Green Lantern has been one of DC’s biggest heroes since the Golden Age. While he began as a magical hero, the Green Lantern Corps are what readers best associate with the mantle. Heroes like Hal Jordan and John Stewart have been focal points of the DC Universe in some of the company’s best stories. Throughout the decades of their existence, they’ve fought gods, monsters, and even fellow heroes.
The Green Lanterns are charged with safeguarding the universe from a range of threats, and this can sometimes include the good guys. Whether it was through possessions, mind control or just simple brawls, the Green Lanterns aren’t above throwing a punch at one of their allies. Some of the heroes’ greatest stories pitted them in a showdown with other heroes, often showcasing just how powerful the Lanterns are compared to the likes of even Superman.
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10 DCU: Decisions
As is common with the relationship between Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen, DC’s Decisions miniseries explored the political tensions and disagreements between various characters. Of course, the hard-traveling heroes naturally made their way to the forefront of the story as the progressive archer butted heads with the stern Hal Jordan.
Decisions saw Oliver Queen take the plunge into politics when he endorsed a progressive political candidate, leading to a confrontation with Hal Jordan. In a somewhat comedic turn of events, the hot-headed space cop lunged into his arrow-slinging friend, fighting it out in JLA headquarters.
9 Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps #30
Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps was one of the best books of DC’s Rebirth era, capitalizing on the popularity of the titular characters. The series was mainly dedicated to the Lanterns’ fight against Sinestro, the Darkstars and Zod. However, the power of Parallax was also present.
Issue #30 brought Hal Jordan to Earth in an unexpected confrontation with Superman, who was seemingly possessed by the power of fear itself. This fight took up the bulk of the issue until it was revealed that Parallax tricked Hal into perceiving Superman as a villain, with the Man of Steel snapping Jordan out of it with a punch.
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8 World’s Finest #4
During the World’s Finest Nezha arc, the devil possessed several members of the Justice League, including Hal Jordan. When they confronted Batman and Superman, the dynamic duo were left with no choice but to fight, fusing their bodies together to create Superbat.
Under the influence of Nezha, Hal combined his Green Lantern energy with magic, making him a formidable opponent against Superman. This prompted the creation of the Superbat, and the World’s Finest managed to use their own magic to pull Hal’s ring from his finger.
7 Green Lantern: Rebirth
Green Lantern Rebirth was one of the most consequential stories in Green Lantern history due to the resurrection and redemption of Hal Jordan. From the moment he returned (thanks to the power of the Spectre), Jordan was greeted with distruct and skepticism from the heroes of Earth as well as the GLC.
Batman and Hal Jordan had long had their differences, and he was among the heroes who doubted that Jordan’s sacrifice in The Final Night really redeemed him. Towards the end of the story, Hal gave Batman a much-deserved punch to the jaw. It wasn’t the most climactic fight, but it humbled the Dark Knight in a way few heroes have.
6 DC Vs Vampires
DC Vs Vampires followed a simple enough yet enjoyable concept in having many heroes in the DCU become vampires. The story began with the arrival of a man hoping to warn the Justice League of the coming vampire war, and Hal Jordan was first on the scene.
DC Vs Vampires later revealed that Hal was himself a vampire, who used the reflective light of his power ring to shield himself from the sun. The first person to get wise to this was Barry Allen, who tried to stop Hal. The once-heroic Green Lantern became the “patient zero” of the JLA, and set about converting his friends.
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5 Justice League Vs Milestone Heroes
Dwayne McDuffie’s Justice League of America run became a fan-favorite for readers in part because it mirrored the DCAU line-up of the team with the addition of a few extra members. Just as it was in the animated series, John Stewart stepped in as the resident Green Lantern.
In one story, the League met the Milestone heroes, who were under the command of Icon. With the two teams having their own agendas, a fight ensued and Superman and Icon tried to talk things out. When they returned, the League and Milestone heroes were embroiled in a full-blown brawl, with John Stewart being one of the most active participants.
4 Injustice
Based on the videogame of the same name, Injustice: Gods Among Us took place in a version of the DC universe where Superman was driven to villainy after the death of Lois Lane. This led to the heroes of the DCU being forced to take sides, standing with the iron fist of Superman or siding with Batman.
The world of Injustice is effectively the Civil War of DC, and Hal Jordan was swayed to side with Superman, even though he attempted to stop him at the beginning of the story. Throughout the series, the Green Lanterns clashed with one another, fought the Justice League. and a Yellow Ring wielding Hal fought his old friends.
Green Lantern/New Gods: Godhead was created to somewhat mirror Marvel’s many Infinity sagas, with the New Gods acquiring the various Lantern color rings to forge a weapon. Naturally, this put them at odds with just about every Lantern corps, forming unlikely alliances.
One of the best of these conflicts was between Hal Jordan and the champion of New Genesis. Orion is a hero when it comes to the conflict between his adoptive home and Apokolips, but he’s not above clashing with the heroes of Earth to give New Genesis the advantage, as he did with Hal.
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2 Emerald Twilight
“Emerald Twilight” remains the darkest chapter in Green Lantern history thanks to the fall of Hal Jordan to evil when he became Parallax. The story followed Hal’s grief in the aftermath of the destruction of Coast City, prompting him to attack Oa in the hopes of using the Central Battery’s energy to reanimate the dead.
Hal fought his way through every Green Lantern in his path, stealing his old friends’ rings as he defeated them. The most shocking part of the story was when Hal cemented his turn to evil by murdering Kilowog shortly after he finished off Sinestro.
1 Blackest Night
Blackest Night was arguably the best event in Geoff Johns’ seminal Green Lantern run after the return of Hal Jordan. The story followed the arrival of the death-powered Nekron who possessed a number of DC heroes, reanimating some from beyond the grave.
Blackest Night followed the surviving Green Lanterns and other heroes as they banded together to face the Black Lantern versions of their heroic friends. Hal Jordan himself faced undead versions of heroes like Hawkman, Martian Manhunter and other Green Lanterns in his personal fight to help save the universe.
Since the Golden Age of comics, the Green Lanterns have been some of DC’s best heroes. But they’ve also been known to fight their friends. Read More