Tuesday 27 January 2015

The Ballad of Two Green Lanterns


In a city known as Gotham, on a world some call Earth Two

A hero leaps into the air to get a better view

Of a cascading meteor on a fiery assault.

He shoots a beam of energy to bring it to a halt.




Mysteriously the shooting star disappeared before his eyes

And left our hero open mouthed at a marvellous surprise.

The hero was Green Lantern, wood the Achilles of his ring.

Until that fiery meteor gave him power over everything.




Immediately he hatched a plan, hesitation he had none

As he cleaved vibratory barriers to the world some call Earth One.

He vowed to find his counterpart, the Green Lantern of this place

And tell him of the meteor that fell to Earth from space.




His friend deserved to hear the news, he was an amazing fellow

But he had a weakness too you see, it was the colour yellow.

Unfortunately when GL arrived all was not as he had thought

His ring had lost control of wood, his journey was for naught.




An answer was required, decided Earth Two’s Alan Scott,

And so his magic power ring revealed an evil plot.

An immortal was the cause of all, Krona was his name.

He had schemed to use Alan’s powers to further his own game.




Krona had been imprisoned for the evil he had done

And could not escape the meteor unless he travelled to Earth One.

He knew that Alan would go at once to try and help his friend

If he could fix his power ring and bring its weakness to an end.




Krona’s plan had worked, of course. He was once again the master,

He set about to plague the world with disaster after disaster.

Hal Jordan, Lantern of Earth One, leapt to action straight away

To stop the winds and floods and quakes as he tried to save the day.




His Earth Two pal was at his side to lend a helping hand,

For our two heroes were mighty brave, with Will at their command.

But this not the end of things, even as the dust began to settle

Krona had one more trick to play to test the Lantern’s mettle.




He unleashed stupendous mental strength and took over Alan’s body

(Perhaps he liked the hero’s garb, so colourful and gaudy!).

I’m sure this is the fight that fans would like to see,

Green Lantern and Green Lantern locked in adversity.




Hal Jordan was much less impressed, he had no wish to duel

His friend from another world; how could Krona be so cruel?

Even so he joined the fray, a duty to fulfil,

He’d beat the villain, free his chum and show the power of Will.




Alas it was not meant to be, Krona was far too clever.

He used his stolen Lantern powers to scupper Hal’s endeavour.




All the while Alan Scott had hid in Jordan’s ring,

He appeared now in the nick of time to take care of everything.





The two Green Lantern’s merged their thoughts, their brains became as one.

Convinced that joined together, they’d see the scoundrel’s scheme undone.




In the end the simple dupe of switching rings was all was needed.

With Krona beat, the world was saved, our heroes had succeeded!




In a city known as Gotham, on a world some call Earth Two

A hero leaps into the air to get a clearer view

Of a burning meteor on a path of mass destruction.

But it’s no match for his Lantern power, an energy ring construction.





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I hope you enjoyed my little ballad inspired by the parallel world adventure originally told in Green Lantern #40, (vol. 2), 1965. For more fun and frolics from alternate realities and other worlds please click the links below and join the Super-Blog Team-Up as they introduce you to a myriad of mysterious lands and strange places the like of which you have never seen before!




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Chasing Amazing
The Case Against Spider-Man Reign
Superior Spider-Talk
The Case For Spider-Man Reign

A Tale Of Two Cities On The Edge Of Forever
 
Things Are a Little Different Around Here...

Firestorm on Infinite Earths -- Countdown Arena

The Ballad of Two Green Lanterns

The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes
 
X-Men #141 & 142: Days of Future Past
 
The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast (i.e. part of Rolled Spine Podcast)
Epic Comics’ Doctor Zero
 
Marvel & DC's Secret Crossover: Avengers #85–86 (1st Squadron Supreme)
Marvel Comics' Star Comics Line: “Licensed Reality and Parallel Properties”

Altered Reality: The Ultraverse Before and After Black September
 
The Ghost in the Machine: Robocop versus Terminator
 
5 Batmen, 1 Superman, ZERO HOUR







7 comments:

  1. This was a fun entry. I've never had the opportunity to read this issue, so I enjoyed your summary. The artwork on this was very good. I am guessing Gil Kane penciled it. Would you tell us who the writer and inker were?

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    1. Thanks Benjamin. This little masterpiece was produced by the creative team of John Broome, Gil Kane and inker Sid Greene. I'd thoroughly recommend you track down a reprint of GL #40 to read. My post neglects to go into detail on the main crux of the story itself, the secret origins of the Guardians of the Universe. This was the comic that introduced the cosmic hand at the beginning of the universe that continues to be an integral part of Green Lantern lore to this day!

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    2. Nope, I did not know that the "cosmic hand" at the creation of the universe, and Krona violating the laws of time by traveling back to see it, was first introduced in this issue. But it is certainly a now-iconic scene. Dwayne McDuffie even showed the cosmic hand at the end of his Justice League Unlimited episode "The Once and Future Thing," with Chronos racing back to the the beginning of everything, and Batmen & John Stewart racing to try to stop him...

      John Stewart: The Green Lanterns have a legend - no one can see the beginning of time. It's a universal law!

      Batman: Write him a ticket.

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  2. This basically the SBTU "Twas the Night Before Christmas" now! Way to go, man! Spectacular work!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Dean. I had a lot of fun writing the post. Any excuse to wax creative over my favourite silver-age Green Lantern stories. I can't wait to read, view and listen to all the other Super-Blog Team-Up features as well!

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  3. I love this so much ... it makes this round of Super-Blog Team-Up worthwhile all by itself! Just wonderful.

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  4. Agree fully with all my teammates. You for.two years back to back landed the most innovative unique post out there. Very good work! Its what makes Super-Blog Team Up worth doing every quarter!

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