Warning: contains potential spoilers for Alan Scott: Green Lantern #5!
The new Red Lantern’s official debut will showcase the villain who changed DC’s history forever. For over a year, DC has teased an enigmatic new Red Lantern, whose existence predates the arrival of the Red Lantern Corps by decades. This upended everything fans thought they knew about both the Red and Green Lanterns, and in a first look at Alan Scott: Green Lantern #5, this new character officially arrives.
DC shared a look at Alan Scott: Green Lantern #5’s cover, drawn by Brandon Peterson, with League of Comic Geeks. The issue, which will be written by Tim Sheridan and drawn by Cian Tormey, sees Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, finally meet the mysterious Red Lantern.
Peterson’s cover, shared here, depicts the Red Lantern in all his glory and showcases his formidable power.
DC Has Building Anticipation for the New Red Lantern
For the past year, DC has dropped hints about the new Red Lantern ahead of his debut. Previous issues of Alan Scott: Green Lantern have followed various peoples’ attempts to harness the Crimson Flame, the source of the Red Lantern’s powers. Thus far, no one has been successful, but clearly the Red Lantern found a way. The new Red Lantern hails from the Soviet Union, and while a good deal of his history is still unexplored, he does have a daughter in the present day, and he went missing while searching for her. The mystery of the Red Lantern has been central to DC’s New Golden Age initiative.
This new Red Lantern, in addition to being a formidable foe for Alan Scott, has already significantly rewritten parts of DC’s history, particularly Green Lantern lore. The anger-fueled Red Lanterns were assumed to have emerged shortly before the Blackest Night, but the debut of the Red Lantern calls this into question. It stands to reason that there could have been other Red Lanterns before Atroctius, Dex-Starr and the rest: the red light of anger is part of the Emotional Spectrum, a primal force in the DC Universe. The new Red Lantern could have found a way to harness this part of the Spectrum years prior to the Blackest Night.
Supergirl Is DC’s Ultimate Red Lantern
Supergirl proves herself to be DC’s best Red Lantern by using her anger as a way to save others from the pain she had after losing her home, Krypton.
What is the Secret of the Crimson Flame?
The aforementioned Crimson Flame remains a mystery, one currently unfolding in the pages of Alan Scott: Green Lantern. So far, the Flame has shown a definite vengeful streak, attacking Alan’s lover and corrupting him. While this does not necessarily match up with traditional Red Lantern behavior, it is also possible the Crimson Flame is another expression of the red light of anger, or could be a sliver of the light that has fallen to Earth. The new Red Lantern will provide a cool and unique take on the character, perhaps showing how deep its history runs.
Alan Scott: Green Lantern #5 is on sale February 27 from DC Comics!
