Absolute Green Lantern Has Completely Reinvented the Lantern Mythos — and It Actually Works

The Green Lantern Corps and the rest of the Emotional Spectrum have some of the deepest, most imaginative lore in all of DC. They started as a group of space cops chosen by rings that can create anything they can imagine, overseen by the nigh-omnipotent Guardians. Over time, their connections and place in the universe grew, and new and different Corps were introduced, each empowered by a different emotion. They’ve fulfilled prophecies, abated the evil plans that threatened to destroy the universe, and become so integral to how the DC Universe functions that the Emotional Spectrum is a foundational element of existence. DC’s Lantern Corps are downright storied, and that breadth of lore is essential to their stories.

Of course, that lore fundamentally changed with the advent of the Absolute Universe. This darker universe, puppeted by Darkseid’s evil energy, completely reimagined all of DC’s best and brightest heroes. Some experienced physical changes to their origins, like Superman being raised on Krypton, and some were fundamentally remade from the ground up, like Martian Manhunter. Absolute Green Lantern has taken everything great about the titular Corps and thrown it out the window, creating a completely new, fresh world with familiar faces and themes. It’s beautiful and undeniably creative, and issue #17 just brought everything together in the best way possible..

The Birthplace of Emotions Is Knowledge

Jo and the other Lanterns of the universe were pushed to their limits when Sinestro and his army of Blackstars, including the killer planet Mogo, arrived and wreaked havoc. While Jo battled Tomar Re inside the Green Lantern, John Stewart and her friends battled Sinestro, who commanded the Golden Light like a master. Sinestro dominated them until John realized that Sinestro’s power, all of their power, only came from what they could convince each other of. As long as they understood that the light couldn’t hurt them, or that their own light could put them back together, Sinestro couldn’t kill them. Then Jo reappeared and convinced Sinestro that the condensed bullet of Tomar Re could kill him, and it did.

This is the thesis behind Absolute Green Lantern‘s power system. Each color of light is empowered by an emotion, just as they are in the Prime Universe. Green is will, Red is restraint, Pink is love, and Gold is understanding. They gain their strength from these emotions, but they exert it through knowledge. The Light operates on a higher level of existence, but it must be harnessed through mortal minds, which means that it will always be capable of more than they understand. The Lanterns’ abilities are directly proportional to their ability to exert their belief on reality. The more they understand their strength and the more they can convince the others around them of the same, the stronger they become.

Taking Everything We Know and Flipping It

This new idea of how the Lanterns gain their strength is so inventive, but is also reminiscent of how they traditionally work. It’s the perfect mix of familiar and fresh, which is also true for every piece of lore in this series thus far. Beyond showcasing exactly how much will determines their power, this issue also gave us more insight into the overarching threat of the Manhunters. Thanks to this issue, we know they exist outside of the normal bounds of reality, in the Absolute version of the Phantom Zone. They operate like a computer, using Sinestro as their agent to exert their will in the real world.

At the end of the day, that’s exactly what the Manhunters are. They are machines of pure understanding, but without emotions. They have their programmed mission and will stop at nothing to achieve that, which is exactly the same as in the Prime Universe, but also so different and so cool. Having the Manhunters control Sinestro through a cold, hopeless knowledge of Blue Light, the opposite of the Blue Light of Hope in the normal reality, is such an incredible way to tie them together.

Even the names in this series are chosen specifically to tie into both the new lore and the old. Tomar-Re used to just be a name, but here Tomar is a rank given to Lanterns who do not subscribe to the traditional practices or training. Sinestro’s name is a sentence, which translates into the creed of the Manhunters: nobody alive escapes. This entire series is brimming with unique, fun reinventions of beloved characters and concepts, and it’s only ramping up more with every issue. I cannot wait to see what this series reinvents next, and I am so excited to understand it all.

Absolute Green Lantern #17 is on sale now!

What do you think of these changes to the Lantern lore? I’m in love with the new Manhunters, but which change is your favorite?

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