Hypertime to Podcast – All-American Comics #16

Josh and Allan suffer through a comic that…isn’t great! However, it’s an incredibly important one as it introduces one of the most influential characters in DC Comics history – Alan Scott, The Green Lantern. Join us in the Hypertime as Josh and Allan discuss the creation of Green Lantern and All-American Comics #16.

And now, on to the show notes!

All-American Comics #16 was released in July 1940. While the majority of this book involves characters nobody probably knows, it is still an incredibly important issue. It’s because in this issue, Martin Nodell created a character that would be the building blocks of one of DC Comics largest creations to date. Bill Finger is also seen as a co-creator, but much like our last episode with Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, that can be up to interpretation based on how everything played out…

Origins

In an effort to get into comics after art school (after flirting with theatre as well) in 1940, Martin Nodell would move to New York (from Chicago) and visit the All-American offices after looking up their address in one of the comics. He made up several samples when he met with Sheldon Mayer who gave him a tip on what they were looking for. Since super heroes were getting big after the success of Superman, Batman, etc; if Nodell could come up with a superhero too, then they would really talk.

On his way home, he was going over different ideas in his head. But he specifically wanted to touch on something he was familiar with. He had a reoccurring love with Chinese folklore and Greek mythology in particular.

It was there at the subway where things started to click. There was a man waving a red lantern (meaning hold the train, don’t come in) and then would wave a green lantern after checking the tracks which mean “come in”. It was at that point that Nodell wrote down “The Green Lantern”. To him, the idea of the lantern being green seemed important. Even the lantern being used at the time was inspired for the actual lantern design in the comics itself.

Now he had a name, an icon of sorts, and now he had to work out the rest. He could picture many possibilities, including a meteor falling into a small Chinese town, as a basis to grow from. He would design the costume from his Green mythology love and add the cape for the theatrical flair, plus, theatre was something he also loved so much. Even the green slacks/tights were inspired by theatre as well. Slippers – a Greek costume.

The costume itself was inspired by various movies Nodell had seen – particularly when it came to swordsmen and whatnot – especially when it came to the loose fitting sleeves. Something pirate-esque.

He had several sketches for the character when he took them in. The cowl was the idea of Shelly Mayer, but everything else from the blonde hair, the cape, the colors – all of that was Nodell. He was even able to work in the Wagnerian Ring Cycle (of four operas) by including a ring. In Wagnerian operas, the ring would go from a prince, to people, and then back to the prince again. So he wanted to try and do something with the Green Lantern as well. He added the 24 hour regenerative ability to the ring so that it would regain its perfect value again too.

Other than sketches of the character and the costume, he worked up four black and white pages for the character to define his origin. This would include how Green Lantern thought, the concept of what the strip would be about and where he would be going, what he did for the people as a hero, things like that.

He called up Sheldon Mayer and they arranged to meet. Nodell showed him everything and after several days of not knowing what would happen, Mayer called him back and told him to come meet up with M.C. Gaines. Nodell recalls the meeting with Gaines as a little odd, because Gaines was so quiet during the whole meeting. After shuffling through his sketches and concept pages, and told Nodell “This looks good to me. Get to work.” Apparently Gaines already knew he was going to accept it, but probably kept Nodell on his toes just for fun.

Now it was time for him to iron everything out. To come up with the name Alan Scott, he pulled out a New York phone book and began looking through it. The two names that caught his interest (not sure why) were “Alan” and “Scott” and that was that. There were rumors of another name being used “Alan Ladd”, but Nodell has no idea about that. To him, it was always Alan Scott.

The incantation in particular was very important for him to nail because that was also something the Chinese would do a long time ago. It couldn’t just be an incantation though, it had to be an oath. This wouldn’t be seen however until All-American Comics #18. However, that was something that would be changed with writer Alfred Bester down the road.

He also worked up the backstory of him being a college graduate who would become an engineer, specifically one to help with bridge construction for trains. This may be tied back to the original train man and the green lantern idea, but Nodell can’t say for certain if that’s how his mind tied the two together.

Here is where Bill Finger comes in. Martin Nodell was originally going to be the writer on the book. They even requested that he did. After he wrote up the synopsis for the story, they decided that it may be more work than he could do (especially with what they had in store for Alan) and left him with the art duties. 

Nodell didn’t really know anything about other comic creators, and that applies to Finger as well. But Finger was brought on to help with the writing parts of Green Lantern. Finger looked over what Nodell had already come up with, and would apply any other things that Nodell would think up over time. Overall, they both really liked working with each other.

The logo itself was something that bothered Nodell. He thought the character needed only one logo. He worked up a logo that would be used for All-American Comics #16, but then had to work up several more logos after that for follow-up appearances. So by the time Green Lantern #1 came around, he had finally come up with the “main” logo.

STORY:

GREEN LANTERN – by Mart Dellon and Bill Finger

The first story up is The Green Lantern. It begins in tragedy within the first few panels. Alan Scott is heading up the construction of the bridge that the train he’s in is currently going over. His company won the bid to build the bridge, which leads to fears of a rival company by Dekker to retaliate. Suddenly, the train careens off the bridge killing everyone on the train but Alan Scott. Alan realizes he’s holding onto a lantern and gets light headed. He lays down and faints. The panels light up with green light and a voice comes from the lantern telling the story of The Green Lantern.

In ancient China, a green meteor comes crashing down and splits open showcasing some green liquid. Then, the people who gather around hear something from the meteor:

“Three times shall I flame green! First to bring death! Second – to bring life! Third – to bring power!”

A man named Chang, who is apparently evil because he reads books on sorcery, claims that he knew it would come because of a book he read. He gathers material from the meteor and begins to make a lamp out of it. People, assuming the worst, attack Chang during the crafting, but the lamp begins to shine it’s green light. As it forewarned, it’s first light would bring death and it kills those in the room.

It is passed on after that, and we see the green lamp being picked up from a trash can outside of an asylum in America. They plan on giving it to “Old Billings. He’s a harmless old coot who makes lanterns out of metal”. He does just that, and after lighting the wick to get it going, the lantern shines for the second time – bringing life. Billings is no longer insane and walks out a sane man to begin life anew.

Now we see it again lying next to Alan Scott. It shines the third time – bringing power. The power to fight evil. It will reside within him as long as he has the willpower and faith within himself. To avoid having to carry this lantern everywhere, it suggests forging a ring and touching the lantern to grant the ring it’s power. However, it will need to recharge every 24 hours. As it fades, it says one last thing – “The Green Lantern…to shed light upon dark evil”.

Alan wonders if it was all a dream, but picking up the lantern reminds him it isn’t when he feels energy flowing through his body. He picks up the body of his friend Jimmy, remembering the fear of Dekker being involved, and Alan now seeks revenge.

At home he makes a ring using the metal from the lantern. The ring is shaped like the lantern on top – the emblem to fight evil. Putting it on his hand, the thirst for revenge dissipates and knows he has to go about it a different way. But first, testing his powers! He wants to fly to Dekker’s, and the ring begins to fly him there to Alan’s surprise. He arrives at Dekker’s house and wishes he could go “through the fourth dimension – to be able to go through objects!”, and succeeds in doing that too.

As one would expect from a 40’s villain and story, Dekker is in the room talking with his boys praising them for blowing up the bridge. They notice the green figure of Alan Scott coming through the wall, and when they try to shoot him, the bullets bounce off. They try to stab him, but break the knife. However, they club him over the head which knocks him down. So of course the most reasonable answer as to how that worked is that it’s made of wood. Metals don’t harm him.

He begins to actually fight back and notes how his strength has remained the same. As Dekker’s goons run off, Alan threatens Dekker. Dekker pleas for friendship, so Alan grabs him and starts flying off. He threatens to drop Dekker, but Dekker says he’ll confess if Alan spares his life. They fly back and Dekker signs a confession, but then dies from shock. What a twist.

Alan Scott commits himself to fight against evil. His plan is to “have a costume that is so bizarre that once I am seen, I will never be forgotten!”. And thus, The Green Lantern is born.

Hop Harrigan – by Jon Elby

Hey, it’s Hop Harrigan! I remember him from one of our other episodes, but this one actually has art to accompany it!

We see Hop excited seeing letters from kids wanting to join his flying club. However his friend and big time mechanic Ikky thinks it sounds absurd. They notice that Ikky is hiding a black eye. Ikky comments about resenting something that Canvasback Kelly said about their planes. Then a radio announcement comes on saying that Canvasback Kelly failed in a rescue attempt of saving a woman and her baby stranded on an island. He was able to make it to the island, but no space to take off. Ikky takes this as a challenge to show Canvasback Kelly how great their planes are.

Hop and Ikky take off and arrive at the island as the flooded river gets closer to taking over the whole thing. Hop lands first and says he’ll take the woman and child, and Ikky will be taking Kelly with him. Hop takes off and as he does, Ikky and Canvasback Kelly share insults about each other’s planes. Canvasback Kelly punches Ikky and knocks him out, only to notice that the water is getting higher.

Hop arrives back at All-American field, but the doctor there says they need anti-toxins from the city, which is too far for anyone (even by plane) to make it there and back in time to save the woman and child. They receive a phone call from the city hospital where Canvasback Kelly took Ikky (“Ikky got something in his other eye”). We see them telling Canvasback Kelly about the anti-toxins, and just as he’s about to agree to help, Ikky knocks him out from behind with the sound effect “BOPPO!”.

The people back at All-American field are wondering where Ikky and Canvasback Kelly are when a plan arrives. It’s Doc Stevens who luckily can fly a plane. Wash (their boss maybe?) scolds them for fighting. Canvasback apologizes for what he said, and both hug.

Looks like Ikky’s plane saved the day. Doc Stevens ended up buying one, and they decide to tour while there is positive press about them saving the woman and child. First they fly to the farm of the two they saved and learn that the farmer is having problems with bugs. In an effort to help, and show a quicker way to solve the problem instead of using the machine he has, they use their plane to sweep over the crops with the bug powder.

Farmers from all around hear it all and decide they can use a plane too for all the good it can do for them. They decide to buy planes and the kids around the area want to join Hop’s Aviation club as well. One of the farmers ask if he buys a plane will Ikky teach his family how to fly? Of course Ikky agrees. But WHOOPS! The man has a family of 15 or so. Good luck Ikky!

Mutt and Jeff, Daisybelle, and more

Several pages are reprints of newspaper strips. Not a lot to talk about here. If you read Sunday strips in the newspaper (remember those?!), it’s pretty much that.

Red, White, and Blue

The Pacific Fleet is out to boost confidence in its naval power. So they are taking part of War Games. A small fishing boat is out on the water and the three people onboard (Red, Whitey, and Blooey). Per orders from their government, they have to find a tanker flying a foreign flag and crash into it. They find the tanker which happens to have The Wasp, one of the most brilliant spies the world has seen. The spy notices them, but lets them continue doing their thing.

The boat collides with the tanker, and the tanker crew bring them aboard. As punishment for crashing into them, they are thrown into the tanker’s prison where they meet Professor Pendennis – a world famous munitions expert. Pendennis tells his two panel story of creating a new anti-aircraft gun for battleships before being kidnapped and brought to this boat. Captain Markoff tortured him for details on the anti-aircraft gun, but Pendennis held strong.

The Naval fleet isn’t far off and see the tanker, but can’t do anything due to laws protecting them. Night falls and a submarine pulls up next to the tanker. The man on the sub goes to meet The Wasp. The Wasp wants the sub to move towards the warships and the tanker will follow with mines.

We move back to the captured men. Someone is bringing them food, but Whitey shows his strength as lifts the man up. But Blooey catches that the man knew who Whitey was despite not being told. The man bringing food is Doris West, a government agent. Doris removes her disguise and decides to use her stunning good looks to sway the guards. I’m assuming this meant something different in the 1940s, but according to the panel – “Unnoticed, while the sailor tries to make love to Doris, the trio comes over…” and take the sailor out. The men go ham on the ship and Red runs into The Wasp pushing him over into a boat as he watches the loading of the mines onto it. The three men jump onto the boat but the Wasp seems unphased knowing the sub will help even if they warn the fleet. They still need to save Doris though!

They see the sub rise but Red threatens to blow themselves up with the Wasp if they come closer. Wasp tries to bargain and calls them off. As the U-Boat pulls away, the sub hits the mines that the crew left in the water. They pull the boat around to the side of the tanker and catch a discussion where they figured out Doris is a US agent. Markoff is planning to take care of her and the professor, but the men interrupt and Red knocks out Captain Markoff. Sailors with guns in hand rush in though catching them off guard, but lucky for them, the men are on their side.

Flash forward to San Diego and the crew tries to figure out what to do while they wait for new orders.

Ben Webster – by Edwin Alger

This story seems to be a continuation. It says that Ben and his dog are trying to help a Miss Terry and has already been on the run from pursuers. Miss Terry takes him to a large mansion. She is referred to as “your highness” by one of the maids before they both get some tea.

However, the tea given to Ben seems to be laced with something and he passes out. It seems like Miss Terry is working from someone named Rufus (I’m assuming this is something from a previous story?) It seems they are looking for information on something called The Magic Mud?

Ben wakes up and Rufus meets him in the bedroom he was taken into. Rufus plays into the story about Ben helping the princess, and when Ben tells him that he passed out after drinking tea, Rufus claims both him and the princess must have been drugged! Rufus runs back to Miss Terry (Vivian) so they can get their story straight with each other.

We see…I guess Ben’s friends….Taffy Tate and Betsy Betts at a beauty parlor wondering where Ben went to. He must be in danger because he has been absent for six whole hours…

Rufus devises a plan to use some truth serum on Ben to learn about the magic mud, and Vivian decides to mix it in with some milk since the tea is drugged. When Vivian takes Ben milk, Ben’s dog is excited to see her and causes her to get distracted. Ben, unsure of whether this is all a trap or not, decides to switch the milk glasses while she is distracted.

Vivian starts just speaking truths. She’s not a princess. The truth serum was supposed to be in his milk. They want the magic mud details. Yada yada yada. She details their plan of how they learned about the magic mud used at the beauty shop and Rufus knew this could explode in financial gain, so he wanted Vivian to pretend to be in danger so they could ultimately get Ben to tell them the magic mud secrets.

Rufus comes in and berates Vivian for failing again, but Ben isn’t going to just sit there. He pushes Rufus aside and dashes out the door. However, as he is almost out the front door, a few other men working for Rufus and Vivian stop Ben. The story will continue in the follow up issue.

Popsicle Pete – The Typical American Boy

Three guys are talking about how they have $2500, but no idea how to spend it. Out of nowhere, this dude with a beard comes in and says he knows just how they can invest it – in him! For he has a 24 cent stamp under his beard. But supposedly it’s a collector stamp worth thousands of dollars…but he’ll part with it for $2500.

One of the guys thinks it’s a good idea though. He heard about a stamp like this worth a lot of money, so it’s possible it’s real. Plus…he doesn’t know what else to do with the money. The third guy agrees because “he’s tired of being rich”.

Who woulda thunk – it was a fake. The airplane on the stamp is upside down. But they don’t want to just rip up the stamp. It cost them $2500! One of them have a father who is a postman, so obviously he knows what to do with it. He then proceeds to tell them to go to a banker who is also a stamp collector.

But wait…it IS worth $4000. Because of the plane being printed upside down, there’s only a hundred that exist. The banker is willing to give them a loan for $4000 using the stamp as collateral, and suggests they go into a stamp exchange business venture. They leave with $4000 feeling pretty good.

They ordered a boxload of stamps, and as they are wondering how to go from there, a woman shows up wanting a stamp. But she notices these stamps, and says she can write them up. Millions of people collect stamps, even President Roosevelt! They decide to write up their stamps, but we won’t know more…until next issue!

I still don’t know which one is Popsicle Pete…

Traitors Treachery: A Jimmy Stone Story

Another story we are jumping into the middle of (part 3 to be exact). Plus it’s another story that is almost all text aside from one picture.

Jimmy Stone is helping his friend Phil Hackett track down stolen passports and papers from the State department. His investigation led him to a place of gambling where he sees a group of people: Miss Trent, Burroughs, Nate Brown, and another man without a name currently – called the tall man.

While Jimmy is looking over the gambler Nate Brown, he is surprised from behind and pushed into the room. Burroughs is angry, and Jimmy is torn. Apparently Jimmy trusted him and now has been betrayed. As the gang try to decide what to do with Jimmy, the tall man speaks up about how his boat is leaving soon and they may just drug Jimmy up and dump him off at sea never to be seen again.

The cabbie that took Jimmy there busts in with gun in hand. As Ivan (the tall man) tries to react by grabbing his weapon, the cabbie fires and takes Ivan down. Police show up immediately and then to everyone’s surprise, the cabbie reveals himself to be Phil Hackett.

Once the other members are taken to jail, Hackett runs through about how he was suspicious about Miss Trent and how she lived with Burroughs. Since then, he had trailed her but kept Jimmy in the dark about the whole thing. Burroughs and Miss Trent owed Nate Brown some debt. They were going to be paid by Ivan as he deals in state secrets and smuggled passports, then in turn, pay off their debts with Nate Brown.

Jimmy is filled with pride and says nobody can beat Uncle Sam. Phil comments, “Because this country is founded on real ideals. And the people rule, not one man. In America, every man is his own master. Always remember that”. And Jimmy is proud to be a real American. Just like Phil.

Adventures in the Unknown…The Infra-Red Destroyers – by Carl H Claudy

Another story we are jumping into? Apparently Alan Kane is a man who suspects an attack from invisible aliens from Venus, but is kidnapped. Only after leaving a note for his friend Ted Dolliver who rushes to his aid. We see another man telling a machine (? – word balloon covers part of it) to destroy another block of buildings, which happens in the next panel in New York.

This story just jumping around. Cops looking for an anarchist to no avail. People leaving the city. People dying in the streets. Buildings on fire. Mass chaos. We see Alan guarded by the invisible creature who is clawing at him, and Alan – making his plan abundantly clear out loud, is trying to get the creature to slice through his ropes with his sharp claws. It works!

Alan finds a hypodermic needle and bottle of poison. The alien sits and waits for him to fill this up apparently and then Alan is able to get the alien with it and sees a grey powder fall to the floor. That’s when he is surprised by Professor Jurghens. Jurghens is trying to find out how Alan is going to fight the spacemen from Venus – seemingly so they can’t be stopped. He ties up Alan again leaving Ollak to watch over him again.

Ted is on his way, but Jurghens is notified of it. He sends someone out to knock Ted off the road but Ted gets away unscathed. He walks the rest of the way to Jurghens lab only for something to cause him to pass out. He wakes up, lassoed on a bed, and the man waiting for him is trying to feed him. Ted distracts the man by telling him to get Ted a cigarette (why would the man agree?) and when he does, Ted kicks him knocking him out and rolls off the bed. He grabs a butter knife, takes 30 minutes to cut himself free (literally 30 minutes).

Ted goes over what he has on him. His gun is gone, but he still has a knife and glasses that “make infra-red rays visible”. He also takes the rope that had him bound. Ted leaves the room and starts looking at the house determining which room Alan might be in (wasn’t he in there too?). He hides as Jurghens walks nearby and being notified Ted as escaped. He tells the Venus men to start searching for him. He then points to the exact room Alan is in and tells them not to let Ted in there.

After some stumbling with getting up to the window, he finally succeeds. But seeing Alan, Alan warns Ted not to come in. “There’s death here!” and it leaves off there until next month.

Scribbly – by Sheldon Mayer

After succeeding in riding the man-killing horse “Widow-Maker”, Scribbly is feeling full of himself. The people who own the horse decide that because a kid could ride him, Widow-Maker isn’t worth keeping. Now we see Widow-Maker’s thoughts and he’s angry. He went easy on the kid. He will show them how tough he can be.

Before he leaves, Scribbly decides to visit Widow-Maker again and give him a carrot. Widow-Maker is touched. It’s the first nice thing someone has done for him. Widow-Maker feels weird…what are these…feelings.

As Scribbly boards a train with his family, we see Widow-maker up for auction. He doesn’t like this, so he decides to escape and leaps over a fence. Widow-Maker is now alone without any friends, but he thinks he sees Scribbly in the window of the train that passes. So he follows the tracks.

Widow-Maker isn’t having a fun time. He almost gets hit by a train. He finds a stream to get a drink only to have some kids throw rocks at him. He wonders why everyone is against him. A few days later, he finds the Hudson and crosses it. On the other side is a city. Just happens to be the city that Scribbly is in. 

We see Scribbly thinking of Widow-Maker, but also how he knows Widow-Maker ran away. Apparently they followed him a ways until they got to the Hudson. Now there’s a good chance he’s loose in the city.

Scribbly goes out to walk a bit, and we see Widow-Maker turn the corner attached to a buggy. Scribbly sees him and screams his name and they both come running to each other, with Widow-Maker kicking the buggy knocking off the man who was verbally berating him. Scribbly now owns a horse!

Gary Concord The Ultra-Man – by Dan Shelby

Far in the future of 2240 AD, we see a sealed uranium power plant beneath the sea. Gary Concords invention of atom-smashing is capable of powering thousands of homes but suddenly stops working. We see hospitals go dark. Children starving. Industries out of work.

Senator Jones of the United States of North America’s Commmittee on Power decides to visit Gary Concord The Ultra-Man, and his daughter Ginger wants to go too. She really wants to meet Gary. As soon as they arrive, Ginger falls all over him trying to convince him to go swimming with her and her friends. Her father and Gary brush her aside.

Gary Concord and his companion Alec head towards Bayonna Banks where the power plant lies. When they get there, they see a catapult where Gary Concord previously blew up Doc Marman’s castle and destroyed his monsters. They also see Ginger waiting for someone to swim with her (how the hell did she get there so fast?), so Gary decides to throw on a deep sea suit to avoid her.

Suddenly a strange craft shows up and kidnaps Ginger. It begins taking her out to sea, so Gary Concord jumps into the catapult and Alec fires him out towards the craft. He makes it and holds on tight as they dive underwater. The craft takes him where the power plant is…or…where it USED to be. Now there’s a dark hole that the craft descends into.

Gary peeks in the window to check on Ginger and sees an ape-fish (think of a greenish monkey with some fins on his body). They arrive at an underwater city and then they see Ginger being pulled out from a gang of ape-fish.

As Gary looks around, he locates Doc Marman who he thought was dead. But nope, they captured him and kept him prisoner though now he is saved. The garoo monster is the one responsible for his capture and the whole city. Gary and Marman go on the search for Ginger, and when they find her, Gary leaps in and fights the ape-fish. They escape, with the garoo on their tail (looks like a weird robot skeletal thing?). They try to lock him out, and does it long enough for Gary and Ginger to escape.

Marman isn’t able to hop aboard, but sets off explosions to destroy the city. Fortunately, Gary and Ginger escape and arrive back at Alec. Ginger is afraid Gary will inform her dad of what happened, but he says he won’t if she stops annoying him. More Ultra-Man next month!

RANDOM TRIVIA:

• The first appearance of Green Lantern has been reprinted numerous times over the years from The Golden Age Green Lantern Archives Vol. 1, Green Lantern: A Celebration of 75 Years, and much more.

• The first issue of Green Lantern is credited by “Mart Dellon” and “Bill Finger”. Mart is short for Martin obviously and Dellon was “Nodell” mixed up a little. This happened because Nodell wasn’t sure how long he would be working in comics, and during that time, many people were against comic books. So Nodell came up with a pseudonym to avoid any problems that could arise if he were to leave comics and go into advertising – something he was seriously considering as well. It wasn’t until Green Lantern #1 was coming around and they wanted to do a double page spread showing Bill Finger and Martin Nodell’s real faces that he decided to finally stick with his real name.

• When he first started doing pages, Nodell was making $10 a page. That would eventually increase to $20 per page. He was able to churn out five to seven pages a week (prior to doing Green Lantern #1) netting him between $100-$140 a week when the average person was only making $35 a week back in the forties.

• Despite having the name Green Lantern, Alan Scott is not affiliated with the Green Lantern Corps. In fact, the Corps themselves wouldn’t be a thing until Showcase #22 in 1959. However, DC would try to link Alan Scott’s origin to the Green Lantern Corps many years later in Green Lantern (v. 2) #112. This issue would detail how the Guardians gathered wild magic and fused it all into the Starheart. After the Guardians sent it away, a piece of it came off after gaining self-awareness where it traveled to Earth Two in the shape of a meteor after hooking on space debris throughout its time in space. Another connection came in Green Lantern (v. 3) #19 by saying his Green Flame of Life is the spirit of a former member Yalan Gur who had been corrupted by power after his weakness to yellow was removed. 

• There is thought to be less than 100 copies of this book still intact in the world. A CGC grade of 6.5 was sold for $300,000 in 2018 and rumored that a 9.4 copy would go for at least $1 million. It’s said even a low grade copy (2.0) of All-American Comics #16 could bring in at least $35,000.

• Alan’s origin was revamped a little when it came to The New 52 Earth 2 story. In it, he takes a trip with his boyfriend Samuel through Hong Kong but the train explodes as Alan tries to propose. The ring becomes his source of power and he becomes an agent for the green.

• James Tynion IV and Gary Frank do a very similar but different take on his origin in the Green Lantern 80th Anniversary Spectacular. In the story called “Dark Things Cannot Stand the Light”, Alan Scott visits the mother of his good friend (and possible lover?) Jimmy after his passing. It flashes back throughout similar beats of the original story (train crash, finding the crooks, etc), and he reveals himself to her as The Green Lantern.

• After Martin Nodell left to do advertising, he joined the Leo Burnett Agency. His design team there would go on to create a character everyone loves – The Pillsbury Doughboy.

SOURCES:

https://twomorrows.com/alterego/articles/05nodell.html

https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/All-American_Comics_Vol_1_16

https://www.webcitation.org/5zBwS4Oy9?url=http://www.accomics.com/accomics/goldenage/nuggets_nodell.html

https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Martin_Nodell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Nodell

https://www.qualitycomix.com/comic-price-guide/all-american-comics/issue-16

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Intro and Outro Music: “RetroFuture Clean” by Kevin MacLeod

RetroFuture Clean Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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