Warning: contains spoilers for Future State: Green Lantern #2!
Hal Jordan, the second and perhaps best-known hero to take up the moniker of Green Lantern, receives a major power-up thanks to Cyborg within the pages of Future State: Green Lantern #2. Tying into the Future State event, the issue showcases the possible futures of multiple members of the Green Lantern Corps. Hal Jordan’s story is written by Robert Venditti with art by Dexter Soy, and shows Hal on a desperate mission, accompanied by a highly-advanced upgrade courtesy of an old friend.
The Green Lantern Corps in Future State is in dire straights. At an uncertain point in time, the Central Power Battery on OA stopped working, rendering all the Green Lanterns’ power rings inert. True to form, the Lanterns continue their heroics regardless: John Stewart fights off an alien armada on one planet, Guy Gardner negotiates a peace between two warring factions on another, and Hal Jordan (who hasn’t heard from his fellow Lanterns in months) leaves Earth in search of answers. He travels through space in a manner Green Lanterns don’t often use: in a spaceship built by Cyborg.
An unknown cataclysm has occurred on Earth. Heroes are disappearing. Hal Jordan’s one of the few remaining, but he finds it necessary to leave home to contact Oa and see what space-based threats are targeting the planet. To do this, he uses an impressive spacecraft constructed by Cyborg, apparently meant specifically for Hal. “Cyborg built this energy amplifier for my ring before his…accident,” Jordan says as he powers up the craft. “Then he disappeared too.” Green energy crackles and surrounds the craft as it takes off, achieves faster-than-light flight (by necessity, because all the transluminal pathways are down) and heads for deep space.
Since members of the Green Lantern Corps can travel through space just fine using their power rings, they’re rarely seen using spaceships. Hal Jordan’s predecessor Abin Sur was an exception as he heard a prophecy that his ring would fail him, and took to using a ship before he died. But the issue soon shows Cyborg’s ship and amplifier is a massive asset for Hal Jordan. Facing off against two Sinestro Corps members, the ship amplifies Hal’s ring and delivers twin energy blasts, taking the once-formidable yellow ring-bearers down in seconds. “It’s been a long time since they risked coming so close to home. They must smell blood in the water.”
The pattern is repeated through the remainder of the issue. Hal encounters enemies and either zips past them, or if faced with no other option, takes them down in moments before flying on. With the uncertain fate befalling the Green Lantern Corps and Earth’s heroes as a whole (what was Cyborg’s accident, and why has he disappeared?), he’ll certainly need the extra firepower. At the end of the issue, Hal crash-lands the ship on a devastated Oa, but the possibility remains that Cyborg’s amplifier can be rebuilt and repaired. If he has any hope of restoring the Central Power Battery and bringing back the Green Lantern Corps, then Cyborg’s device will certainly come in handy.
