The GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #1 lit up comic book shelves yesterday, and can you believe... Wait, you have read it already right? If not, stop reading this article, go buy it from the comic shop or download it onto your mobile device, and read it immediately. It's okay. We'll wait.
 
Back? Awesome. So, crazy, right?! The First Lantern! Black Hand! The Third Army! Holy Moley. We've been fans of writer Geoff Johns' Green Lantern epic since he kicked things off with the GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH limited series, and since then, Johns has crafted a veritable space opera filled with amazing character development, epic action, and continuing twists and turns that leave us desperately wanting a ring to fly through our ceiling and recruit us into the Corps. (We don't know what the word "reality" means).
 
As such, this week, we're listing off the 5.2 Reasons to Love the Green Lantern Universe!

1. New Characters
The upcoming GREEN LANTERN #0 introduces readers to a brand new recruit: the mysterious Baz. Not much is known about him, but we're already pretty stoked to find out all we can. After all, this is part of a time-honored tradition with this title. Over the years, the Green Lantern comic has introduced quite a few new characters, and everyone has their favorite—Hal, Guy, John, Kyle, Kilowog, G'Nort for some of you out there, we're sure... probably. Needless to say, we can't wait to see Baz join the ranks of the Green Lantern greats.
 

2. Diversity
The Green Lantern Corps also boasts a very diverse cast of characters—from strong female heroes like Soranik Natu and Laira to one of comics' most prominent African-American characters, John Stewart, to whatever the heck Chaselon is—and with his Arab heritage, the newest Green Lantern adds to this mix. Of course, when making a point about diversity, it would be unthinkable to limit it merely to humans, and Green Lantern is proud to feature more Korugaran, Xudarian, Bellatrixian and Ungaran characters than any other comic book in history!
 

3. Epic Events
The introduction of the newest Green Lantern comes in conjunction with the latest chapter in the Lantern saga, "Rise of The Third Army," which in itself follows previous game-changing crossovers like the incredibly popular "Sinestro Corps War" and "War of the Green Lanterns." We still remember the chill we felt when Batman rose in "Blackest Night," and this moment in Sinestro Corps War is still one of our favorites ever for the character:
 

4. Seeing the Guardians Completely Lose It
We mentioned earlier the character growth present throughout all of Johns' GL run, but nothing stands out as both terrifyingly awesome and awesomely terrifying as the once-thought benevolent Guardians of the Universe ever so slowly going totally insane.
 
5. The Emotional Spectrum
If you’re new to the world of Green Lantern (welcome, by the way!), you may not realize that Lanterns in this world come in far more colors than just green. Johns introduced an entire emotional spectrum, each with its own Corps, color, and power. And like arguing whether you belong in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw (poor, poor Hufflepuff), fans have long since enjoyed discussing and theorizing about which Corps they'd belong in. Not to mention the replica lanterns, rings and shirts you can get to show off your Corps pride.
 
5.1 Ch'p and Dex-Starr Are Two Characters That Exist and It is Awesome
 

 
5.2 So. Many. Cosplay. Options.

On September 5th, the release of GREEN LANTERN #0 will introduce a brand new Green Lantern to the DC Universe. Then starting in October, the monumental crossover event, “Rise of The Third Army,” will span the pages of GREEN LANTERN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS, GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS, and RED LANTERNS. To help you prepare for these exciting adventures, we’ll be putting a spotlight on the Green Lantern universe and the upcoming events that will change it forever each day this week on THE SOURCE.

Today, take a front row seat as some of the writers of the titles involved in “Rise of Third Army” tease how this crossover will impact their respective series and discuss their creative processes, collaborating with one another, and more.

While working on the “Rise of the Third Army,” how often do you exchange notes with the writers of the other titles involved in this crossover? In other words, how collaborative has this experience been?

TONY BEDARD (GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS): Being on the Green Lantern team is always a collaborative process. We do frequent conference calls and the occasional “story summit” where we meet in person. It's actually one of the most fun parts of the job since I'm constantly learning from working with Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi is a longtime friend.  And now with RED LANTERNS writer Peter Milligan in the mix, it's even more interesting, since Pete wrote some of my all-time favorite stuff – like ENIGMA.

PETER MILLIGAN (RED LANTERNS): We all make use of a “drop box” in which we put our scripts and artwork, so we can check out what everyone else is touching upon. Also, we’re having pretty regular phone conferences, from all points of the globe (well, the UK and different parts of the USA). Here we throw ideas and storylines around a bit. This was particularly useful at the beginning when the details of who and what the “Third Army” were was being thrashed out.

PETER TOMASI (GREEN LANTERN CORPS): It's been very collaborative. We initiated this crossover with a summit at the DC offices to toss around ideas and craft a blueprint for “Rise of the Third Army” that focused on the character arcs and the storyline with Geoff leading the charge. From that moment on, all the writers and editors have been keeping each other up-to-date with outlines and scripts, insane wee hours of the morning emails and texts, and regular monthly conference calls to push each other to create a kick-ass event. We hope “Rise of the Third Army” will keep readers excited and inspire them to go along for a ride that I guarantee is going to blow the doors off and deliver unexpected thrills and emotional character moments that will be talked about for a long time. 

Without giving too much away, what’s your favorite line of dialogue that you’ve written for “Rise of the Third Army” so far?

TONY BEDARD: "Of all the Lanterns in the universe, I’m the one you should fear most.”

PETER MILLIGAN: It’s difficult to take lines of dialogue out of context but I like this one. In RED LANTERNS #14, Atrocitus is giving his Red Lanterns specific roles – types of guilty ones they must go forth and collect “guilty blood” from. And this is how Bleez reacts when he gives her her function: “Passion? Depravity? I think I’m being typecast.”

PETER TOMASI: I’d go with SALAAK: “Be prepared, Gardner.” GUY: “For what, Salaak?” SALAAK: “For the worse.”

As a writer, what’s something your fans might not know about your creative process?

TONY BEDARD: I work with the news on. MSNBC all day long.  I can't work to music -- too distracting -- but news is no problem. Weird, huh?  

PETER MILLIGAN: I like the mornings.  This puts me in a very exclusive club, as most writers I know are night-owls.

PETER TOMASI: Hmm? I would imagine fans know next to nothing about my creative process. Let's just say it involves me donning a red wig and a plastic Green Lantern ring and leaping around the house as I channel my favorite ring slinger, Guy Gardner, as I get into the moment and fight off the Third Army as they try and destroy my deadlines! 

Do you prefer to give your artists visual guidelines or do you prefer to see how they interpret your words without any further assistance?

TONY BEDARD: Generally speaking, I like to leave the artist room to visually interpret things however they want. But I do embed reference images in my scripts sometimes when it's a specific real-world location or object, or when I'm trying to describe something so complicated that an image communicates it better.

PETER MILLIGAN: Definitely the former. Part of my job is to “see” the page and describe it as best I can. Of course, good creative artists might interpret your descriptions, and as long as this stays true to the narrative that’s great.

PETER TOMASI: I like to give as much information as possible in a panel description in my scripts. I like to paint a picture emotionally and descriptively that gives the artist all the beats that he needs so it's not a guessing game and allows him to do what he does best. My partner in crime on GREEN LANTERN CORPS, Fernando Pasarin, is always amazing and always way beyond my expectations as he continues to make me look better with each and every issue!

Will fans be surprised by how the “Rise of the Third Army” impacts your book?

TONY BEDARD: Fans won't just be surprised – they are never going to stop talking about how the Third Army storyline affects Kyle. Seriously. We'll see Kyle on a quest to unite all seven powers of the Emotional Spectrum within himself and achieve a status no other Lantern from any Corps has ever achieved. And then it gets really interesting...

PETER MILLIGAN: There are some incredibly surprising - even shocking – scenes in RED LANTERNS, which have been thrown up by "Rise of the Third Army."

PETER TOMASI: I sure as hell hope so. We've got plenty of surprises coming down the road for Guy, John, and other cast members of GREEN LANTERN CORPS, so I'm looking forward to how the readers react to not just my book, but also all of the Green Lantern group titles in the coming months.

On September 5th, the release of GREEN LANTERN #0 will introduce a brand new Green Lantern to the DC Universe. Then starting in October, the monumental crossover event, “Rise of The Third Army,” will span the pages of GREEN LANTERN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS, GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS, and RED LANTERNS. To help you prepare for these exciting adventures, we’ll be putting a spotlight on the Green Lantern universe and the upcoming events that will change it forever each day this week on THE SOURCE.

To kick us off, editors Matt Idelson and Pat McCallum break down the Green Lantern universe and explain some of the fundamentals of what you need to know before picking up GREEN LANTERN #0 and the “Rise of the Third Army” titles. Take it away, fellas!

How many color Corps are there? What are they?

MATT: There’s the Green Lantern Corps, of course. And the Red Lanterns, the Star Sapphires, Sinestro’s erstwhile Yellow Corps, the Indigo Tribe, the Blue Lanterns and the one-man-Corps that is Larfleeze the Orange Lantern. There’s also the Black Lanterns, who are foul, undead creatures that plague ALL the other Corps. And then there’s also the White Lantern, who is the embodiment of life.

PAT: Each Corps has a unique color and mission: green (the most famous), as well as yellow, blue, violet (but everyone calls them “pink”), indigo, orange, red and...uh...no, that’s it. Seven total, a rainbow of fruit flavors.

What unique qualities distinguish the colors from one another?

MATT: The different colors represent the different emotions in the color spectrum. As everyone knows, green represents willpower. Red is for rage, yellow for fear, violet is love, orange is greed, blue is hope and indigo is compassion.

PAT: Green represents willpower, which readers will have to exert in order make it through my answers during this interview. Yellow is easy to remember: “Yer YELLA!” Yellow = fear. Red’s another easy one: “I’m seeing RED!” Red = rage. Blue is hope, orange is greed, violet is love and Indigo sounds like “Inigo,” the best character from The Princess Bride. Also, indigo = compassion.

How many Earth-born Green Lanterns are there? Who are they?

MATT: We’ve currently got four Earth-born Lanterns: Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner. But we’re about to introduce a fifth human in GREEN LANTERN #0, and believe me, he’s nothing like any Green Lantern you’ve met before.

PAT: Yeah, the new fella showing up in GREEN LANTERN #0 is going to be the straw that stirs the drink! On the Red Lantern front, we have two earthlings that wear the red ring. Jack Moore, now known as “Rankorr,” and the house cat-turned-most-dangerous-pussycat-in-the-Galaxy, the frothing feline fury men call Dex-Starr! A fan-favorite, he wears his ring on his tail.

How many Lanterns are there altogether? What sectors are represented?

MATT: There are roughly 7,200 Green Lanterns who patrol 3,600 sectors, but if you’re asking how many Lanterns in every Corps combined...? Wow. A lot. Thousands. While not every Corps is represented in every sector, there are ring bearers of one spectrum or another scattered all across the universe.

PAT: Ah, the joy of counting all those little Green Lanterns in those giant group shots. Then combine that number with ALL the other Corps...? That’s nuts! There’s a lot of these ring slingers out in space, and the area they cover is spreading. The Red Lanterns seek to bring their rage-fueled justice to the darkest corners of the universe, while the same can be said for the Blue Lantern’s mission of hope, the Star Sapphire’s mission of love, etc.

How does someone get chosen to be a Green Lantern?

MATT: When a Green Lantern is killed, his or her ring seeks out the one person in that sector worthy of taking on the responsibility of being a Green Lantern.

PAT: While there are a lot of Green Lanterns out there, comparatively speaking there AREN’T a lot of them when you factor in the size of the universe. Only those rare few with iron will, the ability to overcome fear, those who have what it takes to fight through any obstacle -- those are the ones chosen to be a soldiers in the Green Lantern Corps. Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart...those are some tough dudes who don’t know the meaning of the word quit!

How does this ring decide who gets chosen?

MATT: The ring bases its selection first on willpower, but it seems to also hunt for a specific personality profile as well, of the prior wearer. If Hal Jordan were to fall in battle, his ring would seek out someone like Hal, where as if Sinestro were to buy a one-way ticket to the afterlife, his ring would seek out someone very different from the person Hal’s ring would choose.

PAT: While the rings all seek out those with willpower, each ring seems to lean toward someone with similar traits of the last one who wore it. If Guy Gardner died, the next person the ring sought out would be someone with willpower AND those Guy Gardner-ish sensibilities.

What happens if the ring runs out of power?

MATT: Like an electronic device, it goes dead until recharged. So if you’re flying through space and you forgot to charge up before leaving the house, or you’ve expended all your energy fighting, you’re in a lot of trouble. Unless of course you’ve brought your Lantern Battery along to recharge from.

PAT: POOF! You’re naked. No, seriously, Green Lantern uniforms are energy constructs, so never forget your underwear when you’re a Green Lantern. The Green Lantern power ring may be the most powerful weapon in the universe, but if it runs out of juice, all it is a pretty piece of jewelry. That’s why Green Lanterns need to keep their power batteries someplace safe AND handy. A quick recharge from a Power Battery and Green Lanterns are up, running and, perhaps most importantly, wearing pants.

Who are The Guardians?

MATT: The Guardians of the Universe are an ancient race of aliens who took it upon themselves to bring peace & order to the universe. An early attempt at building a peacekeeping force, the robotic Manhunters, went murderously, monstrously wrong. Their more recent experiment is the Green Lantern Corps, a “space police” type organization designed to patrol the universe. The very first example the Guardians tried in this type of experiment was the mysterious First Lantern, who we see a glimpse of in GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #1 … and who may very well have a larger role to play in the coming saga.

PAT: The Guardians of the Universe, the little blue aliens who inhabit the planet Oa, were once a great force for good, using their advanced tech and staggering powers to try and bring peace to the universe. But their thoughts and beliefs have grown darker, souring over centuries of watching chaos rule. The Guardians still want to deliver order and peace, but their methods have changed and their goals have become corrupted. Once the shining light of the universe, the Guardians have succumbed to a darkness that threatens to extinguish not just will, but all emotions: fear, love, rage, greed, hope, and compassion. All the fragile expressions of free will rest in the hands of the Guardians ... and the Guardians are clenching their fists.

(The cover for GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #1, in stores this Wednesday)