World Famous Comics: The Golden Age Green Lantern Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)
The Golden Age Green Lantern Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)
By: Bill Finger Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 224 Publication Date: May 01, 1999 Release Date: May 01, 1999 Studio: DC Comics
Product Description: After finding a mystical lantern and carving a ring out of its material, Alan Scott was transformed from a simple engineer into the legendary hero Green Lantern. The iconic predecessor to the many heroes that bore his name after him, Scott wielded magic-based powers and suffered from a vulnerability to wood. This hardcover archive edition, which collects Scott's earliest adventures from the 1930's, includes Green Lantern's first appearance, his origin, and the debut of his friend and confidant Doiby Dickles.
Classic Reprints of a Comic-book Stalwart ^ When I first started reading comic books, my only exposure to super-heros up to that point had been through other media, specifically the cartoon "The Super Friends". Imagine my surprise to learn that there was more than ONE of nearly every Super Friend in the comic books. Adding to my confusion was the fact that these counterparts lived on a parallel Earth, and that some, like Superman and Batman, were identical to the heroes I knew, but that others, like Flash and Green Lantern, were entirely different from the characters I watched Saturday mornings.
It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on: the heroes of the forties, the more famous revisions in the late 50s and early 60s, and the fact that after 1985, SOME of that didn't matter anymore. The Superman and Batman of Earth 2 were gone, but the GL and Flash remained along side their more famous Silver Age counterparts. And, for the most part, they retain a strong measure of popularity in their own right, co-starring in DC's monthly "JSA", as well as playing supporting roles throughout the comic book line. AND, for the most part, their golden age adventures were still part of continuity.
So it was with great eagerness that I picked up and read "The Golden Age Green Lantern Archives". And I must say I am pleased. Now, there are some basic caveats that go along with reading comics from the golden age. Character development is minimal; plot rules all. Art is mostly simple and cartoony. Narration is always needlessly elaborate (don't say in one word when you can say it in seven). Continuity is negligible. Taken in that spirit, the Golden Age Green Lantern is a treat.
For those not familiar, Green Lantern is really Alan Scott, the lone survivor of a train wreck, saved by a magical lantern. This lantern originally came to earth as a meteorite, which was molded by a Chinese lamp-maker into a lamp. It made its way across the centuries, before landing in Scott's lap, bringing first death (by killing the superstitious peasants who murdered the lamp-maker), life (restoring sanity to an asylum inmate), and finally, to Alan, power, in the form of a ring which responds to Alan's will, allowing him to do anything he can imagine. It's only weakness is wood. In this way, Green Lantern is unique among golden age heroes, as he actually has a well-thought out origin.
The team of Bill Finger on writing and Marty Nodell on art is, for the most part, a winner. Finger, co-creator of Batman, knew how to tell a story (he was also guilty of overwriting narration). Nodell's art started particularly cartoony, often looking rushed, and out of proportion, and even awful. As the volume (and the months) progress, however, Nodell's artwork improved noticeably, becoming cleaner with some nice instances of detailed line work. Not often, but it is a noticeable improvement.
One of the problems I had with "The Golden Age Starman" was the science fiction hero being saddled with mundane crooks and thugs as villains. Green Lantern has this problem to a minor extent, but it doesn't seem quite as bad. Alan was created from the start as a "people's champion" so to speak. He starts out as an engineer. A gangster is responsible for the train wreck that indirectly gives Alan his powers. Later, Alan joins a radio station, and, rather like Clark Kent, is privy to corrupt politicians, power brokers, loan sharks, and the like. It seems far more intrinsic to the character to battle mundane crooks than it does with Starman.
Alan did have some unique qualities. While Alan was in competition with himself for the affections the lovely Irene, Alan himself was no sop, often tangling with crooks in his civilian identity. Further, like other heroes, he gained a sidekick, but NOT a teenage Robin. Rather, his partner was tough middle-aged cab driver, Doiby (derby) Dickles, who often charged in swinging to a fray while mangling the English language.
Alan continues to be a prominent force in the DC Universe. I'm looking forward to future volumes in this series, particularly the stories that introduced real super-villains. As a continuing stalwart, he deserves it.
Even better than the first volume! ^ I have always made it a habit to tell people about the DC Archive Edition reprints of Golden Age comicbooks. They are a veritable MIRACLE! Without them, it would have been impossible for me to ever read comicbooks from the 1930s and 1940s. You see, time was when comicbooks were not dutifully collected and kept in Mylar bags like today. In fact, they were little more than "read-once-then-use-for-fish-wrappers". More than this, many of these Golden Age comics had very low print runs and were printed on inferior paper due to the paper shortage during the War Years. The DC Archive Editions therefore exist to collect these gems of American Pop-Culture into durable and elegant reprint editions for us today.
The second volume of the Golden Age Green Lantern Archives gives us more stories of Alan Scott (Green Lantern) and his bumbling sidekick, Doiby Dickles. We see in this volume a more confident Alan Scott, who is a lot more comfortable in his role as a mystery-man who helps out. The highlights of this volume are the great, epic four-parters (from GL#2 and GL#3). Book-length stories were very uncommon in the Golden Age. Usually editors get their writers/artists to produce short stories that are usually kept in drawers as "reserved-material". And usually a comic book is made up of four such short stories. Therefore, the editor has a lot of freedom packing in stories from his "reserved-material" should a writer/artist fail to turn in stories in any given month. However, the rare book-length epics (like those collected here) really allows the writer and artist to strut their stuff. Bill Finger and Mart Nodell gives us a great crime mystery in GL#2 and a whimsical adventure to an El-Dorado-like paradise in GL#3.
Other highlights of this volume includes Doiby Dickles discovering GL's secret identity for the first time. The battle against the modern-day Napoleon is collected here also (this is where we learn that Alan Scott's middle name is Wellington). We also see Alan and Irene's first kiss. Overall, the stories in this volume should bring a smile and an occasional tear to you as you read them. They are so simple and yet so endearing.
Irwin Hasen is the regular artist on the All-American comics collected here while Martin Nodell is busy turning in all those four-parter book-length stories in GL#2 and #3. The foreword to this volume is written by that pioneer of Golden Age Fandom, Jerry Bails.
The Original Green Lantern's Debut ^ Artist Martin Nodell created the Golden Age Green Lantern after seeing a railway lantern one night. The stories in this volume are written by the very talented Bill Finger - the "O. Henry of American comic books". This volume includes the very first appearance of the Green Lantern, Alan Scott, in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940) as well as his early stories in that same title and in his own book Green Lantern #1. Includes the first appearance of Irene Miller and Doiby Dickles. See Alan flirt endlessly with Irene and develop a true friendship with Doiby. This volume also includes an essay by Dr. William Moulton Marsten on Will-Power. Marsten is also the inventor of the lie detector and the creator of the original Golden Age Wonder Woman.
One thing that I especially like about the stories in this volume is how most of them are about "real" issues and crime. No super-villains here. No cosmic mumbo-jumbo. Just a person with a gift of power who wants to be helpful to the public. In the 1970s, Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams came up with a series of "Relevance" stories starring the Silver Age Green Lantern and Green Arrow. Those stories were considered revolutionary because by then comics was all about fighting the super-villain of the month. Suddenly, there were stories about real crime, corruption, drugs, religious fanatics and the sort. But then, "Relevance" stories have always been in comics in the 1940s. Especially these Bill Finger penned classics here. Moreover, they appear less "forced" here than in the 1970s works (although I love those Hard-Travelling Heroes stories a lot also).
Interestingly, Alan Scott is still a vital character in today's comics, appearing constantly in the current Green Lantern and JSA series in his original persona (unlike the revamped Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman). Today, he appears very much as a guide and a source of wisdom for the new generation of heroes. Reading about his heroic exploits in these early stories, it's not difficult to see that he is more than qualified to guide us all today to higher aspirations.
Original Lantern gets Green light ^ O.K., O.K. the storyline is a little, well, little. But when the original Lantern goes into action, this book comes alive and is pretty exciting. Even for 1st time readers.
The original green lantern - still the best outfit ^ It was wonderful to see the first stories ever to show the original Green Lantern. Gotta love that costume, particulary odd looking when he is trying to hide in the shadows with that gaudy delight of an outfit.
The art is primitive and generally unimaginative and the stories also show as little imagination, at the beginning at least. They do grow a little more imaginative in the portrayal of the use of his power (generally underused considering what he must have been capable of doing). He needed a powerful and interesting villain, or two. Adding Doiby Dickles seemed to help spice up the stories, though.
It was still wonderful reading these stories as I had never seen a story with the original Green Lantern before the 1960's, outside of his adventures alongside the Justice Society of America. An interesting selection for the DC Archives Series.
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