20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Green Lantern

16. Hal Jordan Wasn't The First Green Lantern

The original Green Lantern was created in 1940. Hal Jordan didn't actually show up until 1959 when DC Comics decided to reboot the character due to poor sales, and Alan Scott has little in common with his successor other than the fact that they both use a ring. His powers were magical in origin and he gained them after discovering a magical green flame which gave him a lantern that enabled him to create constructs using the ring which came with it. The idea for this original Green Lantern came when creator Martin Nodell saw a railroad engineer holding up a green lantern to indicate that it was for his train to pass by.