The Green Lantern Corps has always been one of the most expansive and richest aspects of the DC universe. Despite the best known members of the corps, like Hal Jordan and John Stewart being space cops, Earth's first Lantern was far different. One of the most shared mantles in all comics is that of a Green Lantern. Whether it's the Golden Age Alan Scott or the latest in Jo Mullein, there are literally thousands.
Most stories focus on the protectors of sector 2814, the region home to Earth. Although the modern version of the corps began in comics with Hal Jordan, he wasn't the first Earthling to wield the power ring. In feudal China, the ancient monk, Jong Li, once possessed the power of his fellow Lanterns, and used it to become a champion of the people against a tyrant. He was also markedly different from his modern counterparts. Green Lantern: Dragon Lord (Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy, Joe Rubinstein, James Sinclair, and Bob Lappan) chronicled Li's story.
Earth's First Lantern Came From Ancient China
Jong Li's story began as a simple monk in a Chinese monastery, set in 7th century China under the rule of a tyrannical emperor. When one of the despot's slaves Jade Moon, fled and sought shelter with the monks, they were just as soon attacked, forcing Jong Li to flee to the woods. Once there, he was visited by a Guardian of Oa, who found him to be worthy of wielding a Green Lantern ring. Newly empowered, Jong channeled the Dragon Lords he'd spent his life devoted to and defeated the tyrant and his loyalists. Where most Green Lanterns are space-bound heroes who act more as police, Jong Li used his power as a champion of his people. His story also turned the standard Green Lantern formula on its head, altering the nature of the ring and willpower towards magic, more closely resembling Alan Scott's use.
The science fiction aspects of the story were an afterthought to the attempt to build a historic epic around Earth's first Lantern. He was also an entirely self-trained member of the corps, with no formal assistance from other members. Instead, he slowly learned to use his ring when he most needed it, using martial arts skills as his dominant fighting style. It should be noted that Jong Li was created around the revitalization of Chinese cinema, alongside films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's easy to see how that revival helped inspire Jong Li's creation, and could have set up its own series of stories had it been more successful.
Jong Li Was a Different Breed of Green Lantern
Jong Li represented a different kind of Green Lantern, one far less interested in policing the galaxy. Li's acquisition of the ring was almost sheer luck, and empowered him to help his people. He showed himself to be a remarkably impressive Lantern through his incredibly quick understanding of the ring and how to shape a construct. His distance from the GLC made him a truly solo Lantern, which only further proved his intelligence, courage and willpower that rivals that of Hal Jordan.
Green Lantern: Dragon Lord took the science fiction nature of the Green Lantern Corps and perfectly incorporated it in with mythological fantasy and history. However, it has become such a forgotten story that the character, despite an age of diverse character revivals, has been left entirely untouched. Hopefully, Jong Li will be mentioned in the canon again either as a callback to the past or brought into modern day.