10 Hugely Influential Comics That Changed Everything

9. Green Lantern By Geoff Johns (DC Comics)

Writer Geoff Johns is the reason that Green Lantern is now the third most prominent franchise within the DC Universe, it's that simple.When DC launched The New 52 in 2011, it was with four Lantern related titles, something that would have been unthinkable before Johns' revitalised the character in 2005. Kyle Rayner had proved a popular Lantern for DC, after being introduced in 1994, but by the mid 2000's the character was languishing somewhat, with very little fanfare surrounding the title. Johns was handed the reigns with 2005's Green Lantern: Rebirth, which re-introduced the Hal Jordan character to modern audiences, and from then on Johns set about re-thinking and re-defining every aspect of the Green Lantern mythos. Johns gave the world revamped versions of villains such as Black Hand and Hector Hammond, modernised Hal Jordan's origin story with 2008's Secret Origin, and introduced the (frankly, genius) notion of the 'emotional spectrum' of power rings. This meant that there were no longer simply Green Lanterns, but also, for example, Red Lanterns (based on harnessing the power of rage) and six other coloured lanterns, based on the colours of the rainbow. Johns' Green Lantern work helped shape the DC Universe as we know it today. Blackest Night, a company wide crossover from 2009, is written by Johns and has it's roots in his Lantern work. Johns has also revamped elements of The Flash and Justice League in his career, and written several other crossovers, such as Infinite Crisis, Flashpoint and Forever Evil. It's no wonder he was appointed DC's Chief Creative Officer in 2010.