# Lanterns (the green kind) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, hbomax-wb-dc\ **Created:** [August 17, 2026, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374 "2026-08-17T05:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/181 "2026-09-15T14:17:10Z")
They have needed charging since the beginning. I think, at first, it was every 24 hours regardless. I think it was then changed to 24 hours of use. In one story Kyle Rayner claims to have gone 9 months without recharging, so it seems rather fluid. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/182 "2026-09-15T14:58:14Z")
I think if I found out the woman I was sleeping with was an alien I would have some immediate concerns. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/183 "2026-09-15T15:37:16Z")
An alien construct - basically a really advanced android. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/184 "2026-09-15T18:23:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Is it a deliberate weakness of the Green Lanterns that their rings require periodic recharging? Yes, it definitely is. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > In one story Kyle Rayner claims to have gone 9 months without recharging, so it seems rather fluid. Absolutely. The need for recharging, and when/how often, frequently comes down to whether the writer wants to use recharging (or a nearly-out-of-power ring) as a plot device. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/185 "2026-09-15T18:24:25Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The need for recharging, and when/how often, frequently comes down whether the writer wants to use recharging (or a nearly-out-of-power ring) as a plot device. SEE ALSO: Spider-Man’s Web Fluid ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/186 "2026-09-15T19:07:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Is it a deliberate weakness of the Green Lanterns that their rings require periodic recharging? > > Yes, it definitely is. IOW, it’s their kryptonite. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/187 "2026-09-15T19:16:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > IOW, it’s their kryptonite. No, the color yellow was (is? I’m not sure where that stands these days in lore) their kryptonite. Which I always found unfathomably stupid, particularly as it was used even more than kryptonite to artificially create a challenge for Green Lantern. The lantern needing to be charged was a limitation to be sure, if not as bad as [Hourman’s](https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hourman_(Rex_Tyler)), but a lesser one. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/188 "2026-09-15T19:34:05Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > The lantern needing to be charged was a limitation to be sure, if not as bad as [Hourman’s](https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hourman_(Rex_Tyler)), but a lesser one. The other weakness is that a Green Lantern can’t feel fear or they can’t use their ring. They test this in recruits not just because they need someone brave, but because they literally won’t be able to function if they can be made to fear something. It was retconned a few decades ago that the reason why the color yellow was a weakness for Green Lanterns was because it was the color of fear (as the Yellow Lanterns embody fear the way Green ones embody Justice), and so its presence would cancel out a ring’s power. (And some crap about the entity Parallax but that’s probably a bit too comic book nerdy for this discussion.) Suffice to say that once they figured out it was the yellow/fear connection, Green Lanterns were trained how to overcome it, because it was purely psychological in nature. (Again, that’s a retcon; originally it was just “the color yellow” in the Silver Age.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/189 "2026-09-15T19:34:44Z")
I meant that it’s their weakness, much like kryptonite is for Superman, who is otherwise invulnerable. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/190 "2026-09-15T19:41:02Z")
A #2 pencil was real bad news. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/191 "2026-09-15T19:41:39Z")
There’s also Martian Manhunter, who has a totally random set of ridiculous powers cobbled together over the years because writers decided that it would be really cool if he could do some new thing (the same reason why Superman has so many unrelated powers). His weakness is “fire”. Which has been pointed out multiple times in the comics, “That’s not a weakness; almost everyone’s weakness is fire!” (Also, confusingly, Martian Manhunter has absolutely nothing to do with the Manhunters created by the Guardians of Oa. He’s an organic being from Mars, not a robot. Though he does share some traits like shapeshifting and high-tech alien gadgets.) Also, MM has maybe the stupidest origin of any major superhero I can think of… He was accidentally teleported by a scientist from Mars to Earth, but the scientist told him that it would take time to recalibrate the teleportation device to send him back, so he’d need to find a way to be comfortable in the meantime. MM then shapeshifted to a human form, and the shock of seeing that literally killed the scientist, leading MM stranded on Earth for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/192 "2026-09-15T19:51:47Z")
There is a retconned origin of all DC Martians and the Guardians of Oa are involved. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/193 "2026-09-15T20:03:50Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It was retconned a few decades ago that the reason why the color yellow was a weakness for Green Lanterns was because it was the color of fear (as the Yellow Lanterns embody fear the way Green ones embody Justice), and so its presence would cancel out a ring’s power. Hmmm…does it then follow that if a Yellow Lantern ever stops feeling afraid the ring will cease to function? I mean do they ever have a sudden unexpected moment of valor and suddenly go: _“Oh fuck! I need a big-ass centipede to scare me stat or all is lost. Wait!? All is lost? Okay, good I’m scared again. My powers have returned.”_ Seems…limiting 😀. Or is just when confronted with a sense of justice? “Ah, Hal Jordan you’ve fallen into my trap! Finally you will reap the punishments you so richly deserve! Oh, shit - my ring just stopped working.” ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/194 "2026-09-15T20:10:17Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > There is a retconned origin of all DC Martians and the Guardians of Oa are involved. FFS, of course there is. 🤦‍♂️ > [@Tamerlane](#): > > Hmmm…does it then follow that if a Yellow Lantern ever stops feeling afraid the ring will cease to function? I mean do they ever have a sudden unexpected moment of valor and suddenly go: _“Oh fuck! I need a big-ass centipede to scare me stat or all is lost. Wait!? All is lost? Okay, good I’m scared again. My powers have returned.”_ Seems…limiting 😀 Kind of, but the other way around. They gain power by _causing_ fear. So, if they fail to scare their enemy, they lose power. The way a Green Lantern is chosen because they don’t feel fear, a Yellow Lantern (or really, member of the Sinestro Corps, as they are known by that more often than “Yellow Lanterns”) is chosen because of their ability to intimidate people. It’s kind of funny… Originally, the color yellow was the great Green Lantern weakness, so someone with a yellow ring has an advantage. Now, the yellow ring needs someone to be afraid of its wielder, and a Green Lantern who doesn’t feel fear has an advantage. It totally flip-flopped to the opposite situation. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/195 "2026-09-15T21:18:03Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > I was hoping for a much more fun, joyful show, with the Green Lantern corps, or at least some humor (giant green boxing gloves?). After that last episode, I “cleansed my palate” with the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie (part of the plot is that Ryan’s Hal is immature, so he makes plenty of green toys - including a glowing green Hot Wheels track)! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/196 "2026-09-15T23:27:59Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > (Also, confusingly, Martian Manhunter has absolutely nothing to do with the Manhunters created by the Guardians of Oa. He’s an organic being from Mars, not a robot. Though he does share some traits like shapeshifting and high-tech alien gadgets.) The connections are via writers and copyrights. In the 1940s, there was a non-costumed detective named Paul Kirk, Manhunter. Then there was Rick Nelson, Manhunter, who wore a red-and-blue costume with a light blue facemask. Who the writers later started calling Paul Kirk. In the 1950s there was the Martian Manhunter. He had green skin, but the blue elements of his costume resembled the blue elements of Paul Kirk’s costume. In the 1960s, the writers of Green Lantern added the android Manhunters to the Green Lantern mythos. The android’s bodies were red and blue, with light blue faces, strikingly similar to Paul Kirk’s costume. In the 1980s, they revived the Paul Kirk character (or at least his clone), and wrote a storyline that intertwined all of the above. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/197 "2026-09-16T03:35:25Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie See, I thought that film was pretty shit 🙂. Horses for courses, as they say. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/198 "2026-09-16T13:09:30Z")
I did too. But I find I can revisit a movie, now that I know it’s going to be shit, and appreciate that there are “less shit” parts. And I just wanted more GL! (Any of the animated versions worth watching?) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/199 "2026-09-16T20:54:11Z")
> [@digs](#): > > After that last episode, I “cleansed my palate” with the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie (part of the plot is that Ryan’s Hal is immature, so he makes plenty of green toys - including a glowing green Hot Wheels track)! I found that scene exacerbating. Lives are in danger, you catch the crashing helicopter with a giant baseball mitt and end the crisis quickly and safely. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374/200 "2026-09-17T15:08:07Z")
OK. I’m not a comic book reader so maybe i’m missing something here. Why were Hal and John trying to kill/capture Zoe? She’s not hurting anyone. Arguably, she has dramatically improved the lives of the folk in the town, and they seem to appreciate her substantially and are loyal to her. Yes, there are alines looking for her - she could have dealt with them easily. The only thing I see the Lanterns accomplished was getting a ton of townsfolk injured or killed, and dramatically reducing the quality of life for those who survived. If they never showed up things would have just chugged along and everyone would have been healthy and happy. What was the point here? They’re the bad guys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lanterns-the-green-kind/1032374.md?page=11)