Hal Jordan is about to fight his own species. DC has announced Green Lantern: Doomed Cosmos, a new six-issue DC Elseworlds series from writer Dan Watters and artist Kyle Hotz that turns the Green Lantern mythology into a sprawling cosmic war where the human race is the enemy.
DC revealed the series earlier this week on its official blog, describing it as a story set in an alternate corner of the DC Universe where "humanity has become a scourge upon the stars."
The Empire Of Humanity
In Doomed Cosmos, the Empire of Humanity has spent centuries sweeping across the universe, laying siege to the cosmos planet by planet until every world kneels. The only force standing against it is a heavily militarized Green Lantern Corps.
No human has ever fought for the Corps against the Empire until Hal Jordan. In this version of the DC Universe, Hal starts out as a soldier fighting on behalf of humanity. He is then betrayed by his battle-brother Oliver Queen and left for dead on an alien world. The Green Lantern Corps rescues him and deprograms him, and he becomes the Corps' only human warrior and one of its most powerful strategic weapons in the war against humankind.
According to DC, Hal's blood-soaked odyssey will carry him through the burning ruins of a DC Universe unlike anything readers have seen before, as he takes the fight all the way to the shores of Hell itself.
"This is a world where there is no joy and no peace to be found, only an intergalactic crusade and the few heroes still willing to stand against it," DC's description reads. Across the six issues, Watters and Hotz will reimagine familiar heroes, villains, worlds and alliances as the war becomes more and more unpredictable.
Oliver Queen As Hal's Betrayer
The most interesting twist for longtime fans is Oliver Queen. In the main DC Universe, Green Arrow and Green Lantern are one of comics' most famous friendships, thanks to the classic Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams run that sent the two heroes on a road trip across America in the 1970s. Turning Ollie into the man who betrayed Hal and left him for dead flips that relationship completely.
Lanterns Built For War
The early preview pages show a Green Lantern Corps that looks very different from the one fans know. Instead of sleek uniforms and glowing constructs, these Lanterns wear heavy, battered armor and carry massive weapons, and the look has already drawn plenty of comparisons to Warhammer 40,000's Space Marines.
Hotz explained the thinking behind the design in DC's announcement:
"Visually, I am trying to walk the line between over-the-top space opera and the emotional beats of the story. Apart from being a Green Lantern fan from when I was just a little kid, my prep for this was really spending time studying some of the best war films. I want to get the feeling across that the Lanterns are beat up, tired, and certainly the underdogs. Their armor is cracked and broken, and their weapons are held together with tape and wire. These are soldiers nearing the end of their fight."
The Creative Team
Watters is currently the ongoing writer on Nightwing and has also written Batman: Dark Patterns and Arkham City: The Order of the World for DC. Hotz drew the 2024 Lobo Cancellation Special and has contributed shorts and fill-in issues across DC's line. Doomed Cosmos marks his first longer project for the publisher. Dan Brown handles colors and Steve Wands provides letters.
The series joins the long tradition of DC Elseworlds, where familiar heroes are taken out of their usual settings and reimagined in strange times and places, and no hero's fate is guaranteed.
A Good Time To Be A Green Lantern Fan
The announcement comes not long after HBO's Lanterns wrapped its first season earlier this month, with Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre's John Stewart bringing the Corps into live action. A second season has not been announced yet, so Doomed Cosmos gives fans another very different version of Hal to follow in the meantime.
Release Details
Green Lantern: Doomed Cosmos #1 arrives in comic shops and digitally in three months (January 20th). The 32-page first issue costs $4.99 and features a main cover by Hotz, with card stock variants by Bjorn Barends, Steve Beach and Ashley Wood for $5.99 and a foil variant by Barends for $7.99.
Would you rather see Hal Jordan fight for the Corps against humanity in Doomed Cosmos, or get a live-action Lanterns season 2 first? Personally, I think this series looks pretty sweet and can't wait to read it!
Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.