DC’s New Red Lantern Supervillain Team Has the Perfect 1950s Gimmick

Warning: contains spoilers for Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #5!

DC’s newest team of Red Lantern supervillains has arrived to fight Green Lantern, and they have the perfect 1950’s gimmick. Alan Scott: The Green Lantern has chronicled his struggle against the Red Lantern, a Russian man wielding the Crimson Flame. He has proven more than a match for Green Lantern, and in issue five, a new team of Crimson Flame-powered villains arrive, and their retro gimmick immediately sets them apart.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #5 is written by Tim Sheridan and drawn by Cian Tormey. Green Lantern and the Red Lantern are engaged in all-out war, with neither one gaining the upper hand. Finally, the two stop fighting and try to make some effort at talking the problem out. Then, Red Lantern’s ring stops working, much to his dismay. Soon after, they are confronted by a team of Soviet soldiers, all powered by the Crimson Flame.

Calling themselves “the Crimson Host,” they have come to relieve the Red Lantern, and start by destroying his Power Battery.

DC’s New Red Lantern Has Made Alan Scott’s Mythos Richer

And Now There is a Whole Team of Them

The mystery of the new Red Lantern has been central to Alan Scott: The Green Lantern. He began as a Soviet spy, and a lover of Alan Scott, before being corrupted. The Red Lantern draws his power from the Crimson Flame, a fragment of the Starheart that also powers Alan Scott. While bearing a surface similarity to the Red Light of Rage that fuels the Red Lantern Corps, the Crimson Flame still exacts a toll on its host. The Crimson Flame is all that is keeping the Red Lantern alive, but now he has to share it.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern has also explored the culture and society of the 1940s/1950s, particularly the plight of LGBTQIA+ individuals as well as the ramping up of the Cold War. A “Red Scare” happened during this era, in which many innocent people were accused of having Communist sympathies. The Crimson Host, introduced in this issue, are the fears of 1950s America given form: a team of super-powered Soviets who are not afraid to use lethal force, even against one of their own. The Crimson Host seems to lack the Red Lantern’s humanity and empathy.

The Crimson Host May Be DC’s Most Powerful Team

But Can They Even Survive the Ravages of the Crimson Flame?

And in Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #5, this cruelty is on full and shocking display. The Crimson Host, sent to take over for the Red Lantern, begins by taking away his powers as well as his Lantern. Whether they realize it is sustaining him or not is unknown, but it is still a deliberate and calculating act designed to take the Red Lantern out of commission. They try to do the same with Green Lantern, but are unsuccessful and now face the Justice Society, who may be powerful enough to defeat the Crimson Host.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #5 is on sale now from DC Comics!