Green Lantern Volume 1

by Gardner F. Fox and John Broome

Book Overview

Written by JOHN BROOME and GARDNER FOX Art by GIL KANE, JOE GIELLA and MURPHY ANDERSON Cover by GIL KANE and JOE GIELLA One of the first SHOWCASE PRESENTS titles is back in a new printing! This volume... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401207596
• ISBN13: 9781401207595
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Length: 526 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.6" x 10.1"
• Age Range: 11 to 15 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 10

Customer Reviews

Showcase Presents: Green Lantern, Volume 1.........

When I was a youngster in the 70's, one of the comics I used to love reading from DC was Green Lantern. Imagine my surprise when I walk into my local BAM Bookstore and find a digest of old Green Lantern comics called Showcase Presents Green Lantern, Volume 1 for a real low price of $9.99. I quickly purchased it and brought it home for an all-night read. Thing is, it's three days later and I still hadn't finished it, lol. While storytelling in this volume might seem a bit rigid & straightforward as opposed to comics in this day and time, it made me learn alot about one of my favorite DC Comics characters of all-time. Many of the characters I know and love from the GL universe were introduced in these older reprints so I have a deeper understanding of them now. True, it's clear from reading these old stories that the comic was aimed more toward a younger audience back then but I love taking a walk down memory lane. This volume includes Green Lantern's first appearances in Showcase #22 through #24 as well as his first adventures in Green Lantern #1 through #17. It's written by John Broome and Gardner Fox. With art by Gil Kane, Joe Giella and Murphy Anderson. The cover is done by Kane & Giella. If you're just getting into comics and want to learn about the Silver Age of comics or are a new GL fan, you might want to check out the DC line of Showcase paperbacks. You can't beat the low, low price. This volume is an enjoyable read and I aim on getting the second volume.

B/W -- where's yellow?

His weakness is YELLOW, yet the book's B & W! Fortunately, I'm doped up with a cold, so my highlighter and I are rectifying the situation. This Showcase is thus much more interactive than the rest. (I do wish they did a showcase for the Golden Age version of GL, but that's just me.) Still, like the rest of the Showcase Presents series, this is an excellent value and a great way to catch up on the semi-ancient history of classic characters!

best of the golen age

Similar to the Marvels Essentials same format-black and white and a similar number of pages- This volume includes Green Lantern 1-17 published between 1960 and 1962, and Showcase 22-24 published between 1959 and 1960.

Best Showcase so far

Here's where the "green" Green Lantern gets started. The character of Hal Jordan develops throughout this tome that brings back to life the most mature plotting and themes of any early Sixties DC comics. Because of the interesting writing, this stands out among the Showcase and Marvel Essentials, and so it survives the harshness of black and white. It is a shame that color is apparently prohibitively expensive. I'm sure, especially with a character whose NAME IS A COLOR, the publishers held their breath when they released it. Yes, I miss the color A LOT, but this and a few of the other Showcases have enough nostaliga and entertainment value to make for good bedtime reading. Plus some of the key background material for Infinite Crisis originates in early Green Lantern mags. Put it all together with the value, and this is a very satisfying purchase. (Great marketing too--buying a few of these Showcase volumes prompted me to buy a few of the more expensive premium products DC has put out.) Enjoy!

Real nice nostalgia and good drawing

I was too young to read Green Lantern in the years (1959-62) covered by these reprints, but they are charming, imaginitive and amusing. Gil Kane's pencil work is the epitome of clean, sylish DC econmy and class- so unlike today's overworked, overcrowed junk. The inking, mainly by Joe Giello, is really smooth, sophisicated and reserved. That was a great era. Innocent, morally uplifting stories are nonetheless tinged with mind-expanding sci-fi concepts- surprisingly dream like and sometimes downright psychedelic.