Superheroes questions - random thoughts

[Drowbane]

Disclaimer: I never read the Green Lantern series comics...

Facts (?)~
1) IIRC, the Lanterns cannot effect / are powerless against Yellow.
2) Superman is powered by the light of the Yellow Sun.
3) Superman is vulnerable to Magic.

Question~
1) Can the Green Lantern(s) affect Superman?
2) Are the Lanterns considered "Magic"?
3) Has this ever come up in the Comics?

 

[Doug McCrae]

Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, had a magic ring. He was a Golden Age character. Then in the Silver Age a lot of magic got turned into technology, thus the SA Green Lantern's ring was technological, though you could apply Clarke's Law.

I think the current comics have removed the limitation regarding the colour yellow, though they may have reinstated it since I last looked. They probably thought it was a bit silly. The first GL could not affect wood incidentally.

Superman isn't yellow so is affected by the Power Ring. He could gain immunity by painting himself or otherwise becoming yellow.

The best idea ever in GL is Larry Niven's story where Hal Jordan uses the red shift effect to turn his ring's green beam yellow and zap an opposing Lantern.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I am far from a Green Lantern expert, but my recollection is that one Green Lantern's power was ineffective against the yellow, another's was ineffective against wood (don't ask me why, I have no idea).

Superman's powers are a result of the yellow sun, but what does that have to do with Green Lantern. They can't shut off the sun, so why would it affect Superman's power?

Green Lantern's ring is referred to as a "power ring" and produces its effects from the bearer's will power. I don't think it is considered a magical effect.

Just found on Wikipedia a note that in 2006, they retconned the ineffectiveness against yellow so that if a Green Lantern knows and can overcome fear, he can affect yellow items.

 

[SteelDraco]

The Green Lantern rings aren't magic, they're technology. Basically, they can create energy blasts and solid objects made from green energy. That's what they do. There are a few other, minor powers - the rings themselves are kind of computers, including communicating with each other and translating, but mostly they emit the green energy.

Current Green Lantern rings aren't particularly vulnerable to anything. The current generation of GLs - there are lots of them; it's essentially a military/peacekeeping organization - has been trained to overcome the vulnerability to yellow. There's a whole story about it, but it boils down to the Guardians, who made the rings, imprisoning a great big yellow demon in the power battery that powers the rings. This made the rings vulnerable to the color yellow. Now that the Lanterns know about this, they can compensate for it.

Huh. Put like that, the story sounds kind of stupid. I actually thought it was told quite well, but it's fairly steeped in the mythology of the Silver Age GL stuff. I'm not sure if you'd enjoy GL: Rebirth without having read some of that.

Superman isn't really troubled by someone with a Green Lantern ring. Since they essentially make solid objects and non-magical energy blasts, he can mostly tear through them with impunity.

 

[Karlson_the_red]

Alan Scott's ring belonged to the previous GL of our sector of space. He was an alien, who resembled a dragon creature of sorts. When he arrived on Earth, during the feudal period in China, he saw the violence of the people and sought to establish law and order through the force of the ring. The Guardians saw what happened but was too late to stop his take over, so it was then, they implimented the weakness against wood. The people rioted, using the simpliest of weapons, they fought against him. The GL found his ring did not work against the wood and was caught off guard and defeated. The guardians then tried to punish him, but he fell to earth as a meteor. As he fell, he repented and saw the error of his ways. His ring and his power battery were seperated when he fell. It was not until both items found themselves in San Fransico did Alan Scott become the new GL.

The guardians then decided to put a weakness in the rings so that no bearer of the rings could become that powerful again.

Superman is vunerable to magic just like everyone else, who isn't magical. It is just the fact he is near invunerable to everything else that it accented.

The best use of the ring still has to be in the old cartoon "Superfruends" when Gl and supes, using GL's ring combined into one being of immense power to stop a cosmic villian.

Karlson

 

[Shayuri]

So! In summary:

1) IIRC, the Lanterns cannot effect / are powerless against Yellow.

-- Used to be, not so anymore.

2) Superman is powered by the light of the Yellow Sun.

- Yep.

3) Superman is vulnerable to Magic.

-- Yep.

Question~
1) Can the Green Lantern(s) affect Superman?

-- Yep. But not with any special effectiveness. The stronger the Lantern's will, the stronger the effects he can create, but Superman isn't at any special disadvantage against a Lantern.

2) Are the Lanterns considered "Magic"?

-- Not for a long time.

3) Has this ever come up in the Comics?

-- If you want to see a tussle between Superman and a whole corps of Green Lanterns, check out Red Son. Supes wins.

 

[Edheldur]

The current generation of GLs - there are lots of them; it's essentially a military/peacekeeping organization - has been trained to overcome the vulnerability to yellow. There's a whole story about it, but it boils down to the Guardians, who made the rings, imprisoning a great big yellow demon in the power battery that powers the rings. This made the rings vulnerable to the color yellow. Now that the Lanterns know about this, they can compensate for it.

Just to add something: the thing trapped inside the power battery is basically fear manifested, and GL must face and defeat their fears in order to affect yellow things. So, only the most experienced GLs can do that. Incidentally, that's why Hal Jordan had gray hair.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

Alan Scotts ring is magic. It is a piece of the Star heart. A magical substance that the guardian of the Universe (Oan's) stored up cause it was too wild I guess would be the term.
I think at one point he didnt even need the ring and the Green Flame was apart of him. Not sure if thats true anymore. He does however, possess a true lantern ring from the Guardians. Dont know if he uses it or not.

Yellow was apart of fear and the lanterns had to face thier own fear and have highh willpower to affect yellow. Parralax is the emodiment of fear. Parralax can go into people as it did Hal and currently kyle.

magic affects Superman like anyone else, though he has shown severe resistance to transmutation and the like. Superman gets his power from a yellow sun and can and has Sun dipped to get stronger. Superboy Prime who was not only stronger but had a suit that funnled Yellow radiation into him was able to smash easily through a wall of pure Green Lantern willpower 300 miles thick. If that gives you an idea about how Superman would handle himself in a fight against a GL.

There are Yellow Rings that work of Fear you instill, and Purple that runs off of emotions or something like that. Yellow=Sinestro Corps, Purple=Star Sapphire. there are other unreveiled colors.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Just to add something: the thing trapped inside the power battery is basically fear manifested, and GL must face and defeat their fears in order to affect yellow things. So, only the most experienced GLs can do that. Incidentally, that's why Hal Jordan had gray hair.

To add a bit more, my understanding was that prior to this change, to be selected as a Green Lantern you had to be fearless. The key to affecting yellow things though was to know and overcome fear. Those who were fearless didn't know fear in the first place so they never had to overcome it, and hence they were unable to affect yellow things.

 

[William drake]

Disclaimer: I never read the Green Lantern series comics...

Facts (?)~
1) IIRC, the Lanterns cannot effect / are powerless against Yellow.
2) Superman is powered by the light of the Yellow Sun.
3) Superman is vulnerable to Magic.

Question~
1) Can the Green Lantern(s) affect Superman?
2) Are the Lanterns considered "Magic"?
3) Has this ever come up in the Comics?

Yes, super man gets his power from the Earth's yellow sun.
Yes, super man is vulnerable to Magic.
Yes, the Green Lantern *any of the Latern Core* can effect Super Man.
(The ring gives the wearer the ability to spend his WILL to influence things around him: create a wall of force, a bridge, a buble to catch or hold people in, a later around the body which allows them to fly and travel through space....it has too many ways to be used to name here.)
NO, the Lantern Rings are not magic, they are apart of a Cosmic power source watched over by a race of beings *can't remember* those who give out the Lantern Rings, forming the Green Lantern Core.

Hale Jordan-most powerful Green Lantern, became Paralax *Cosmic Being* also, at one time, held almost every Lanter Ring. (Hale is prob the only one who could match Super Man.) He was a Vietnam Vet, he has insain personal will....hence why his ring is so powerful.


The way to take out Superman With a Lantern Ring: hold in in a cube, or sphere which is so tight that it blocks out light...keep him there untill his power runs out and he passes out. *however, Superman is like a battery, once in the light again, he will repower.*

How SuperMan could beat Hale: the ring is powered by will, will is based on thought, SuperMan, has, at times, been able to move faster than the speed of thought....so, he could take off Hale's Ring, or do w/e before Hale could act (example; SuperMan Red Sun) GREAT BOOK: three part, you should read it.


Game On