#GREEN LANTERN VILLAINS CRUCIFIX TRIAL#

Green Lanterns are inducted into the corps because they have courage born of great trial and the deep empathy needed to serve creatures across galaxies. One does not send a cover letter and resume. However, there is no recruitment office for the Corps. Each member has a ring that bestows extraordinary abilities on its owner, and the ring uses a power source in the form of a green lantern.Įarth has supplied a healthy share of guardians to the Green Lantern Corps-including John Stewart, one of DC’s earliest black superheroes. To do so, they created an intergalactic police force called the Green Lantern Corps. They now seek to keep the cosmos as orderly as possible. In the DC universe, a species of humanoid aliens anointed themselves the Guardians of the Universe after one of them wreaked cosmic havoc by trying to peer into the moment of the universe’s creation.

#GREEN LANTERN VILLAINS CRUCIFIX SERIES#

Pain and suffering occur on a harrowing scale, and benevolent beings of extraordinary power seem to do little more than maintain an unsatisfactory status quo.Īn especially striking example of comic-book theodicy appears in the “Rage Planet” story arc from a 2016 run of the DC Comics series Green Lanterns. The creators of comic-book cosmologies offer a world where evil is pervasive and persistent. I would argue that comics creators can also practice a form of theodicy. In theological scholarship, the project of theodicy is to reconcile divine benevolence with the existence of evil. Yet, I think the connections run even deeper. Such scenes, resonant with my childhood imagination, seem apropos of an illustrated Book of Revelation. Like the hymn, these stories can feature climactic battle scenes with otherworldly avengers and the fate of humanity hanging in the balance. Years after those gothic moments in the pew, I tend only to recall such scenes of cosmic violence while immersed in the pages of comic books.

Christ ascends to the heavens, rescued by winged warriors and borne away from his earthly torment.

Avenging angels pour from the skies to incinerate the earth and slay its errant inhabitants, the holy army spilling blood on an unholy scale. I imagined the dark silhouette of three crosses against a blood-red sky. The alternative scenario brought to mind a grotesque panorama of violence. He could have called ten thousand angels, What if he changed his mind, chose to let the cup of suffering pass? What if he brought about the destruction of a depraved world, rather than offering his death as atonement? Each verse is sung in a slow, mournful manner, while the disconcerting refrain comes at an upbeat pace: As a child in my family’s church, I would occasionally sing a hymn called “Ten Thousand Angels.” The song reflects on the possibilities open to Christ on the cross.

Green lantern villains crucifix