In the early days of Green Lantern comics, the emerald knights were given near-identical costumes. Over time, that changed and evolved. Let's find out why and how it made them stronger than ever as a group of unique but united heroes.
It is well known in the world of comics that the Green Lantern Corps act as the intergalactic police of the DC universe. Just like a police force has identical uniforms for its officers, the Green Lantern Corps had matching suits for a number of years. The only thing that visually separated them from each other was the small cosmetic differences separated by the different alien races. As time went on and society evolved, there became a need for change.
There came a time where Hal Jordan wasn't the only human member of the Green Lantern Corps. He would eventually be joined by John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, and more. Those are just the Green Lanterns of Earth, who each have a unique identity and personality of their own. To be perfectly honest, the Green Lantern Corps is absolutely massive and kept growing bigger as time passed on. With all these personalities, giving all of them unique looks was only fitting.
Hal Jordan is arguably the most famous Green Lantern of them all. He has had many suits over the years, but his traditional suit fits his personality perfectly. The simple yet elegant black and green color scheme combined with a domino mask and the striking white gloves create this space-age wonder-like charm that tailors to Jordan's textbook charisma and Maverick-like sex appeal.
When we see Hal wearing his suit, we know it's not just a Green Lantern we see Hal Jordan, Coast-City's Emerald Knight.
In contrast, there's John Stewart. With his soldier-like personality, he was the first human Green Lantern to not wear a mask. Originally, he shared an identical suit to Hal Jordan, but then grew apart into his own hero. He even ditched the Green Lantern costume entirely for awhile.
Meanwhile, Kyle Rayner used an assortment of different adventurous masks. Their overt nature fits perfectly with Rayner's youthful and expressive personality.
Kyle has seen multiple re-designs over the years. Regardless, they always retained Rayner's individuality. On top of this, his personality combined with Hal Jordan brings a fun and almost-big brother-little brother dynamic that is refreshing to see in any Green Lantern story. The different costumes of the Green Lantern Corps points to the inherent fun about a group of unique personalities working together. The Green Lantern Corps takes this concept and perfects it on a profound level.
DC's decision to give the Green Lantern Corps members unique suits to suit their personalities has done wonders. It has not only made the stories more interesting and engaging, but it has given the characters better depth. The result is that these characters, in embracing their identities, make them better heroes and thus make the Green Lantern Corps as a whole, a more united and powerful entity.