CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Book of Oa

History
The Book of Oa is a massive book held in the Citadel of Oa. Created long ago, the Book contains the history of the Guardians of the Universe and the Green Lantern Corps. One member of the Green Lantern Corps is selected by the Guardians as Keeper of the Book of Oa, a highly honored position.
After Thomas Kalmaku used Hal Jordan's ring to rebuild Oa, Kyle Rayner used his power as Ion to ressurect the Guardian. The book of Oa is now restored.

The Forbidden Chapter of the Book tells the prophecy of the Blackest Night, the final destruction of the Green Lantern Corps at the hands of their greatest enemies as it was told to Abin Sur by the demons of Ysmault.

Upon recruitment, a Green Lantern is expected to uphold certain principles of his/her/its duty. These principles include:

1. The protection of life and liberty within the assigned sector.(Revision allows lethal force to be used against the Sinestro Corps)
2. Following the orders of the Guardians without question.
3. Noninterference with a planet's culture, political structure, or its population's collective will.
4. Acting within local laws and obeying the local authority within reason. (Presumably, The Guardians' orders can overrule this when necessary).
5. Taking no action against anyone or anything until they are proven to be a threat against life and liberty.
6. Refusing to use the equipment, resources or authority of The Corps for personal gain.
7. Showing respect for and cooperating with other members of the Corps and the Guardians.
8. Showing respect for life which includes restraint of force unless there is no reasonable alternative.
9. Giving top priority to the greatest danger in the assigned sector.
10. Upholding the honor of the Corps.

Following the escalation of the war between the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps, the Guardians have rewritten the Book of Oa changing the ten previous laws into new laws.

1. Lethal Force is authorized to be used against the Sinestro Corps.
2. Lethal Force is authorized against all enemies of the Green Lantern Corps.
3. Love and physical relationships between members of the Green Lantern Corps is forbidden. (Repealed)
4. The Vega System is no longer Outside the Green Lantern Corps' jurisdiction.
5. The Green Lantern Corps no longer takes prisoners.
6. If the Guardians are unable to discharge their sacred duties, command of the Green Lantern Corps falls to Clarrisi, followed by the Illustres.

The remaining four laws have yet to be revealed.

To enforce these principles, the Guardians closely monitor the activities of the Lanterns. If they feel a violation of Corps regulations occurred, they will summon the offender to Oa and hold a trial in which the charges are read and the Lantern is allowed to explain his/her/its actions. If the Guardians are not satisfied by the explanation, they have a number of disciplinary options which include:

Probation
Personal supervision by the Guardians on Oa
Temporary exile from the Lantern's homeworld
Ritual Trial of Endurance - a Lantern must attempt a dangerous passage through the Anti-Matter Universe.
Expulsion from the Corps.

Sinestro By Rags Morales

SATURDAY SHOWCASE : Cool Green Lantern Sketches

Geoff Johns Reflects On 9 Years of Green Lantern : Greenest Night

From IGN.com

The event at Los Angeles’ Avalon Bardot Theater dubbed Greenest Night, a celebration of Geoff Johns’ recently concluded 9-year run on Green Lantern with proceeds benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF). If you’re not familiar with the CBLDF and what they do, I highly recommend perusing their website; essentially, they help protect the first amendment rights of creators, retailers, librarians, and the comic book community at large.

CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein kicked things off, talking a little bit about what the organization does and offered an anecdote about their most recent battle. “Most recently our work has taken us into Chicago where we’re speaking up for the students and teachers who were deprived of using the work Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This book was removed in a way that defied due process. It was removed from classrooms where it was being used as a teaching tool to show American middle school kids what it was like for an Iranian middle school girl when she was growing up in an oppressive regime. And it was taken away without proper process. These things happen all the time, where people decide that their individual viewpoint can get in the way of everybody else’s freedom to read.” He went on to explain the CBLDF’s view that such a decision should be left up to the individual or families, not the school systems, and is a pretty good summation of what it is the CBLDF does.

Brownstein introduced Jeph Loeb, longtime friend and colleague to Johns, who offered a heartfelt introduction, reflecting on their time working for mutual mentor Richard Donner and writing comics together at DC. Loeb offered fun quips and anecdotes about that period of time, saying, “Geoff’s real gift is discipline. Something no writer has.” He told a tale about Johns’ commitment to his work, saying how he’d always try to coax Johns to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and coffee in an effort to put off writing, but that Johns would never accept unless he was on track with his goals for the day.

Loeb reflected lovingly on their early days together as they bantered about whether the Hulk or Superman was stronger and how eventually their careers came into full swing and ultimately went different paths. Loeb joked, “While I was writing about Green Hulk and Red Hulk and Blue Hulk, Geoff had the most ORIGINAL CREATIVE SPARK! Finally, there was going to be a Green Lantern and a Red Lantern and a Blue Lantern!”

But Loeb wrapped his introduction a more serious note, describing how much their careers had changed but how they’ve remained the best of friends through it all. Finally, Loeb introduced the man of the hour, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, the only person I’ve ever met that can turn the blackest night into the brightest day: Geoff Johns.”

Johns was met with applause from the crowd as he approached the stage, quipping, “Just for the record: the Red Lanterns appeared a year before the Red Hulk!” The conversation began with CBR’s Jonah Weiland reminding Johns how the announcement of Green Lantern: Rebirth way back at Wizard World Chicago in 2004 was met with very little fanfare, and was in fact cut short because Christopher Nolan wanted to show the first footage from Batman Begins and cutting that panel short was the only timing that would work. Nine years later, Green Lantern stands tall with fans and retailers after the conclusion of Johns’ epic run.

“Back then, bringing back Hal Jordan was sort of a risky move. People were like, ‘Why are you gonna do that?’” said Johns. He added that for his entire career he’s been met with confusion as to the characters he chose to invest in. From Teen Titans to the JSA to Booster Gold to Hawkman and of course Green Lantern, he said he enjoys taking characters that people tend to underestimate and expand the world they operate in. Fittingly, Green Lantern was always at the top of the list. “I like skepticism. I thrive off of challenges like that.”

Asked what was going through his mind writing the final issue of his run – the excellent Green Lantern #20 – Johns replied, “This better be good!”

He elaborated: “A lot of mixed emotions. I was really emotional writing the last 10 or 12 pages. I actually wrote those first and they were the hardest to write. All the stuff with Sinestro and Hal; it was sad. It was sad, but that’s why it was so happy in the end. I wanted to send these characters off in a positive way, and ‘all will be well’ is something I live by now. All will be well at the end of the day, and I really wanted people to read that issue and walk away from it fulfilled and excited.”

Johns talked about artist Doug Mahnke for a bit, saying that Mahnke tends to send his pages in bulk. For Green Lantern #20, Johns didn’t see any pages for months and then got 45 pages all at once. He also said that he knew around Green Lantern #3 or #4 (of the New 52 volume) that his story was coming to its end. “This whole run had been about Hal and Sinestro and that bizarre friendship. Once I knew it was going to get to a point where it broke again, there was an acknowledgement of it… my favorite line is when Sinestro calls Jordan “Hal.” It’s the first time Sinestro ever calls him by his first name. And it was that moment I knew it was over.”

The conversation moved to what Johns learned about himself through working on this character for the last decade. “It might sound goofy but I do prescribe to the notion that emotions have power,” said Johns. “We’re all driven by something, and most of that is emotional reaction. For me it was about recognizing my self-awareness a little bit more. The more we analyze ourselves, the nicer we are to [other] people and to ourselves.” Johns added that Hal’s journey of learning to look before he leaps and experiencing the entire emotional spectrum was a journey for himself as well.

He said that Green Lantern is perpetually relevant because exploring the idea of fear is something that can never go out of date, particularly after 9/11, which wasn’t so far removed from the start of Johns’ Green Lantern. Johns also added that introducing Simon Baz was an attempt to explore cultural fear.

As for his own personal fears, Johns said, “Every writer doubts himself every day. You procrastinate because you’re afraid to do it. But you overcome fear every day when you get out of bed. Overcoming fear isn’t going skydiving because you’re afraid of heights. Overcoming fear is every day, all day long.”

Things lightened up a little bit when Johns talked about his enormous love of cereal. He likened his tweets about the kind of cereal he likes to the feeling you get when you see a fellow comic book fan reading a comic “in the wild.” Johns said, “I feel like I can connect with people more if I share the mundane. For me Twitter was all about, ‘Do you guys like cereal? I do too!’ Anyone that I would talk to through Twitter about that was just me longing to connect with people over the mundane. If you like cereal, I like cereal, we’re cool.”

The evening wrapped as Johns recited the Green Lantern oath for the final time and the attendees erupted with appreciation, admiration, and adoration.

All will be well indeed.

CLASSIC COMIC : Green Lantern Vol 2 #19 "The Defeat of Green Lantern!"

Green Lantern Vol 2 #19
March, 1963
Executive Editor: Julius Schwartz
Cover Artists: Gil Kane, Murphy Anderson

"The Defeat of Green Lantern!"
Writers: John Broome
Pencilers: Gil Kane
Inkers: Joe Giella
Letterers: Gaspar Saladino
Editors: Julius Schwartz

"The Trial of the Horse-And-Buggy Bandits!"
Writers: John Broome
Pencilers: Gil Kane
Inkers: Joe Giella
Letterers: Gaspar Saladino
Editors: Julius Schwartz


Appearing in "The Defeat of Green Lantern!"
Featured Characters: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
Supporting Characters: Tom Kalmaku
Tomar-Re
Villains: Sonar
Other Characters: Casino De Granaco
Locations: Xudar
Earth
California
Coast City
Ferris Aircraft
Europe
Modora
Granaco
Items: Green Lantern Ring
Green Lantern Power Battery
Sonigun

Synopsis for "The Defeat of Green Lantern!"
With a cosmic storm approaching Earth, Tomar-Re attempts to contact the Green Lantern of Earth to warn him of the danger. On Earth, a letter is sent to Green Lantern care of Thomas Kalmaku to the Ferris Aircraft Company. Written by the ruler of Granaco, a kingdom neighboring Modora that Sonar is being released from prison in Modora. He came to Granaco to offer his services as a supreme adviser to the country and was kicked out for even suggesting the idea. In hindsight, the leader of Granaco realized that he has made a powerful enemy in mocking Sonar and is asking for Green Lantern's help.
Traveling to Granaco, Green Lantern tries to stop an attacking the town, fending off all the sound constructs Sonar creates with his weapon. When Sonar attempts to shatter Green Lantern with his sonar gun, however Green Lantern saves himself from death than with a protective sphere. Restored, Green Lantern knocks out Sonar and turns him over to the police.

After Sonar's defeat, Green Lantern is finally reached by Tomar-Re who finally tells him that he was able to put the idea in Green Lantern's head on how to save himself from Sonar's attack.

Appearing in "The Trial of the Horse-And-Buggy Bandits!"
Featured Characters: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
Supporting Characters: Mrs. Wilford Bigelow (Single appearance)
Villains: Horse and Wagon thieves (Single appearance)
Curtis (Single appearance)
Locations: California
Coast City
Ferris Aircraft
Items: Green Lantern Ring
Green Lantern Power Battery

Synopsis for "The Trial of the Horse-And-Buggy Bandits!"
When an old woman's phone call to Association for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty somehow gets connected to the Green Lantern's power ring, the call for help leads Green Lantern into a bizarre series of thefts that are done on a horsedrawn buggy. Green Lantern quickly ends the operation, turning the crooks over to the police.

Green Lantern #20 Rainbow Corps Pic

White Lantern Kyle And Literal NEW GUARDIANS Star as New Team Joins, Issue #21 Preview

From Newsarama.com

In June, all the Green Lantern titles get a new direction, and now, thanks to the revelation in Green Lantern #20 that Kyle Rayner is remaining the White Lantern, readers know just where Green Lantern: New Guardians is going.

Well, not exactly where it's going. As new series writer Justin Jordan told Newsarama, the title will be quickly spinning out into space somewhere. Kyle remains in the starring role, but the Templar Guardians play an important part as well (thus the title "New Guardians"); the comic will be exploring areas of the DC Universe "that readers don't normally see," Jordan said.

And the writer pointed out that Kyle's powers as a White Lantern are also unknown. What are their limits? How can Kyle control them? And perhaps most importantly (for Kyle, anyway), how should he use them to help the universe?


As Jordan's first storyline begins in June's Green Lantern: New Guardians #21, Kyle begins a mission for the Green Lantern Corps, but he's also on a quest to figure out what being a White Lantern really means.

The new creative team comes on board at a time of transition for the Green Lantern comics. The former creative teams on all the Lantern-associated books finished up their run this month with each title's issue #20, ending a series of events that culminated in the recent "Wrath of the First Lantern" storyline.

That means a whole new batch of creative teams in June, and a new status quo for the Green Lantern universe. As Jordan and artist Brad Walker take over New Guardians, there have been some major upheavals, including the destruction of the Guardians, a change in leadership for the Corps (with Hal in charge now), and a new batch of "Templar Guardians" being introduced.

Newsarama talked to Jordan to find out more about what Kyle will be facing in the coming months of Green Lantern: New Guardians and why his emotional baggage from recent events will affect how he uses his power as the new White Lantern.

GLNG #21 Art

Newsarama: Justin, now that we've read the #20 issues of Green Lantern and Green Lantern: New Guardians, we know that Kyle stays the White Lantern. How does that affect what he's doing in your comic?

Justin Jordan: It's one of the things that I was interested in exploring when they first asked me about the book. And so we're working out what the White Lantern can do.

It's interesting to me to look at how you're going to use the various ring powers, because they an do more things than just create constructs. And it kind of doesn't matter whether a construct is green or red, necessarily, in terms of the construct itself. But you know, what it says about the person's emotional state is interesting to me.

And the other powers that the rings have, exploring what you can do with those and how you can combine those things, is actually one of the more nerdy, interesting things to me, about the book. So I was glad they left us in that place.

Nrama: I'm curious, though, because it was kind of confusing in these last few issues. Can White Lanterns raise the dead? Can you address that?

Jordan: I cannot. I have an opinion on it, but it's one you're going to have to wait to read in the book.

Nrama: Fair enough. But can you talk a little more about what you said earlier, regarding "what it says about the person's emotional state." In issue #20, Kyle implied he was kind of using "love" as a reliable default emotional power. But there's obviously a purpose to these other emotions. Is it wrong to assume it's always going to be on the blue/indigo/violet side of the spectrum?

Jordan: Yeah. I mean, that's not unreasonable, and I think Kyle believes that. I also think that we'll find that things like — well, for instance, Kyle started as a Green Lantern, and that's where he was trained to use a ring. So when it comes down to crunch time, he's going to find himself defaulting to green quite a lot.

But if he gets sufficiently angry about something, it's going to be pretty difficult not to use red when he has access to that.

So there's going to be a mix of colors. The fact that these things kind of reflect his emotional state is something I want to play with. And honestly, it's not always going to be ways that Kyle consciously would have expected of himself, which is kind of how it goes. You know? You can sort of predict how you will react emotionally to something, but we don't always know ourselves as well as we'd like to.

GLNG #21 Art

Nrama: There seems to also be a lot going on with Kyle introspectively. As you take over the comic, what's the status of Kyle emotionally? He's got to have some baggage after the emotional experience caused by the First Lantern. We saw him working through some of that in the last issue. Will that play into your book at all? Or is it really just a fresh, new start for him?

Jordan: That all factors in pretty intensely. Kyle is asked to do something in New Guardians which will form what New Guardians, under my run, is about. Something that he is really, really ambivalent about. And ambivalent might be putting it mildly.

He's asked to do something that hurts him a lot because of the stuff that happened to him during "First Lantern," because of the betrayals that he feels that he suffered.

And since his powers are related to his emotions, mastering that is one of the things he has to do. And it's an ongoing problem, doing what he's been asked to do while trying to keep his emotions and feelings about that in check.

Nrama: Can you say who asks him to do something?

Jordan: You actually see who it is in the preview. It's the Templar Guardians and Hal. They ask Kyle to undertake a mission for them.

Nrama: Does he have to do it?

Jordan: He doesn't have to. He is given a very convincing reason why he should.

Nrama: Yeah, because I wouldn't think the structure in the Green Lantern Corps isn't such that Kyle would have to do something he doesn't want to do.

Jordan: No. He doesn't. They have absolutely no ability to make Kyle do that.

So they have to come up with a pretty convincing argument why he should do it. And they do. But it's not one that he is particularly happy about. He just sees the necessity of what he's got to do.

GLNG #21 Art

Nrama: Is Kyle even part of the Corps anymore?

Jordan: Kyle is outside the Green Lantern Corps. He is a separate entity.

So as you were talking about earlier, Hal has absolutely no authority over Kyle. So if he wants Kyle to help him do something, he's got to appeal to Kyle in a reasonable way, not in a command hierarchy kind of way.

And that's actually going to relate to the book as we go on. One of the things Kyle is going to be figuring out within the book is, what is his role relative to the Green Lantern Corps? What should he be doing? What can he do? What is the best use of the abilities that he has?

And it won't necessarily always be working with the Corps. That might not be how things shake out for Kyle.

Nrama: Solicitations indicate you're dealing with a "major Green Lantern villain." Is that Relic? Which is what most people are assuming. Or do you have another threat in this comic?

Jordan: There are a couple of new villains who won't be necessarily what you expect them to be, I think, in the first few issues. That's my non-spoilery way of addressing that.

Nrama: While Green Lantern: New Guardians has starred Kyle since it launched back in 2011, it had almost an ensemble cast for awhile. Who's the cast going to be going forward?

Jordan: Kyle is still the main character. We'll see Carol Ferris from time to time, and possibly more than that from time to time. And we will get to learn a lot more about the Templar Guardians than we've probably learned about most of the Guardians thus far.

GLNG #21 Art

Nrama: Can you tell us more about what we'll see from the Templar Guardians? Is this book where we'll learn more about them and how they fit into the Green Lantern universe going forward?

Jordan: I will tell you that there is a very good reason it is called "New Guardians."

Nrama: Ah, so that's why you've given teases in the past that "New Guardians" would be "more literal" when you took over the book. So these Templar Guardians play a big role in your book?

Jordan: Yes.

Nrama: Are all the Green Lantern books going to be working in conjunction with each other as you kick off these new directions with new creative teams? Or are you trying to say, "OK, Kyle has this mission, so we're going off on our own for a little bit?"

Jordan: Initially, there's going to be some overlap. After we get through the first few issues, we're going to be a lot more separate, just because of the nature of what Kyle's trying to do won't overlap with what the other Corps do as often.

So both.

Nrama: We also saw that Sayd and Ganthet still exist in some way. Is that going to play a role at all in your book?

Jordan: Not in the near future.

Nrama: Then let's talk about Brad Walker, because we're looking at some of his interior pages for the first time. What's he bringing to the book?

Jordan: A high level of awesome! I have to say, I've been looking at the pages as they come in and Brad's just really kicking ass. And it's one of those things you don't necessarily get with all artists. When you're going into it, you don't know how well your scripts are going to click with their styles.

But thus far, Brad and I seem to be working together really well. He's really getting what I was going for, and in many cases even doing something that was even cooler than what I had in my head, which is generally what I'm looking for in an artist, you know? Someone who can actually make me look, you know, competent.

Nrama: Then as a final question, if someone was thinking about checking out Green Lantern: New Guardians for the first time, how would you describe the comic? How would you tell them about what they'll see over the first six months or so?

Jordan: What they're going to see during the first six months is a cancer on the face of space-time, which I realize sounds really cryptic, but you'll understand when you read the first issue.

One of the things we want to do with New Guardians is explore the DC Universe away from earth. And so we will look at some of the pre-existing races, and we'll be looking at new new alien races. So we'll see some really new and old faces appearing as we look at what the DC Universe is like, outside of what we generally see.

For Kyle in particular, he's going to be trying to solve the question of, "I've got all this power. I've got these abilities. What is the best way for me to use them? What does it mean for me to be the White Lantern? Where can I do the greatest good?" And that answer's not always going to be obvious.