Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #3: When The Past Comes To Haunt You

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #3 picks up with Alan continuing his investigation of the murders surrounding his secret love life. As the bodies continue to add up, The Justice Society of America appoints The Spectre as the official investigator, forcing Alan to team up with God’s agent of vengeance. As much as this series has been about Alan being forced to come to terms with the life he has been living in secret, Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #3’s inclusion of the JSA establishes yet another amazing facet of the series. This series has been nothing short of breathtaking thus far, and the themes and power behind the narrative of this issue continue to make it soar.

Writer Tim Sheridan spent the first two issues reintroducing Alan to new and old audiences, reimagining the origin with the new contextual information about Alan’s secret life as a closeted gay man. With Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #3, Alan’s newly established past meets his present (which is still technically the past when it comes to today’s DC continuity). This means that Alan gets to see how his closest friends and allies react to the information he thought was a well kept secret. Sheridan makes it clear that Alan’s past circumstances with the loss of Johnny Lad and subsequent voluntary hospitalization within a homophobic psych ward has caused him to look at the world in a much different light. This makes it hard for Alan to even find common ground with his teammates in the JSA, pushing The Flash and The Spectre away even when they try to extend a helping hand. Sheridan demonstrates that both The Flash and The Spectre are, to some extent, LGBTQ+ allies, with them both attempting to console Alan in different ways. This portrayal of some of DC’s oldest heroes really adds a touching note to the story, teaching Alan to love and trust again outside of a purely romantic way. J Edgar Hoover may have blackmailed Alan into joining the JSA in the first place, but these teammates may just be the family that Alan needs in order to find solace in this cruel world.

At one point in the issue Alan refers to his sexuality as “deviant,” saying that it makes him a criminal. He feels this way because he firmly believes that God is punishing him for having loved another man. This concept has been something that this series has been exploring since the first issue when Alan brought this idea up to Johnny shortly before his death at the hands of the Crimson Flame. Sheridan masterfully addresses this topic by using DC’s biggest connection to God, God’s emissary of vengeance, The Spectre. While he and Jay perform a similar role when it comes to supporting Alan as friends and allies, The Spectre touches on that very poignant religious, Christianic perspective. During his discussion with Alan he says, “God’s retribution… belongs to those who would judge them, hate them, and bring them harm,” highlighting the idea that certain members of the church have bastardized the ideas within the Bible in order to bring harm to others. These concepts are what make this series so thought provoking, creating one of the best, most well rounded comics coming out right now.

An issue this well written and thought provoking is bound to turn a lot of heads; however, the art is another aspect that makes this series so well rounded. Cian Tormey’s pencils encapsulate two very important aspects: the continuity based DC comics narrative, and the profoundly emotional story. Tormey perfectly captures the emotion within each of the character’s faces, greatly building upon Sheridan’s script. Both the art and writing together makes this such an emotional reading experience. The other edge of the sword is how perfectly Tormey makes this book fit in with the rest of the DC universe. At the end of the day, these creators are playing within a vast, fully realized universe, and Tormey never turns away from that. Instead, he embraces the hokey and series aspects of this comic universe, making this book extend fully into that realm of authenticity.