Alan Scott

For the Australian truck business magnate, see Allan Scott.

Green Lantern
Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern Art by Alex Ross
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	All-American Comics #16 (April 1940)
Created by	Bill Finger Martin Nodell
In-story information
Alter ego	Alan Ladd Wellington Scott
Team affiliations	Justice Society of America, Checkmate, All-Star Squadron, Sentinels of Magic
Notable aliases	White King; Sentinel
Abilities	Flight and energy manipulation, similar to a Green Lantern, which manifest as flame given by the mystical Starheart.

Alan Scott is a fictional hero from the DC Comics universe and the first superhero to bear the name Green Lantern.

Fictional Biography

Discovery

File:All-AmericanComics16.jpg

All-American Comics #16 (Apr, 1940). Art by Sheldon Moldoff.

Thousands of years ago, a mystical "green flame" fell to Earth. The voice of the flame prophesied that it would act three times: once to bring death, once to bring life, and once to bring power. By 1940, after having already fulfilled the first two-thirds of this prophecy, the flame had been fashioned into a metal lantern, which fell into the hands of Alan Scott, a young railroad engineer. Following a railroad bridge collapse, the flame instructed Scott how to fashion a ring from its metal, to give him fantastic powers as the superhero Green Lantern. He adopted a colorful costume (setting himself apart from his successors, as he wore very little green in his outfit) and became a crimefighter.

Scott used his ring to fly, to walk through solid objects (by "moving through the fourth dimension"), to paralyze or blind people temporarily, to create rays of energy, to melt metal as with a blowtorch, and to cause dangerous objects to glow, among other things. He has occasionally used it to create solid objects and force fields in the manner usually associated with fellow Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and to read minds. His ring could protect him against any object made of metal, but would not protect him against any wood or plant based objects. This was said to be because the green flame was an incarnation of the strength of "green, growing things".

During the 1940s, Green Lantern seemed to alternate between serious adventure - particularly when his arch-nemesis, Solomon Grundy, appeared - and light comedy, usually involving his sidekick Doiby Dickles. Toward the end of his Golden Age adventures, he was even reduced to the role of a sidekick to Streak the Wonder Dog, a heroic canine cut from the mold of Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie.

Justice Society of America

Scott was a charter member of the Justice Society of America, beginning 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. He has been a key member of the group ever since.

File:GreenLantern40.jpg

Green Lanterns of two worlds: The Silver Age Hal Jordan (left) meets the Golden Age Alan Scott in Green Lantern #40 (Oct. 1965). Cover art by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson.

Scott was a member of the JSA in 1951 when the team was investigated by the "Joint Congressional Un-American Activities Committee," a fictional organization based on the real-life House Un-American Activities Committee but stated to have been created after the death of Senator Joseph McCarthy on Earth-2. They were accused of possible Communist sympathies and asked to reveal their identities. The JSA declined, and most of the membership retired in the 1950s.

One piece of retroactive continuity fills out Scott's early history: All-Star Squadron Annual #3 states that the JSA fought a being named Ian Karkull who imbued them with energy that retarded their aging, allowing Scott and many others (as well as their spouses) to remain active into the late 20th century without infirmity. The events of that incident also lead to his taking a leave of absence from the JSA, explaining why the character vanished from the roster for a time.

Also, during this period, he and his friend Jay Garrick (a.k.a. the Flash) had an encounter with Abin Sur, the Green Lantern who preceded Hal Jordan; tracking a criminal to Earth, Sur's ring was immobilised by his foe forming a yellow barrier around the ring, necessitating Sur to borrow Alan's ring when he and Jay were knocked unconsious. With the new ring, which lacked a weakness to yellow, Sur was able to take his foe by surprise and defeated him, before returning the ring to Alan and leaving Earth.

The team re-formed in the 1960s with Scott as a member, though little is known of their adventures during this time save for their team-ups with the Justice League of America, of the parallel world Earth-1, and a few cross-universe adventures Scott shared with Earth-1's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.

From the late 1940s to the 1970s, Scott ran the Gotham Broadcasting Company (GBC), which was ruined by creditors. He was temporarily driven mad by the Psycho Pirate, and the rest of the JSA helped him recover. Jay Garrick helped him start a new career as a scientist, although he eventually regained control of the GBC and is still running it to this day.

Progeny

It was eventually revealed that in the late 1950s or early 1960s, Scott married the woman with the dual identity Rose and Thorn, and the two had a pair of children who would grow up to become the superheroes Jade and Obsidian of the team Infinity Inc..

In the 1980s, Scott married his longtime nemesis (now reformed), Molly Mayne, a.k.a. The Harlequin, and reconciled with his son and daughter.

Post-Crisis

Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, which merged all parallel realities into one, the source of Scott's power would be retconned to be the mystical "Starheart", the gathered magical characteristics of the Earth-1 Universe by the Oan Guardians of the Universe. This collective force was hidden in the heart of a star and became sentient, and also helped retard Scott's aging process. Another story implied a connection to an ancient member of the Green Lantern Corps. A later story brought back the Starheart, although it was kept in the single post-Crisis universe.

Eventually, Scott and of the rest of the Society disappeared for years, transported to another dimension fighting in an eternally recurring Ragnarok. They were eventually rescued, and continued activity until a disastrous battle with the villain Extant, during which Scott was physically aged to a point closer to his actual age, prompting him to semi-retirement.

For a time, the Starheart became part of Scott's body and he adopted the name Sentinel, becoming a founding member of a new JSA. Thanks to the rejuvenative properties of the Starheart, Scott's physical body was again temporarily revitalized so that he resembled a man in his 30s or early 40s. He has since has been physically altered again so that he more closely resembles his true chronological age. He continues to fight crime in his original costumed identity, using a ring again, serving as an elder statesman to the JSA and to the superhero community in general.

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The death of Jade. Art by Ivan Reis.

Infinite Crisis and One Year Later

Template:Spoilers During the Infinite Crisis, Scott and his daughter Jade, along with many others, traveled with Donna Troy to the center of the universe to save the universe from an unknown threat; later revealed to be Alexander Luthor, Jr.. Jade died on that mission. One Year Later, he appears to be still active, still relatively youthful in comparison to his true age, but now wears an eye-patch due to losing his eye in a Zeta beam transporter accident while returning from space. During the missing year, Scott has joined Checkmate at the rank of White King. Scott assigned his JSA teammate Mister Terrific as his bishop.

Scott soon finds himself in a moral conflict with Black Knight Sasha Bordeaux over the violent nature of Checkmate, particularly after Bordeaux and her team slaughter dozens of Kobra operatives during a raid on a facility. Bordeaux contends that the ends justifies the means, while Scott adheres to the principle that heroes should not kill unless absolutely necessary; Bordeaux responds to this by suggesting that Scott resign. Concurrent with this internal conflict, Scott and "White Queen" Amanda Waller are trying to keep the organization from being discontinued by political forces.

The fourth issue of the 52 maxi-series reveals that Scott lost his left eye during a period when he and several other superheroes had been declared missing (approximately 11 months prior to the events of Checkmate #1). The Zeta Beam Adam Strange was hoping to use for teleporting the heroes in space away from the time-space ripple caused by Alexander Luthor, Jr. actions was splintered by the ripple itself, mutilating the heroes in various ways. Somehow, both Adam Strange and Alan Scott lost their eyes. Alan then somehow gained Adam's right eye and lost his left eye completely.

His missing eye was later replaced by a portion of his daughter Jade's mystic green energy. After being put into a comatose state during an attack by the Gentleman Ghost, Jade appeared to him, told him goodbye and granted him another portion of her green energy. His missing eye is currently replaced by a green glowing orb that, due to its mystical origins and connection to Jade, allows him to track astral and mystical energy forms such as ghosts. Template:Endspoilers

Other versions

• In Alex Ross's Kingdom Come, Alan Scott has reclaimed the mantle of Green Lantern and forged green armor seemingly powered by the Starheart. Throughout the course of the story, it is revealed that Alan has established a city that orbits the Earth, which he has dubbed New Oa. Alan joins with Superman in the new Justice League and saves a number of heroes from an atomic explosion at the end of the miniseries by shielding them with his Green Lantern powers. In the epilogue of the miniseries, Alan is shown joining the United Nations as the ambassador of the sovereign nation of New Oa.

• Another version of Alan Scott was seen briefly in JSA: The Unholy Three as a post-WW2 agent called the Lantern whose use of his power ring was invaluable to the intelligence community for its ability to discern truth from lies. The ring and Alan's hand were destroyed by a Superman gone rogue.

• In the Justice League animated series episode Legends, the producers used characters similar to the Golden Age Justice Society of America (they were unable to use the real Golden Age characters due to copyright restrictions). The character Green Guardsman was the analog of Green Lantern. Green Guardsman's real name is Scott Mason (the "Scott" being an obvious reference to "Alan Scott") and his ring is ineffective against anything made out of aluminum.

• In the Elseworlds tale, Green Lantern: Evil's Might, Alan Scott is depicted as the young leader of a gang called the Bowery Greens.

External links

• Profile on Green Lantern - Comic book historian Alan Kistler's article detailing the history of the various Green Lanterns over the decades, with various art scans and explanations as to the differences in personalities and powers. Detailed history of Alan Scott and how he stayed vital despite the presence of so many successors.
• Unofficial Green Lantern Profile
• History of the character, with a list of significant appearances
• Comprehensive List of Golden and Silver Age Appearances