Green Lantern rings are one of the most powerful and versatile tools in the DC Universe because they can create anything that the user can imagine. Green Lanterns can fashion armor, weapons, and any number of other cool and unique constructs with their rings. Unfortunately, not every construct made with a Green Lantern ring is a winner. Over the years, there have been plenty of dumb and weird constructs that boggle the mind. Some constructs make simple tasks needlessly complicated or raise too many questions about how a Green Lantern ring works. Green Lanterns have plenty of go-to constructs that they use repeatedly, but some should never have been used even once.
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DC Comics has had plenty of people harness the power of the Green Lantern ring to conjure up a multitude of constructs made from green energy. But a few constructs have been so outlandish, out of character, or just plain silly that DC would rather people forget ever happened.
7) Giant Pie
Nowadays, Black Hand is one of DC’s most spine-chilling supervillains because he’s the leader of the undead Black Lantern Corps. However, he used to be a much goofier Green Lantern villain who had the power to absorb green energy to create his own constructs. One time when Black Hand absorbed some of Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern energy, he used it to attack the hero with a giant cream pie construct. Instead of taking the opportunity to make a missile or some other deadly weapon to kill his enemy, Black Hand thought it made more sense just to prank Hal. Given the disturbing reimagining of the character, DC probably doesn’t want to remember that Black Hand had silly moments like this.
6) Electric Chair
When the villain Major Force murdered Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend and shoved her corpse into a fridge, the Green Lantern swore revenge. In a brutal act of torture, Kyle constructed a fully functioning electric chair and shocked Major Force repeatedly. Although the electric chair doesn’t kill the villain, it’s still excruciating and torturous weapon. The electric shock torture of Major Force is an incredibly bizarre and disturbing moment where Kyle’s rage pushes him to such inhumane actions. Given the morally questionable nature of the construct, it’s a weapon that should not reappear.
5) Giant Liquor Bottle
Drunk driving is never acceptable, so when Hal Jordan discovered an intoxicated man sleeping behind the wheel, he gave him an ironic punishment. When the drunk driver woke up, he found himself trapped in a giant empty bottle of liquor. Hal then flew off, leaving the man imprisoned for the police to apprehend. This raises the question of how are the police supposed to get him out when they arrive? Furthermore, Hal would have had to continuously think about the bottle, even when he wasn’t present, to make sure that his construct didn’t disappear. The entire process is a logistical nightmare for everyone involved.
4) Super-Aspirin
Green Lanterns can conjure anything that they can imagine with their rings, but this construct raises so many questions. Hal Jordan was captured by aliens who put him in stasis and subjected the hero to unbelievable pain. Hal created a “Super-Aspirin” painkiller, which helped him overcome the pain and gain the strength needed to break free of his imprisonment. This construct makes no sense. Once he ingested the pill, he would have to continuously maintain the pill’s existence so that it could dissolve and affect his cells. Does he need to imagine every chemical required to relieve his pain? How long does he have to wait before the medicine is fully absorbed into his system? These questions, and more, make this construct a real head-scratcher.
3) Giant Construct-Making Pencils
Kyle Rayner is well-known for his creative and outlandish constructs, which he draws from his experience as a comic artist. However, some of his constructs are entirely superfluous. When the Green Lantern Corps was battling the fear-based entity known as Parallax, Kyle created a giant hand and pencil to sketch out the constructs he wanted to make literally. He even uses the pencil’s eraser to get rid of constructs once he’s done with them. Given the fact that the Green Lantern ring can instantly manifest and erase constructs with just a thought, the pencil is redundant and useless. Kyle just added an unnecessary step to his process, which does nothing to improve his capacity to battle Parallax.
2) Hal Turns Himself Into a Letter
The Silver Age was a peculiar time for DC Comics, when every bizarre idea was green-lit. When a foreign spy hypnotizes Hal into divulging information about the Air Force company he works for, Hal devises an ingenious method to catch the criminal off guard. Hal was hypnotized into sending the company secrets through letters, so he used his ring to turn himself into a letter and asked his friend, Tom, to mail it to him. Once the bad guy received the “letter,” Hal’s fist emerged from it to sock the spy in the face like a Looney Tunes character. It’s an incredibly convoluted and nonsensical construct that pushes the envelope way too much in terms of what a Green Lantern ring is capable of.
1) Bye Bye Bats
The Green Lantern rings are tools designed to help defend the universe against the forces of evil. So, of course, the infamous loose cannon Guy Gardner would use it for stupid reasons. Batman and Guy Gardner have always butt heads. When the Green Lantern was leaving the Justice League’s space station to go on a mission, he decided to give the Dark Knight a goodbye present. He pressed his naked butt against the window and used his ring to write out the words “Bye Bye Bats.” It’s an unseemly moment that mocks the Green Lantern ring and its purpose. This construct definitely bottoms out the awesome power of the Green Lantern ring.
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