WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN! - EMERALD TWILIGHT

Emerald Twilight ad; Art by Kevin Maguire

GREEN LANTERN #48-50
Writer: Gerard Jones
Penciller: 48 - Darryl Cobbs, 49 - Fred Haynes, 50 - Darryl Banks
Inker: Romeo Tanghal
Cover: Kevin Maguire

It's no secret that "Emerald Twilight" (the story arc that destroyed the Corps and turned Hal Jordan into Parallax) was planned at the last minute. Gerard Jones himself has said on numerous occasions that something entirely different was set to run in Green Lantern #48, #49, and #50. It was, unfortunately, deemed by Kevin Dooley too uninteresting to grab new readers. Mike Carlin, Paul Levitz, Archie Goodwin, and Dennis O'Neil were then assigned to write a new plot for "Emerald Twilight", which was eventually scripted by Ron Marz.

The decision to run the new version of "Emerald Twilight" was so sudden, in fact, that the original plans for Green Lantern #48 and #49 had already been solicited by many preview magazines used by retailers (which are released about three months before the issues they solicit). DC even ran advertisements in some of its other titles for the storyline, such as the one to the left, taken from Darkstars #15.

EMERALD TWILIGHT COVERS (PUBLISHED):

Green Lantern fans Will Allred and Bob Hughes managed to find PREVIEWS Vol. III #8 (Aug 1993), which had the original Green Lantern solicitation (here followed by the resolicitation): ORIGINAL SOLICITATION: GREEN LANTERN #48 by G. Jones, Cobbs, & Tanghal "Superman and the Justice League gather by Green Lantern's side as Hal confronts the horror of the destruction of Coast City. Meanwhile on Oa, the Guardians of the Universe find themselves fighting a lethal battle against...the Guardians of the Universe!?" Cover by Kevin Maguire & Romeo Tanghal. RESOLICITATION: GREEN LANTERN #48 by Marz, Haynes, & Tanghal "Beginning the special 3-part story Emerald Twilight that culminates in the landmark Green Lantern #50: Green Lantern confronts the horror of the destroyed Coast City, once the place where he lived, worked, and even buried his parents. Now Hal Jordan must come to terms with the death of his father, an event that led to his choosing the life of a Green Lantern. But his way of coping may cost him his ring, and the consequences of his actions will change his life forever." Cover by Kevin Maguire & Romeo Tanghal.

The next month PREVIEWS Vol. III #9 (Sep 1993) had the following solicitation, which could also be found in the November 1993 COMICS SCOREBOARD (once again followed by the resolicitation): ORIGINAL SOLICITATION: GREEN LANTERN #49 by G. Jones, Haynes, & Tanghal "Green Lantern is caught up in a battle raging between two equally powerful groups of the Guardians of the Universe. Hal's side loses, and the winners' first act is to take away the power rings' 24-hour time limit, and their yellow impurity. Their second act is to appoint a new leader of the Green Lantern Corps --- Sinestro!. This issue leads directly into the landmark Green Lantern #50, a major turning point for the series." Cover by Kevin Maguire RESOLICITATION: GREEN LANTERN #49 by Marz, Haynes, & Tanghal "Part 2 of the 3-part Emerald Twilight: Hal Jordan has gone rogue, rocketing to Oa in a desperate quest for power---the power to restore Coast City! When the other Green Lanterns are unable to stop him, the Guardians are forced to reinstate the one member of the Corps who might put and end to Jordan's rampage. Cover by Darryl Banks & Romeo Tanghal.

Now tell me, does an all-out war between several hundred Green Lanterns sound uninteresting to you?? :)

The resolicitations for Green Lantern #48 and #49 both ran the following month instead of a solicitation for Green Lantern #50.

The Green Lantern Corps Webpage has previously presented the FULL SCRIPTS to the second and third parts of the original Emerald Twilight provided by Gerard Jones himself, but they have since been removed by request of DC Comics.

The main plotline of the story however can be found here.

Back to GLCWP Behind the Curtain.