Warning: Green Lantern (2023) is a direct sequel to events in Green Lantern (Infinite Frontier) and Dark Crisis, so Late Arrival Spoilers for those comics may be unmarked on this page.
Green Lantern is a May 2023 relaunch of the DC Comics hero (with Hal Jordan as its eponymous Lantern), written by Jeremy Adams and with art by Xermanico. It is a spinoff of Dark Crisis and part of the Dawn of DC publishing initiative.
The relaunch picks up the Green Lantern Corps' storyline — and with it Hal Jordan's — in the wake of Pariah's rampage. The Green Lantern Corps is now under the administration of the United Planets, the Guardians are nowhere to be seen, and Hal Jordan starts the series back on Earth with no ring, having resigned from the Corps. In addition to the main feature, the series will also contain a backup story each issue. Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Osvaldo Montos started off with John Stewart: The Good Soldier, a backup feature continuing John's story following Dark Crisis which led into a spinoff book Green Lantern: War Journal in September 2023. Later backups focused on a Korugarian who is convinced that he is Sinestro's son, with those followed by backups focusing on what other Green Lanterns are doing while Hal is on Earth.
Green Lantern (2023) provides examples of:
- Brought Down to Badass: For as yet unspecified reasons, Sinestro is in hiding on Earth, with an uncharged power ring. So Sinestro doesn't have his usual powerset, but he's able to bluff and otherwise blackmail some aliens living in disguise on Earth and later Hal himself in order to work toward his goals.
- The Bus Came Back:
- After being essentially Demoted to Extra during the previous run, Hal Jordan is once again front and center as the lead character in this series.
- Tom Kalmaku, Hal’s old mechanic partner, comes back in issue 9.
- Canon Immigrant: Razer from Green Lantern: The Animated Series makes his official debut in the comics, as he breaks the blockade of Sector 2814 to find his friends, and alludes to some sort of unseen time spent with Hal and Kilowog.
- Can't Stay Normal: At the beginning of this series, Hal has resigned from the Green Lantern Corps and returned to Earth to try and start life again as a normal, non super-powered individual. But he's got a new ring again by the end of the issue.
- Continuity Nod: Issue three has Hal practice changing the color of his constructs until they match the real thing, mentioning how he used to do that in his earliest days with the ring.
- Tom Kalmaku's past association with The New Guardians plays a part in the plot of issue #9.
- Costume Evolution: Xermanico's character artwork
◊ and Ariel Colon's first issue variant cover◊ reveal Hal's design has been tweaked for Dawn of DC. Gil Kane's original shoulder-less design for the Corpsmen uniform's been restored (although it's unclear as of late January 2023 if this also extends to the rest of the Corps, or if John Stewart's uniform has been similarly revised). - Crazy-Prepared: Turns out the Guardians hid a Green Central Power Battery on Earth and the means to make new rings with it should something happen.
- Crowd Panic: Sinestro attempts to invoke this by sending the Ferris drone attack craft to various cities, with the hope that this will generate enough fear for him to recharge his ring.
- Demoted to Extra: John Stewart here. John was the main Earth Lantern of the preceding Thorne run, whereas Hal was the one Demoted to Extra in that series, and largely Out of Focus. So, John going from leading man to the star of a backup feature (while Hal by contrast is re-elevated to flagship Lantern status) is technically this. On the other hand, this is also only temporary as the backup will be segueing into its own solo spinoff book later in 2023.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Hal aggressively tries to get Carol to date him on numerous occasions in issue 1 and issue 2, despite her repeatedly voiced objections, to the point that he finagles a job as Carol's personal pilot and locks her fiancee in a bathroom so he can talk to her alone. All the while he does this with a smile on his face, and Carol calls it "the charming, warming-up-to-you thing" when describing Hal to her fiancee.
- In the Hood: Sinestro appears in Coast City disguised in a hoodie. Justified given the Korugarian’s not exactly inconspicuous.
- Loyal Phlebotinum: Hal's new ring only works for him. When Sinestro demands that Hal surrender it, Sinestro is unable to make it work.
- No Body Left Behind: How Kilowog supposedly dies, incinerated along with three Sinestro Corps members when their central battery explodes. Hal believes he's dead, but there's no body, so....
- Outdated Hero vs. Improved Society: A theme of the book, as Hal's cocky-pilot schtick makes him a poor fit for working at Ferris Air in its current incarnation. In issue 1, he crashes a drone because he wants to prove he's a faster flyer than the other pilots he's in maneuver with (previous Hal stories usually showed him flying his planes solo), and is immediately fired from drone piloting (the second issue has him working in the mailroom). The younger pilots carry out the test flight more effectively. He also tries to give Carol advice on how to run her business, only for it to immediately become apparent that Hal doesn't understand the economics of the military-industrial complex in the drone era. Hal's Dogged Nice Guy activities may be connected to this theme as well.
- Revisiting the Roots: After years of cosmic adventures, this series focuses on Earth like the Silver, Bronze, and Dark Age comics, at least until issue 9, when Hal returns to outer space.
- Sequel Series: Loose example with the John Stewart backup. Phillip Kennedy Johnson previously wrote the Worlds Without a Justice League: Green Lantern tie-in to Dark Crisis (which chronicled John Stewart's imprisonment and life in Pariah's fantasy world). So, as the backup will be chronicling John's story in the wake of Dark Crisis, Johnson's technically, if arguably, picking up where he left off.
- Sketchy Successor: Hal has the same problem that John has over in War Journal. United Planets Green Lanterns show up, and they're nowhere near the caliber individuals that Green Lanterns have traditionally been. Hal insists that he is NOT a United Planets Lantern, he is a GREEN Lantern.
- Spinoff: Of Dark Crisis, picking up the storylines of the Earth Lanterns (or at least Hal and John as of January 2023) and the GLC in the wake of Pariah's rampage.
- "Test Your Strength" Game: Ariel Colon’s variant cover for Green Lantern #1 shows Hal doing this with a High Striker at a carnival (and quite naturally using his Power Ring to create his own hammer).
- This Is Unforgivable!: Hal lets Sinestro know in no uncertain terms that after what Sinestro did on Korugar, the two of them will never be on good terms again.
- Variant Cover: Ariel Colon and Lucio Parrillo will be doing variant covers for the relaunch. Their variant covers for the first issue show Hal having some fun at a carnival and Sinestro in civilian disguise on Earth.
