Alan Scott - Publication History

Publication History

Alan Scott Born Dec13 1915

The original Green Lantern was created by young struggling artist Martin Nodell. Nodell mentions Richard Wagner's opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung and the sight of a trainman's green railway lantern as inspirations. Nodell chose the name of Alan Scott by flipping through New York telephone books until he got two names he liked. The result was a superhero who wielded a variety of magical powers from a magic ring, which he regularly recharged from a green lantern. For the costume of the character, Nodell wanted a colorful and interesting costume; because of his interest in Greek mythology, the costume took on elements of that.

Nodell was teamed with writer Bill Finger by editor Max Gaines to write the title. Together, they worked seven years on it.

The character of Alan Scott made his debut in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940). The character proved popular, and he was given his own title later that year. He also appeared as part of the Justice Society of America in All Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940). He served as the team's second chairman, in #7, but departed following that issue and returned a few years later and remained a regular character. His villains tended to be ordinary humans, though he did have a few paranormal villains such as Vandal Savage and Solomon Grundy.

In 1941, Alan Scott was paired with a sidekick named Doiby Dickles, a rotund Brooklyn taxi driver. Doiby was not a big hit with readers and stopped appearing the following year. In 1948, Alan was paired with a canine sidekick named Streak. The dog proved so popular that he starred in his own solo side-stories.

After World War II, superheroes declined in popularity. Green Lantern was cancelled in 1949 after 38 issues, All-American Comics dropped superheroes in 1948 in favor of westerns, and his final Golden Age appearance was in All-Star Comics #57 (1951). He would remain out of publication for 12 years, and even after his revival he never got another solo series.

In 1959, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz reinvented the Green Lantern as a science fiction hero. The new Green Lantern, named Hal Jordan, was empowered by alien masters to serve as an interstellar lawman and had many adventures set in outer space. His powers were similar to Alan's but otherwise he was completely unrelated—the new stories did not even acknowledge Alan Scott. Hal Jordan proved popular, though this would not spell the end for the Alan Scott character. Alan Scott reappeared as a guest star in The Flash #137 (1963). To avoid continuity conflicts with the Hal Jordan character, he was treated as residing in a parallel universe where he could have independent adventures. For most of the 1960s and 1970s, he made guest appearances in books belonging to Silver Age characters, visiting their universe through magical means. In 1976, he appeared regularly alongside his Justice Society comrades in the revived All-Star Comics and later Adventure Comics in stories set in the modern day (1970s). In 1981, DC launched All-Star Squadron, which featured Alan Scott and the Justice Society in a World War 2 setting.

In 1986, DC Comics merged all of its fictional characters into a single setting. Alan Scott now shared the same fictional world as Hal Jordan. DC decided to write the character out of continuity in a one-shot book entitled Last Days of the Justice Society, in which he was forever trapped in an extra-dimensional realm. The character was nonetheless revived in the 1990s due to fan interest. Rather than update Alan Scott as a contemporary young hero as had been done with Batman and Superman, DC portrayed him instead as a veteran of World War II with a magically-prolonged lifespan. To distinguish Alan Scott from Hal Jordan, his superhero codename was for a time changed to "Sentinel" and he lost his magic ring, manifesting his powers through his glowing hands instead. In JSA #50 (2003) he regained his classic codename and ring, though he remained apart from Hal Jordan's Green Lantern Corps. He was a regular character in JSA and Justice Society of America.

In 2011, DC Comics again rebooted their fictional properties, and once again Alan Scott has been relegated to a parallel world which he does not share with Hal Jordan. The new Alan Scott is no longer a grizzled veteran of World War II, but a fresh young superhero. He first appears in Earth 2 #1 (2012). His costume has been completely redesigned into a sleek, solid green suit with no cape.