In 1994, DC had already made massive changes to most of their major characters. But with Green Lantern, they decided to go bigger than they'd ever gone before. It wasn't enough to introduce someone new, they completely destroyed everything that came before. The entire Corps was wiped out in a storyline known as Emerald Twilight.
Written by Ron Marz, Emerald Twilight only ran three issues but it tore down the entire Green Lantern mythos to the rivets and allowed for a new hero to emerge from it. Though much of this storyline has since been retconned, at the time it was a massive deal to fans everywhere.
10 Originally Meant To Be A Different Storyline
With Emerald Twilight being the single biggest comic book storyline in Green Lantern history for over a decade, it’s surprising that it was a story that almost didn’t happen. There was a writer working on Green Lantern that had been on the title for several years, but when they pitched their own version of Emerald Twilight, DC decided they didn’t like it and decided to create an entirely new Green Lantern instead. There are even solicitations and brief descriptions of what the original Emerald Twilight was supposed to be. featuring the Guardians against a different set of Guardians.
9 It Was Drawn By Three Different Artists
Emerald Twilight was made in such a hurry that DC barely had time to decide on a creative team. They gave the book to Ron Marz as a writer after his work on Silver Surfer but needed all three issues of Emerald Twilight to be done as quickly as possible. So rather than delay them heavily, they were all drawn by three different creators: Bill Willingham, who would one day be known for the Vertigo comic Fables, Fred Haynes, and the artist who would eventually be known for this time period’s GL, Darryl Banks.
8 The Series Introduces Kyle Rayner
Emerald Twilight has the first appearance of Kyle Rayner before he’s actually a Green Lantern. At the tail end of the first issue, Kyle is hugged up with his girlfriend Alex and the two of them wish upon a shooting star in the night sky. This comes back into play a few months later, when Ganthet comes back and bestows the Green Lantern ring upon Kyle Rayner, saying that he’ll simply “have to do”, which leads to him becoming The Torchbearer for the next decade, even though he wasn't always great wielding the ring.
7 The Guardians Take Hal’s Status As A Green Lantern Away
What truly makes Hal snap isn’t losing Coast City, but the Guardians’ refusal to support him after the fact. Still coping with the loss, Hal tries to create his city and be the hero they needed during their time of loss. But unfortunately, the ring’s charge runs out.
Rather than trying to help, the Guardians decide to cut off his access to the Battery and demand he returns to Oa. Instead, Hal finally snaps and drains the Guardian projection demanding him to return and uses that power to begin his attack on the Corps.
6 There Was Supposed To Be A Video Game
In the 1990s, licensed property video games were still quite popular—there were even games based on specific comic book storylines, and Emerald Twilight was almost one of them. Emerald Twilight was going to be turned into a video game by developer Ocean Software. Though the game was canceled, leaked information suggests it would have been seven stages and given Kyle Rayner the chance to fight Hal Jordan at the end.
5 The Guardians Free Sinestro From Jail And Hal Takes Him Out For Good
Sinestro had been defeated ages ago and taken off the board so the writers could do something besides the same old storylines. But Hal Jordan taking out several Corps members while on his way to the Central Power Battery caused them to panic enough to free Sinestro from his prison: within the Central Power Battery itself. After getting free, he and Hal get into one last fight where Hal decides Sinestro won’t be able to abuse his power any longer, and kills Sinestro, clearing the way for newer villains.
4 The Guardians Combined Their Power To Make The Last GL Ring
Surprisingly, none of the Guardians of the Universe battled against Hal at all. Though he was about to destroy the Corps they had created, none of them used their power to stop him.
Instead, they all agreed the universe had only one chance, and combined their power, giving it to Ganthet and allowing him to create an all-new Green Lantern ring with new rules and new weaknesses. Ganthet would take that ring back to Earth in the hopes of finding someone who could compete with Hal.
3 A Green Lantern Tie-In Discusses The Corps' Flaws
The Green Lantern franchise wasn’t short of ongoing comic series when this series happened. One of their many books, Green Lantern Quarterly, showed Green Lanterns from multiple sectors. Several of these choices were suspect at best, with one of them deciding to use his ring to conquer his planet, and another wasting it on a fight with Lobo where he was easily defeated. The comic posits the idea of the Guardians of the Universe being flawed if they’re using Lantern recruits of this caliber.
2 It Resulted In Guy Gardner Getting A Power-Up
During the ’90s, Guy Gardner enjoyed more popularity than ever. Not only was he a member of the Justice League, but he had his own ongoing comic. Having lost his Green Lantern ring, he took Sinestro’s yellow ring. This was years before the ring was powered by fear, and instead simply leeched energy off Green Lantern rings. Though his ring went dead in reaction to Hal attacking the Central Power Battery, once Hal started using his ring, Guy experienced a massive power-up...until he fought Hal, who decided to cut off Guy’s access to that ring.
1 The Fallout Wasn't Handled In Green Lantern
Perhaps the strangest thing about Emerald Twilight is that Hal Jordan becoming Parallax isn’t handled in the main Green Lantern comic. After Hal gains supreme power, the story shifts to being about Kyle Rayner. Hal would go on to wreak havoc in Zero Hour, a separate mini-series where he attempts to reset time, but by the time he returns to the Green Lantern book he’s already been defeated. Even the Guy Gardner monthly series shows more of the fallout of Emerald Twilight.