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Friday Recommendation: Ron Marz’s Green Lantern

By | March 26th, 2010
Posted in Columns | % Comments


A bridge that I thought long burned down was rebuilt last week with the release of Green Lantern Corps #46: the original women in refrigerators debacle. What was meant to be a simple reference to previously established continuity instead opened up the old debate on the treatment of women in comics. While both Gil and Mocle discussed GLC #46 plenty, my main problem with those who often bring up the death of Alex DeWitt in these debates is not that I disagree with them; rather, I find that this single instance has caused so many people to just forget about how great Ron Marz’s run on Green Lantern was. Follow the jump to find out why I feel that Marz’s Green Lantern is an incredibly underrated gem.

Before I get into the nitty-gritty specifics, I will admit that I’m a bit biased. The first comics I ever read were a gift to me from my dad when I was probably eight or nine, and they were all from Ron Marz’s Green Lantern run. I believe they were in some back-issue value pack from K-Mart or some place similar, and to eight or nine year-old me they were the coolest things ever. From middle school to high school I went without comics, and upon regaining an interest in them I found that my mother had unfortunately tossed those old issues (and reasonably so, as I hadn’t shown an interest in them in years). Since then, I’ve been working on finding as many issues Ron Marz’s Green Lantern run that I can, and it has been just as exciting as I remember it being when I was eight or nine.

The most important part of Ron Marz’s run was the character of Kyle Rayner, a young man who had to truly earn his place as a Green Lantern. Whereas normally Green Lantern rings are supposed to seek out those who exhibit the ability to overcome great fear, Kyle was just a normal guy in the right place at the right time. The Corps had been destroyed, and Kyle had to truly prove his worth as a hero. I’ve always loved this aspect of Kyle’s character, and feel that he stands as an example of the normal guy who must overcome insurmountable odds. Sure, he’s gifted with an incredible power ring, but the opponents that he faces earlier on are just as powerful and even more competent with that power. Also, the idea of giving a ring that creates energy constructs limited only by the wearers imagination to an artist is one that seems so obvious yet so brilliant, and I can’t believe Marz was the first to come up with this idea. Sure, Hal, John and Guy are great, but I’ll take Kyle any day.

Before Kyle appeared on the scene, Ron Marz’s run began with Emerald Twilight, wherein the classic silver age Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, went a bit crazy after Mongul completely obliterated his hometown of Coast City. Originally plotted by Paul Levitz and others, Ron Marz was given the task of writing the script, and is thus often given “the blame” for villain-izing the until then incorruptible Hal Jordan. In my opinion this change was only for the better, as it allowed room for the DC Universe to keep on growing rather than remain stagnant (even if it led to the absolutely dreadful Zero Hour). In fact, I feel Hal was developed more as a character in Marz’s run than he has been in Geoff Johns’ current run on Green Lantern, in which he is the main protagonist. Don’t get me wrong, I love what Johns has done with the Green Lantern mythos, but for the most part he has failed to get me interested in Hal Jordan as a character. On the other hand, Marz’s story arc Emerald Knights, which consisted of a time-displaced Hal Jordan encountering Kyle and finding out about his turn to evil, had me much more interested in Hal than anything he has been in since (except maybe the great New Frontier, but that’s out of continuity).

I would go into why I think Alex DeWitt’s death is highly blown out of proportion when talking about feminism and comics, but Mocle already did a great job of addressing that. Instead, I urge you to find this series that was an excellent fusion of the superhero genre with sci-fi and see what you have been missing out on due to all the bad publicity. Unfortunately, while some story arcs from Marz’s have been collected into trade, most are out of print. As such you will probably have to dig through your LCBS’s back issues, but I insist that it’s well worth the look.

(Also, if you’re in the eastern Virginia area and find issue #’s 58, 59, 66, 67 and Annual #4, be a pal and let me know. They were the ones in that value pack and, of course, the ones I can’t find ).


//TAGS | Friday Recommendation

Walt Richardson

Walt is a former editor for Multiversity Comics and current podcaster/ne'er-do-well. Follow him on Twitter @goodbyetoashoe... if you dare!

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