JSA Classified (2005) 33

Alan Scott is a ghost of Christmas past, but not The Ghost of Christmas Past.

JSA Classified (2005) 33

Scott first appeared in All -American Comics issue 16 as the Golden Age Green Lantern. While no criminal could escape nor cosmic event stop his war on injustice, indifference did bring his career to an end.

Following the second World War, people tired quickly of heroes. Publishing companies scrambled to fill their books with new fads and forgot.

By the late 1950s, a new generation was ready for colorful characters to return. Flash was the first. Green Lantern followed. Not Scott, but a Green Lantern for a new age.

Eventually Scott’s memory, and form, were resurrected as heroes from one Earth would cross over with heroes of another Earth. An Earth from the past. Green Lantern met Green Lantern in, well, the book of the same name (1960) 40.

Other attempts were made to keep the Golden Age heroes from appearing in our universe, but failed. Writers – and fans – wanted them back. A company-wide crossover allowed them to return.

All of which brings Scott/Green Lantern to this point in time, 2008, and the return of a formidable foe, Vandal Savage. In the previous issue, Savage had plotted his revenge in bringing back the image of Scott’s dead daughter, Jeanie Lynn Hayden, aka, Jade.

Scott is able to overcome the grief of what he believes is the return of Jade and finally defeat Savage. His reward is a warm evening with friends and loved ones as they celebrate Christmas.