Green Lantern #201
Green Lantern #201 is the de facto premiere issue of the Green Lantern Corps era — the moment writer Steve Englehart and artist Joe Staton reframed a decades-old solo-hero title as a true ensemble by anchoring seven alien Lanterns together on Earth in the direct aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Most significantly, it marks the first appearance of Kilowog, the Bolovaxian genetics scientist who would become the Corps' defining drill-sergeant figure and one of the most enduring non-human characters in DC's cosmic mythology. The issue also plants the seeds of the title's post-Crisis thematic identity: a guardian-less Corps finding its own moral footing without the blue immortals who had always set their mission. That structural shift — from solo ring-slinger to a genuine found family of seven — gave the Green Lantern franchise a new storytelling engine that writers have returned to repeatedly for nearly four decades.
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The issue arrives directly out of Green Lantern Vol. 2 #200, which depicted the Guardians of the Universe departing Oa with the Zamarons, leaving their Corps to govern itself. Editor Andy Helfer shepherded the transition, and though the cover logo was changed to 'The Green Lantern Corps' with this issue, the indicia continued to read 'Green Lantern' internally through issue #205, meaning the title did not officially become Green Lantern Corps in its own legal indicia until #206. Englehart, already deep into a celebrated run on the title, used the premise as an opportunity to pare an unwieldy universe of 3,600 Lanterns down to a manageable seven-member team headquartered in a newly constructed 'Green Lantern Citadel' on Earth — a deliberate ensemble-building move that gave each character room to breathe.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Kilowog, a Bolovaxian alien gifted genetic scientist from Space Sector 674, created by writer Steve Englehart and penciller Joe Staton.
- Premiere issue of the Green Lantern Corps era: the series continues the numbering of Green Lantern Vol. 2, picking up directly after issue #200.
- Cover logo reads 'The Green Lantern Corps' but the interior indicia still lists the title as 'Green Lantern'; the indicia does not officially change to Green Lantern Corps until issue #206.
- Story titled 'Setting Up Shop'; script by Steve Englehart, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by L. Lois Buhalis, cover by Staton and Bruce Patterson, edited by Andy Helfer.
- The seven-member Earth-based team consists of Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Katma Tui, Arisia, Ch'p, Salakk, and the newly introduced Kilowog — with Ch'p and Salakk joining after finding their home sectors irrevocably altered by the Crisis.
- Villain subplot features Doctor Polaris and Sonar forming an alliance with associates Throttle, Blindside, Whiteout, and Polestar to destroy the newly formed Corps; a parallel subplot follows Guy Gardner on Maltus with Appa Ali Apsa, and Carol Ferris (Star Sapphire) returning to a deserted Zamaron.
- The Green Lantern Citadel — the team's new Earth base — is constructed in this issue using the combined power of seven rings.
- The issue has been reprinted multiple times: in Superamigos (Editora Abril) #32 (1987), Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3 (DC, 2010), the German DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection #107 (Eaglemoss, 2017), the deluxe Green Lantern: 80 Years of the Emerald Knight (DC, 2020), and is included in the DC Finest: Green Lantern — Setting Up Shop trade paperback.