The Man of Steel may be the most famous hero in DC’s roster, butSupermanreally has nothing onGreen Lanternwhen it comes to keeping people safe. Contrary to what comic fans might think, the discrepancy doesn’t lie in their powers, or their pasts, but in their actual occupations in the DC Universe.
Green Lanternwriters Jeremy Adams and Phillip Kennedy Johnson highlight the key difference, focusing on Hal Jordan’s beloved Coast City, and why it plays such a huge part in the hero’s stories. AsAdams and Johnson told ScreenRant, the relationship is different from most because whereas Superman and Batman largely only protect the cities they live in,Green Lanterns are responsible for an entire sector of space:
Jeremy Adams:…Gotham’s got Batman, Metropolis has got Superman. Coast City is supposed to be Green Lantern. But it’s a city that hasn’t had that for a while. It’s one thing to have a superhero. But a superhero who’s on call for a giant sector of space? I’m hoping to explore that fact.
Phillip Kennedy Johnson: It’s not my story, but I was gonna jump in and say the same thing. Like, it kind of makes sense for somebody like Hal, I mean, Batman’s turf is Gotham, Superman’s is Metropolis. But Green Lantern is Sector 2814, which is really big. And very often, there are these big adventures that take him way off Earth for an extended period of time.
The two highlight that as much as Hal wants to return home, his jurisdiction is far bigger than just Coast City.
Green Lantern is Responsible For Way 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 that’s spread all across the cosmos. Several millennia ago, the Guardians of the Universe split space up into 3600 equally sized sectors and assigned one Lantern per sector. While that number was later bumped up to two per sector, that still leftseveral hundred planets with an incalculable number of lives in the care of each Green Lantern.
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Now, when it comes to heroes protecting Earth, no one is more known for their work than Superman. His unique Kryptonian powers allow him to save hundreds, if not thousands of people on a daily basis. But for all his godlike abilities, Clark largely sticks to saving Earth’s population. Granted, at over seven billion individuals, that’s no easy task. ButGreen Lantern is responsible for the people of Earth as well, not to mention all the other beings living in his sector. For as good 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 nothing to sneeze at, he gets a lot of credit that Hal and anyone wearing a Power Ring rarely gets. Sure, there’s no official accounting for how many planets are on Green Lantern’s beat. But if there was even just one additional planet that’s equal to the size and population of Earth, then Hal is already pulling double the numbers that Superman is.
Hal might be Coast City’s hero, but his accepted duties asGreen Lanternare larger than any one city.
