Superhero Fact #13

Well, it’s finally time to talk about my favourite superhero, Green Lantern. If you only learn one thing from these updates, learn about Green Lantern, because he’s awesome. Green Lantern is a member of the Green Lantern Corps; a group of super-powered heroes that guard the universe. The universe is divided into 3800 sectors, and each GL is assigned on sector to police. Earth falls within sector 2814. The source of a Green Lantern’s power is their ring. This ring’s power is accessed by the wearer’s will, and can be used to create anything the user wills into being. The ring remains charged and useable for 24 hours, at which point it must be charged in a special lantern each GL keeps hidden. This power allows a lot of creativity to be employed, and each GL manifests their powers in different ways. The first Green Lantern of Earth, Hal Jordan, would make anything that made sense; he would create nets when people were falling or needed to be captured, would create a wall to seal of exits, and would make blasts of energy to fire. The next GL, however, was a comic artist, and would make funny/interesting creations, like giant teddy bears, large giants to catch things, or flying horse-drawn chariots. There have been at least 5 different Green Lanterns of Earth to date. The ring is capable of mimicking any known substance, and has been used to create steel, concrete, or even kryptonite. The Green Lantern Corp has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, as Green Lanterns have on occasion gone crazy and started killing other GL to take their rings and increase their power.

               
               While a Green Lantern’s power is based on will, other coloured rings have recently been created, and other groups have formed based on other human emotions. Each group is called “The ____ Lantern Corps” based on the colour of the ring. The first colour was yellow, and was created as a natural nemesis to the Green Lanterns of will. Yellow are the lanterns of fear. In addition, there now exists Red (Rage), Orange (Greed), Blue (Hope), Indigo (Compassion), Violet (Love), Black (Death), and White (Unknown). Each ring’s default power gives the wearer the power of flight, and protective aura, and light construction. The creativity that is able to be used by people with this power is what really appeals to me, and makes me feel as though a Green Lantern’s power is exceptional. If a Green Lantern can imagine it, and has a strong enough will to bring it into being, the possibilities are almost limitless. (So far the only known limitation to date was when a Green Lantern tried to will an entire planet into being and was told by his ring that it did not have sufficient power).

Superhero Fact #12

                Did you know that Superman and the Flash have had races around the world many times throughout comic book history? Flash and Superman can both approach the speed of light it seems, and people in the DC universe were always asking them to race. The first time they did it for charity… but the supervillains all started placing massive bets and using their resources to interfere. For example, at one point, Superman and the Flash are trapped in ice at the South Pole. Superman uses his heat vision to escape, and Flash speeds up his molecules fast enough to heat the ice and melt it. This race ended in a tie. They raced again three or four times over the next thirty years of comic books, and every time it was ended in a tie. However, relatively recently, Flash was trying to sacrifice himself because he thought it would save the other heroes, and Superman was chasing him to try and stop him. While racing, Superman told Flash he’d never be able to escape him because all their previous races had been a tie. Flash then tells Superman that all those other races were for charity and didn’t really matter. Then he kicks it up a notch, and leaves Superman in the dust, officially becoming the fastest superhero in comic history.

Superhero Fact # 11

Did you know that Mr. Fantastic, leader of the Fantastic Four, once almost wiped himself from existence to save Earth? He faced off against Galactus, a being left over from a previous universe that is bigger than a planet. He moves through space, converting planets into energy which he consumes to stay alive. When he came to Earth, and the Fantastic Four were struggling to find a way to stop Galactus, Mr. Fantastic got his hands on a piece of powerful alien technology known as the Ultimate Nullifier. This powerful weapon not only destroys whatever it is targeted at, but can erase them from history, so that no hint of their previous existence remains. The problem is that the Ultimate Nullifier also targets the wielder when it is activated. Mr. Fantastic basically pointed it at Galactus, told him he was willing to sacrifice himself to save Earth, and waited to see what happened. Galactus finally decided that, being immortal, he would just go away until the Fantastic Four were long dead. Temporary Success!!

Superhero Fact #10

This entry was based on a contest in which I asked for an interesting superhero question.

Given what they can do and what they know, which Supervillain would have the greatest impact if he chose to fight for good?  Which Superhero would be the most detrimental if he chose to fight for evil?

                In both the Marvel and DC universes, the forces of evil are pretty much kept in check. They accomplish much, but realistically, the world is not destroyed and the majority of heroes don’t die. This makes it tough to single out a single person who would have a noticeable effect on the balance of power. My first thought for a supervillain gone good would have been Dr. Doom; he has an entire country, magic, and an army of robots to bring to bear, and those resources would be exceptionally helpful not just for himself, but for any heroes he wanted to help. However, I believe if Doom turned good, he would lose control of his country, and would no longer have the resources. For this reason I have decided that Lex Luthor would have the greatest impact if he fought for good. The heroes side doesn’t need another smasher or mutant; Lex would bring his impressive wealth, brilliance, and political influence to bear, not to mention his high tech gear. Luthor is a frequent enemy of many heroes because he is so cunning. He is a social powerhouse, and though he is strong enough to don a metal suit and fight, he could ultimately enhance almost any hero beyond their current abilities.

                

The superhero that would have the greatest impact was also tied for me, and there are good reasons to go either way. Batman is prepared for almost any situation, so a transition to fighting for evil would span a long period of time in which he would still act as good while bringing down the Justice League from within. Given his knowledge of basically every hero ever, Batman would be poised to go into hiding while aiding every known villain in the world, allowing them to systematically defeat their nemeses. He’d always be one step ahead of the heroes. However, he is just a man, and eventually the heroes would find a way to stop him by working together. For this reason, I declare that Dr. Strange would have the greatest impact if he fought for evil. As the world’s only main source of defence against magical threats, if Strange were to turn on Earth, he would have access to powers no one else would even understand, even Batman. His magical rituals would be so grand and powerful, that he would be able to affect reality without anyone knowing the first thing about stopping him. Thank goodness he’s such a moral character!

 

Superhero Fact # 9

One very strange storyline had Nightcrawler, the blue teleporting X-Man, starting to fall in love with Mystique (the blue shape-shifting Ex-X-Man), and her starting to fall for him. However, as the story progressed, they ended up finding out that Mystique was in fact Nightcrawler’s mother. She thought he was dead, since she had thrown him down a well as a child to spare him a life looking like a blue demon, but his father (actually a demon), saved him. This was a very uncomfortable and unfortunate situation, and they just sort of dropped the whole thing.

                After the credits for the new Captain America movie, we are treated to a sneak peek of some upcoming characters. These characters are twin brother and sister, and one is running around at blinding speeds; this is Quicksilver. Able to run and move extremely fast, he is more often a villain than a hero. His sister is Scarlet Witch, able to cast “hexes” to mess with probability. These twins are son and daughter of Magneto, and are members of his Brotherhood of Mutants.

                Finally, did you know that Mr. Fantastic and The Invisible Woman had a child? Not only did they give birth to a son, but he ended up being one of the most powerful entities in the Marvel universe. Franklin Richards has the ability to warp reality, that is, make any thought come to fruition, even up to a cosmic scale. Early in his life, he created a “pocket universe” that he could go into and manipulate without destroying the fabric of our reality. Pretty sweet power. Bet his parents were jealous.