New Green Lantern Revealed for DC Zoom

DC Comics recently announced their upcoming DC Zoom imprint middle-school aged readers and now, author Min Lê is giving us an early look at a brand new Green Lantern he's bringing to the imprint.

In post to his Twitter account Lê, whose other work includes Let Me Finish! and Drawn Together both for Disney-Hyperion shared art and a description for Tai, the 13-year-old hero of Lê's upcoming Green Lantern: Legacy.

"When 13yo Tai's gma passes away, her 'jade ring' finds its way to him," Lê wrote. "Turns out the ring is a GL power ring & his gma was secretly a superhero. Now it's up to him to carry on that legacy."

While Lê did not not identify the artist responsible for the concept art citing that he wasn't certain the artist was public information yet, the art reveals that Tai's Green Lantern look in keeping with those of Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner, giving the character a familiar visual connection to the larger Green Lantern legacy.

And it's not just comics legacy the character will have ties to. Lê went on to explain that the story and concept is inspired by his own grandmother, a woman he described as a hero of his as well as "one of the strongest willed people you could have met." Turns out, Lê's grandmother also had a jade ring while his other grandmother actually gave him a jade ring. Both women -- and their rings -- have served to inspire Lê.

Lê's Green Lantern: Legacy for DC Zoom is part of a larger plan from DC Comics to expand their offerings to the young adult/bookstore market. In addition to DC Zoom, the company is also launching DC Ink, which will be targeted towards the young adult market. Titles for both DC Ink and DC Zoom are set to be released in Fall 2018 and are intended to bring DC characters to a new generation of readers, according to Diane Nelson, president of DC Entertainment and president of Warner Bros. Consumer Products.

"Superheroes are more popular than ever so it only makes sense to bring these DC characters to an entirely new generation of young readers," Nelson said in a statement. "The first comic books created decades ago were for kids, and as the business evolved and matured, it became more focused on adult readers. DC Ink and DC Zoom present an exciting new opportunity to grow our publishing business and ensure beloved stories built around iconic characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are endeared as part of the fabric of childhood for years to come."

Offerings from both imprints will feature a line-up of authors who have established young adult and middle-grade fan bases as well as award-winning comic book writers and artists, a move that DC Entertainment Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee described as "going big."

"Two of the recent areas of growth in publishing include graphic novels and books for young readers – we're bringing those formats together with DC Ink and DC Zoom," DiDio and Jim Lee said. "We've already experienced tremendous success with our DC Super Hero Girls graphic novels. The new DC Ink and DC Zoom slate, paired with a stellar author line-up, presents a major business growth opportunity and we couldn't be more excited – we're going big."

The first titles for DC Zoom, DC Super Hero Girls: Search For Atlantis by writer Shea Fontain and artist Yancey Labat is expected later this year. Lê's Green Lantern: Legacy will join the lineup in 2019.