The Man of Steel may be the most famous hero on the DC roster, but Superman there really is nothing Green Lantern when it comes to keeping people safe. Contrary to what comic book fans might think, the discrepancy isn’t in their powers or their past, but in their actual occupations in the DC Universe.
Green Lantern Writers Jeremy Adams and Phillip Kennedy Johnson highlight the fundamental difference, focusing on Hal Jordan’s beloved Coast City and why it plays such an important role in the hero’s stories. As Adams and Johnson told ScreenRant, the relationship is different from most because while Superman and Batman largely only protect the cities in which they live, The Green Lanterns are responsible for an entire sector of space:
Jeremy Adams:…Gotham has Batman, Metropolis has Superman. Coast City should be the Green Lantern. But it’s a city that hasn’t had that for some time. It’s one thing to have a superhero. But a superhero who is on duty in a giant sector of space? I hope to explore this fact.
Phillip Kennedy Johnson: It’s not my story, but I was going to chime in and say the same thing. Like, it makes sense for someone like Hal, I mean, Batman’s home turf is Gotham, Superman’s home turf is Metropolis. But Green Lantern is Sector 2814, which is very big. And there are often great adventures that take you off Earth for a long period of time.
The two point out that as much as Hal wants to return home, his jurisdiction is much larger than just Coast City.
Green Lantern is responsible for many more planets than Superman
Adams and Johnson aren’t wrong either. What separates the Green Lanterns from the rest of the DC Universe’s heroes is that they work for a peacekeeping agency spread across the cosmos. Several millennia ago, the Guardians of the Universe divided space into 3,600 equally sized sectors and assigned one Lantern per sector. Although this number later increased to two per sector, this still left several hundred planets with an incalculable number of lives under the care of each Green Lantern.
Now, when it comes to heroes protecting Earth, no one is better known for their work than Superman. His unique Kryptonian powers allow him to save hundreds if not thousands of people daily. But for all his god-like abilities, Clark is primarily focused on saving Earth’s population. It is true that, with more than seven billion individuals, this is not an easy task. But Green Lantern is also responsible for the people of Earth, not to mention all the other beings living in his sector.. As great a hero as Superman is, Green Lantern protects more people than Superman could imagine.
Green Lantern deserves more respect for his work
While Superman’s accomplishments are not inconsiderable, he gets a lot of credit that Hal and anyone who uses a Power Ring rarely gets. Of course, there’s no official count of how many planets are in Green Lantern’s path. But if there were just one additional planet equal to Earth’s size and population, then Hal would already be pulling double Superman’s numbers.
Hal may be the hero of Coast City, but his duties are accepted as Green Lantern are bigger than any city.