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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP

CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Book of Oa

5/26/2013

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History
The Book of Oa is a massive book held in the Citadel of Oa. Created long ago, the Book contains the history of the Guardians of the Universe and the Green Lantern Corps. One member of the Green Lantern Corps is selected by the Guardians as Keeper of the Book of Oa, a highly honored position.
After Thomas Kalmaku used Hal Jordan's ring to rebuild Oa, Kyle Rayner used his power as Ion to ressurect the Guardian. The book of Oa is now restored.
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The Forbidden Chapter of the Book tells the prophecy of the Blackest Night, the final destruction of the Green Lantern Corps at the hands of their greatest enemies as it was told to Abin Sur by the demons of Ysmault.
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Upon recruitment, a Green Lantern is expected to uphold certain principles of his/her/its duty. These principles include:

1. The protection of life and liberty within the assigned sector.(Revision allows lethal force to be used against the Sinestro Corps)
2. Following the orders of the Guardians without question.
3. Noninterference with a planet's culture, political structure, or its population's collective will.
4. Acting within local laws and obeying the local authority within reason. (Presumably, The Guardians' orders can overrule this when necessary).
5. Taking no action against anyone or anything until they are proven to be a threat against life and liberty.
6. Refusing to use the equipment, resources or authority of The Corps for personal gain.
7. Showing respect for and cooperating with other members of the Corps and the Guardians.
8. Showing respect for life which includes restraint of force unless there is no reasonable alternative.
9. Giving top priority to the greatest danger in the assigned sector.
10. Upholding the honor of the Corps.
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Following the escalation of the war between the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps, the Guardians have rewritten the Book of Oa changing the ten previous laws into new laws.

1. Lethal Force is authorized to be used against the Sinestro Corps.
2. Lethal Force is authorized against all enemies of the Green Lantern Corps.
3. Love and physical relationships between members of the Green Lantern Corps is forbidden. (Repealed)
4. The Vega System is no longer Outside the Green Lantern Corps' jurisdiction.
5. The Green Lantern Corps no longer takes prisoners.
6. If the Guardians are unable to discharge their sacred duties, command of the Green Lantern Corps falls to Clarrisi, followed by the Illustres.

The remaining four laws have yet to be revealed.
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To enforce these principles, the Guardians closely monitor the activities of the Lanterns. If they feel a violation of Corps regulations occurred, they will summon the offender to Oa and hold a trial in which the charges are read and the Lantern is allowed to explain his/her/its actions. If the Guardians are not satisfied by the explanation, they have a number of disciplinary options which include:

Probation
Personal supervision by the Guardians on Oa
Temporary exile from the Lantern's homeworld
Ritual Trial of Endurance - a Lantern must attempt a dangerous passage through the Anti-Matter Universe.
Expulsion from the Corps.
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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : G'nort

5/20/2013

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G'nort (pronunciation: "nort") Esplanade G'neesmacher is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero created by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis during their Justice League period.
G'nort was a member of the Green Lantern Corps and later a Darkstar. He resembles a humanoid dog and is thoroughly incompetent and generally disliked by other heroes; in fact, he is usually portrayed as being a loser and used as comic relief. He was a member of the Justice League Antarctica. Despite his comedic appearance, he has become somewhat of a cult favorite among comic book readers.
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Fictional character biography 
Hal Jordan explains that G'nort became a Green Lantern due to the influence of his relative who was a famous member of the Lantern Corps. Despite his obviously limited intelligence (not intelligent enough to read a map) and profoundly lacking tactical judgment, the character is consistently depicted as brave, loyal, and honorable. This fact is overlooked by most heroes, although Superman has pointed it out on occasion.
Early in his career, G'nort becomes inadvertently mixed up with the League's battle against the Manhunters. Recognizing G'Nort's general incompetence, the Corps had given him an uninhabited sector of space to patrol. The fact that the region was uninhabited also suited the needs of the Manhunters, who set up their home planet in G'Nort's sector. G'Nort joined Hal Jordan, Superman, and other Justice League members in an assault on the home world, although G'Nort's main contribution was getting stuck in the planet's ventilation system.

Working with the League
G'nort's arch enemy, the Scarlet Skier (a take-off of Marvel's Silver Surfer), is described as being the only felon G'nort ever managed to apprehend in his entire career. Also an idiot, the Skier was mistaken for a pan handling homeless person when traveling in the subway.
G'nort goes on a mission to rescue Mister Miracle from the interstellar trader Manga Khan. Traveling in a spaceship, G'nort works with Big Barda, Martian Manhunter, and Dmitri of the Rocket Reds. They chase down Khan and survive an assassination attempt by his hired killer Lobo.
Both G'nort and the Skier were founding members of Justice League Antarctica, created by Maxwell Lord for the purpose of keeping both them and the reformed Injustice League out of his way.

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The League, including G'nort, find their Antarctic headquarters overwhelmed by killer penguins. Their enemies are ultimately destroyed, but not before the facility itself gets demolished. G'Nort keeps himself and his new-found allies alive via his power-ring until help arrives.
G'nort assists the League, this time consisting of Manhunter, Crimson Fox and Ice, when Mr. Nebula, the Skier's old boss, turns his dangerous, cosmic-powered attention to Earth.
G'nort sees himself as a "Green-Lantern-at-large", not bound to a single space sector. His most successful mission (apart from capturing the Skier) has been when a gang of interstellar bank-robbing humanoid cats surrender as soon as he appears.

Qward battle 
Eventually it is discovered that both G'nort and his uncle G'newman were actually given their rings by the Poglachians, who posed as the Guardians of the Universe while the real Guardians were with the Zamarons. A race of clowns, the Poglachians gave the rings to beings they thought would use them in amusing ways. They were actually pawns of the Weaponers of Qward, who hoped to discredit the Green Lantern Corps by having the name associated with idiots. G'nort works with Guy Gardner, ending up in Qward itself, though G'nort loses his Qwardian-powered ring. Their confrontations against a Qwardian Sinestro cult goes badly. Faced with the threat of his beloved uncle being killed, G'nort gives up the location of Hal Jordan.

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Soon after, powerless but free from a Qwardian cell, G'nort smells the soldier who took his ring and tracks him down. The soldier swiftly overpowers G'nort and makes the mistake of bragging how he would kill and torture Guy. Enraged, G'nort defeats the soldier, gains his ring and saves Guy by destroying the source of his very own power. The two make it back to normal space as explosions devastate the local area. Afterwards, Guy Gardner reluctantly tells the real Guardians that G'nort was the true hero on Qward, which earned G'nort status as a genuine Green Lantern. Around this time G'Nort is kicked out of the League and meets up with a struggling street musician whom he takes to calling 'Sax Girl'. He saves her from a life of homelessness and they have multiple adventures together. They part on friendly terms, with a kiss. He has other adventures on his own, such as battling several supervillians who pretend to terrorize a small town for a cut of tourism dollars.

Post-League
G'nort presumably lost his ring during Emerald Twilight and subsequently (like many former Lanterns) joined the Darkstars. He still wears his Darkstar uniform long after the organization collapses, when he is captured by Manga Khan, who attempts to trade him to Maxwell Lord in exchange for L-Ron. The entire situation goes badly, resulting in the near destruction of Earth. G'Nort is set free after Maxwell Lord and Sue Dibny hold Khan for ransom. L-Ron returns with Khan.
G'nort was seen as the sole member of Super Buddies Antarctica, exactly where Maxwell Lord wants him. For a time, G'Nort lives behind Guy Gardner's New York 'Warriors' bar. He appeared later in the mini-series "Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage", where his homeworld had been destroyed by the Rann-Thanagar War. The character was portrayed more serious in this story, suffering heavily from the loss of his family.
As of Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Secret Files & Origins #1, G'nort is listed as "Presumed Dead."  When asked whether G'nort would be making an appearance as a member of the Black Lantern Corps during Blackest Night at San Diego Comic Con 2009, Geoff Johns replied that the character was not dead and was still considered missing in action.

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Other versions
I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League
In the alternate dimension visited by the Super Buddies in the I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, populated by twisted counterparts of the main universe characters, G'nort is a rampaging flea-infested giant, whose body is used as a battleground.

Justice League Unlimited 
In the Justice League Unlimited comic spin-off G'nort starts his career as a regular Green Lantern Cadet, nephew of the famous G'Newt but lacking any skills and talents. He is brought to Qward by John Stewart along with other Lanterns to stop Sinestro's last plan to destroy Oa by flaring over the planet with antimatter bursts. Despite Boodikka's prejudices against a rookie, G'nort is able to hold his own on combat, and uncover G'Newt himself as Sinestro's partner and accomplice. The Guardians, impressed by his courage, grant him the former sector of the deposed G'Newt to patrol.

Planetary 
In an alternate universe ruled by evil versions of the 'Planetary' heroes, G'Nort's corpse is one of many on display in the Planetary headquarters.

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In other media
Television
G'nort appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Eyes of Despero" voiced by Alexander Polinsky. He, Sinestro, and Guy Gardner work with Batman to stop Despero. His backstory is the same as originally presented in the comics, as Sinestro mentions G'nort's uncle had "pushed" him through Lantern training. Though G'nort is initially presented as somewhat incompetent, he proves vital in helping Batman stop the brainwashed Mogo by draining Mogo's internal Lantern Battery. Despite forgetting the Green Lantern oath necessary to begin the process, he comes through upon consulting the "cheat sheet" written on his arm. After Batman compliments him twice and helps G'nort earn the respect of the Corps, he jumps into his arms to lick him, only to get a reprimand ("No licking."). G'Nort makes a non-speaking cameo in the episode "Revenge of The Reach", wherein he is blasted by the mind-controlled Blue Beetle.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Fatality

5/13/2013

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Fatality is a fictional character, a former supervillain in the DC Comics universe. She was created by Ron Marz and first appeared in Green Lantern vol 3 #83 in February 1997.
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Publication History
After debuting in a three part storyline in Green Lantern vol 3 #83-85 (February - April 1997), the character returned for many additional appearances. She joined the title team in Green Lantern: New Guardians in issue #1 (September 2011).

Fictional character biography
The eldest child of the planet Xanshi's ruling family, the girl who would one day call herself Fatality was sent off-world to be educated by the Warlords of Okaara. Xanshi is destroyed due to a miscalculation by Green Lantern John Stewart, making Fatality her world's sole survivor. Learning of Xanshi's fate, she leaves Okaara and dedicates herself to becoming the deadliest warrior in all the universe. Remaining ignorant of Stewart's identity, she swears vengeance on all Green Lanterns.
When the Green Lantern Corps is rendered powerless, Fatality views the last Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, as her ultimate prize. Their conflict takes them from Earth to a desolate planetoid, where during combat she discovers Stewart was to blame for Xanshi's destruction. Fatality seemingly perishes in the battle, though no body (save a severed arm) is recovered.
Fatality later appears on Earth, having acquired a prosthetic arm and a Qwardian yellow power ring. She again fights Kyle Rayner, who convinces her to remove the yellow ring. The Qwardians had booby trapped the ring, causing it to explosively teleport away after being removed. This destroyed Fatality's (remaining) arm.
After being imprisoned on Earth for a while, she was released by the villain Major Force. She has since been seen working as a bounty hunter in the Vega System in the Green Lantern Corps: Recharge mini-series.
She later became a member of the Earth-based Secret Society of Super Villains. While in battle she loses an ear to Vandal Savage's daughter, Scandal.

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She was seen among the new Injustice League, with a new Sinestro Corps yellow power ring. Later, she was captured by the Zamarons and experimented upon, and became the Star Sapphire of Sector 1313. Influenced (essentially brainwashed) by the violet light of love, she is now set on forgiving her nemesis, John Stewart, for whom she claims to have romantic feelings. She finds him on Okaara fighting Larfleeze, also known as Agent Orange, and his Orange Lantern Corps, isolating him with crystals and kissing him. She also encourages him to forgive himself as she's absolved herself of her survivor's guilt. Before departing for Zamaron, she tells him that she has forgiven him as well.
Fatality reaches Zamaron just in time to defend the planet against an attack by members of the Sinestro Corps who had come to retrieve their captured female members. Even though she was originally one of them, she had already been converted by the Star Sapphire Corps unlike many of the others.
Fatality has recently become the Star Sapphire representation in the new title Green Lantern: New Guardians, having become a provisional member of a makeshift 'team' consisting of one representative from each of the seven Corps, including Kyle Rayner of the Green Lantern Corps, Arkillo of the Sinestro Corps, Bleez of the Red Lantern Corps, Saint Walker of the Blue Lantern Corps, Larfleeze's Orange Lantern construct Glomulus, and Munk of the Indigo Tribe. Having learned of Larfleeze's role in banishing the Orrery of Archangel Invictus into another dimension, Fatality returns to Zamaron to recharge, where the Zamarons tell her that someone in this universe must have created the opportunity for Invictus to return.

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When Fatality learns the Reach has invaded the Blue Lantern homeworld, she immediately rushes to aid the Blue Lanterns. She is then helps John Stewart complete a quest. Following the villainous First Lantern being destroyed and the unemotional Guardians killed off by Sinestro, Fatality has begun a relationship with John in-between on Mogo.

Powers and abilities
Fatality has super human strength, speed, reflexes and reactions, and endurance. She has been trained by the fabled Warlords of Okaara and is an expert in all forms of combat and the use of many weapons. She is one of the best warriors in the universe.
Fatality has many weapons with which she is an expert. Usually she employs an energy staff. Since losing her arms in a battle with Kyle Rayner, Fatality has acquired bionic arms that provide her with enhanced strength. She has a pair of jet boots that allow her to fly and a starship which she uses to traverse the universe in her attempts to destroy the Green Lantern Corps.
When she was a member of the Sinestro Corps, she used a yellow power ring built on Qward. The ring can create objects based on the wielder's thoughts. The power ring is fuelled by fear instead of willpower. Yellow power rings are weak against Blue Lantern rings. When in their presence, Qwardian rings are drained of their energy. Unlike the green power rings were, the yellow ring was never restricted from killing sentient beings.

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Now serving as a member of the Star Sapphire Corps, she wears a violet power ring, powered by the emotion of love and built on the planet Zamaron. The capabilities of Star Sapphires appear to be comparable to those of Green Lanterns. They allow the wearer to fly, generate a protective aura (which in the case of Star Sapphires creates distinct feathered and organic shapes), and create violet light constructs. The most notable creation of the violet rings are crystals that encase prisoners from other lantern corps on the Zamaron planet. 

Over time, the rings of the prisoners trapped in stasis within the crystals are infected with violet energy. After spending enough time inside, the prisoner will emerge as a Star Sapphire.
Other unique abilities of the Star Sapphires' rings include the ability to reveal the wearer's greatest love. They're also able to detect when a loving heart is embattled and in need of aid. By connecting the heart of the ring bearer to a true love in danger, the power of the ring can also act as a tether. Star Sapphires have not shown to be particularly vulnerable to the powers of other Corps, however as their powers come from one of the farthest two sides of the spectrum their rings have greater control over their personalities.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Iron Lantern

5/5/2013

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Real Name: Harold "Hal" Stark
Current Alias: Iron Lantern
Aliases: Hal, Arno Manning
Affiliation: Judgment League Avengers

Status
Alignment: Good
Identity: Secret Identity
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Founder and CEO of Stark Aircraft
Education: College graduate

Characteristics
Gender: Male
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown

Origin
Origin: Green Lantern and Iron Man were combined in a Marvel versus DC crossover
Universe: Amalgam Universe
Created by Kurt Busiek, Paul Smith
First appearance: Iron Lantern #1

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History
Hal Stark is a millionaire and the founder of Stark Aircraft. He was working on a stationary flight simulator when the device suddenly took off with him in it. Stark discovered that the flight simulator was being drawn to a crashed alien spacecraft, and the flight simulator crashed yards away from it. Stark was badly injured by shards of metal stuck in his chest. Curious to the end, Stark made his way to the alien spacecraft, where he came upon the dying alien Rhomann Sur. The alien died before he could speak with Hal, and Hal realized he was dying as well. With his last efforts, Stark designed a suit of armor out of the alien technology, powered by a battery he found in the wreckage, one which reminded him of a lantern. The suit of armor not only allowed him to survive, but gave him incredible powers, allowing him to create any object he pleased out of a green energy, due to the battery he used being powered by Oa the Living Planet. He battled and defeated the aliens that had shot down Rhomann Sur's spacecraft.
Stark, under the name of the Iron Lantern, became a superhero, fighting against numerous enemies such as Madame Sapphire, Great White, and his arch nemesis Mandarinestro, who is behind the series of events that creates Madame Sapphire, who in turn resurrects the Great White android. Hal Stark has also been associated with the Green Guardsman, who once took over for Iron Lantern, and later came back to steal the Iron Lantern's alien battery so he could be a hero again. Other foes that Iron Lantern has faced include Dr. Whiplash and H.E.C.T.O.R..

In Showcase of Suspense #29, Hal traveled into the year 5700. In this far-off future, there is another Iron Lantern known as Arno Manning, who Hal Stark temporarily took the identity of in his travels. In addition to the Iron Lantern's connections to Arno Manning and the Green Guardsman, Hal Stark is also somehow connected to the Golden Age superhero the Human Lantern in ways that have not yet been revealed.

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Powers and Abilities
Powers
Iron Lantern wears an armor that can generate a variety of effects, such as:
Constructs of green "solid energy", often of tremendous size and/or complexity
Plasma bolts
Semi-sentient computers
Flight, including flight at speeds beyond that of light by the use of wormholes
Time travel
Almost unlimited telepathic powers
Translation of virtually any all languages
Force field generation
Superhuman strength and durability
The armor is also able to convert nearby energy sources, such as heat or kinetic energy into electricity. The armor has jet skates that are now so powerful Iron Lantern can skate forward towing an entire train behind him. Miniature panes can protect Iron Lantern's eyes when needed. In addition, the armor can be completely sealed for operations in vacuum or underwater, and is shielded against radiation.
The onboard systems of the armor are controlled by Hal Stark's brain patterns, read from a cybernetic interface in his helmet.

The armor has an uni-beam projecter in its chest, pulse bolts that pick up kinetic energy along the way, so that they hit harder the further they have to travel and an electromagnetic pulse generator.

Other capabilities include generation of ultra-freon,creating and manipulating magnetic fields, sonic blasts and a holographic generator to create decoys.

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Abilities
Apart from the powers granted to him by his suit, Stark is an inventive genius, constantly creating new technology and looking for ways to improve it. He is well-respected in the business world, able to command people's attentions when he speaks on economic matters. He is known for the loyalty he from and returns to those who work for him, as well as impeccable business ethics.

Strength level
While in his armor, Stark has superhuman strength (able to lift between 25 and 50 tons), without his armor, Stark has the strength of a normal human male.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Sonar

4/27/2013

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Sonar is a DC Comics supervillain. He first appeared in Green Lantern (2nd series) #14, July (1962), and was created by John Broome and Gil Kane.
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Fictional character biography
Nestled in the mountains of south eastern Europe lies the tiny Balkan nation of Modora. With a population of four hundred, Modora was relatively unknown to the rest of the world, whose only product was the wool of a peculiar brown sheep found only in that small area. It wasn't even a member of the United Nations. Modora was sealed off from the rest of the world by Fando the Mad, a leader who believed Modora should be frozen in its past. He burned bridges and barricaded roads to the outside world while making all decisions for his countrymen. One man, Bito Wladon, was determined to change that.
Wladon's parents were deaf, which was a mark of Satan to the superstitious Modorans. By Modoran beliefs, they were not to be killed or hurt, they were to be shunned. Young Bito was a pariah as well, even though he could hear, he was the son of deaf parents. The cruel actions of his community built resentment towards his parents and the outside world. Bito Wladon would hide from the rest of the world in a barn, in which he one day discovered a cache of books, hidden by his peddler grandfather against the orders of Fando.
Bito Wladon became an apprentice to a clock maker, while he secretly embarked on a brilliant career working on the mastery of sound. By using an invention of his, the "nucleo sonic motor" which could use any sound source to power it, Wladon discovered he could nullify gravity or concentrate sound as a destructive force. As talented as he was, Wladon used sound as a means to an end. His fanatic patriotism to Modora had made him a dangerous man. Believing the greatest nations on Earth were also the most powerful, Wladon chose to make Modora great by supplying it with the "nucleo-sonic bomb," a weapon based on supersonic energy. He hoped to make Mordora the most powerful country in the world.
Unfortunately, his homeland was not technologically advanced enough to support his efforts. Wladon was slipped out of Modora for the United States. Many of the items he needed were classified equipment. Wladon would lead a life of crime to get the resources for his sonic weapons.
Wladon designed a regal, military costume to befit the future of Modora. When he appeared in the United States, the media dubbed him "Sonar" because of his mastery of sound.
Returning home from a cosmos-wide meeting of the Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern of Earth Hal Jordan visited the nation of Modora to get a stamp for Tom Kalmaku's stamp collection. The emerald warrior was surprised to discover Modora was so small it did not have a post office. Modorans were within walking distance of any of their fellow citizens. While he was searching for a stamp, Green Lantern learned of Bito Wladon from the clockmaker, hearing of his sound discoveries, which worried him, and returned to the United States as soon as possible.

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Sonar knew of the hero of Coast City and was prepared for their encounter. A punch thrown into thin air sent out a concentrated burst of supersonic waves that knocked out the ring wielder.
Despite his victory, Sonar was still disturbed by Modora's lack of representation in the media. He needed one more robbery to gain the components to his nucleo-sonic bomb. Sonar prepared for his next skirmish with Green Lantern by creating a tuning fork gun. The odd looking weapon used super sonic vibrations tuned to human brain waves to create mental effects in a target.
Sonar's tuning fork gun made Green Lantern see everything as yellow. The sudden change acted on his willpower, weakening him. Green Lantern believed he could not act, as the world was yellow and therefore could not be affected by his power ring. It took tremendous effort for the emerald gladiator to remove the illusion from his mind.
Sonar travelled east, crossing the Atlantic on his way home to Modora. He did not realize his tuning fork gun left a faint trail of radiation the ring wielder could track. Green Lantern's ring created a waterspout to defeat his foe.
Though he was stripped of his weapons and stolen technology and then imprisoned, Sonar was proud his exploits had made newspapers all over the world. The people of Modora showed their gratitude to Green Lantern by creating a Modoran postage stamp for the hero which he in turn gave to Tom Kalmaku, completing his stamp collection.
Fando knew Sonar was a threat to his power, but Wladon appealed to Fando's greed and fear and soon came to believe Sonar would help him keep his power.
Weeks later, Sonar was released from prison by a legal loophole. Using an old Modoran law, Sonar was granted his freedom due to his help in the annual harvest.
Playing upon Fando's insecurities, Bito struck a deal with Modora’s ruler and became commander of his armies. However, Bito secretly orchestrated an invasion by one of Modora’s neighbours and murdered Fando and the royal family during the confusion. Repelling the invasion with his sonic weaponry, Bito became the new ruler of Modora.
When Hal Jordan went to the Slab in order to get information from Hector Hammond he was taunted by Bito, claiming that he shouldn't be locked up because he had diplomatic immunity, until Hal knocked him out with a power ring generated fist.
In the years following, Sonar continued his adversarial relationship with Green Lantern while slowly expanding his influence across Europe. Incarcerated by the Justice League after his failed take-over of the former Soviet Union, Bito's sound technology and name were adopted by a mentally unstable criminal, who had the devices implanted beneath his very skin.

Current status
Sonar recently appeared in 52 as the Modoran representative to Black Adam's Freedom of Power coalition.

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Successor
Following in the footsteps of the original Sonar, Bito Wladon of Modora, the new Sonar gains his powers to create an empire. Though the source of his powers remains unrevealed, he has stated it involved suffering through agonizing experiments. Sonar alludes to his father being a monarch, but the original Sonar has made no mention of fathering an heir. His name is revealed to also be Bito Wladon.
The new Sonar first appears in Keystone City to test his new powers. Sonar tears up the Keystone City Hall. His reign of destruction spurs the involvement of Keystone City's resident super-hero, Wally West, the Flash. The battle was brief, with Sonar flying from Keystone for a larger city to rule. Sonar planned to conquer a kingdom worthy of his royal stature.
Arriving in New York City, Sonar is able to use the sounds of Manhattan against Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. The battle was joined when the Flash tracked the villain to the Big Apple. Sonar is defeated when the Flash accelerates him faster than sound. Rayner takes Sonar to the Slabside Island Maximum Security Prison.
Through means unknown, Sonar escapes his cell and turns his powers upon himself. He cybernetically enhanced himself, radically altering his appearance. After taking five guards as hostages, he freed the rest of the prisoners.
Kyle Rayner learns of the uprising and returned to the Slab as Green Lantern. Sonar had gathered the prisoners as a small army in service to him. Villains such as Hellgrammite, Killrock, Dervish, Shrapnel, Houngan, the Alter, and Spellbinder listens as Sonar spoke of making New York City his empire. Though he was a force to be reckoned with, the new Sonar did not impress Sledge, yet another prisoner in the Slab.
Sledge joins with Green Lantern to take down their mutual enemy but would not reveal his plan. Sledge separated from the hero as Green Lantern went against the freed villains. His rescue came at the hands of Sledge. The 9-foot-tall (2.7 m) villain pounds Sonar through the floor of the prison, opening a hole to the ocean in which the island prison was situated.
Green Lantern searched for Sonar but eventually gave up, believing his foe was dead at the hands of Sledge. Sonar's remains were not found.
Sonar did survive, and returned once more to battle Rayner in the middle of New York City. The effects of the so-called "Godwave" during the Genesis incident causes Green Lantern's power ring to temporarily lose all of its energy. Sonar is still defeated.
During the Ion saga Kyle watches as Sonar and Jade fight. The heroine continuously comments on how he wasn't a very threatening villain. The battle ends with a kick to Sonar's groin.
Sonar is later featured in JLA-80 Page Giant #1, discussing many supervillains with the Rainbow Raider.
Most recently, he has been seen among the new Injustice League, and is one of the villains featured in Salvation Run, the storyline where many villains are exiled from Earth. He is one of the villains sent to retrieve the Get Out of Hell Free card from the Secret Six.

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Powers and abilities
Bito Wladon Sr. carries a Sonic Sceptre, a device that enables him to absorb sound, which he can use to fly, project illusions, fire sonic attacks and perform telekinetic feats.
The second Sonar (Bito Wladon Jr.) has been cybernetically enhanced, so that he has the ability to harness ambient sound and use it for his own purposes. He usually attacks by firing sonic blasts.
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Other versions
Anti-Matter Universe
Sonar has a counterpart in the anti-matter universe of the Crime Syndicate of America named Lady Sonar, who is a member of the Justice Underground.

Sonarr
A Scottish super-hero with a bag-pipe named Sonarr was introduced in Justice League Quarterly #8

JLA/Avengers
Sonar appeared in JLA/Avengers #3 as the leader of a group of villains under the villain Krona's control. Sonar helps the Silver Swan and Silver Banshee defeat the Vision with sonics and magic. He is entrapped by Wonder Woman's magic lasso and unwittingly spills the truth about Krona, though calls him 'the Master'.

Flashpoint
In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Sonar is a member of Deathstroke's pirates. After being broken out of a floating prison by Deathstroke, Clayface tells Deathstroke about how Sonar could use his abilities to detect sunken treasures. He is not in the prison due to a superhuman trade, but Deathstroke catches up with him. He was imprisoned in Deathstroke's ship and used as a living radar system. After an attack by Aquaman and Ocean Master, Sonar asked Icicle to free him and then tells Deathstroke that he can save him from critical wounds, in return for being made second in command, which Deathstroke agrees to. Using his sonic abilities, Sonar removes a piece of Aquaman's trident from Deathstroke's chest, allowing his healing factor to restore him. After Warlord's ships were destroyed by Jenny Blitz, Sonar joined in a mutiny against Deathstroke, but Deathstroke and Blitz overheard this and kills the crew members for their treachery. Sonar manages to contact another pirate fleet led by the Caretaker before Deathstroke shot him.

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Elseworlds
A version of Sonar appears in the controversial Elseworlds story JLA: Act of God. This version of Sonar has some sort of cybernetic augmentations, and the fixation of desperate Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner. One year later after the mysterious disapperence of all super-powers called "Black Light", Sonar and Rayner have a final show down, which included Rayner getting impaled.
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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Mogo

4/21/2013

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Mogo, most commonly referred to as "Mogo, the Living Planet" is a fictional character and planet in the DC Universe, a member of the Green Lantern Corps. It first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 2 #188 (May 1985), in a story titled "Mogo Doesn't Socialize". Mogo was created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
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Fictional character biography
Background
Mogo is a sentient or "living" planet, technically genderless but often casually referred to as male. When it is desired, its affiliation with the Corps is marked with foliage arranged into a green band, marked with the standard Green Lantern Corps lantern symbol, circling Mogo's equatorial area.
In its early appearances, Mogo is not a social Green Lantern and its interactions with the rest of the DC universe are not well documented. It avoids announcing its presence, preferring to represent itself using pseudonymous holograms. In Mogo's first appearance, it is explained that the planet-sized Mogo's gravitational field would wreak havoc on any other planet it would try to "visit"; hence Mogo "doesn't socialize."
Bolphunga the Unrelenting, an alien hunter, was one of Mogo's first direct adversaries; having tracked the legendary Green Lantern Mogo to the planet where he apparently 'resided', Bolphunga subsequently spent years searching the planet for Mogo, examining various plants and animals for any sign of a power ring, until closer examination of patterns in the foliage led him to realize just what Mogo really was, prompting him to flee Mogo in a panic.
In one incident, it sent holograms to purchase Lobo's dolphins. When Lobo tried to retrieve them, a Mogo hologram persuaded him not to. The dolphins turned out to have a symbiotic relationship with Mogo, eating space debris that fell to his surface. Lobo never discovered he was dealing with a sentient planet. At the same time, Mogo has allowed alien races to live on its surface and has been willing to change its climatic conditions to suit them. These inhabitants of Mogo may not always know that their home is alive and watching them.

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When the Parallax entity, who was at that time inhabiting the body of Hal Jordan, destroyed the power battery on Oa and slew the Guardians, Mogo lost contact with the Green Lantern energy that helped sustain him. He traveled to Sector 1014 to seek the aid of Ch'p, unaware that his friend had died long ago. Having relied on the emerald energy of the power battery to sustain him, Mogo lost consciousness and drifted through Sector 1014 until he was discovered by a nomadic alien race. These aliens proceeded to strip Mogo of his natural resources and pollute his environment. Mogo's body reacted instinctively, creating constructs to hinder the aliens' efforts to exploit his resources. Mogo was finally rescued by Kyle Rayner, who used his power ring to reawaken the sleeping giant. Mogo offered to allow the aliens to settle on him and offered to take care of all their needs, but the stubborn beings chose to abandon their settlements. Mogo later revealed to Rayner that he was relieved the aliens had left, and that he had planned to give them terrible weather in retaliation for their pollution.
This storyline contradicts a Green Lantern annual where Kyle faces the bodies of many dead Green Lanterns, Mogo included, all of whom try to destroy him.
Mogo appeared in Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #2, requesting back-up against Rannian and Thanagarian forces. Green Lanterns Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, Stel, and Green Man were dispatched to clear out the enemy fleets, and then enjoyed a respite on Mogo's surface (Guy made metafictional remarks about Mogo wanting to socialize, recalling the famous Alan Moore story).
With the restoration of the Green Lantern Corps, Mogo has taken on the role of a training and recreation planet for his fellow Green Lanterns. Soranik Natu, Kyle Rayner, and other Lanterns have traveled to his sector to ask for his counsel. Further, while defending Mogo from an attack by the Sinestro Corps, the Green Lantern Arisia explained that Mogo is responsible for guiding Lantern power rings without users to those who can overcome great fear, and says that "without him, the rings are directionless".

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Infinite Crisis
Mogo played a major role in the conclusion of the Infinite Crisis, in which the Green Lantern Corps, Superman and Kal-L stop the villainous Superboy-Prime. The Supermen took the deluded Superboy-Prime into the red sun Rao in a desperate gamble to depower him. With their powers waning, the Kryptonians crash land on Mogo. Superboy-Prime is defeated by Superman, but Kal-L dies of his injuries. After the fight, the rest of the Green Lantern Corps, who have suffered fatalities themselves, take Superboy-Prime into custody.
In the 52 storyline, as Adam Strange and Starfire's ship is hurtling towards a sun, Mogo appears and rescues them.

Prophecy
In Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 (1986), a prophecy narrated to Abin Sur suggests that Mogo will be the last Green Lantern. In a battle with the "Empire of Tears", Ranx the Sentient City will explode a blink-bomb within Mogo's core, killing the sentient planet and ending the Green Lantern Corps forever.
When the Corps is rebuilt again, many Lanterns gain partners. Mogo teams up with Bzzd, an insect-sized Lantern. Bzzd was killed battling Mongul II.
In Green Lantern Corps #11 (vol. 2) Mogo apparently shows Kilowog images of his dead species, pushing him into madness and hate against the Green Lantern Corps. He then starts tampering with the minds of the Lanterns seeking advice and counseling, in the form of illusions granted by Mogo's powers, framing Guy Gardner for killing and pitting the Lanterns against each other. This behavior seems to be caused by the virus Despotellis of the Sinestro Corps, and according to Guy Gardner was actually unnoticed by the planet, who was immune to the fungus himself (stated by Green Man in issue #13). After the fungus made itself known by drilling towards Mogo's core, the sentient planet proceeded to shift its orbit into the path of an asteroid whose impact noticeably scars Mogo but eradicates the fungus, whose remnants are destroyed by the other Lanterns.
The Sinestro Corps attack Mogo with Ranx, who started to drill into the planet, with the intention of planting the blink bomb. It was revealed that Mogo is the one who guides the rings of deceased Lanterns to find new replacements, and that if he should die, the Corps would be unable to recruit members in this manner. Thanks to Sodam Yat, as well as a change in the Book of Oa permitting the Lanterns to use lethal force against the Sinestro Corps, Ranx is destroyed and the Sinestro Corps are driven from Mogo.

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Blackest Night
During the Blackest Night event, Oa is attacked by the deadly Black Lantern Corps. During the attack, Salaak decrees that all rings from fallen Green Lanterns should be sent to Mogo, so as not to endanger the lives of potential rookies. Soranik Natu then sends all injured patients from the fight to Mogo, but is sidetracked by Kyle Rayner being attacked by a Black Lantern Jade. She sends her partner Iolande to Mogo with the patients alone instead. Mogo shows up at Oa to help in the battle against the Black Lanterns with Kilowog stating "I guess Mogo does socialize after all", a tip of the hat to Moore's origin story. Mogo increases his gravity to such a degree that all of the Black Lanterns are pulled down to his surface and absorbed into his core. The superhot magma within continually burns up the Black Lantern's bodies, keeping them from regenerating their forms. Mogo describes this as "They will burn, for all eternity". The injured patients are shown to be resting safely in Mogo.
Following the successful imprisonment and destruction of the Black Lanterns, Mogo and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps along with Munk and Miri face the wrath of a red ring–possessed Guy Gardner. While Miri, a Star Sapphire, attempts to revert Guy back to normal, it is ultimately Mogo who manages to purge the infection of the red light. However, he warns that some influence of the red still remains, and that only a Blue Lantern's power ring could completely remove the influence of the red ring. Mogo soon resumes his duties of supervising new rookies as they are now being recruited.
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War of the Green Lanterns
In the War of the Green Lanterns crossover, Mogo was corrupted and taken over when Krona attacked Oa with the emotional entities and Parallax climbed inside the Central Power Battery on Oa. Krona then used Mogo to send out hundreds of Green Lantern rings across the universe to recruit more members to be brainwashed. Kyle Rayner and John Stewart tried to stop Mogo while wielding Blue and Indigo rings respectively, but they could not reach him because of the Black Lantern energy Mogo had absorbed from the events of "Blackest Night". John Stewart used his Indigo Tribe ring to absorb the Black Lantern energy, and was forced to destroy Mogo by firing a Black Lantern constructed bullet into his core and destroyed it. Mogo's sudden destruction caused fragments of his body to rain down onto Oa destroying multiple structures,knocking out many rogue Lanterns under Krona's control leaving an opening for Hal and Guy to get to Krona almost unimpeded. After Krona is apparently killed by Hal Jordan, Mogo's corpse is now orbiting around the planet Oa. After the ensuing chaos along with Krona's death and Sinestro gaining a green ring, Kilowog states that as long as Mogo's corpse floats above Oa, the Corps will be disheartened. He gets numerous Lanterns together and they move his pieces into the nearest sun, giving him a "funeral pyre". The resulting reaction from Mogo's body being put into the sun causes a Mogo-like Green Lantern stripe to appear, forever honoring the planet.

The New 52
Following Mogo's destruction, the Guardians contact John Stewart to claims that Mogo's remains appear to be moving towards a particular location, suggesting that Mogo is trying to reform itself, and assign Stewart to track it. While traveling, he encounters Fatality, who reveals that Mogo is actually a male and female consciousness that were 'mated' at the core, with John's fragment of Mogo containing the female consciousness that seeks to be reunited with its mate, prompting Fatality to use her Star Sapphire powers to help the endangered love come together.
John and Fatality arrived at the location of Mogo's pieces that are held prisoner by the space pirate that is using Mogo's power as the ship's energy beam weapon to attack the planet's core, threatening their lives. John and Fatality spring to attack the space pirate to free Mogo by sending the space pirate to crash on the planet. John finds out about the Guardians wanting to use Mogo. Mogo then reforms all its pieces into a planet's orbit after the events of "War of the Green Lanterns". The Guardians reveal their plan was to use size of the reformed Mogo and assimilate it into the Third Army, but their plan failed when Mogo destroyed the Third Army that was trying to assimilate it.

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The villainous First Lantern drained the Green Lantern Corps of their emotions on the planet Oa, but Mogo rescued the Green Lantern Corps by shielding them with dirt and stone, allowing them to escape from the First Lantern's powers. When the Green Lantern Corps are transported to Mogo itself, Mogo creates a scenario in which the Corps is attacked by their doppelgangers. Mogo freezes the doppelgangers and confesses it to be a ruse to the Green Lantern Corps, stating that it was done in order to test their will and strength and to prepare them to fight against the First Lantern.

Future
In the Legion of 3 Worlds, it is revealed that in the 31st century Mogo has been long dead and without him, there was no way to distribute the rings and thus no Green Lantern Corps.

Powers and abilities
In addition to the standard powers of a Green Lantern Power Ring, Mogo can also alter his weather and surface conditions such as plant growth, and travel through space at faster-than-light speeds. Mogo has a form of sensory or extrasensory awareness of what is happening around and on it. However, his wellbeing is largely sustained by the constant supply of energy from a Green Lantern power battery. Without it, he eventually loses his strength and even falls into a seemingly comatose state. Mogo also telepathically guides the Green Lantern Power rings to their bearers.

Other versions
Green Lantern Vs. Aliens
In the Green Lantern versus Aliens limited series, Mogo was also the adopted home of a group of Aliens. It seems that years ago, Hal Jordan and a group of fellow Green Lanterns were charged with dealing with these Xenomorphs following the death of a Green Lantern, and Hal Jordan wanted to avoid killing them if possible, believing that they were just animals, and thus were not evil. His solution was to deposit them on Mogo, where they would be a threat to no one and would be able to live. Years after that, however, Kyle Rayner and other Green Lanterns, including Salaak traveled to Mogo to rescue the crew of a crashed freighter. This was Rayner's first encounter with the sentient planet, although he didn't speak to Mogo directly. Most of the GL squad did not survive. However, due to its non-canon nature (as evidenced by the dead GLs showing up alive later), in their next encounter, Rayner does not remember this event.

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In other media
Television
Mogo appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Eyes of Despero", Despero takes control of Mogo as part of his plan. It is later freed by G'nort. Here, Mogo exhibits an increased control of its land mass.
Mogo appears in the Green Lantern: The Animated Series episode "Lost Planet", voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, as a stowaway planet that has caused numerous ships from throughout the universe to crash onto himself, so that he could imprison the criminals on board the fleets to keep them from harming others. This incarnation emits a massive projection of a power ring around its equator, giving planet the appearance of "wearing" the ring.

Film
Mogo appears in the movie Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. He first appears in a flashback story told by Hal Jordan which is an adaptation of his premiere story. At the climax of the film, Mogo arrives to help his comrades defeat Krona, and since that involves sacrificing the evacuated planet Oa, he volunteers his own body for the Corps' temporary headquarters afterward.
Although Mogo has appeared in promotional advertising art for the 2011 Green Lantern film, this character does not appear in the film.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Tomar-Re

4/13/2013

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Tomar-Re is a fictional DC Comics character, and a member of the Green Lantern Corps. He debuted in Green Lantern #6 in a story written by John Broome with art by Gil Kane.
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Fictional character biography
Tomar-Re was a Xudarian, a race of aliens from the planet Xudar in Sector 2813 (in his first Pre-Crisis appearance he claimed it was Sector 9). He was a scientist on his homeworld before joining the Green Lantern Corps and becoming the Green Lantern of Sector 2813. Tomar-Re became a pivotal member of the Corps, training new members, like Arisia, and serving in the Honor Guard. He investigated reports of abuses of power by Sinestro on Korugar. He was close friends with Abin Sur, Green Lantern of neighboring sector 2814. He was also the first Lantern to meet Sur's replacement, Hal Jordan, and the two got along equally well. Pre-Crisis they first met when Tomar contacted Green Lantern about a threat to a world in his sector, which was happening at the same time alien invaders were attacking Tomar's world. Hal stopped the threat, then helped Tomar defeat the invaders, who hastily left the world. Hal first found out about the Guardians from Tomar, who mentioned they wanted the Green Lanterns to be equal which is why the Power Battery recharges their rings for the same time period. In the Post-Crisis timeline, that friendship is deepened further in that the rookie Jordan met him soon after being recruited. Jordan was brought to him by his power ring to help with his difficulties with handling the weapon and Tomar-Re not only guided the Terran to GLC headquarters for the optional training program, but also provided valuable emotional support during this difficult time.
Tomar's most famous mission while serving in the Corps dealt with the planet Krypton. Krypton, a planet in sector 2813, was growing increasingly unstable. It was due to explode, caused by internal pressures deep inside the planet's core. Tomar-Re sought to use a rare compound called stellarium to absorb some of the tectonic pressure, thus saving the Kryptonians. He gathered the compound, and was en route to Krypton when a yellow solar flare blinded him, and forced him to drop the stellarium. He quickly recovered, but discovered he was blind. He gathered what little stellarium he could without his sight, and proceeded towards Krypton. He was closing in when his vision started to clear. The first thing he saw upon his sight returning was Krypton exploding. The Guardians recovered Tomar and brought him back to Oa, where he healed and rested.

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He grew to be an honored senior member of the Corps, but his later career was not without cost. The most difficult moment was during the Nekron crisis when the death god used the spirit of Tomar-Re's deceased father to attempt to sway the Lantern to surrender. Although tempted, Tomar kept to his oath and destroyed his father's spirit to continue the battle, much to his personal anguish.
Tomar was retired when the Anti-Monitor sought to conquer the multiverse. He still served alongside the Corps, including John Stewart, who had become the GL for 2814. The war against the Anti-Monitor would be Tomar's final fight, as he was killed by the villain known as Goldface. Before his death, Tomar-Re selected Stewart to be his replacement, thus forcing John's ring to go to Jordan, who had resigned from the Corps, and returning him to the organization (Green Lantern vol. 2, #198).

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In the Blackest Night event, all of the fallen Green Lanterns in the Oan crypt were reanimated by black power rings. Tomar-Re is among the many Black Lanterns shown standing against the Green Lanterns on Oa.

After the events of the War of the Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and Sinestro are trapped in the Dead Zone by the Guardians of the Universe (who have become unemotional), until they encounter a mysterious figure lurking in the zone observing them. This mysterious stranger says he was Hal's friend and Sinestro's enemy, and states that they are both dead. The mysterious stranger is revealed to be Tomar-Re (who was undead), asking Hal and Sinestro to stop Volthoom (The First Lantern), before he goes about bringing changes to reality in history. Hal and Sinestro are then confronted by the dead members in the Dead Zone. When Hal questions how did Tomar-Re knew this, he explains that those beings who had died gathered information in the Dead Zone. Later, they are approached by Green Lantern Simon Baz who was transported by Black Hand to the Dead Zone and pulled him back after he split his ring which Sinestro claimed and unintentionally went with him leaving Hal trapped. Tomar-Re view that Sinestro will not takes Volthoom down easily.

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In other media
Television
Tomar-Re has a silent cameo in the Justice League two-part episode "In Blackest Night".
Tomar-Re appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Return".
Tomar-Re made an appearance in the Duck Dodgers episode "The Green Loontern". He was the first Green Lantern to be seen captured. He was voiced by Joe Alaskey, who was uncredited for the role.
Although Tomar-Re does not appear in the Legion of Super Heroes animated series, natives of his homeworld Xudar as well as Barrio III do appear.

Tomar-Re was briefly seen in the episode "Ring Toss" of The Batman. Hal Jordan played a recording for Batman in which Tomar-Re relayed the information about Sinestro's escape from prison. Voice actor has not been confirmed.
Tomar-Re is seen as part of the Lantern Corps in Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Eyes of Despero". His home planet of Xudar also appears (listed in the captions as "Exudar"), and is taken over by Despero.
Tomar-Re appears in the first season of Green Lantern: The Animated Series, voiced by Jeff Bennett.

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Film
John Larroquette voices Tomar-Re in Green Lantern: First Flight. During the course of events he is betrayed by Sinestro, who kills him using his newly obtained yellow ring.

Geoffrey Rush voiced Tomar-Re in the film, Green Lantern directed by Martin Campbell. As in the comics, he is the first fellow Green Lantern Hal Jordan meets upon recruitment and it proves a pleasant encounter as the soft-spoken veteran provides Hal with an orientation tour of Oa and the Corps. He appears unmasked as his identity needs no protection in Oa, and his appearance is very similar to the comics, in which he seems to exhibit both avian and fish traits in morphology, although he tells Hal in the film that the DNA of his race is similar to that of the ichthyologic species in Hal's planet. Furthermore, when Jordan is rendered unconscious upon defeating Parallax, Tomar-Re joins with Sinestro and Kilowog in rescuing Hal, keeping him from falling into the Sun.
Tomar-Re appears in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights voiced by James Arnold Taylor.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Manhunters

4/6/2013

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The Manhunters are a fictional race of extraterrestrial robots that appear in titles published by DC Comics.
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Publication history
The broader history behind the alien robot species covered in this article was introduced in Justice League of America #140 (March 1977), in a story by Steve Englehart and Dick Dillin.

History
Interstellar police
The Manhunters were the first attempt of the Guardians of the Universe to create an interstellar police force that would combat evil all over the cosmos. Their name and much of their code of behavior was modeled by the Guardians of the Universe on the Manhunters of Ma'aleca'andra (Mars) millions of years ago (This creates an apparent chronology problem, since the Manhunters were created many millions of years ago, while the Green Martian race came into existence from the Burning Martians only about 20,000 years ago). For thousands of years, they served the Guardians well. However, the Manhunters became obsessed with the act of "hunting" criminals. Their code, "No man escapes the Manhunters" (corrupted from the original), became more important to them than seeing justice done.

Exile
Eventually, the robots conspired to rebel against their masters, but the Guardians defeated and destroyed most of them. Those that survived hid away on many planets, slowly rebuilding their forces and spreading their beliefs to others. Since then, the over-riding goal of the Manhunters has been to take revenge on the Guardians, as well as on their replacements, the Green Lantern Corps.

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The Manhunters infiltrated and liberated many planets disguised as living beings and created a "Cult of the Manhunters" that trained others to be their minions. On Mars, the people of that world started a group of Martian Manhunters based on the lessons of preserving justice taught unto them by the Manhunters and even erected a temple based on the appearance of their inspiration. On Earth, most of the Manhunters' agents were unaware that their masters were robots, or that their real purposes were not noble. Some of these agents became superheroes also known as Manhunters. They wore red-and-blue costumes patterned after the Manhunters themselves. The most famous of these was a big game hunter called Paul Kirk. He was active in the 1940s, and starred in his own comic book. The character was brought back in a modern version in the 70s, in which he was supposedly killed years before but was in truth placed in suspended animation by a secret conspiracy. He was cloned, and when he finally reawoke, he dedicated himself to battle those who had used him, eventually dying in the process. However, some of his clones survived.
The Manhunters were discovered by the Justice League who seemingly defeated the Manhunter's leader, the Grandmaster. One of their human pawns, Mark Shaw, adopted a new identity as the costumed hero, the Privateer. However, he was later discovered to be a criminal posing as a hero.

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Millennium
Years later, it was revealed that the Manhunters not only still existed, but had infiltrated the lives of most superheroes with their agents. They even managed to infiltrate the Olympian Gods, one of their number posing as the goat god Pan, as shown during the Challenge of the Gods storyline. They revealed themselves when a Guardian and a member of the Zamarons tried to evolve some humans into becoming the next Guardians of the Universe, during what became known as the Millennium crisis. On this occasion, there was a massive counterstrike operation by the heroes against the Manhunters, and it seemed that the Grandmaster had finally been destroyed, along with their hidden home planet. Former Privateer Mark Shaw readopted his identity as Manhunter in the wake of the battle, seeking to redeem both the name and himself.

Post-Emerald Twilight
Kyle Rayner encountered the Manhunters not long after Hal Jordan's destruction of the Guardians and the Central Power Battery on Oa. The first of which encountered a still inexperienced Kyle Rayner and was almost able to defeat him using brute force until Kyle used his wits to outsmart and decapite it(Green Lantern Vol. 3 #117). The next time, multiple Manhunters appeared. They were all sentient, individuals, and captured Kyle in an attempt to use his last remaining Green Lantern ring for their purposes. They failed and Kyle managed to escape(Green Lantern Vol. 3 #129-131).

Sector 3601
When the Manhunters were replaced by the Green Lantern Corps, they retreated to Biot, their homeworld in Sector 3601, an uncharted area of space incapable of sustaining organic life. Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman, came to Biot and became the Manhunters' new Grandmaster. He used his mastery over machinery and Kryptonian technology to upgrade the Manhunters with organic enhancements. They seem to have rebuilt the first Central Power Battery originally destroyed by Hal Jordan (under the influence of Parallax). Henshaw decided not to interfere in the reformation of the Green Lantern Corps after an encounter between a Manhunter and Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner.

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Sinestro Corps
The Manhunters have recently resurfaced as part of the Sinestro Corps. They carry miniature yellow Power Batteries inside them which are used by the Sinestro Corps members to charge their yellow power rings.

Secret Origin
In Green Lantern: Secret Origin storylines, this revision of Hal Jordan's beginnings, it is revealed that the Manhunters suffered a programming glitch that caused them to wipe out all life in space sector 666, believing it to be evil. It was this event that gave rise to the Five Inversions, the only survivors of the massacre, who vowed to make the Guardians pay for what their creations had done.

Blackest Night
During the events of Blackest Night, it is revealed that Amanda Waller and King Faraday have a deactivated Manhunter in their possession, having recovered it from the Belle Reeve swamp after the Millennium event (which the Suicide Squad had a hand in stopping). Waller sends the Manhunter to Belle Reve in order to assist the Secret Six and the Suicide Squad in their battle with members of the Black Lantern Corps. Waller ultimately uses a self destruct mechanism to destroy the Manhunter, unleashing an explosion of Green Lantern energy that eradicates the Black Lanterns.

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Brightest Day
It was eventually revealed that the programming glitch the Manhunters suffered was caused by Krona to prove to the other Guardians of the Universe that there are flaws in an emotionless police force.

The New 52
While running from the Alpha Lanterns, John Stewart and Guy Gardner find dozens of deactivated Manhunters in the Guardian's Ring Foundry. They re-energize the robots using the Foundry essence in order to fend off the Alphas. However, during the fight, the Manhunters are accidentally fused in a massive bio-mechanic monster.

Chant
The Manhunters have had a mixture of oaths over the years: "No evil escapes the Manhunters!", "Death to the Green Lantern Corps!", and "No man escapes the Manhunters!"

Technology
Manhunter technology has been used in the creation of the OMAC drones. The Kryptonian technology was incorporated into the Manhunters by Hank Henshaw on Biot, which enabled them to use the Central Power Battery on Oa as a power source for the Manhunters.
Originally the Manhunters used special energy pistols which were charged by the Green Lanterns which they carried.

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In other media
Television
The Manhunters have appeared in the Justice League episode "In Blackest Night" voiced by James Remar. Like their comic counterparts, they were the first before the Green Lantern Corps. However according to the Guardians, "they couldn't understand the subtle gradations between good and evil" (probably meaning draconian justice), and as such were reprogrammed for other tasks such as hunting and guarding. Though the Manhunters did not overtly express resentment for this demotion, they began secretly plotting their revenge against the Guardians for their perceived betrayal. The Manhunters bring Green Lantern John Stewart to trial for accidentally destroying the planet Ajuris 4. Unknown to the masses, the planet's destruction was faked with the help of Kanjar Ro as part of the Manhunters' plan to overthrow the Oans and take the Corps' power source, which they believe is rightfully theirs. Their gambit successfully draws five of the Guardians away from Oa to testify for John, as well as several unassigned Green Lanterns, leaving Oa severely weakened when the Manhunters attack in force. The Justice League clears John's name and then aids in defeating the Manhunters, assisted by the Corps. The lead Manhunter manages to absorb the power of the Central Battery, shedding his metallic form and becoming a giant energy being. John recites the Green Lantern oath while absorbing the energy of the battery, and by extension the Manhunter, into his ring. He then expels the evil of the Manhunter and restores the Central Battery. This was based on the comics story "No Man Escapes The Manhunters," which appeared in Justice League of America #140-141 (1977).
The Manhunters appear in the Green Lantern: The Animated Series, voiced by Josh Keaton. They are seen in a flashback in the episode "Reckoning", detailing the history of the Red Lantern Corps, and are noted to have slaughtered Atrocitus' race, leading to his transformation into the first Red Lantern. In the episode "Regime Change," Hal Jordan presents this information to the Guardians, initially believing it to be a lie. However the Guardians then shamefully reveal that they were indeed responsible for the creation of the Manhunters, and that the machines had massacred a number of innocent planets due to their inability to interact with emotional beings. The second half of the first season shows the Manhunters are being rebuilt to act as the Anti-Monitor's foot soldiers. According to both the Guardians and the Manhunters themselves, the cause for the destruction was the Manhunters viewing all emotion as the source of evil and thus seeking to exterminate it.

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Film
The Manhunters are mentioned at the end of Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. When the Green Lantern Corps are out to build a new planet, Hal mentions to Arisia Rrab about how he took on an army of Manhunters.

Video games
The Manhunters appear in DC Universe Online, voiced by David Jennison. They assist the Sinestro Corps with their fight against the Green Lanterns. Some broken Manhunters were rebuilt into remote fear generators to boost the power of the Sinestro Corps' power rings.
The Manhunters were the main antagonists in Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, which was set in the same continuity as the Green Lantern live-action film, voiced by Fred Tatasciore. They having allied with Amon Sur- who resents that his father's ring went to a primitive like Hal Jordan rather than himself- in an attempt to acquire the yellow fear energy that the Guardians have acquired in the distant past and use it as a power source for themselves.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Controllers

3/23/2013

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The Controllers are a fictional extraterrestrial race existing in the DC Universe. They first appear in Adventure Comics #357 (June 1967), and were created by Jim Shooter, Mort Weisinger, and Curt Swan.
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Pre-Crisis
In their initial appearance, the Controllers came from "another space-time continuum." Their universe had almost been destroyed by war, and they were determined to prevent the Earth-One universe from going the same way. They used their mind-control abilities to prevent intergalactic war, but also had powerful weapons, including the Sun-Eater. This concluded with "The Death of Ferro Lad" story where Ferro Lad dies destroying the Sun Eater.

Maltusians
The Controllers' origins were changed following the Crisis on Infinite Earths events. They were now originally part of a race of immortals called the Maltusians. These beings left Maltus and colonized a new world called Oa. Now calling themselves Oans, they feel responsible for the catastrophic effects on the universe caused by one of their own, the renegade scientist Krona. The group argues over ways to handle the situation. One group of Oans desires to dedicate their immortal existences to contain evil. This group eventually became the Guardians of the Universe. Another group decides that evil should be destroyed. This group leaves planet Oa, eventually becoming the Controllers. It is also revealed that the Controllers left over the Guardians' decision to not destroy their former robot minions, the Manhunters, after the Manhunter rebellion on Oa.

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Just as the Guardians slowly changed their physical appearances over billions of years of existence, so did the Controllers. Originally, all Oans were blue-skinned humanoids; currently, the Controllers are pink-skinned and hairless. The Controllers moved to another dimension and dedicated themselves to creating weapons that could be used to destroy evil beings if they became too dangerous. Among these are the Sun-Eaters, gaseous beings that can devour whole planets and stars, and the Miracle Machine, a device that can turn any thought into reality.

Controlling The Darkstars
The Controllers eventually recognized the benefits of having a law-enforcement agency at their disposal and formed the Network for the Establishment and Maintenance of Order (NEMO). Their agents were the Darkstars, armed with crimson exo-mantle that was powered by the Controllers' own energy. Many former members of the Green Lantern Corps joined the Darkstars after the Corps was destroyed. As time went on, the Controllers expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the Darkstars. More specifically, they were troubled that Darkstar agents were mostly looking after their own agendas rather than those of the Controllers. They withdrew their support from the Darkstars. This made many of the early Darkstar uniforms useless, as they relied on energy transmitted from the Controllers. The Darkstars are now defunct; most had been slain by the forces of Grayven.

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Other Endeavors
In their continuing effort to create an alternative to the Green Lantern Corps, the Controllers experiment on Martyn Van Wyck, transforming him into the pyro-kinetic Effigy. Their plans to create an entire organization of such beings, all brainwashed to serve the Controllers, was underway before Kyle Rayner learned of the plan and convinced the immortals to abandon it. An unnamed Controller was featured in Power Company issues #12-14, where he is a prisoner of Doctor Polaris. The Power Company eventually succeeds in freeing him. He tells the group that his original reason for visiting the Earth was an attempt to re-secure a cosmic artifact called the "Mephistopheles Matrix."
In the series, Trinity, a group of Controllers discover a Krona freed of his Cosmic Egg and aid him; though, when their treachery is discovered by Krona they are promptly eliminated.
In the Final Crisis storyline, the Controllers were revealed to survive into the 29th century, at which time they develop the Miracle Machine, whose schematics Superman memorizes upon a visit to the 31st century.
In the Blackest Night storyline, a small group of Controllers appeared in search of the "orange light of avarice," hoping to create their own Corps. This group locates the orange light on the planet Okaara, but they are slaughtered by Larfleeze, and assimilated as constructs in his Orange Lantern Corps.

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Powers and weapons
The Controllers are immortal, like all Oans. They can manipulate energy and create vast technology and weapons. Their most known weapons are The Sun-Eater, The Miracle Machine, and The Darkstar exo-mantle.
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Other versions
In the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes, a renegade Controller became the villain known as the Time Trapper. Various DC Comics reboots have since altered this timeline, which is one of many origins given for the Time Trapper. The Controllers also ended up giving the Miracle Machine to the Legion for safekeeping.

In other media
Television
A Pre-Crisis Controller appears in the two-part Legion of Super-Heroes episode "Sundown" voiced by David Lodge. This renegade Controller believes that the ultimate perfection comes from chaos, rather than order, and releases the last Sun-Eater to spread this chaos. Superman was sent to stop him on his own while the Legion stops the Sun-Eater. The Controller's plan was foiled, but at the cost of the Legion member Ferro Lad's life. As he makes his escape, Superman warns him to never appear again.
The Controllers briefly appear in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "When OMAC Attacks." Batman alongside Hawk and Dove had to stop a war between the Controllers and the Warlords of Okaara.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Nekron

3/16/2013

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Nekron is a comic book supervillain appearing in books published by DC Comics, specifically those related to Green Lantern. Created by Mike W. Barr, Len Wein and Joe Staton, the character, who exists as an embodiment of Death, first appeared in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps (vol. 1) #2 (June 1981). He is the primary antagonist in the "Blackest Night" storyline that was published in 2009 and 2010.
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Origins
Nekron is a fictional embodiment of Death and ruler of a region adjoining Hell that also seems to border on Limbo and Purgatory within the DC Universe. It is where the souls of the dead await passage to their final residence in either the Silver City or Hell. Nekron draws his power from the souls and spirits of all those who have ever died.
After the Oan scientist Krona was sentenced to banishment as pure energy, that energy somehow reached Nekron's realm; a rift opens between the dimensions due to the paradox of an immortal now being in the Realm of the Dead. Desiring the living world he is now able to see, but being too large to pass through the rift, Nekron recreates Krona as an undead being of enormous power instead. Given an army of similarly-restored spirits, Nekron sends Krona to kill the Guardians of the Universe in order to increase the size of the rift. Krona cooperates because part of Nekron's plan involves collapsing the universe so as to recreate it according to his own desires (which would give Krona the chance to see a universe being born). Krona and his minions kill several Guardians and Green Lanterns while destroying the Central Power Battery to prevent the Lanterns from recharging their power rings. Although his attack is powerful enough to shatter the morale of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal Jordan manages to inspire and rally his fellow Lanterns into attacking Krona with the charge still left in their rings. Nekron is defeated when Jordan enters the realm of the dead and incites the spirits of the recently-killed Lanterns to rebel against him. This distraction undercuts Krona's power supplied by the being and thus gives the Guardians enough time to banish Krona into the dead realm and close the rift with Jordan still trapped inside. The spirit of Jordan's predecessor, Abin Sur, helps him escape the realm.

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1990 - 2002
Captain Atom has a run-in with Nekron in which he is described as "Death as the Ultimate Opponent". Black Racer, also making an appearance, is coined "Death as an Inevitability", while Death (prominently known from her appearances in Vertigo titles) represents "Death as the Release, as Mercy, as Compassion." Drawing into the Quantum field, Captain Atom is able to get the better of Nekron and is able to visit his deceased wife.
Nekron later battles the demon Nebiros, following the destruction of Doctor Fate's Tower Of Fate. Also appearing in this issue is Jared Stevens (Fate).
Kyle Rayner later encounters Nekron when he nearly reenters the living universe when the level of supernatural activity mysteriously increases. This increase gave Nekron the opportunity to briefly control every deceased member of the Green Lantern Corps, which act as both his army and his anchor to the living universe. Kyle was able to push Nekron back into his dimension by freeing the undead Lanterns from Nekron's control. The rift is eventually sealed following Nekron's defeat.
Nekron also encounters Wonder Woman and Rebecca Carstairs (Witchfire).

"Blackest Night"
In the "Blackest Night" storyline, Nekron is revealed to be responsible for the creation of the black power rings, which reanimate the dead, and is collaborating with Scar and Black Hand. He's also responsible for the imprisonment of the Anti-Monitor during the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps War on the planet Ryut. When the Black Lanterns' power levels reach one hundred percent, he rises from the Earth, just outside of Coast City. Nekron is also revealed to be the true mastermind behind the miraculous resurrections of several superheroes in the past (a deed previously thought to be a consequence of Brother Blood tampering with the forces of life and death). By "allowing" the dead heroes to be reborn he grants himself a small cadre of "inside agents"; by briefly reanimating Batman's clone (created by Darkseid during Final Crisis and implied that the dark lord's awareness of the remains is not authentic) as an emotional tether to stimulate a powerful enough emotional response, Nekron is able to create black rings that latch on to Superman, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Kid Flash, Animal Man, Ice, Green Arrow and Superboy, transforming them all into Black Lanterns; Hal Jordan and Barry Allen are similarly targeted, but evade sharing their comrades' fates thanks to Barry taking himself and Hal two seconds into the future and causing their would-be rings to shut down.

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According to Black Lantern Jean Loring, when the Guardians first harnessed the Emotional spectrum, Nekron was formed out of the nothingness in existence prior to the creation of the universe as a defense mechanism, the Guardian of Darkness. Given shape in the form of life's idea of death, Nekron marches with his undead army, claiming the hunger plaguing him has not abated. Nekron is not a living being but just exists as an avatar of darkness from the beginning of the universe. This makes Nekron immune to the Spectre's divine wrath, as he has no soul to judge.
Nekron begins to reveal the full extent of his plan. Nekron and his Black Lanterns bring the subdued Guardians to a clearing where the same symbol that was seen on Professor Zoom's chest is drawn in what appears to be blood. After questioning one of the Guardians and getting him to admit that he can no longer remember why the Guardians took a vow to protect the universe, Nekron slits his throat and Black Hand removes his organs and places them in the center of the symbol. After crushing the organs with his scythe, Nekron calls forth The Entity. The Entity is the white light given physical form. When Nekron strikes the Entity every living thing in the universe cries out in pain, this is because the Entity is what gave birth to life and all living things came from it. Nekron intends to kill the Entity and thereby kill every living thing in the universe. His plans, however, are thwarted when Sinestro bonds with the Entity becoming a White Lantern.
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Another failure comes when the massed Corps above Earth reach Xanshi's core through its surface faults, and manage to destroy the thousands of rings holding it together. As Xanshi collapses, Nekron cries out in pain. While he also manages to nearly hack Sinestro in half with his scythe, he fails to kill him, and the White Lantern rises again, healing his wounds and promising retribution to Nekron.

In the battle that follows, the Life Entity eventually abandons Sinestro, refusing to be controlled by his ego, and bonds itself to Hal Jordan, who states that Nekron merely opened the doors between life and death while it was still the heroes' choices to return to life. Hal turns the power of The Entity on Black Hand (Deadman having discovered that Black Hand functions as Nekron's link to the living world), causing Black Hand to return to life and vomiting one white power ring that enters the Black Power Battery and resurrects the Anti-Monitor (destroying the Power Battery in the process), who immediately attacks Nekron. Nekron then returns the Anti-Monitor to the Anti-Matter universe. Twelve other white rings are then released by Black Hand and seek out several deceased heroes and villains who had been recruited into the Black Lantern Corps and turns them into White Lanterns instead. In the final confrontation that follows, Nekron is banished yet again, with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen speculating that death will now be more permanent with Nekron's plan having failed.

"Brightest Day"
At the conclusion of the miniseries Brightest Day, Swamp Thing appears, grown to towering size and emerging from the forest at the former heart of Star City, which has become corrupted. The White Lantern Entity explains that just as the memories of Alec Holland acted as a template for the Earth Elemental, the personality of Nekron has been imprinted over it. The corrupted Swamp Thing does battle with Alec Holland (having been resurrected and turned into the new Swamp Thing by the White Lantern Entity), who is aided by embodiments of the four elements (Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Firestorm, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter) and is defeated, driving out the influence of Nekron once again.

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Powers and abilities
The limitations of Nekron's powers are unknown. Geoff Johns has described him as the most powerful dark force in the DC Universe. He has displayed the ability to raise the dead, kill (even Guardians) with a touch, fire bolts of black lightning and grow without limit. He is also capable of fighting against universal forces like the Life Entity, who was bonded with Sinestro. Nekron also has incredible durability and reality warping powers, as he was able to withstand a blast from the Anti-Monitor and send him back to the anti-matter universe.

Other versions
In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint storyline, it is revealed that Nekron was unleashed into the Universe when Atrocitus killed William Hand. Where Nekron and his Black Lanterns waged war is left unknown. All that is known is that the Guardians of the Universe tasked Abin Sur the mission to travel to Earth and recover the White Entity and bring it to Oa.

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