The Green Lantern franchise has fallen on hard times. DC Comics is in a tailspin. This is no surprise to anyone who has been familiar with the comic book industry since 2010. All of this started with Flashpoint and then the ill-fated New 52. At the time, it was obvious that the New 52 was an act of complete desperation that was doomed to fail. And fail it did. Even when the New 52 was finally trashed and the pre-New 52 DCU was re-established the damage had been done. DC Comics had shed so many of their readers during the New 52 and many chose not to return.
To be sure, Rebirth was a plea from DC Comics to the readers who abandoned them to come back. Like a terrible spouse who has been caught cheating, DC Comics promised to do better by the fans. DC Comics promised to honor their wonderful continuity and established characters. However, like most cheating spouses, DC Comics was disingenuous. Soon after Rebirth, DC Comics began tearing at its own scab once again by floating out the idea of 5G. Dan Didio, the genius who brought us the New 52, was sure that trashing all of their established heroes for brand-new diverse heroes was the path to success. It was as if DC Comics had learned nothing from the near-fatal mistake of the New 52.
We all know that the corporate overlords at AT&T had enough of Didio and fired him. With Didio’s firing, the plans for 5G were shelved. Or were they? Recently, we got news of the Death of the Justice League with Justice League #75. DC Comics is set to kill off all of their established heroes and replace them with the new diverse heroes that they desperately want readers to care about. DC Comics also needs to generate big buzz in the industry around the same time that the WB/Discovery merger is completed in order to show their new corporate overlords how hot and popular DC Comics is with fans.
Now we stand at the moment where DC Comics has nearly made themselves irrelevant. At this point, the only comic books that sell well are Batman comics starring Bruce Wayne. After those comics? A few Batman family titles like Nightwing and Joker.
Absolutely nothing else is selling well for DC Comics. All of their other franchises are dead in the water and floating like a corpse. For some reason, DC Comics has lost all confidence in all of their franchises other than the Batman franchise. It does not have to be this way.
For the purposes of this article, we are going to take a look at one of DC Comics’ franchises that used to be a strong seller: Green Lantern. The Green Lantern franchise was a big deal with the return of the iconic Hal Jordan back in 2005. DC Comics made the Green Lantern franchise feel special. The result was the Green Lantern franchise making plenty of money for DC Comics.
However, like all of the other non-Batman franchises, DC Comics has let the Green Lantern franchise decay away into nothing. The current Green Lantern title starring Jo Mullein, Teen Lantern, and John Stewart gets atrocious sales numbers and sales rankings. There is a solution to this problem, but it is one that DC Comics editorial staff is not going to like at all.
Before we deliver a solution, we need to step back and look at the performance of the Green Lantern franchise starting with Hal Jordan’s return in 2005. These numbers will have the information necessary to come up with a solution for DC Comics’ current problem with the Green Lantern franchise.
2005
Green Lantern Rebirth
Monthly average of 104,208 units and a monthly average of a number 7 sales rank.
Green Lantern v4
Monthly average of 112,055 units and a monthly average of a number 5 sales rank.
Green Lantern Corp Recharge
Monthly average of 71,361 units and a monthly average of a number 19 sales rank.
The return of Hal Jordan was a momentous occasion. Despite what current DC Comics editorial staff want to believe, Hal Jordan is the most popular Green Lantern. And it is not even close. Hal Jordan’s return sparked a new era of success for the Green Lantern franchise.
We see this in the strong sales numbers for Green Lantern v4 in 2005. DC Comics would kill for sales numbers and sales rankings like that. Even the “B” title in Green Lantern Corp Recharge posted nice numbers.
2006
Green Lantern v4
Monthly average of 80,948 units and a monthly average of a number 15 sales rank.
Green Lantern Corps Recharge:
Monthly average of 60,024 units and a monthly average of a number 26 sales rank.
Green Lantern Corps v2
Monthly average of 50,702 units and a monthly average of a number 41 sales rank.
Sales continued to be impressive for the Green Lantern franchise in 2006. The “A” title in Green Lantern v4 starring Hal Jordan continued to be popular. Green Lantern Corps Recharge ended with good numbers. And the new “B” title in Green Lantern Corps got off to a solid start.
2007
Green Lantern v4
Monthly average of 71,872 units and a monthly average of a number 24 rank.
Green Lantern Corps v2
Monthly average of 44,062 and a monthly average of a number 49 rank.
Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern v4 continued to be a good seller in 2007. The “B” title did start to dip down but was still a Top 50 title.
2008
Green Lantern v4
Monthly average of 65,385 and a monthly average of a number 23 rank.
Green Lantern Corps v2
Monthly average of 45,908 and a monthly average of a number 45 rank.
Hal Jordan continued to be a Top 25 title in 2008. The “B” title continued being a solid seller retaining its Top 50 status.
2009
Green Lantern v4
Monthly average of 90,432 and a monthly average of a number 6 rank.
Green Lantern Corps v2
Monthly average of 67,997 and a monthly average of a number 16 rank.
DC Comics continued to invest in the Green Lantern franchise with the build-up to Blackest Night. Blackest Night was an excellent example of DC Comics taking Hal Jordan’s star power and then investing in the Green Lantern franchise and making it feel special.
Jordan’s popularity and DC Comics’ commitment to making the Green Lantern franchise feel important also caused an increase in numbers for the “B” title with it almost averaging a Top 15 sales rank each month of 2009.
2010
Green Lantern v4
Monthly average of 85,217 and a monthly average of a number 5 rank.
Green Lantern Corps v2
Monthly average of 63,077 and a monthly average of a number 19 rank.
Green Lantern Emerald Warriors
Monthly average of 55,358 and a monthly average of a number 19 rank.
The popularity of Hal Jordan and DC Comics’ investment in the Green Lantern franchise with Brightest Day continued to pay off with strong sales numbers for Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern and an impressive monthly average of a Top 5 sales ranking.
Green Lantern Corps continued to be a strong performer for a “B” title. DC Comics also added a “C” title to the Green Lantern franchise with Green Lantern Emerald Warriors. Even the new “C” title posted sales numbers and sales rankings that the current Green Lantern comic would kill for. Emerald Warriors as a “C” title more than doubles the sales of the current Green Lantern title.
2011
Green Lantern v4 and v5
Monthly average of 96,058 and a monthly average of a number 3 rank.
Green Lantern Corps v2 and v3
Monthly average of 58,604 and a monthly average of a number 17 rank.
Green Lantern Emerald Warriors
Monthly average of 48,827 and a monthly average of a number 21 rank.
Green Lantern New Guardians
Monthly average of 67,206 and a monthly average of a number 19 rank.
Sales for the Green Lantern franchise continued to be impressive in 2011. Hal Jordan’s flagship title had an incredible Top 3 monthly average sales rank. Green Lantern Corps moved from being the “B” title to the “C” title but still had solid sales numbers. Green Lantern Corps v3 starred Guy Gardner and John Stewart as the lead Lanterns. The Green Lantern franchise got a new “B” title with Green Lantern New Guardians starring Kyle Rayner as the lead Lantern. Kyle’s title got off to a good start with some nice sales numbers.
2012
Green Lantern v5
Monthly average of 85,769 and a monthly average of a number 9 rank.
Green Lantern New Guardians
Monthly average of 46,736 and a monthly average of a number 36 rank.
Green Lantern Corps v3
Monthly average of 46,052 and a monthly average of a number 37 rank.
Hal Jordan continued to lead the way with more impressive sales numbers and an incredible Top 10 monthly average sales ranking. The “B” and “C” titles fought for second place and ended up in a stalemate. All things were pretty even in the sales battle between Team Guy and John and Team Kyle.
2013
Green Lantern v5
Monthly average of 64,408 and a monthly average of a number 21 rank.
Green Lantern New Guardians
Monthly average of 38,920 and a monthly average of a number 54 rank.
Green Lantern Corps v3
Monthly average of 41,214 and a monthly average of a number 48 rank.
Hal Jordan continued to sell well and easily retained a Top 25 monthly average sales ranking. Guy and John’s Green Lantern Corps finally pulled away from Kyle’s New Guardians title. However, both the “B” and “C” titles easily crushed the current Green Lantern titles’ sales numbers and sales rankings.
2014
Green Lantern v5
Monthly average of 49,414 and a monthly average of a number 34 rank.
Green Lantern Corps v3
Monthly average of 33,836 and a monthly average of a number 71 rank.
Green Lantern New Guardians
Monthly average of 27,595 and a monthly average of a number 94 rank.
The Green Lantern franchise hit lower sales numbers as DC Comics continued to shed readers due to the massively unpopular New 52. Having said that, Hal Jordan still leads the way in sales numbers and sales rankings. And it was not even close. By this point, John Stewart had taken over Green Lantern Corps from Guy Gardner. John easily outsold Kyle.
2015
Green Lantern v5
Monthly average of 41,361 and a monthly average of a number 45 rank.
Green Lantern Corps v3
Monthly average of 29,001 and a monthly average of a number 72 rank.
Green Lantern New Guardians
Monthly average of 20,863 and a monthly average of a number 105 rank.
DC Comics slumped through 2015 as the New 52 had completely submarined all of their sales. However, one thing remained the same: Hal Jordan still sold the best. For a third straight year, Green Lantern Corps outsold Green Lantern New Guardians.
2016
Green Lantern v5
Monthly average of 34,669 and a monthly average of a number 51 rank.
Hal Jordan and GLC
Monthly average of 61,601 and a monthly average of a number 41 rank.
Green Lanterns
Monthly average of 62,149 and a monthly average of a number 39 rank.
With Rebirth, DC Comics delivered two brand new Green Lantern titles. Hal Jordan starred in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz starred in Green Lanterns. For the first time ever, Hal Jordan’s title got outsold by the “B” title. It was by the tiniest of margins, but it still happened.
2017
Hal Jordan and GLC
Monthly average of 35,425 and a monthly average of a number 63 rank.
Green Lanterns
Monthly average of 31,645 and a monthly average of a number 71 rank.
In 2017, DC Comics felt that cranking out each Green Lantern title at a rate of two issues was a great idea. However, like most greedy moves, this backfired in DC Comics’ face. There were only a small amount of readers willing to spend the money on a title that came out twice a month. This is always an expensive proposition and usually leads to readers dropping the title.
At any rate, Hal Jordan re-asserted his supremacy by easily outselling Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz.
2018
Hal Jordan and GLC
Monthly average of 28,364 and a monthly average of a number 70 rank.
Green Lanterns
Monthly average of 24,889 and a monthly average of a number 90 rank.
The Green Lantern Season 1
Monthly average of 88,889 and a monthly average of a number 8 rank.
Hal Jordan continued to outsell Jessica and Simon. However, the 2018 sales numbers and sales rankings for Green Lanterns were the first warning sign of DC Comics losing the plot with the Green Lantern franchise. For some bizarre reason, popular characters like John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyler Rayner were shelved in favor of two new heroes Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz. The problem is that Jessica and Simon simply are not anywhere as popular. The results were in the sales numbers as Jessica and Simon delivered the second-lowest average monthly sales numbers of any Green Lantern title since 2005 and the second-lowest average monthly sales rankings of any Green Lantern title since 2005.
DC Comics canceled both Green Lantern franchise titles and published a new Hal Jordan comic. Once again, Hal Jordan crushed it in terms of sales numbers and sales rankings.
What was also different is that this was the first time that DC Comics was only publishing a single monthly Green Lantern title in 14 years.
2019
The Green Lantern Season 2
Monthly average of 45,857 and a monthly average of a number 32 rank.
The highly unusual trend of only printing a single monthly Green Lantern title continued in 2019. Grant Morrison’s distinctive work in his Green Lantern title was proving to be less appealing to a wider audience of comic book readers.
2020
The Green Lantern Season 2
Monthly average of 35,015 and a monthly average of a number 44 rank.
Grant Morrison’s title concluded in 2020 and that was the end of Hal Jordan getting a monthly title. It should be noted that even a relatively unsuccessful Hal Jordan title still posted sales numbers and sales rankings that absolutely decimate both Far Sector and the current Green Lantern title.
Far Sector
Monthly average of 21,943 and a monthly average of a number 102 rank.
DC Comics had been planning on replacing Hal Jordan with Jo Mullein in their 5G plans. I think the reasons are obvious given the current mindset of DC Comics editorial staff. Having said that, wishing something to happen and it actually happening are two completely different things. Jo Mullein’s character proved to be a flop with the fans right out of the gate. Far Sector wasted no time in posting the second-worst sales numbers and second-worst sales rankings of any Green Lantern title in the past 15 years.
2021
The Green Lantern Season 2
Monthly average of a number 87 rank.
Far Sector
Monthly average of 21,000 and a monthly average of a number 123 rank.
Green Lantern v6
Monthly average of 30,250 and a monthly average of a number 96 rank.
Nothing got better for DC Comics in 2021. Green Lantern Season 2 ended and Hal Jordan was without a title. Jo Mullein continued to bomb with readers as Far Sector posted the worst sales ranking of any Green Lantern title in the past 16 years.
So, what did DC Comics do? They do what they always do and double down on bad ideas and then ride them off over a cliff. DC Comics rolled out a new Green Lantern title starring Jo Mullein, Teen Lantern, and John Stewart. An answer to a question literally nobody was asking. The result? Predictably awful. Jo Mullein’s new Green Lantern title has a monthly average sales ranking that only beats…her other title Far Sector.
All right, that is a year-by-year breakdown of the Green Lantern franchise and how it has evolved over the past 16 years. Now, let’s take a wider view of the performance of all the Green Lantern titles since 2005 by crunching their numbers and coming up with average monthly sales numbers and sales rankings for each title’s entire run. We can then tell how each title did compared to the other titles over their entire runs.
Green Lantern Rebirth (2005): Avg: 104,208 units and 7 rank
Sales Rankings have become a better standard of measuring a title’s performance over the past year since unit numbers have become scarce. In fact, we have not gotten any unit number estimates since the comic books shipped in September 2021. When it comes to sales rankings, it is beyond dispute that Hal Jordan moves the needle like no other character in the Green Lantern franchise. Out of the thirteen Green Lantern franchise titles published since 2005, Hal Jordan’s titles account for the Top 2 best sales rankings of any Green Lantern title. Hal Jordan’s titles account for four of the Top 5 best sales rankings of any Green Lantern title. In fact, Hal Jordan’s title easily outsold all other Green Lantern titles every single year over a sixteen-year period except for one year in 2016 by the slightest of margins. Hal Jordan is the money maker for DC Comics and it is time for them to embrace that fact.
Which Green Lantern comes in second place in terms of sales? Guy Gardner. Third place goes to John Stewart. Fourth place goes to Kyler Rayer. That is it. That is your core cast of characters that DC Comics should be focusing on moving forward. These are the four main characters that DC Comics should use to rebuild the Green Lantern franchise.
Which characters are the bottom-selling characters from the Green Lantern franchise? Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz are in second to last place. Jo Mullein takes the crown for being the lowest-selling of any of the Green Lantern titles by a wide margin. This should be particularly noted by DC Comics. The gap between Jessica/Simon and Jo Mullein is massive. Jo’s sales rankings are not just the worst of all the characters, they are the worst by a huge margin.
Solution
Okay, I am a firm believer that you cannot just point out a problem without offering a solution. I love DC Comics and I want them to succeed. It gives me zero joy having to point out DC Comics’ obvious incompetence and deliberate obtuseness when it comes to the handling of the Green Lantern franchise. So, what would I offer to DC Comics in terms of a solution for the Green Lantern franchise? First, DC Comics needs to focus on a core cast of characters that actually sell well and are popular are fans. I know this seems obvious, but clearly, DC Comics is either being willfully obtuse or is frighteningly dumb when it comes to who to use as the core cast of characters.
The Core Cast of Characters
My core cast of characters for the Green Lantern franchise going forward would begin with Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner. I would drop Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz. These characters bring nothing original or interesting to the table. Plus, Jessica and Simon have proven to be poor sellers. I would also drop Jo Mullein since her character is completely Dead on Arrival with her flopping in her debut and continuing to fail to generate any interest or sales numbers at all. Again, there is no need to try and push this hopeless cart sideways. DC Comics needs to accept which Green Lanterns are actually popular and sell well and move on from there.
I would either get rid of Jessica, Simon, and Jo completely to go reside in Grant Morrison’s comic book limbo. Or, I would repurpose these three characters and make them members of other colored Lantern Corps. DC Comics can keep Jessica as a Sinestro Corps member. Simon could become a member of the Red Lantern Corps. Jo could become a member of the Blue Lantern Corps. Done. Move on.
All right, with our core cast of Hal, Guy, John, and Kyle we have some excellent diversity just like what Green Lantern currently offers readers. Hal is Jewish. Guy is Ginger-American. Kyle is Hispanic. John Stewart is Black. So, my core cast of characters is more popular, sells better, and is as diverse as what DC Comics is currently offering readers.
Now, I know what you are saying. Rokk! Now DC Comics has no female Green Lanterns in the titles they are publishing. Not so fast my friend. I have several excellent additions to my core cast of characters so that the Green Lantern franchise is not just a sausage fest. I would add Jade, Soranik Natu, and Arisia Rrab to my core cast of characters. Jade provides for a cool connection to the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott. Soranik is an excellent character. Arisia is simply a kick-ass character. These three characters give gender balance and also increase the much-needed alien population on the Green Lantern titles.
Seriously, DC Comics has gone insanely overboard with the number of Earthling Green Lanterns. It is simply too much. It is ridiculous. My plan will focus on more alien Green Lanterns being added to the mix. With that in mind, I am also adding Kilowog to the core cast of Green Lanterns for the new direction of this franchise.
The next part of my plan is to also focus more on continuing to build out the other colored Lantern Corps. I still think that these various colored Lantern Corps are underutilized by DC Comics. We are going to rectify that moving forward.
All right, let’s review the new main cast of characters for the Green Lantern franchises moving forward. Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Jade, Soranik Natu, Arisia Rrab, and Kilowog.
Use The Batman Franchise Template
Now that we have our core cast of characters in place it is time to look at how to implement this restart of the Green Lantern franchise. DC Comics should look directly to the Batman franchise for the template on how to revive the Green Lantern franchise. There is no debate that the Batman franchise is extremely popular and the only DC Comics franchise having any type of sales success. The construction of the Batman franchise is simple. Bruce Wayne is the iconic core character who serves as the keystone for the Batman franchise. Therefore, Bruce Wayne always stars in the flagship “A” title for the Batman franchise. From there, DC builds out the Batman franchise with Bruce always acting as the Northstar.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Therefore, I would take the same approach with the Green Lantern franchise. Hal Jordan is the iconic core character and will star in the flagship “A” title. The flagship “A” title starring Hal will serve as the keystone for the entire Green Lantern franchise much like how the Batman title serves as the keystone for the Batman franchise. Everything will be built around Hal just like how the Batman franchise is built around Bruce Wayne.
This approach works perfectly given the similarities between Bruce and Hal. Both men are iconic characters who dominate the sales charts for their respective franchises. Both men are longers who are fine with ignoring rules and laws in order to see that justice is done. Both men also prefer to call their own shots and work alone. Yet, both men also have a family that surrounds them and supports them.
All right, now that we have the “A” title squared away, it is time to build out the rest of the Green Lantern franchise. DC Comics should then create a “B” title, a “C” title, and a “D” title starring some combination of John, Guy, Kyle, Jade, Soranik, Arisia, and Kilowog. I do not really care how the characters are distributed. At this point, DC Comics should trust their creative talent in deciding the best combinations.
Then DC Comics should publish an “E” title starring the various other colored Lantern Corps. The “E” title could have story arcs that rotate between the different Lantern Corps. This would be an excellent title to help build out the overall Green Lantern universe and mythos. One of the greatest strengths of the Green Lantern franchise is the different colored Lantern Corps and the depth and scope of their universe. DC Comics needs to take advantage of this.
In the current comic book market, there is only one franchise that DC Comics makes feel special and important: The Batman franchise. All of DC Comics’ other franchises are left completely neglected. This brings us to the final and most important step for DC Comics as it revitalizes the Green Lantern franchise. DC Comics needs to handle the Green Lantern franchise like they do the Batman franchise when it comes to universe-building and promoting it to the consumer.
Make It Special And Important
All right, we now have our cast of characters in place. We have in place the construction and approach for the revitalized Green Lantern franchise based on the Batman franchise. Now it is time to address the next requirement for DC Comics to successfully revitalize the Green Lantern franchise. Back in its heyday of the late-2000s, the Green Lantern franchise was successful because DC Comics made it seem special. DC Comics made the Green Lantern franchise seem important. This is something that DC Comics only does for the Batman franchise these days.
In addition to making the Green Lantern franchise feel special and important, DC Comics needs to create Green Lantern-only big events and storylines that can span through all of the A, B, C, D, and E titles. Much like how DC Comics currently does Batman franchise only big events and storylines. DC Comics needs to focus on making the Green Lantern franchise its own complex and interesting universe that stands on its own just like DC Comics does with the Batman franchise.
This will require DC Comics to hire an editor in charge of the entire Green Lantern franchise with editors for each title reporting to that head editor. DC Comics will also need to focus on hiring actual comic book writers for these Green Lantern titles. Do not hire YA novelists. Do not hire newspaper columnists. Do not hire magazine writers. Do not hire failed television or movie writers. Focus on quality talent who are actually comic book writers from the indie scene or who are currently at Marvel or DC who fit a Sci-fiction-based franchise like the Green Lantern franchise. Once DC Comics gets these people in place then they must make sure that editors and writers work together as a team. Yes, each individual title will have its own stories, but the goal must always be in mind how the overall universe of the Green Lantern franchise can be grown and made to be special and an important comic book that readers will feel like they have to read.
Promote It
After all of this, DC Comics needs to promote the hell out of the Green Lantern franchise just like they do the Batman franchise. DC Comics is fantastic at promoting the Batman franchise like crazy. However, DC Comics has been atrocious at promoting anything they publish from their other franchises. This has to end. DC Comics needs to be committed to seriously promoting the Green Lantern franchise in the same manner and style as they do the Batman franchise. DC Comics needs to build up hype around the Green Lantern franchise and tell readers why they need to start reading the various Green Lantern titles.
All right. That is all I got. I wish DC Comics would take my advice on how to rebuild the Green Lantern franchise. However, it seems given the current direction of DC Comics that they are determined to drive this car off a cliff and down into its fiery doom. Here is to hoping that DC Comics comes to their senses at some point before it is too late.