The Pulse

Sushir Rahaman has the following request - "In the Justice League serial in Cartoon Network they showed the Green Lantern to be a negro and here he has blond hair - I am confused...could you explain?"

Since Sushir forms 20% of my blogs readership, it becomes my bounden duty to respond. Also gives me a chance to kick off yet another section - one that covers characters whose identity has been donned by different people over the ages. I planned to start with Supergirl, but since Arnab has pointed out the excess T&A here, I shall leave that for a later date and instead begin with Green Lantern.

The various Green Lanterns have occupied a very important place in the DC Universe. They are the ultimate team players - each has been a member of the Justice League/Society in their time. More importantly, each Green Lantern is a member of an intergalactic space corps known as the Green Lantern corps, headquartered on Oa, and managed by a race of immortal guardians. The guardians pick out the most suitable (usually the most fearless) candidate from each sector of space and give them a green ring of power which draws from the central power battery on Oa. This candidate patrols his/her/its sector, keeping the peace by any means possible (with a few riders of course). I shall only focus on the Green Lanterns of Earth (in sector 2814) who served for a considerable span of time.

I: Waverly Sayre
First Appearance: Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #2
Profession: Hermit
Initiation: Waverly Sayre was an Earth-based Green Lanter in the late 1700's. He was given the ring by his predecessor, Laham of Scylla, who fell in the line of duty. Very little else is known about Sayre.

II: Alan Scott
First Appearance: All-American Comics #16
Profession: Engineer
Initiation: Alan Scott is unique among the Green Lanterns of Earth in that he was not recruited by the guardians, and so is not technically a member of the corps. Quite by accident, he stumbled across a mytical element of green flame called the Starheart that was connected to a former Green Lantern of the sector. Alan fashioned a ring out of it and took on the mantle of Green Lantern.
Membership: Alan was a founding member of the Justice Society of America.
Personal Life: Alan's first wife was Rose Canton, a schizophrenic with the evil alter ego of Thorn. They had two children - Todd and Jennie-Lynn. Rose put up the children for adoption without Alan's knowledge after their marriage collapsed, and they grew up without knowing their father. Later Alan married former villain, Harlequin.
Notable Friendships: Like all the Green Lanterns, Alan formed a close friendship with the Flash of his age, Jay Garrick. Jay even helped Alan recover from severe depression.
Other Identities: For a brief while, the Starheart merged with Alan's body. During this time he went by the name Sentinel.
Breaks: Alan retired from his career as a superhero after the JSA was investigated by the HUAC for Communist sympathies. During this time he ran a broadcasting corporation and re-united with his children, now sporting the identities of Obsidian and Jade, respectively. When the Society was re-formed, Alan came back to active duty.
Current Status: Active
Trivia: Alan's ring is powerless against wood.

III: Daniel Young
First Appearance: Green Lantern Vol. 2 #149
Initiation: While he was wounded, the current Green Lantern of sector 2814, Abin Sur handed his ring to Daniel temporarily.
Trivia: Daniel was a Green Lantern for less than 24 hours.



IV: Hal Jordan
First Appearance: Showcase #22
Profession: Test Pilot
Initiation: The most famous Green Lantern of all, Hal Jordan was testing an aircraft when he was summoned by Abin Sur. Sur's craft had crashed and realising he was near death, he passed on the mantle of Green Lantern of the sector to Hal.
Membership: Hal was a founding member of the Justice League of America as well as being the most successful member of the corps.
Personal Life: The archetypal playboy, Hal Jordan was always a ladies' man. When he received his ring, he was already dating Carol Ferris, his boss' daughter. This relationship continued for a while until Ferris was turned into Star Sapphire by the Zamarons, who had an ancient grudge against the guardians. Though she later recovered, their relationship was never the same. Fellow Green Lantern, a teenager from Graxos had a long-standing crush on Hal, but he thought a relationship would be inappropriate given the age difference between them.
Notable Friendships: Hal was a close friend of the Flash, Barry Allen, a co-founder of the JLA. The interactions between him and the stable and introverted Barry were the basis for many stories. Hal's best friend was Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, with whom he undertook a trip across America to see how the ordinary people lived. On the other hand, Hal has never seen eye to eye with the Batman, and they share a mutual dislike.
Breaks: When his home town, Coast City, was destroyed and all its residents murdered, Hal went mad with grief. He used his ring to recreate the city as he remembered it but was stopped from doing so by the guardians who were strongly using the ring for personal gain. Hal went on a vendetta against the guardians defeating the rest of the corps single-handedly and killing two of them, before finally leeching the entire power battery into his ring.
Other Identities: With all the power of the guardians at his disposal, Hal became the villain Parallax who tried to recreate the universe and timeline in a misguided attempt at setting everything right. He was defeated by the combined strength of the JLA, reformed somewhat and finally gave up his life to reignite the sun when it was extinguished by the Sun-eater, thus saving humanity. His soul merged with that of the Spectre, the embodiment of God's vengeance and remained an aloof judge of humanity's actions. Recently his spirit was separated from the Spectre and he fought off his inner demons with the help of fellow Green Lanterns to return to life as the hero he once was.
Current Status: Active
Trivia: Hal's ring was powerless against the colour yellow.

V: Guy Gardner
First Appearance: Green Lantern Vol. 2 #59
Profession: Social Worker
Initiation: When Abin Sur crashed on Earth, Guy Gardner was one of two candidates his ring selected as his successor. Guy was further away than Hal at that time, so lost out. He was, however, made the substitute Green Lantern and took over Hal's duties on Earth whenever he was away.
Membership: Guy was a member of the Justice League International, and for a brief while formed the Super-Buddies with his former JLI teammates. He is currently helping Kyle Rayner restart the Green Lantern corps.
Personal Life: Brash, macho and boorish, Guy was never very popular with his teammates who merely tolerated him. However, he fell in love with teammate, the shy Norweigian Tora Olafsdotter (Ice), and this changed him. Her death came as a huge blow to him.
Notable Friendships: Guy had very few friends, apart from Ice. His teammates at the JLI used to tire of his overt machismo. His relationship with Beatriz DaCosta (Fire), also the best friend of Ice, was particularly strained.
Other Identities: At one point, Guy lost his ring to the main power battery. However, he found a yellow ring formerly owned by Sinestro and used it for a while. Later he took on the identity of Warrior and became a freelance adventurer. Recently, he joined the remaining Green Lanterns of Earth and took on the title again.
Current Status: Inactive
Trivia: Guy is part Vuldarian. This allows him to reshape his body into weapons.

VI: John Stewart
First Appearance: Green Lanter Vol. 2 #87
Profession: Architect
Initiation: When Guy Gardner was injured, the Guardians chose John to fill in as substitute Green Lantern.
Membership: John has been an on-and-off member of the JLA.
Personal Life: During his tenure as Green Lantern, John fell in love with and married Katma Tui, Green Lantern of Korugar.
Breaks: During a particularly bad period in his life, John was struck by three tragedies. He was unable to prevent the destruction of an entire planet placed under his stewardship, Katma Tui was murdered by a Star Sapphire and he himself was injured in the line of duty, becoming paraplegic.
Notable Friendships: John was a reserved loner. He only formed close bonds with other Green Lanterns.
Other Identities: John never had any alternate identity.
Current Status: After being healed, John was asked by Kyle Rayner to step in again as Green Lantern, as Kyle needed a break. He is currently a member of the JLA.
Trivia: John is the Green Lantern who appears in the cartoon series.

VII: Kyle Rayner
First Appearance: Green Lantern Vol. 3 #48
Profession: Cartoonist
Initiation: Kyle Rayner was just a random guy, until one day he received a Green Lantern ring by a stroke of fate. After Hal Jordan went renegade, the Guardians decided to channel all their power into one ring. This ring was given by the last Guardian, Ganthet to the first person he met, who happened to be Kyle.
Membership: Kyle has been a longstanding member og the JLA. He was briefly a member of the Teen Titans.
Personal Life: Hal's life has been incredibly tragic. Shortly after gaining the ring, his girlfriend was brutally slaughtered by Major Force. He only continued at the insistence of Alan Scott. Later as a member of the Titans, Kyle briefly dated Donna Troy, until she died shortly thereafter. He had a long relationship with Jade, the daughter of Alan Scott and they were nearly married. However, Jade broke up with him after she cheated on him while he went on a self-imposed exile.
Notable Friendships: Kyle took a long time to be accepted by other superheroes, as they were aware of the circumstances under which he received his ring. However, he and the Flash, Wally West, have a good-natured rivalry going.
Breaks: After the brutal beating of a close friend, Kyle went on an exploration of space. During this time, he handed over the reins to John Stewart. After he returned and found Jade seeing someone else, he allowed John to continue as Green Lantern. Recently he became frustrated with his responsibilities on Earth and is working to restart the Green Lantern Corps.
Other Identities: With a ring of unlimited power and responsible for the entire universe, Kyle became the godlike Ion. However, he was unable to sleep with the huge burden of responsibility and leeched off his power to form a new battery. Then, he worked with Ganthet and is helping bring up a new generation of Guardians who will oversee a new corps.
Current Status: Inactive
Trivia: Kyle has the power to create new rings from his own.

VIII: Jennie-Lynn Hayden
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #25
Profession: Model
Initiation: Jennie was given a ring by her fiancee, Kyle Rayner. She stood in for him on occasion when he was out in space.
Membership: Jennie was a member of Infinity Inc. with her brother.
Personal Life: Jennie is the daughter of Green Lantern Alan Scott, and used to date Kyle Rayner. She is now single.
Notable Friendships: Jennie is good friends with teammates Starfire, Thunder and Grace.
Currently she is a member of the Outsiders.
Trivia: Jennie no longer needs a ring as the powers of the Starheart have been passed down to her congenitally by her father.

So currently, John is the Green Lantern serving with the JLA, Hal is back and the main Green Lantern of Earth, Kyle is out in space restarting the corps, with the help of Guy, and Jennie is a member of the Outsiders. Other Green Lanterns such as Kilowog, G'Nort and Arisia are also currently present on Earth, but have not been mentioned because they are not of Earthly origin.