Alan Scott, the First Green Lantern
An old, weathered lantern that looks suspiciously like Alan Scott’s makes a brief appearance in the new DC Studios Lanterns trailer. The series is also set in Sheridan County, Nebraska. While the location is real, it hasn’t traditionally been connected to Green Lantern lore—but writer Tim Sheridan, who wrote the recent Alan Scott: Green Lantern series, shares the same surname. That was enough of a coincidence for me to take the opportunity to revisit the history of the original Green Lantern.
Created by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger, Alan Wellington Ladd Scott is DC Comics’ first Green Lantern. Though Alan was born in 1912 in rural Midwestern America, the origins of his power stretch back billions of years.
On the planet Oa, the Guardians of the Universe gathered the stray mystical energies of the cosmos and bound them within the heart of a star. Over time that power became sentient, evolving into the Starheart, a force aligned with willpower and the emerald portion of the emotional spectrum. But not all of the energy remained pure. Some of the Starheart’s sentience seeped into the star’s corona, forming a bitter counterpart known as the Crimson Flame, aligned with rage. Though opposite in nature, the two forces remained forever linked.
After drifting through space for centuries and gathering debris, both energies eventually reached Earth as meteors. The Starheart landed in China, where an occultist named Lord Chang discovered it and received a prophecy from the “Green Flame of Life”: it would flare three times—first to bring death, second to bring life, and third to bring power. Chang fashioned the meteor into a lamp, but was killed by a fearful mob, fulfilling the prophecy’s first stage. The lamp then passed through history before eventually reaching America.
Centuries later, Alan Scott graduated from Hale University with degrees in business and engineering. In 1936 he was drafted into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and assigned to Project Crimson, a mission to locate the mysterious Crimson Flame beneath the North Pacific. There he fell in love with fellow engineer Corporal John Michael Ladd, who helped Alan confront feelings he had long suppressed. But before they could build a life together, a violent eruption of crimson energy seemingly killed Johnny.
When their relationship was exposed, Alan was discharged and committed himself to Arkham Asylum, hoping to “cure” what society told him was wrong with him. There he befriended a trans woman named Billie, who fashioned a lantern for him from material linked to the ancient Starheart lamp. When Billie was later lobotomized, Alan led a mass breakout from Arkham’s so-called “Deviancy Wing” and fled with the lantern.
Alan eventually settled in Colorado as a train engineer, where he fell in love again with conductor Jimmy Henton. Their happiness ended when rival engineer Albert Dekker sabotaged a bridge Alan had designed, derailing the train and killing everyone aboard except Alan. As he lay dying, green light emerged from the lantern. The prophecy was fulfilled: the Green Flame flared a second time to restore Alan’s life and a third time to grant him power. He forged a ring from the lantern’s metal, becoming Green Lantern, though the magic of the Starheart could not affect wood.
After avenging Jimmy’s death, Alan was inspired by Jimmy’s mother Doris Henton, who urged him to use his light to guide others through darkness. Taking her words to heart, Alan began a new life as a hero. He moved to Gotham City, working for Apex Broadcasting to stay close to breaking crime stories, and soon teamed with cab driver Doiby Dickles, his loyal friend and sidekick. Together they battled foes such as Vandal Savage, Solomon Grundy, the Gambler, Harlequin, the Sportmaster, and the Icicle.
Alan’s hidden past eventually attracted the attention of J. Edgar Hoover, who blackmailed him into joining the Justice Society of America using Arkham records and compromising photographs. Despite that coercion, Alan became one of the team’s central members, fighting throughout World War II and serving alongside the All-Star Squadron.
Years later, Alan faced a deadly adversary known as the Red Lantern, a killer wielding powers similar to his own. With help from the Flash and the Spectre, Alan discovered Red Lantern was Vladimir Sokov, a Soviet agent who had impersonated Johnny during Project Crimson and had been resurrected by the Crimson Flame. Their rivalry revealed Sokov as Alan’s dark mirror, fueled by rage and manipulation. Eventually Sokov vanished in 1951, presumed dead, leaving behind an infant daughter: Ruby Sokov.
During the anti-communist fervor of the 1950s, the House Un-American Activities Committee demanded the JSA reveal their identities. Rather than unmask, the team chose to disband.
In the decades that followed, Alan lived much of his life in the closet, convincing himself his feelings had been confusion caused by mystical forces. He became involved with the villain Harlequin, unaware she was secretly his secretary Molly Mayne, and married Alyx Florin, who was actually the troubled Rose Canton, also known as the Thorn. Rose later gave birth to Alan’s twins—Jennifer-Lynn Hayden and Todd Rice—who were raised separately.
When the Justice Society eventually returned, Alan discovered his children were the heroes Jade and Obsidian, founding members of Infinity, Inc. He reunited with Molly Mayne and the two finally married, though their happiness was interrupted when the JSA became trapped in Ragnarök before eventually returning to Earth.
In later years Alan internalized the Starheart’s power after Zero Hour, adopting the identity Sentinel and becoming its living embodiment. During this era he became more involved in the mystical side of the DC Universe, working with groups such as the Sentinels of Magic and the Conclave.
When the Justice Society re-formed yet again, Alan reclaimed the mantle of Green Lantern and remained the team's anchor. One of the team’s earliest major crises forced Sentinel to confront Obsidian after Todd was seduced by dark forces. Alan managed to drive him into retreat. It soon became clear, and was later confirmed by Doctor Mid-Nite, that Alan had become the living embodiment of the Starheart. Changes to his age or powers were now largely psychosomatic.
After Infinite Crisis Alan was approached by Checkmate, which had been reorganized under U.N. control. He accepted the role of White King, but his tenure there was brief. Alan soon found himself in moral conflict with Sasha Bordeaux, the organization’s Black Queen, over Checkmate’s willingness to use lethal force. While Bordeaux argued that the ends justified the means, Alan held fast to the belief that heroes should kill only as an absolute last resort. At the same time, he and Amanda Waller tried to keep the organization from being dismantled by political pressure. Eventually, Mr. Terrific succeeded Alan in the position. Alan left to re-establish the Justice Society as an organization devoted to preserving heroic legacy.
During Brightest Day, the Starheart again seized control of Alan, transforming him into a near-apocalyptic threat. His appearance shifted into mystical armor reminiscent of his future self in Kingdom Come, and he constructed a fortress on the moon before Jade and a team of heroes restored his sanity. Alan left behind the lunar Emerald City, which became a refuge for magical beings.
Later he was paralyzed during a battle with the Nazi-engineered villain Scythe, and eventually seemed to dissipate entirely after unleashing the Starheart’s full power against the fallen god D’arken, leaving the JSA to bury an empty coffin.
Following Flashpoint, the Justice Society was briefly erased from continuity until Doomsday Clock revealed that Doctor Manhattan had altered history by moving Alan’s lantern just out of reach during the train crash. When Manhattan restored the timeline, Alan survived once again and the Justice Society returned to existence.
In the present, after timeline repairs involving Wally West and the Mobius Chair, Alan returned older but wiser. Inspired by his son Todd, he finally came out as gay to his children, who embraced him completely.
Not long after, Helena Wayne arrived from a possible future and urged the JSA to recruit potential future heroes, including Ruby Sokov, daughter of Red Lantern. Alan believed she might still find redemption and brought her to the team. For a time she appeared to prove him right—but eventually Ruby betrayed the Justice Society and joined the Injustice Society, becoming one of the team’s newest threats.
Group Affiliations: United States Army Corps of Engineers, Justice Society of America, All-Star Squadron, Conclave, Sentinels of Magic, Checkmate, Totality
First Appearance: All-American Comics #16 (1940)
Speculation: A lantern that looks very much like Alan Scott’s briefly appears in the new Lanterns trailer. Without context, my guess is that members of the Green Lantern Corps are disappearing and Hal Jordan and John Stewart cross paths with an old Green Lantern (hopefully Alan)—either someone in danger, or someone they’re not sure they can trust.
Recommended Reading: (add your picks here)
All-American Comics (1938) #16-102
All-Star Comics (1940) #2-74
Comics Cavalcade (1943) #1-29
Green Lantern (1960) #40, 45, 52, 61, 88, 108-112
Justice League of America (1960) #21-22, 29-30, 37-38, 64-65, 73-75, 82-83, 91-92, 101-102, 113-114, 135-137, 147-148, 159-160, 171-172, 193, 195-197, 207-208, 220, 231-232
Adventure Comics (1938) #461-466, Annual #1-3
All-Star Squadron (1981) #20-67
America vs. the Justice Society (1985)
Last Days of the Justice Society Special (1986)
Secret Origins (1986) #18
Young All-Stars (1987) #2, 3, 7-9
Justice Society of America (1991)
Armageddon: Inferno (1992)
Justice Society of America (1992)
Justice League Europe (1989) #47-50
Green Lantern Corps Quarterly (1992) #1-8
Green Lantern (1990) #19, 55, 71, 81, 82, 102, 107-110, 114, 117, 120, 130, 134, 140, 144-146, 149-150, 152, 156, 176, 80-Page Giant #1, Secret Files and Origins #1-3
Guy Gardner: Warrior (1992) #19-21 #31
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time (1994)
Starman (1994) #11, 33-35
Fate (1994) #5, 11-14, 20-21
Underworld Unleashed: Abyss - Hell's Sentinel (1995) #1
The Book of Fate (1997) #2, 3, 6, 7, 11, & 12
Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends (1997)
Green Lantern/Sentinel: Heart of Darkness (1998)
Wonder Woman (1987) #131-133
Green Lantern: Fear Itself (1999)
Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #10
Green Lantern: Brightest Day, Blackest Night (2002)
DC First: Green Lantern/Green Lantern (2002)
JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice (2003)
Detective Comics (1937) #784-786
JSA: Strange Adventures (2004)
Green Lantern: Rebirth (2004)
JSA: Classified (2005) #10-13, 25, 32-33
Justice Society of America (2007)
Justice League of America (2006) #8-10, 43-59
Earth 2: World's End (2014)
Justice League (2018) #30-37
Justice Society of America (2023)
Alan Scott: The Green Lantern (2023)
Green Lantern (2023) #13-17
New History of the DC Universe (2025)
