Alan Scott

"And I shall shed my light over dark evil, for the dark things cannot stand the light. The light of... the Green Lantern!"

- Green Lantern

Alan Scott is a fictional comic book superhero best known as the original Golden Age Green Lantern. He has also operated under the code names Sentinel and the White King and was a founding member of the Justice Society of America as well as a member of the World War II-era All-Star Squadron. In modern times, Scott has been a member of the revised JSA as well as Checkmate and the Sentinels of Magic. Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell and first appeared in All-American Comics #16 in July, 1940.

Engineer Alan Scott found a lantern carved from a meteorite known as the Starheart. Fulfilling the lamp's prophecy to grant astonishing power, Scott tapped into the emerald energy and fought injustice as the Green Lantern.

Origin
Two-thousand years ago a green meteor came to Earth and landed in the provinces of China. An aging occultist named Chang discovered the meteor and took it home. A mysterious voice boomed from the heart of the stone. Referring to itself as the Green Flame of Life, it began chanting, "Three times shall I flame green! First - to bring death! Second - to bring life, and third - to bring power!" Cutting away a portion of the alien rock, Chang fashioned it into a small lantern. The neighboring villagers distrusted the sorcerer and before long, a mob gathered together and killed him. The Flame of Life fulfilled the first of its prophecies.

The lamp traveled across the globe for centuries until it eventually fell into the hands of a man named Billings - a mental patient at Arkham Asylum in Gotham City. Billings remolded the lamp into the shape of a train conductor's lantern. The Green Flame of Life flared again and mystically restored Billings' sanity – granting him a new lease on life. As promised, the second of three prophecies has been fulfilled.

A short time later, engineer Alan Scott and his colleague, Jimmy, traveled aboard a train across the state of Arizona. Alan was present to inspect the recently designed Trestle Bridge. He had outbid a rival engineer named Alert Dekker for the Trestle Bridge contract, and Jimmy was concerned that Dekker might try to sabotage the bridge's test trial. Alan assured him that there was nothing to worry about.

As fate would have it however, a bomb exploded beneath the bridge derailing the train. Everyone on board were killed in the explosion – everyone but Alan Scott. Alan awoke to find a strange emerald lantern resting near the wreckage. The lantern began to glow and the Green Flame of Life began to chant once again, "Three times shall I flame green! First - to bring death! Second - to bring life, and third - to bring power!" The disembodied voice infused Alan with visions of the past and he learned of the fulfillment of the first two prophecies.

Flaring up for a third time, the Green Flame of Life bestowed the gift of power upon Alan Scott. The Flame instructed him to cut away a small piece of the lantern and mold it into the shape of a ring. It further told him that the ring would be a source of great power, but he must use the lantern as a power battery and charge the ring's energy stores once every twenty-four hours.

With this fantastic new power under his command, Alan set out to find Albert Dekker – the man responsible for blowing up the Trestle Bridge. Glowing like a green phantom, he phased through the walls of Dekker's office, forcing him to take responsibility for the bridge's destruction. Moments after Dekker confessed to his crimes, he fell away dead from fright.

Alan decided to use his newfound powers and tools to fight crime as a man of mystery, and so named himself after the very power at his command... the Green Lantern.

Pre-Crisis
As the Green Lantern, Alan Scott became one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America. In 1951, when the team was investigated by the "Joint Congressional Un-American Activities Committee," they were accused of possible Communist sympathies and asked to reveal their secret identities. The JSA declined, and most of the membership retired in the 1950s.

The JSA re-formed in the 1960s with Scott as a member, though little is known of their adventures during this time save for their team-ups with the Justice League of America, of the parallel world Earth-One, and a few cross-universe adventures Scott shared with Earth-One's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.

From the late 1940s to the 1970s, Scott ran the Gotham Broadcasting Company (GBC), which was ruined by creditors. He was temporarily driven mad by the Psycho-Pirate (Roger Hayden), and the rest of the JSA helped him recover. Jay Garrick helped him start a new career as a scientist, although he eventually regained control of the GBC and is still running it to this day.

Alan fell in love with Rose Canton, unaware she was also the evil Thorn. She faked her death soon after they married rather than let Thorn take over and kill him... Rose also hid the fact that she was pregnant with twins.

The two children, Jade and Obsidian, later revealed themselves to Alan. In a confrontation Rose killed herself rather than let Thorn harm her children and husband.

Alan later remarried, this time to the reformed Harlequin, Molly Mayne.

Post-Crisis
Following the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event, which merged all parallel realities into one, the source of Scott's power would be revealed to be the mystical Starheart, the gathered magical characteristics of the Universe by the Oan Guardians of the Universe. This collective force was hidden in the heart of a star and became sentient, and also helped retard Scott's aging process. Another adventure implied a connection to an ancient member of the Green Lantern Corps.

During one of his earlier adventures, Alan and his friend Jay Garrick (also known as the Flash) had an encounter with Abin Sur, the Green Lantern who preceded Hal Jordan; tracking a criminal to Earth, Sur's ring was immobilized by his foe forming a yellow barrier around the ring, necessitating Sur to borrow Alan's ring when he and Jay were knocked unconscious. With the new ring, which lacked a weakness to yellow, Sur was able to take his foe by surprise and defeated him, before returning the ring to Alan and leaving Earth.

Eventually, Scott and of the rest of the Society disappeared for years, transported to another dimension fighting in an eternally recurring Ragnarok. They were eventually rescued, and continued activity until a disastrous battle with the villain Extant, during which Scott was physically aged to a point closer to his actual age, prompting him to semi-retirement.

For a time, the Starheart became part of Scott's body and he adopted the name Sentinel, becoming a founding member of a new JSA. Thanks to the restorative properties of the Starheart, Scott's physical body was again temporarily revitalized so that he resembled a man in his thirties or early foruties. He has since has been physically altered again so that he more closely resembles his true chronological age. He continues to fight crime in his original costumed identity, using a ring again, serving as an elder statesman to the JSA and to the superhero community in general.

Infinite Crisis
During the "Infinite Crisis" event, Scott and his daughter Jade, along with many others, traveled with Donna Troy to the center of the universe to save the galaxy from an unknown threat; later revealed to be Alexander Luthor, Jr.. Jade died on that mission. A year later, Scott appears to be still active, still relatively youthful in comparison to his true age, but now wears an eye-patch due to losing his eye in a Zeta Beam transporter accident while returning from space. During the missing year, Scott has joined Checkmate at the rank of White King. Scott assigned his JSA teammate Mister Terrific as his bishop.

Scott soon found himself in a moral conflict with Checkmate's Black Knight Sasha Bordeaux over the violent nature of Checkmate, particularly after Bordeaux and her team slaughtered dozens of Kobra operatives during a raid on a facility. Bordeaux contended that the ends justified the means, while Scott adhered to the principle that heroes should not kill unless absolutely necessary; Bordeaux responded to this by suggesting that Scott should resign. Concurrent with this internal conflict, Scott and "White Queen" Amanda Waller attempted to keep the organization from being discontinued by political forces.

During the fourth week of the "Missing Year", Scott lost his left eye during a period when he and several other superheroes had been declared missing. The Zeta Beam Adam Strange was hoping to use for teleporting the heroes in space away from the time-space ripple caused by Alexander Luthor, Jr. actions was splintered by the ripple itself, mutilating the heroes in various ways. Somehow, both Adam Strange and Alan Scott lost their eyes. Alan then somehow gained Adam's right eye and lost his left eye completely.

His missing eye was later replaced by a portion of his daughter Jade's mystic green energy. After being put into a comatose state during an attack by the Gentleman Ghost, Jade appeared to him, told him goodbye and granted him another portion of her green energy. His missing eye is currently replaced by a green glowing orb that, due to its mystical origins and connection to Jade, allows him to track astral and mystical energy forms such as ghosts.

A short time after the Infinite Crisis event, Alan Scott briefly served as the White King to the revitalized U.N. chapter of Checkmate. Frustrated by the bureaucracy, his tenure was cut short in the wake of an international scandal. Scott vacated his position, recommending his former JSA teammate, Michael Holt, to fill the empty seat. He has since returned to full-time active status in the revitalized Justice Society of America.

Powers

 * Energy absorption
 * Energy projection
 * Flight
 * Intangibility
 * Retarded aging
 * Self-sustenance

Weaknesses
His ring could protect him against any object made of metal, but would not protect him against any wood or plant based objects. This was said to be because the green flame was an incarnation of the strength of "green, growing things". Alan also limits himself at times due to still thinking of himself as human.

Equipment

 * Green Lantern ring: Alan Scott formed a ring from the ancient lantern, which acted as a focus for his powers. The ring enabled Scott to simulate all of the traditional powers of a Green Lantern. The ring was capable of creating light wave energy constructs and enabled the wielder to fly at great speeds and protected them from the vacuum of outer space. With the exception of a vulnerability to wood, the ring's capabilities were limited only by Alan's imagination and willpower.


 * Green Lantern power battery: A nigh-indestructible lantern which acted as energy source for his powers. The lantern was capable of absorbing energy as well and could become invisible.

Notes & Trivia



 * Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-Two era of publication, his existence following the events of the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.


 * One piece of retroactive continuity fills out Scott's early history: All-Star Squadron Annual #3 states that the JSA fought a being named Ian Karkull who imbued them with energy that retarded their aging, allowing Scott and many others (as well as their spouses) to remain active into the late 20th century without infirmity. The events of that incident also lead to his taking a leave of absence from the JSA, explaining why the character vanished from the roster for a time.


 * Alan Scott is left-handed. This has been maintained fairly consistently throughout the years, making him one of the few left-handed superheroes in comic history.


 * The original name for Alan Scott was Alan Ladd. This was intended to be a play on the name Aladdin, and not a reference to Silver Screen actor, Alan Ladd.


 * Although Alan Scott seemingly died in Justice Society of America, Vol. 3 #54, there always exists a possibility of a return appearance as death is something of a transitory thing in comic books. However, it was shortly after Scott's final appearance that the entire DC Universe was refolded into the "New 52" where an alternate version of Alan Scott exists.


 * Alan Scott appears in the DC Universe Online video game where he is voiced by actor Jason Phelps.