Green Lantern month continues this week! Last week covered Guy Gardner (and Hal Jordan, kinda). This week, we see Guy again, for a couple of seconds before we’re introduced to the newest recruit in the Corps. Like Guy, he was largely ignored for a while after being introduced. Also like Guy, he became a full-fledged Lantern in the 80’s. His career and history have had more ups and downs, retcons and rewrites than most. He’s endured it all to become one of the most recognized Lanterns in the public eye. Now, I give you… The Secret Origin of Green Lantern John Stewart!

Our story opens with Green Lantern Hal Jordan charging his ring, when all of a sudden an earthquake hits! One thing you have to love about older comics is that they get right down to business! GL gets right to saving people, just like he should. It seems the quake wasn’t too bad. That’s what the narration says anyway. It was still bad enough to totally destroy one of the city’s bridges! Living up to comic book cliché, there is of course a bus full of schoolchildren on the bridge when it’s on the verge of collapse. That bus has a bona fide hero on board, and he manages to get everyone away to safety, except for one little girl. Who is this hero? Well, it’s mild-mannered gym teacher Guy Gardner, of course!

"Got to try my 'Guy the Magic Clown' routine to lift her spirits!"

Actually what Guy does is incredibly brave and completely fearless, just like a Green Lantern should be. He’s calmly trying to help his young charge return to safety, but as fate would have it, the girders holding the bus collapse and the bus full on smacks Guy with all of the force gravity can muster. Hal is on the scene and “saves” them both, but to be honest, he was there before the bus collapsed. I think he’s being negligent in his GL duties. Even though Guy has been saved, he’s pretty banged up…

The least Hal can do is take Guy to the hospital. The docs tell Hal that Guy is lucky to be alive, but even so he’s gonna be bedridden for at least six months! Now, six months in comic time can be an issue or two, or considerably longer. In this case, it is a lot longer. Nine years, to be exact. Hal is actually a bit of a jackass in this scene (no surprise), as he monologues about how he was counting on Guy to take over for him soon. He even goes as far to say that he’s deliberately been neglecting his duties. What a guy! Seriously, if he hadn’t been neglecting his responsibility, Guy wouldn’t have been injured. Jerkwads stick together it seems, because just then a Guardian of the Universe contacts Hal and tells him that another alternate needs to be picked ASAP. Hal of course agrees. The Guardian already has someone picked out, and we’re introduced to him in an oh-so-70’s way…

Tough talk from a guy in an ascot, I must say.

Actually, our potential Lantern was actually taking the initiative to stop a rather racist policeman hauling some neighborhood kids in for playing dominoes. Now knowing how these things go, you might think this pig would physically assault John with some flimsy excuse, but the pig’s partner is actually a well-adjusted type of guy and tells his compatriot that he indeed was in the wrong. Looking in from above, Hal is appalled by the behavior of John, and the Guardian tells his to shut up, because despite Hal’s bigotry, our Mr. Stewart meets all of the qualifications to be a Lantern. Hal asserts that it’s not because of that, but because of the apparent chip John has on his shoulder. Nevertheless, Hal heeds the Guardian and pitches to John, and he accepts, in the silliest way possible.

Little known fact: A milk mustache indicates sincerity.

Hal then proceeds to give John a crash course in Lantern-ology 101. He is introduced to the Oath, and gets his own costume. He immediately eschews the mask, saying he has nothing to hide. As is the case with most Earth-based Green Lanterns, John is pretty adept at flying from the get go. He and Hal are hot-dogging the skyways, when they happen upon the airport. It looks like a bigwig celebrity is landing, so the two Lanterns decide to check it out. It’s a good thing too, because there is a runaway fuel truck going straight for the plane! John shows the initiative and tells Hal to make sure the passengers are safe while he stops the truck. They both succeed, but John wasn’t perfectly gentle with the tanker, and a jet of oil gushes forth and hit the “celebrity” square in the face. Said celebrity is Senator Jeremiah Clutcher, and when John approaches him, well, it’s not to apologize exactly…

John really IS fearless. Talk about ballsy!

Hal is pissed at John for his display, saying the younger Lantern is stupid and irresponsible. He goes on to imply that John didn’t exactly splash the senator by accident. John, full of righteous anger says that he did indeed do it on purpose. He explains that Senator Clutcher is a racist and that his bid for the White House is going to be on the backs of his people. Hal here is actually kind of awesome. He tells John that whether that’s true or not, it isn’t their place to be the Judge. As penance, Hal assigns John to be Clutcher’s bodyguard at the rally. He also tells John not to call him “Whitey” which is perfectly reasonable. The Green Lanterns get to the rally, and John is pretty well justified.

He neglected to tell the audience that the scientific journal he's quoting from is from 1845.

John is all like “See!?” to Hal. Hal tells him to button it, as free speech is unfortunately a two-way street. Just then, shots are fired at the Senator! Hal leaps into action and beckons John to follow, but John says he’s sitting this one out! Hal doesn’t have time to argue, and decides to deal with John’s insubordination later. Hal chases the gunman, wondering why he isn’t using his pistol even though he knows he’s being pursued. Being the punch first and ask questions later type, Hal lays the guy out before he can ask what’s up with that. Meanwhile, an officer on the scene is in the sights of a submachine gun! Luckily the timely intervention of a Green Lantern powered shove saves the boy in blue. Emerald beams of light disable the gun and encase the foolish thug in an impenetrable box of green light. We then find this was all the handiwork of John Stewart, he’s pretty happy with himself for his adept ring-slinging, but someone else is decidedly not.

"How dare you steal credit from me!"

John seems to have an answer for everything, though. John explains he saw both gunmen all the way back at the airport. So when the pistol-packer showed up, John naturally wondered where the dude with the machine gun was. It also turns out that the pistol is filled with blanks. Then, just to make sure Hal comprehends the extent of the plot (and to make him look like the idiot he’s acting like), he just straight-up puts all of his cards on the table.

"Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?"

John goes on to say, with his newfound support, the Senator could easily become President, and thereby use his platform to start another Civil War! While I am sure most politicians would be happy just getting into the White House, this is comics, so I have to side with John’s reasoning. Hal, having seen the light, tells Clutcher that his Senate colleagues are going to have a field day running him out of office. I have to say… That’s all well and good Hal, but um, how about jail? That was certainly a worthy reason to put the guy in a cell for a while. At any rate, his first adventure over John Stewart has a bit of a heart to heart with Hal, and it looks like things are going to be A-OK…

And so, racism was conquered forever! If only...

After this tale, John was actually used a few times as Hal’s alternate. He even served with the JLA on a few occasions! He wouldn’t really come into his own until the Crisis on Infinite Earths. After that, he had his trial of fire when his arrogance caused him to be responsible for the death of a planet. That changed John, and afterward, his guilt drove him to be not only one of the world’s greatest heroes, but also one of the best people in the DCU, period. He was given his due in the mainstream thanks to the Justice League cartoons. These were so successful that the military background the show gave him was integrated into the comics. That’s all well and good, but this version of John is just as valid. You can follow Mr. Stewart’s adventures in the various Green Lantern titles running today, where he serves with distinction.

This story originally appeared in Green Lantern volume 2 #87 January, 1972. It was reprinted in Volume 2 of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection.