishing history, and there's plenty not covered here for him, including a brief stint as a Darkstar (a one-time rival for the Green Lantern Corps in the '90s) and a spectacular, short-lived solo series called Green Lantern: Mosaic that sorely needs rediscovering.

But as I said at the top, the basics are here, just as they were originally published. I don't know why anyone would read this and expect anything else. You either dig the chance to read history, or you don't. I love reprints like this, and I still think they're valuable for the uninitiated. I read this exactly a year after gifting to my brother-in-law for Christmas. I figured it was only appropriate.

[Francisco Barrios · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covering the whole panorama of Earth's Green Lanterns (from the Golden Age Alan Scott to the polemical New 52 Simon Baz), this book is an astonishing beautifully edited document, which collectors and fanboys will find hardly dispensable, filled with pages carefully reconstructed to their colorful glory, and printed in a high quality paper you'll enjoy to manipulate while reading. The 20 stories contained in this anthology will appeal not only the Emerald Crusader most ardent followers, but all those readers ranging from slightly interested in comic books as a genre to Americana scholars as well. Highly recommended.

[Audrey Hacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were like...2 stories with guy gardner and he was the oNLY lantern who didn't get a feature page I Am Bitter.

Otherwise it was good but LIKE REALLY,

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite some of the older comics being a little slow to draw me in, I ended up really enjoying this collection. As always, it's fascinating to see the changes in the comics (with storytelling, with artwork, etc.) alongside the changes of one specific, iconic character--in this case, Green Lantern.
As I said, the older GL comics weren't nearly as interesting as the older comics I've read for Batman, but that could just be personal preference. But, playing a part in that, I believe, is the fact that the older comics tended to rely a bit too much on: "This is sci-fi, so random science, alien-y mumbo jumbo explains this weird thing." Sci-fi as we know it today was obviously still a work in progress, and that showed in the comics prior to the '70s. But, as the character and story topics matured, so did the grasp on that genre.
I was also surprised by how often Green Lantern tackled some pretty serious social issues. The road trip mentioned in one of the interludes--and hinted at in a subsequent comic--seemed like a really unique and kind of inspired way of addressing the America (both the good and the bad) of that time period. I'm interested in finding that whole story arc and seeing exactly what the writers did with it.
But, what surprised me the most, was how DARK the Green Lantern comics could be. I'd heard about Hal Jordan going insane, and--after reading it--I vaguely remembered hearing about the whole "girlfriend in the fridge" controversy. But, since I'd never looked into GL that much, those points had kind of fallen into the back of my mind. But after reading some of these and seeing exactly how deeply psychological they became... Wow. I mean, the Dark Knight is practically cheerful in comparison.
I also found myself really impressed with the concept of GL over all. I liked how a person has to be worthy of the ring and its powers, and I also really enjoyed the whole emotional spectrum introduced in more recent years. (The latter reminds of Hogwarts houses a little bit--but on a bigger scale--and, as a Potter nerd, that really intrigued me.) I also really liked that so much of GL's powers are driven by will, meaning that, by definition, this superhero is grounded in intense psychology. That alone opens the door to a lot of meaningful character development and story lines.
In short, I'm kind of kicking myself for not getting know Green Lantern sooner.
And, because I just can't resist, a ranking of my favorite Green Lanterns (at least after this snapshot into the character): (6) Guy Gardner, (5) Simon Baz, (4) Alan Scott, (3) John Stewart, (2) Kyle Rayner, and (1) Hal Jordan.

[Chris W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this has excellent art. this entire collection makes you realize that Green Lantern has not really been that good for the majority of his existence. Alan Scott's old tales are insanely boring, Sinestro used to not have a ring and was lame because of it. GL used to be weak to yellow (so embarrassing). Hal Jordan was racist literally calling his Asian sidekick "Pieface". John was originally put in just to say there's a Black Character in DC. Guy Gardner is and was always a joke character. literally put in the comics purely for humor. Despite the various angles shown in this collection, it's clear that GL really didn't get good until Geoff John's run and it's clear to see here. On top of that, Hal still remains fairly bland in my opinion and literally has the least interesting personality out of any of the incarnations outside of Alan Scott.
If you're a Green Lantern fan and want to see a piece of his history you'll might this volume, or more likely appreciate how much better his modern take is . If you're not a fan of GL, this will not make you like the character(s) at all.

[Buddy Scalera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid collection of stories featuring Green Lantern. It's part of a series of hardcover collections by DC Comics highlighting some of their top characters, including Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman.

The sections of stories are separated by chapters. There are excellent section breaks that explain the era of the character and contextualize the stories. These really add to the power of the subsequent pages.

It's a thick collection printed beautifully on high-quality paper. The entire package is impressive. It would make a great gift to a comic book fan.

The real drawback of this and related collections is that it focuses on significant moments in the character's history. That's effective with older issues from the 60s that were self-contained stories. Modern comics are much more serialized, so it's hard to pick up any issue and appreciate it. That said, they selected terrific stories, which makes the whole package work.

Looks great on a shelf. Buy one as a gift and one for yourself.

[Beau Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a teen, my comic-book finances only stretched as far as the Batman and Spider-Man comics I could pick up at the local second-hand bookshop. I was only familiar with the Green Lantern through the Justice League cartoons of the late 70s and early 80s. When I saw this hefty tome for sale I knew I had to read it.

I'm sure hard-core Green Lantern fans may have replaced one or two of the slower stories with their own personal favourites, but I found this to be a great read for new fans of the character.

[SStefania · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good choice of stories, maybe except for any Guy Gardner ones, but I'm biased for Guy and he was the only Lantern I knew beforehand. Book made me like Alan Scott (who I never cared for before), Hal Jordan (who I disliked), John Stewart (who I never really cared for) and even appreciate Simon (who I only really knew as "that Green Lantern WITH A GUN"). Even Ollie was kinda cool here. I still don't feel anything about Kyle, guess I'm too old for the hip youngsters.

[Aneesur Rahman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it’s my first book on the emerald warriors. Loved each and every one of them. This book showcased tales from Alan Scott to the Muslim green lantern, Simon Baz.

I got the origin story of not only John Stewart but also Kyle Rayner, I kinda liked his uniform design. But Hal Jordan will always be the GOAT. Gotta read more about him, pre-52. Then after reading those books, I can move on to new 52 and rebirth.

[Seanbob Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting to see how the character has changed over the years. I love the John Stewart GL. I also loved the civil rights era where it is pointed out that Green Lantern helps people with green skin and blue skin but has not done anything for people with black or brown skin. Very cool. I have so much respect for this character in the American drama.

[Mhorg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stalwart hero whose collection could have been better

Interesting how the Alan Scott lantern had the same oath (written by Alfred bester) as the silver age lanterns. But Hal had the better costume. I also liked Kyle rayner. Some of the stories contained within are great, a few are ho hum. Still worth reading.

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty good set of highlights from 75 years worth of green lanterns giving each prominent lantern some spotlight (except Jessica Cruz) and showcasing some of the more significant events in the history of the lantern corps. It was fun to review the art and writing style of each major era and should be a great addition to my bookshelf collection

[Flavio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good selection of stories

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may potentially be obsessed with this. I am only sorry that some of the stories didn't continue

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

** I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.**

Hardcover edition, complete with dust jacket. Usually, I prefer the book cover itself, rather than the dust jacket, but this time, the dust jacket won. The overly blank hardback juxtaposed with the full color dust jacket was a no-brainer. The hardback is white with the image from the cover of the July 1940 comic introducing green Lantern. Nice touch, but too much white.

Overall, I would say this is more of an intro to Green Lantern and an ode to DC's character progression over the years, rather than a compendium or "best of" type collection. If that's what you seek, skip this highlight reel; if you're just looking for anything relating to Green Lantern, this is worth your time. 75 years provides a copious amount of comics. Not having read all of them over the years, I can't say for sure, but this was certainly a representative selection, giving a new reader an intro to Green Lantern and an experienced fan a glance back over the years, with many "I remember that" moments.

The contents of the book are broken into five sections, namely: "The Green Flame Ignites," "The Emerald Crusader," ""In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night," "Twilight of a Hero," and "Rebirths." Appropriately, I found Part II the most comprehensive, showcasing the Green Lantern's escapades well. Each section has an introduction, each of which is well worth the read before delving into the comics therein.

[Camilo Guerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición especial de Green Lantern, que nos cuenta los inicios del superheroe y varias historias clásicas del personaje ,desde sus inicios como personaje pulp que luchaba contra maleantes de calle, desde la flama verde, los lapices de Gil Kane, historias de John Broome, su conversión en héroe galáctico, Abin Sur, la caída de Hal Jordan ,Kyle Rayner, Neal Adams...el libro lo tiene todo, es un carta de presentación y amor dle personaje, aunque hay historias que no vienen a cuento, en especial la ultima, pero de resto, es un libro muy recomendable,aunque a mi me falta Ivan Reis y Patrick Gleason.

[Kevin Smythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice trip through GL history. It hits many important or interesting moments. Far from comprehensive and not really a "best of", but a fun collection for GL fans or someone just wanting to get a favor for the characters.

[LBK · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3

[Andres Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encanta este formato que se puede apreciar el primer cómic del primer green lantern y la aparición de Hal Jordan y sus principales obras.