Warning: Spoilers for Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #4!DC Comics explores a new iteration of the Green Lantern. The beauty of the ever-growing lore behind the Green Lantern Corps is that it can constantly be revised and expanded upon. The same can be said about alternate names of classic Green Lantern characters in the DC Universe.
for example, The original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, gets a new reinvention In a preview for Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #4 by Andy Diggle, Leandro Fernández and Matt Hollingsworth. The series is a sequel to the classic Elseworld tale, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight By Brian Augustyn, Mike Mignola, P. Craig Russell, David Hornung and John Workman. The new expansion introduces new, dark versions of characters like Wonder Woman specifically for this universe – and now Green Lantern joins the fray.
Elseworld’s tradition of new iterations of familiar characters continues by implementing Alan Scott – which in itself is a new trend for DC Comics, as This isn’t the only character reinvention Alan Scott has received in the past year.
Alan Scott’s Green Lantern debut in the Gotham by Gaslight Universe
And earns his ring
In Alan Scott’s original story in official DC Comics continuity, the mysterious Green Flame saves the train engineer’s life after a fatal train crash, giving him powers in the process. Similarly, in the world of Gotham by GaslightAlan Scott miraculously survives a train crash, much to his own surprise. He barely survives, but one Mrs. Silverton does not. Scott frantically checks on his friend as she lies dying, but the elder has one dying wish before she passes away from her injuries: Share Jong Lee’s ring with a worthy seller.
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In the previous issue, before the train wreck, Mrs. Silverton first met Alan Scott (making his pre-Lantern debut) on a train. She shows Jong Lee’s ring to Alan, Presenting it as a ring that many people died for Before it was claimed by her grandfather, Guangzhou, during the Opium Wars. The ring fell into her hands eventually, and when it was 30 years ago, it would shine and talk to her. On their meeting, she can say that the ring “likes” Alan.
What will Alan Scott do with his Green Lantern ring?
The Green Lantern of an Elseworld’s Universe
Alan promises she will be okay if they can get to His hot air balloon, named the Green LanternBut alas, she knows she doesn’t have long. She recognizes Alan’s good heart and decides that Scott would be the perfect man to give her a ring. Alan initially wants to take the woman’s inheritance. He admits that he is nothing more than a trick, who should be the one who dies instead of her. She clarifies that he is alive because “It saved you” Before he forced it on his finger. “Now, earn… what you’ve been given,” were Mrs. Silverton’s dying words.
Almost immediately, Alan Scott is chased by ninjas working for Talia al Ghul in the League of Shadows, the same forces that pursued Catwoman and Batman in the first issue of the miniseries. Using his newfound ring, Scott completely incarnates his would-be attackers, And he is naturally afraid of what he has become. Time will tell as Scott continues to develop and learn about the ring’s powers, as well as the knowledge behind it and what he can do with it.
Gotham by Gaslight Offers another reinvention from Alan Scott
Not the only one this year
This isn’t the first time the DC Universe has tweaked Alan Scott’s character in 2024. Previously, another miniseries did just that: Alan Scott: The Green Lantern By Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey, which is completely canon to the main DCU. The miniseries exists to contextualize the fairly recent revelation that Alan Scott is gay, updating his classic Golden Age origin story to account for this character change. The series recontextualizes Alan Scott as a superhero who was shut down at the height of his superhero career, and in the process, was ostracized and even blackmailed into joining the JSA.
At the same time, the revelation presented the opportunity for DC to tell a story about the determination, endurance, and ultimately, the will-power of the human, strange spirit. A story like this wouldn’t be possible without the desire to reinvent a character that debuted 80+ years ago. Doing so allows the character to grow over time, and it reshapes the character in new, fresh ways. There is a good chance that the same goal could be achieved by the new one Gaslight Iteration by Alan Scott.
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In a couple of short issues, that goal has already been achieved in many ways. The typical righteous, noble Alan Scott is reinvented as more of a conman and perhaps a scandal on some level. More significantly, this new issue paints him as someone equally horrified by what the Green Lantern ring can be capable of. Especially during the gay world of the Golden Age, Alan Scott’s powers were meant to be celebrated. Here, the powers of the Green Lantern are recontextualized as a curse with deadly repercussions rather than a blessing.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #4 is available now from DC Comics.