Green Lantern (1959) 76-87 and 89

After a cloistered past coupla years, Americans are ready to hit the roads once more. Today is the day to do so.

Today is National Road Trip Day.

National Road Trip Day is the Friday before Memorial Day, the official kickoff to the summer road trip season.

Our official travelers are the “hard-traveling heroes” Green Lantern and Green Arrow. The pair bid farewell to the end of the Silver Age and the 1960s as they discovered America, faults and all, for a celebrated 14-issue run chronicled by Denny O’Neil Neal Adams.

The term “hard-traveling heroes” wasn’t coined until the early 1990s when their exploits were first reprinted in the burgeoning trade paperback genre. They had first been reprinted in the Paperback Library version of Paperback Comics in 1972. The book featured black and white reprints of Green Lantern (1959) issues 76 and 77.

That same year a second volume, in the same format, was offered featuring reprints of issues 78 and 79.

Green Lantern (1959) 76-87 and 89

In 1983, DC reprinted the issues in what has been termed as the Baxter series. The seven-issue run offered two issues per book, completely reprinting the original storyline.

The “hard-traveling heroes” were the brainchild of writer Denny O’Neil. DC editor Julie Schwartz offered him the floundering character allowing the writer carte blanch to boost sales.

O’Neil returned the space-faring policeman of sector 2184 and rooted him on Earth in the dying counterculture movement of the previous decade. With liberal Oliver Queen, aka, Green Arrow, they shared experiences and differed in opinions as they traversed the highways and byways of America.

False sales figures brought their adventures to a premature close with issue 89, but the storyline peaked with issues 85 and 86. Those featured Arrow’s teen sidekick and sometime Teen Titan, as a heroin addict in one of the first serious looks at drugs in the pages of comicdom.

At times the story telling was heavy handed, but the tales were recognized beyond comic book pages by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek.

Now, plot a course for your own adventure or relive part of comic book and American history. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.