DC Turned Hal Jordan Evil 32 Years Ago, And It Made Green Lantern Better

Image courtesy of HBO Max Published Sep 19, 2026, 3:30 PM EDT Shaun Corley has been with ScreenRant for over 5 years, and is currently the Coordinator for PR and Outreach for the Comics Team. Sign in to your ScreenRant account DC turned Hal Jordan evil 32 years ago, and it somehow made the Green Lantern franchise better. While there have been many to wield the Power Ring, Hal Jordan is the best known. The arrogant but sensitive flyboy Jordan established a legacy that DC nearly tore down in the early 1990s. Hal Jordan debuted as Green Lantern in 1959's Showcase #22, and was created by John Broome and Gil Kane. One of the flagship characters at DC during comics’ Silver Age, Hal Jordan was the first human to become a Green Lantern. There had been a Green Lantern before, in the Golden Age, but Jordan was a completely new character. Furthermore, the Green Lantern concept was reworked: now, there was an entire army of Lanterns, culled from all sectors of the cosmos. Under the watchful eyes of the Guardians of the Universe, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps worked together to keep the peace. Yet by the beginning of the 1990s, the franchise’s glory days seemed to be past, and thus DC editorial decided to do something about it. At the same time, DC was having massive luck shaking up some of their biggest guns, such as Batman in Knightfall and the Man of Steel in The Death of Superman. Interestingly enough, it would be the latter story that sent Hal Jordan careening down a dark path he almost never returned from. Sector 2814 · Corps Edition How Well Do You KnowGreen Lantern Lore? 🌟CorpsProtect 💎RingsPower ☠VillainsFear 💡LanternsWill 🌌UniverseOa IN BRIGHTEST DAY... → 01 The Green Lantern Corps is an intergalactic peacekeeping force powered by the emotional spectrum. Each Green Lantern’s ring is fueled by a specific emotion. Which emotion powers the Green Lantern rings? AHope BCourage CWillpower DLove ✓ Correct! Willpower is the green light on the emotional spectrum, sitting at the very center. The Guardians of the Universe chose willpower because it is the most stable and disciplined of all emotions, making it the ideal force for a peacekeeping corps that spans 3,600 sectors of space. ✗ Your ring’s charge is low on that one! The answer is Willpower. Hope powers the Blue Lantern Corps, Love fuels the Star Sapphires, and Courage isn’t a force on the emotional spectrum. Willpower — the green light — is the foundation of every construct a Green Lantern creates. NEXT → 02 The most famous Green Lantern in DC Comics is a test pilot from Coast City who was chosen by a dying alien’s ring to become the Green Lantern of Sector 2814. Who is this character? AJohn Stewart BGuy Gardner CKyle Rayner DHal Jordan ✓ Correct! Hal Jordan was introduced in Showcase #22 (1959), inheriting the ring from the dying alien Abin Sur. As a fearless test pilot, Hal was the perfect candidate — his indomitable willpower made him one of the greatest Green Lanterns in the history of the Corps. ✗ Your ring’s charge is low on that one! The answer is Hal Jordan. John Stewart is a fellow Earth Lantern and architect, Guy Gardner is the brash backup Lantern, and Kyle Rayner became a Lantern after Hal’s fall. But Hal Jordan is the test pilot from Coast City who defined the modern Green Lantern legacy. NEXT → 03 The Green Lantern Corps is headquartered on a planet at the center of the universe, where the Guardians of the Universe reside. What is the name of this planet? AMaltus BOa CMogo DZamaron ✓ Correct! Oa sits at the center of the DC Universe and serves as the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps. It houses the Great Battery — the Central Power Battery that channels willpower energy to every Lantern ring across all 3,600 sectors of space. ✗ Your ring’s charge is low on that one! The answer is Oa. Maltus is the Guardians’ original homeworld before they migrated, Mogo is a sentient planet that is itself a Green Lantern, and Zamaron is the home of the Star Sapphires. Oa is the iconic green-tinged world at the heart of it all. NEXT → 04 Sinestro was once the greatest Green Lantern before he was corrupted by his own desire for order and control. He created his own corps powered by a different emotion on the emotional spectrum. What emotion powers Sinestro’s yellow rings? ARage BAvarice CFear DDeath ✓ Correct! The Sinestro Corps wields yellow rings powered by fear. Sinestro believed that fear was a more effective tool for maintaining order than willpower, and he recruited the most terrifying beings in the universe to prove it. The Sinestro Corps War remains one of the greatest Green Lantern storylines. ✗ Your ring’s charge is low on that one! The answer is Fear. Rage powers the Red Lanterns, Avarice (greed) fuels the Orange Lantern Larfleeze, and Death powers the Black Lanterns. Sinestro’s yellow rings channel fear — the direct opposite of willpower on the emotional spectrum. NEXT → 05 The Green Lantern ring is one of the most powerful weapons in the DC Universe. It can create solid constructs of green light shaped by the wearer’s imagination. What is the ring’s one notable weakness in classic stories? AWater BThe color yellow CDarkness DMagic ✓ Correct! For decades, the Green Lantern ring was powerless against anything colored yellow. This “yellow impurity” was later revealed to be caused by Parallax, the fear entity, imprisoned within the Central Power Battery on Oa. Once Parallax was removed, experienced Lanterns could overcome the weakness. ✗ Your ring’s charge is low on that one! The answer is the color yellow. Water was the weakness of the original Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott (whose ring was magic-based), not the Corps rings. The classic Silver Age weakness was yellow — leading to many creative villain strategies involving yellow objects. NEXT → 06 John Stewart is a prominent Green Lantern who became a household name through his role in the Justice League animated series (2001–2006). Before becoming a Green Lantern, what was John Stewart’s profession? AScientist BMilitary officer / Marine CPolice officer DArchitect ✓ Correct! John Stewart was an architect before becoming a Green Lantern, which is reflected in his precise, structurally detailed ring constructs. While some later adaptations added a military background, his classic comic book profession is architect — and it shapes how he uses the ring in beautifully engineered ways. ✗ Your ring’s charge is low on that one! The answer is Architect. While the Justice League animated series gave John a Marine background, his original and most iconic profession in the comics is architect. This is why his ring constructs are known for their precise, detailed engineering — he literally designs them. NEXT → 07 The emotional spectrum in DC Comics features seven corps, each tied to a different color and emotion. Which corps is powered by rage and wields red rings? AThe Sinestro Corps BThe Red Lantern Corps CThe Orange Lantern Corps DThe Black Lantern Corps ✓ Correct! The Red Lantern Corps, led by Atrocitus, is fueled by pure rage. Their rings replace the wearer’s blood with burning red plasma, and they vomit corrosive napalm-like blood as a weapon. Atrocitus founded the corps to seek vengeance against the Guardians for the Manhunter massacre of Sector 666. ✗ Your ring’s charge is low on that one! The answer is The Red Lantern Corps. The Sinestro Corps wields yellow rings of fear, the Orange Lantern is Larfleeze alone (powered by avarice), and the Black Lanterns are undead entities. The Red Lantern Corps, led by Atrocitus, channels pure burning rage. NEXT → 08 Parallax is one of the most significant threats in Green Lantern lore. It is the living embodiment of fear and has possessed multiple Green Lanterns. In the iconic “Emerald Twilight” storyline, which Green Lantern did Parallax corrupt and drive to destroy the Corps? AKyle Rayner BJohn Stewart CHal Jordan DGuy Gardner ✓ Correct! In “Emerald Twilight” (Green Lantern #48–50, 1994), a grief-stricken Hal Jordan — devastated by the destruction of Coast City — was corrupted by Parallax. He defeated every Green Lantern in his path, drained the Central Power Battery, and destroyed the Corps, becoming the villain Parallax. Geoff Johns later revealed that the fear entity had possessed Hal all along. ✗ Your ring’s charge is low on that one! The answer is Hal Jordan. After Coast City was destroyed by Mongul and the Cyborg Superman, Hal’s grief made him vulnerable to Parallax. He marched through the Corps, defeated every Lantern, and absorbed the Central Battery’s power. Kyle Rayner received the last ring after Hal’s fall, becoming the sole Green Lantern for years. REVEAL MY SCORE → Ring Scan Complete Your Power Level / 8 Are you worthy of the ring — or does your willpower need recharging? ↻ RECHARGE THE RING Emerald Twilight Was A New Beginning For Green Lantern Released in 1994, Emerald Twilight seemingly brought Hal Jordan’s days as a heroic Green Lantern to an end. In Green Lantern #46, by Gerard Jones and Mark Bright, Green Lantern helps Superman, Steel, Superboy and Supergirl take down Mongul and the Cyborg Superman, who have destroyed Hal’s home of Coast City, killing millions and replacing it with the grotesque Engine City. The issue was a tie-in to the then ongoing Reign of the Supermen story. Then, in Green Lantern #48, new writer Ron Marz teamed with Bill Willingham to begin Jordan’s descent into darkness. Deep in grief over Coast City’s destruction, Jordan tries to use his powers to bring his home back. The Guardians, angered over Jordan’s misuse of the Ring, summon him to Oa for punishment. Jordan takes off for Oa. Along the way, though, he massacres every Green Lantern comes across, including former allies like Kilowog. Emerald Twilight came to a shocking end in Green Lantern #50, by Marz and Daryl Banks. Jordan has decimated the Corps’ ranks, and in a desperate “Hail Mary” move, the Guardians free Sinestro. However, Jordan kills him, as well as the rest of the Guardians, saving Ganthet. Jordan absorbs the power of the Central Battery, adopting a new appearance in the process. Jordan then disappears to parts unknown, and Ganthet passes the final Ring to a visibly confused Kyle Rayner. After DC Turned Jordan Evil, Earth Got A New Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Emerald Twilight's Creative Team Made The Best Of A Bad Situation The Green Lantern fan community was stunned when Emerald Twilight hit shops in early 1994. Hal Jordan had been a pillar of not only the Corps, but the Justice League as well. Jordan’s exploits across the universe were legendary. He saved many lives and had many friends, but in three issues, DC brought it all to a shocking end by turning Jordan into a villain who slaughtered his friends. In the aftermath, there was a new Green Lantern: the aforementioned Kyle Rayner. Unlike every other Green Lantern before him, Rayner had no one to train him in how to use his ring, and had to learn on his own. Unfortunately, Rayner had little time to truly prepare, as his first brush with a supervillain culminated in the gruesome death of his girlfriend. While her murder is today viewed as highly problematic, at the time it was a sign that a new era in Green Lantern’s history had begun. The term "fridging," in which a woman character is killed to spur the development of the male hero, traces it roots to the murder of Alex, Kyle Rayner's girlfriend. And while not everyone was happy with the way DC treated Hal Jordan, they still flocked to Kyle Rayner’s adventures. Ron Marz made the best of a bad hand, and made Rayner intensely likable. Marz was working under a heavy editorial mandate when he penned Emerald Twilight, and on top of that was dealing with irate Hal Jordan fans. These were not ideal circumstances, yet Marz and his collaborators rose to the challenge and breathed new life into the Green Lantern mythos. Green Lantern's 2000s Resurgence Owes A Debt To Emerald Twilight Kyle Rayner would reign as Earth’s Green Lantern for the remainder of the 1990s. He joined the JLA and came into his own as a hero. He made friends with the Flash (Wally West) and Green Arrow (Connor Hawke) and even found love again. By the turn of the century, DC began reestablishing key bits of Green Lantern lore, such as the Corps. It felt like it was only a matter of time before Hal Jordan returned to the land of the living. That moment arrived in 2004’s Green Lantern: Rebirth #1, by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. Jordan, who had been the latest host for the Spectre, returned to life and resumed his role as Earth’s Green Lantern. It was revealed that, during Emerald Twilight, Jordan’s grief made him susceptible to the influence of an evil entity known as Parallax. Parallax took control of Jordan’s mind, and used him to eliminate the Green Lantern Corps. At the same, Guy Gardner and John Stewart returned to the Corps as well. By the late 2000s, the Green Lantern franchise was on fire again, thanks to the buildup to The Blackest Night. By the late 2000s, the Green Lantern franchise was on fire again, thanks to the buildup to The Blackest Night. This massive, wide-line event picked up threads that truly began in Emerald Twilight and brought them to a conclusion. The event was a major success, reviving interest in Green Lantern. The character’s successes in the last 32 years would not have been possible had Hal Jordan been a good guy.