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.
****************************************
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!
Amazing Spider-Talk:
Chasing Amazing
The Case Against Spider-Man Reign
Superior Spider-Talk
The Case For Spider-Man Reign
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 Unspoken Decade (1/2)
The Ghost in the Machine: Robocop versus Terminator
The Unspoken Decade (2/2)
5 Batmen, 1 Superman, ZERO HOUR
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?
ReplyDeleteThanks 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!
DeleteNope, 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...
DeleteJohn 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.
This basically the SBTU "Twas the Night Before Christmas" now! Way to go, man! Spectacular work!
ReplyDeleteThanks 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!
DeleteI love this so much ... it makes this round of Super-Blog Team-Up worthwhile all by itself! Just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteAgree 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!
ReplyDelete