Green Lantern and Philosophy: No Evil Shall Escape this Book

Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture #24

by Jane Dryden (Editor), William Irwin (Series Editor), Mark D. White (Editor)

The first look at the philosophy behind the Green Lantern comics--timed for the release of the Green Lantern movie in June 2011 The most recent Green Lantern series--Blackest Night--propelled GL to be the top-selling comic series for more than a year, the latest twist in seven decades of Green Lantern adventures. This book sheds light on the deep philosophical issues that emerge from the Green Lantern Corps's stories and characters, from what Plato's tale of the Ring of Gyges tells us about the Green Lantern ring and the desire for power to whether willpower is the most important strength to who is the greatest Green Lantern of all time.


Gives you a new perspective on Green Lantern characters, story lines, and themes Shows what philosophical heavy hitters such as Aristotle, Descartes, and Kant can teach us about members of the Green Lantern Corp and their world Answers your most pressing Green Lantern questions, including: What motivates Hal Jordan to be a Green Lantern? Does the Blackest Night force us to confront old male/female stereotypes? What is the basis for moral judgment in the Green Lantern Corps? Is Hal Jordan a murderer? Whether you're a new fan or an elder from Oa, Green Lantern and Philosophy is a must-have companion.

Genres: Philosophy, Comics, Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Dc Comics

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2011

Reviews

[Julio Bonilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Green Lantern overcomes fear. Every time they face it.

ANOTHER BOOK FROM MY SHELF.

[Melvin Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the other books in this series that I've read, this was enjoyable, light reading. Trying to fit a school of philosophy into a fictional universe is a fun romp.

[Audrey Hacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe there were no articles on guy gardner wtf

[Karli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read. The writers of this book treat the comic characters like they're real people as they get into the science of how the brain works and the reasons why a Green Lantern chooses to do things, instead of just saying that the comic writers had some cool ideas for a story. For example, the issue is brought up of Lanterns constantly creating constructs of giant fists or boxing gloves to beat up a bad guy instead of creating something else. They excuse the idea that comic writers and artists may get lazy at times, and instead go on to explain that in situations where you have to come up with a solution on the spot, you go for the answer that is most familiar to you (i.e. giant fists or boxing gloves), as there is no time to be creative. It is, of course, much more elaborately explained in this book, but you get the idea.

One of my favorite parts is when they discuss what can become a Green Lantern. Any living being can be a Green Lantern, but what constitutes a living being? Another of my favorite parts explains that if a Lantern creates a construct of a machine, he doesn't have to know how it works; the ring has a vast amount of information stored inside of it and can fill in the blanks of how the desired machine will work.

If you're at all interested in Green Lantern or how things in the Green Lantern mythos work, you should definitely read this. Granted, there are some boring parts, but those are few and far between.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture #24

A few lessons in Philosophy from the Green Lantern.

[Phil Bova · Rating 5 out of 5]

An avid fan of Green Lantern, Mark White excels at combining philosophical thought with fictional characters. More importantly, after reading this gem...I looked at Green Lantern and the Corps altogether differently.
Wonderful and insightful book.

[Hina Ansari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the older editions of Pop Culture and Philosophy and it shows. I’m not sure exactly when the shift came to shorter, less robust essays, but this was back when they actually wrote at length, providing many more examples to give the reader more of a chance to understand the point that was coming across. I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve ever read any of the Green Lantern comics. I bought this book, sort of on a whim, when Borders (remember them?) were going out of business and Philosophy books had the deepest discount (60%, I believe). I pretty much picked up all the books there. It was great. Took me years to get to this one, though.

I won’t go into too much detail, except to say that while the older editions of these books were full of more information, the same issues also appeared. I say this not in a tongue-and-cheek sort of way, but apparently Sinestro was super evil and Hal Jordan had moments of super evil. Most of the essays hit on these two points belligerently. I still maintain that the editor needs to do a better job of finding diverse examples to use. The Green Lantern comics have been around, it seems like, at least fifty years plus. Then why does every single essay touch on Sinestro and Hal Jordan? I mean, aren’t there other examples?

While I may complain about that, there was one essay, one on time travel, that stood out as a beacon of deep thought. It’s the 17th chapter, buried pretty far in. If you’re a fan of the time-traveling show 12 Monkeys, this is an essay you’ll really understand. Most of the essay is based off of the TV show Teen Titans, I think, and that alone gave the essay something fresh to consider. This essay is why this series is so great. A lot of the other essays were detractions, but this one provided something new, something different and framed it with respect to the various choices the characters made and how those impacted everything. I don’t understand why it is so hard, in this series, to get original essays for differing points. I really wish the Blackwell and Philosophy people would try to provide interesting, new ideas instead of regurgitating the same ideas over and over again.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea alone, to use comic book universe in order to explain some basic philosophical concepts is already excitingly interesting to me, not to mention thanks to that readers get to see Green Lanterns in the new, more mature light. Specially if we take into consideration that they aren't the most popular superheroes.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, the pop culture and philosophy books takes a beloved icon and uses it to make deep-thinking philosophy wonderfully accessible.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

408 - 2019

[Jonny Andres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting.

[Nickole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had a hard time getting into this one so I'm going to shelve it and maybe come back it later.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine vol. in the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series.

[Samantha Kappes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic look at the Green Lantern series and various philosophy concepts. It was entertaining during some parts, dry and dragging along in others. I recommend this book to fans of the comic series, especially new readers, as it provides a good bit of information on the universe in it. It's not a GREAT book by any means, but I didn't exactly waste my time with it either. It's a fun, nerdy read.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't understand this book, I think it was meant for an older audience but I liked the parts I understood, and the quotes in the book, not to mention I love Hal Jordan and Abin Sur and John Stewart!!!

[Babs · Rating 5 out of 5]

FALSE

[Mike Vardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm biased as a huge GL fan, but the way the authors use The Corps to discuss philosophy (and vice versatile) is well done.

I'll be reading more books like this going forward.