When I work at the comic store (Gatekeeper Hobbies, Huntoon & Gage, Topeka!), I am generally considered the go-to guy for comics trivia of the Silver and Bronze Ages of comics, but this has also led to the unfortunate perception (read: My boss likes to needle me) that I hate modern comics, especially those of the 1990s. While it’s true that the excesses of the 90s led to a lot of crap comics being produced, it’s only noticeable compared to the previous two decades because of the massive expansion in number of books produced. Moreover, a great many excellent characters came out of that blighted leather-and-shoulderpads decade, including Kyle Rayner, my favorite non-John Stewart Green Lantern. Maybe it’s his pig-headed adoption of some of the ugliest costumes in the history of comics, maybe it’s the way he refused to accept that he was the last bastion of an ancient alien tradition, maybe it was his wonderful friendship with Wally West. Something about the young graphic artist came to grow on me, and when Hal Jordan came back to reclaim his crown due to editorial caveat, I was glad to see that Kyle wasn’t murdered, maimed or otherwise swept under the carpet like so many of his DC legacy peers. My appreciation of the boy in the Tupperware mask is strong enough, even to beg today’s will-powered query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, “Guh-noort”) has the power to consume great amounts of ribs, and thus gets a ring of the JR’s BBQ Corps, asking: Who is the greatest Green Lantern of them all who is NOT named Hal Jordan?
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Alan Scott. The fact that he was the original will always mean a lot to me.
I always will say Guy Gardner is the best, and I really like where they’ve grown the character to where he’s just not a complete jerk, but rather a rough boisterous guy (some pun intended) who can be counted on when push comes to shove. Following that’s John Stewart, mainly for the awesome portrayal by Phil Lamar, and so much can be said, and has.
Isn’t that question a bit redundant? Green Lantern has been my favorite comic concept since I was a kid, but Hal was never part of the equation. I always looked forward to GL stories featuring any other GL member (The old Green Lantern Corps Quarterly that told tales of various lanterns past, present and occasionally future from the Book of Oa was among my favorite comic series ever).
I know G’nort isn’t the greatest, but he’s definitely one of my favorites. And hey, he’s better than Hal!
I honestly can’t pick a single “greatest” GL. There are many that are great, but each for their own reasons.
John Stewart.
Doctor Spectrum. Who was obviously a Green Lantern the whole time! His smile was a thin disguise.
DC animated John Stewart is my Green Lantern.
The same is pretty much true for Batman and The Flash.
Saints Walker ..-Oh! “Green” Lantern? The one and only Kyle Rayner of course.