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Alan Scott is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Comics Universe and the first superhero to bear the name Green Lantern.^[1]

Publication history[link]

The original Green Lantern was created by young struggling artist Martin Nodell, who was inspired by the sight of a New York Subway employee waving a red lantern to stop a train for track work and a green lantern once the track was clear.^{[citation needed]} With the name in hand and borrowing heavily from the story of Aladdin (originally, Alan Scott was named Alan Ladd until a conflict arose regarding the actor of the same name), Nodell created a mystical crimefighter who received his powers from the flame of a strange lamp.^{[citation needed]}

Nodell was teamed with writer Bill Finger, who wrote the scripts for stories, which were often drawn by Martin Nodell and sometimes by ghost artists such as Irwin Hasen.

The character made his debut in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940). The art was credited to Nodell via his pseudonym "The Malibu Kid". Like many creators of the time, Nodell hoped to keep the stigma of comic books from tarnishing his career in commercial illustration.^{[citation needed]}

According to Mordecai Richler, "there is no doubt... that The Green Lantern has its origin in Hassidic mythology".^[2] However, Richler gives no reasons for saying this. Creator Martin Nodell has stated that he chose the character's identity by flipping through New York telephone books until he got two names he liked.^[3] Nodell mentions Richard Wagner's opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelungen and the sight of a trainman's green railway lantern as inspirations.^[4] What has been stated is that the ring and lamp each summoned a wish-granting genie in the story of Aladdin explains the pairing of the two as well as its "wish granting" abilities in Nodell's work.

Scott was a charter member of the Justice Society of America, beginning in All Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940). He served as the team's second chairman, in #7, but departed following that issue and returned a few years later. He has been a key member of the group ever since, appearing in all three titles bearing the teams' name.

Fictional character biography[link]

Discovery[link]

Thousands of years ago, a mystical "green flame" fell to Earth in ancient China. The voice of the flame prophesied that it would act three times: once to bring death (a lamp-maker crafted the green metal of the meteor into a lamp; in fear and as punishment for what they thought sacrilege, the local villagers killed him, only to be destroyed by a sudden burst of the green flame), once to bring life (in modern times, the lamp came into the hands of a patient in a mental institution who fashioned the lamp into a modern lantern; the green flame restored him to sanity and gave him a new life), and once to bring power. By 1940, after having already fulfilled the first two-thirds of this prophecy (death when it crashed, life when it healed the insanity of the person who found it), the flame had been fashioned into a metal lantern, which fell into the hands of Alan Scott, a young railroad engineer. Following a railroad bridge collapse, the flame instructs Scott in how to fashion a ring from its metal, to give him fantastic powers as the superhero Green Lantern. He adopts a colorful costume (setting himself apart from his successors, as he wore both red and purple in his outfit, besides the standard green) and becomes a crimefighter, defeating the crooks who caused the accident, though he discovers his weakness from a wooden club.^[1] Alan was a founding member of the Justice Society of America, and was its first chairman.

In subsequent decades, it was established that Scott inhabited an alternate universe that became known as Earth-Two. A more science-based Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was introduced in the Silver Age of comics as part of an intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. Initially, there was no direct connection between the two except for the name. After 1985's publication of Crisis on Infinite Earths, a Tales of the Green Lantern Corps story was published that brought Scott even closer to the Corps' ranks, when it was revealed that Alan Scott was not the first human to bear a power ring. A Green Lantern named Yalan Gur, a resident of China, preceded him by several centuries. Not only had the Corps' now-familiar green, black and white uniform motif not yet been adopted, but Yalan Gur altered the basic red uniform to more closely resemble the style of clothing worn by his countrymen. Power ultimately corrupted this early Green Lantern, as he attempted to rule over mankind, which forced the Guardians to cause his ring to manifest a weakness to wood, the material from which most Earth weapons of the time were fashioned. This allowed the Chinese peasants to ultimately defeat their corrupted "champion." His ring and lantern were burned and it was during this process that the “intelligence” inhabiting the ring and the lantern, and linking them to the Guardians, was damaged. Over time, when it had occasion to manifest itself, this "intelligence" became known as the mystical 'Starheart' of fable.

Centuries later, it was explained, when Scott found the mystical lantern, it had no memory of its true origins, save a vague recollection of the uniform of its last master. This was the origin of Scott’s distinctive costume. Due to its damaged link to them, the Guardians presumed the ring and lantern to be lost in whatever cataclysm overcame their last owner of record. Thus Scott was never noticed by the Guardians and went on to carve a history of his own apart from that of the Corps, sporting a ring with an artificially induced weakness against anything made of wood. Honoring this separate history, the Guardians never moved to force Scott to relinquish the ring, formally join the Corps, or adopt its colors. A Silver Age cross-over story depicts Scott and Hal Jordan charging their rings at the same Power Battery while both reciting the "Brightest Day" oath. During the Rann-Thanagar War, it was revealed that Scott is an honorary member of the Corps.

Scott uses his ring to fly, to walk through solid objects (by "moving through the fourth dimension"),^[5] to paralyze or blind people temporarily, hypnotize them, to create rays of energy, to melt metal as with a blowtorch, and to cause dangerous objects to glow, among other things. It could also allow him and others to time travel. Occasionally, he uses it to create solid objects and force fields in the manner usually associated with fellow Green Lantern Hal Jordan and to read minds. His ring could protect him against any object made of metal, but would not protect him against any wood or plant based objects.^[1] This was said to be because the green flame was an incarnation of the strength of "green, growing things".^{[citation needed]}

During the 1940s, Green Lantern seemed to alternate between serious adventure - particularly when his arch-nemesis, Solomon Grundy, appeared - and light comedy, usually involving his sidekick Doiby Dickles. Toward the end of his Golden Age adventures, he was reduced to the role of a sidekick to Streak the Wonder Dog, a heroic canine cut from the mold of Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie.

Justice Society of America[link]

Scott was a member of the JSA in 1951 when the team was investigated by the "Joint Congressional Un-American Activities Committee," a fictional organization based on the real-life House Un-American Activities Committee but stated to have been created after the death of Senator Joseph McCarthy on Earth-Two.^{[citation needed]} They were accused of possible communist sympathies and asked to reveal their identities. The JSA declined, and most of the membership retired in the 1950s.

One piece of retroactive continuity fills out Scott's early history: All-Star Squadron Annual #3 states that the JSA fought a being named Ian Karkull who imbued them with energy that retarded their aging, allowing Scott and several other members (as well as their spouses) to remain active into the late 20th century without infirmity. The events of that incident also led to his taking a leave of absence from the JSA, explaining why the character vanished from the roster for a time.

Also, during this period, he and his friend Jay Garrick (the Flash) had an encounter with Abin Sur, the Green Lantern who preceded Hal Jordan; tracking a criminal to Earth, Sur's ring is immobilized by his foe forming a yellow barrier around the ring. Sur then secretly borrows Alan's ring after he and Jay were knocked unconscious.^[6] With the new ring, which lacks a weakness to yellow, Sur was able to take his foe by surprise and defeat him, before returning the ring to Alan and leaving Earth.

The team re-formed in the 1960s with Scott as a member, though little is known of their adventures during this time save for their team-ups with the Justice League of America, of the parallel world Earth-One, and a few cross-universe adventures Scott shared with Earth-One's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.

From the late 1940s to the 1970s, Scott runs the Gotham Broadcasting Company (GBC). The company ends up ruined by creditors. The Psycho Pirate temporarily drives Alan mad and the rest of the JSA help him recover.^{[citation needed]} Jay Garrick helps him start a new career as a scientist, although he eventually regains control of the GBC and is still running it to this day.^{[citation needed]}

Progeny[link]

It was eventually revealed that in the late 1960s, Scott marries the woman with the dual identity Rose and Thorn, and the two had a pair of children who would grow up to become the superheroes Jade and Obsidian of the team Infinity, Inc..^[7]

In the 1980s, Scott married his longtime nemesis (now reformed) Molly Mayne, also known as The Harlequin, and reconciles with his son and daughter.^[7]

[edit] Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths

The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) one-shot told how Adolf Hitler (in 1945) caused a massive wave of destructive energy to erupt over the post-Crisis Earth. Scott and the JSA, fresh from burying their Earth-Two comrades Robin and Huntress, entered into a limbo dimension in order to fight an eternally recurring Ragnarok.

The Return[link]

Through the machinations of Waverider the JSA teammates are able to leave limbo and begin living in the post-Crisis Earth which they had fought to save (Armageddon: Inferno 1992). That mini-series is followed by Justice Society of America (1992–1993) which shows how Alan Scott adjusts to his new world. In the short-lived series the JSA fight the newest incarnation of the Ultra-Humanite as well as Pol St. Germain and Kulak the Sorcerer. Scott reconnects with his wife and children; in issue #1 he states that Molly "is pretty much handling things at the company..." and of Jade and Obsidian, "They're fine off doing their own thing in Hollywood. Not too interested in being super-heroes." The series ends with issue #10, not with the team disbanding but with the members gathered together at their first formal meeting after returning home, renaming themselves the Justice League Reserves.

Alan followed Guy Gardner and a small group of heroes to investigate a mysterious distress from Oa, only to be defeated by Hal Jordan, who was apparently driven mad after the destruction of his home Coast City and called himself Parallax. After the confrontation, Alan later discovered an artist, Kyle Rayner, inherited the remaining Green Lantern ring, and after meeting the young hero, informed him of the situations of Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. During the Zero Hour event, Alan witnessed the villain Extant incapacitate and kill several of his JSA teammates. After suffering defeat by the villain, Alan gave Kyle his original ring, passing the name "Green Lantern" to him.^[8] Alan's ring was later destroyed by Parallax.

For a time, the Starheart became part of Scott's body and he adopted the name Sentinel, becoming a founding member of a new JSA.^[1] Thanks to the rejuvenative properties of the Starheart, Scott's physical body was again temporarily revitalized so that he resembles a man in his 30s or early 40s. This drives his wife Molly, who has not been affected, to sell her soul to the demon Neron in exchange for youth. Alan enters a demonic realm, with help from entities such as the Phantom Stranger and Zatanna. He manages to win Molly's soul back, and with Kyle Rayner's aid, he reunited Molly's essence with her souless being.

He has since been physically altered again so that he more closely resembles his true chronological age. He returns to using the name Green Lantern during the JSA's battle with Mordru. He continues to fight crime in his original costumed identity, rebuilding a ring, and serving as an elder statesman to the Justice Society of America and to the superhero community in general.

In Green Lantern: Rebirth, Alan and his daughter Jade, assisted the surviving members of the Green Lantern Corps; Hal Jordan (who was discovered to be possessed by the ancient fear entity Parallax), John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, and Kilowog, in defeating the Parallax-possessed Ganthet. Alan was increasingly weakening due to Parallax's failed attempts to control him as it did with Stewart, Gardner, and Kilowog, so it decided to kill him instead until Jordan, with the aid of The Spectre, breaks free from Parallax' influence, saving Alan from the fear entity.

During the Rann-Thanagar War, Kyle Rayner's power ring revealed that Scott is an honorary member of the Green Lantern Corps.

Infinite Crisis and 52[link]

During the Infinite Crisis, Scott and his daughter Jade, along with many others, travel with Donna Troy to the center of the universe to save it from an unknown threat, later revealed to be Alexander Luthor, Jr. Jade dies on this mission. A year later, Scott appears to be still active and relatively youthful in comparison to his true age, but he now wears an eye-patch due to losing his eye in a Zeta beam transporter accident while returning from space. Though Scott lost his daughter, he tells Kyle Rayner that he still has family both through relations and close friendships, among which he counts Kyle.

Week 4 of the 52 maxi-series reveals that Scott lost his left eye during a period when he and several other superheroes had been declared missing (approximately 11 months prior to the events of Checkmate #1). The Zeta Beam that Adam Strange had hoped to use for teleporting the heroes away from the time-space ripple caused by Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s actions was splintered by the ripple itself, mutilating the heroes in various ways.^[9]

In Week 5, Alan goes to the wife and daughter of Animal Man to tell them that Animal Man is missing in space. This gives Ellen Baker more hope that her husband is alive.^[10]

In Week 29, Alan, Wildcat, and Jay Garrick (Flash) are the only members of the JSA present on Thanksgiving. They talk about the other members of the JSA and the new Infinity Inc., which is a new version of a team of which Alan's daughter, Jade, was a member. Alan's son, Obsidian, arrives and becomes angry. After speaking with Obsidian, tensions cool down and they both leave.^[11]

After being put into a comatose state during an attack by the Gentleman Ghost, Alan envisions Jade, who tells him goodbye and grants him another portion of her green energy. His missing eye is replaced by a green glowing orb that, due to its mystical origins and connection to Jade, allows him to track astral and mystical energy forms such as ghosts.

Scott continues to be a member of the Justice Society of America after it reforms and expands.

[edit] One Year Later

During the missing year, Scott has joined Checkmate at the rank of White King, with his JSA teammate Mister Terrific as his Bishop. Scott soon finds himself in a moral conflict with Black Queen Sasha Bordeaux over the violent nature of Checkmate, particularly after Bordeaux and her team slaughter dozens of Kobra operatives during a raid on a facility. Bordeaux contends that the ends justify the means, while Scott adheres to the principle that heroes should not kill unless absolutely necessary; Bordeaux responds by suggesting that Scott resign. Concurrent with this internal conflict, Scott and the White Queen (Amanda Waller) try to keep the organization from being discontinued by political forces.

After the rise of the being Gog, Alan Scott allies with the Justice Society members that oppose Gog's simplistic view of the world. However, after encountering a Justice Society from an alternate universe in which his daughter Jade was still alive, he considers asking the seemingly all powerful being to raise his daughter from the dead.^[12] Later, Sandman learns that Gog is rooting himself into the Earth, and if he remains for one more day, the Earth will no longer be able to survive without him. The rest of the JSA arrive to kill Gog and separate his head from the Earth, which is the only way to save the planet. The Society members allied with Gog attempt to protect him, until they see his attempt to attack a Society member. All of Gog's followers, including Magog, turn on him, which causes Gog's blessing on them to be undone.^[13] The JSA are able to topple Gog and send him to the Source Wall, but Alan is unable to see his daughter.^[14]

In the Final Crisis storyline, Alan leads a resistance against Darkseid's forces as one of the superheroes responding to Article X. In Final Crisis #5, he is shown defending Checkmate's Switzerland HQ from the Justifiers. Though Donna Troy tries to place the Justifier helmet on him, Hawkman saves him.

In the Blackest Night crossover, Alan and the rest of the JSA battle the reanimated Kal-L and Black Lantern versions of dead Justice Society members. After Jakeem Thunder is knocked out, Alan is one of the heroes who adds his powers into a "Black Lantern Bomb" designed to mimic Jakeem's Thunderbolt abilities, destroying all of the Black Lanterns in New York.^[15] In the final battle of the event, his daughter Jade is resurrected by the power of white light.^[16]

[edit] Brightest Day

In the beginning of the Brightest Day crossover event, Alan lies in the arms of Obsidian, convulsing and writhing as a green light pours from his body.^[17] His body possessed, Alan flies off with his JSA teammates in hot pursuit and eventually leads the team to Germany. The JSA meet up with Batman's new Justice League, and find that Jade (who had been staying on Oa since her resurrection) has returned to Earth inside a green meteor, revealed to be the legendary Starheart that gave Alan his powers. Sebastian Faust tells the two teams that the Starheart has been gradually taking control of people on Earth for quite some time. Now that it is on Earth, it is growing more powerful and driving metahumans all over the world insane. Jade states that the Starheart captured her in space and purposely brought her to Earth to find Alan and that it is her fault that her father is now in danger. Just then, Alan awakens and his costume transforms into a suit of armor identical to the one he wears in Kingdom Come, and he then tells the assembled heroes that he intends on destroying the world.^[18]

Starman is sent into space to search for Alan, and finds that Alan has constructed a massive fortress on the surface of the moon. Before Starman can warn the others, Alan appears in front of him and tears his gem (the source of his abilities) from his chest, thus rendering him powerless.^[19] The Starheart uses its influence to corrupt various metahumans with magical or elemental abilities, which creates chaos across the globe. Realizing that the heroes must defeat Alan in order to end the chaos, Batman recruits Miss Martian to get a mental lock on Starman, which in turn provides the Justice League with Alan's location. Batman then assembles a small strikeforce consisting of himself, Jade, Hourman, Donna Troy, Jesse Quick and Mr. America, all of whom have a low chance of being possessed by the Starheart. Mister Miracle arrives and informs the team that Alan has most likely installed Fourth World defenses in his base, and offers to use his knowledge of such technology to guide them through the fortress.^[20] Jade uses her powers to restore Alan to normal.^[21] With his sanity restored, Alan chooses to allow the Emerald City he created on the moon to stay, and the city becomes populated by various magical creatures from throughout the DCU.^[22]

After the events of the Brightest Day, Alan and the rest of the JSA travel to the city of Monument Point, which has been attacked by a superpowered terrorist named Scythe. Just before being defeated, Scythe snaps Alan's neck.^[23] In the subsequent story, it is revealed that Scythe is the product of Nazi genetic engineering, and that Alan and Jay had been tasked by the president with killing the experiment back when he was in infancy during World War 2. The two heroes could not agree on a course of action, and as a result Scythe was allowed to live.^[24] Doctor Mid-Nite discovers that the injuries Alan sustained have rendered him paralyzed, and that any attempt to heal himself could break his constant concentration, which could result in the Starheart once again regaining control of his body.^[25]

Jade visits her bed-ridden father in the Emerald City, and offers to use her abilities to help him walk again. Alan declines his daughter's offer, reasoning that if the Starheart were to once again take over his body, it could result in the deaths of everyone in the city. Eclipso attacks the city, which results in Jesse Quick having to get Alan to safety.^[26]

Later, the JSA try to take down the villain D'arken, but D'arken is too powerful. The JSA tells Alan that unleashing the Starheart is the only way to destroy D'arken. However, after releasing the Starheart energies, Alan's body begins to incinerate. Afterwards, the JSA attend a funeral for Alan, whom they believe to be dead.^[27]

The New 52[link]

Following DC's The New 52 reboot of its fictional universe, Alan Scott has been reintroduced in issue 1 of Earth 2, which takes place on a parallel world within the DC multiverse.^[28] Now the young dynamic head of GBC productions on Earth 2, Alan Scott is destined to become his world's Green Lantern.^[29] On June 1, 2012, DC announced that Alan Scott would be reintroduced as a gay man.^[30]

Powers and abilities[link]

Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, which merged all parallel realities into one, the source of Scott's power would be revealed to be the mystical "Starheart", the magical characteristics of the Earth-One Universe gathered by the Oan Guardians of the Universe.^[1] This collective force was hidden in the heart of a star and became sentient. The force also helps slow Scott's aging process. Another story explained a connection to Yalan Gur, an ancient member of the Green Lantern Corps. Considering that Scott derives his power from the Starheart, and does not need to recharge his ring as it is made of the Starheart, he is perhaps the most powerful of all the bearers of the Green Lantern mantle. Doctor Midnite has remarked that Alan Scott is perhaps more powerful than even Superman (due to its magical properties), and as such one of the most powerful beings in the universe. He has one main weakness: his power can be negated by anything made of wood. His physical appearance changes according to his personal health and well being; at the peak of his powers he looks like a man in his late 30s/early 40s but he shows his true age when his powers are affected by wood (he, Jay Garrick, and Ted Grant are all in the range of 90–100 years of age). His power is also limited in its application by his willpower and imagination. When Alan was under the influence of the Starheart entity, he can manipulate his constructs' pigments and dimensions, making them appear realistically, a feat Kyle Rayner previously demonstrated to him with his own ring.

Other versions[link]

Kingdom Come[link]

In Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come limited series, Alan Scott has reclaimed the mantle of Green Lantern^[31] and forged green armor seemingly powered by the Starheart. Throughout the course of the story, it is revealed that Alan has established a city that orbits the Earth, which he later dubs New Oa. Alan joins with Superman in the new Justice League and saves a number of heroes from an atomic explosion at the end of the limited series by shielding them with his powers. In the limited series' epilogue, Alan is shown joining the United Nations as the ambassador of the sovereign nation of New Oa.

This version of Alan Scott makes a cameo appearance in Justice Society of America (vol. 2) #14, now hailing from Earth-22 in the new Multiverse. Earth-22 is the reality that is home to the characters from the Kingdom Come limited series.

To date, the regular Alan Scott has worn the same armor on three separate occasions when he uses high amounts of power.^[32]

JSA: The Unholy Three[link]

Another version of Alan Scott was seen briefly in JSA: The Unholy Three as a post-WW2 agent called the Lantern whose use of his power ring was invaluable to the intelligence community for its ability to discern truth from lies. The ring and Alan's hand were destroyed by a Superman gone rogue.

Green Lantern: Evil's Might[link]

In the Elseworlds tale, Green Lantern: Evil's Might, Alan Scott is depicted as the young leader of a gang called the Bowery Greens. He steals a magical green gem similar to Kyle Rayner's ring and later steals Kyle's lantern. In a final showdown, he fatally wounds Kyle, but is absorbed into Kyle's ring.

The Golden Age[link]

In the Elseworlds series "The Golden Age", Alan Scott finds himself under investigation from the House Un-American Activities Committee because of his refusal to turn over employees suspected of communist activities. In the final battle with Dynaman, Johnny Quick refers to him as "the big guy," implying that he may have been the most powerful hero of the era (although this is likely also a reference to Alan's large physical stature).

Superman & Batman: Generations[link]

In Superman & Batman: Generations, a version of Alan Scott was featured, this version's ring being explained as having originally been a Green Lantern ring that was lost on Earth long ago. In this storyline, it is stated that the first time Alan used his ring, he was knocked out from behind by a man with a wooden club, causing Alan to believe the ring was weak against wood, thereby causing a mental block (a similar explanation serving to account for the Green Lantern Corps's rings' weakness to yellow).

52[link]

In the final issue of 52, a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-2". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-Two, including the Green Lantern among other Justice Society of America characters. The names of the characters and the team are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear, but the Green Lantern is visually similar to Alan Scott.^[33]

Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-Two.^[34]

It has been revealed in Justice Society (vol 3) #20 that the post-Crisis Earth-2 Alan Scott is dead as stated by his daughter Jade who encountered the New Earth Scott and was shocked to see the New Earth counterpart to her father still alive.

Superman: Red Son[link]

Scott is also shown as a member of the Green Lantern Marine Corps in Superman: Red Son.

In other media[link]

Television[link]

• A character known as Green Guardsman (whose real name was Scott Mason) appears in the two-part Justice League episode "Legends" voiced by William Katt. John Stewart and several other members travel to a parallel universe where they meet the Justice Guild of America (whose members are modeled on Golden Age versions of the Justice Society of America characters). Green Guardsman is a homage to Alan Scott. His power ring is unable to affect aluminum.

• Alan Scott appears in the Smallville episode "Absolute Justice" portrayed by Doug Pinton. He is a super hero in the 70s and a CEO of a unnamed broadcasting company, who was arrested for fraud by the government in a mission to take down the JSA. He like the others tried to take the blame for all crimes though he and the rest were never convicted. As the law was now aware of his superhero identity, Scott retired from heroics. In 2010 Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan find old black and white footage of Alan (his power ring is visible on his left hand), along with his criminal record. Very little is said about him but was confirmed he was still alive by Stargirl and hinted he had children. His power ring and lantern battery are shown, in a display case at the JSA Brownstone as well as his portrait in the JSA painting.

• Alan Scott appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth!" voiced by Corey Burton.

• Alan Scott makes a brief non-speaking cameo in the Young Justice episode "Humanity", where he is shown in archival footage of the JSA.

Films[link]

• Green Lantern has a cameo in the opening credits of DC Universe animated film Justice League: The New Frontier where he’s seen being forced out of heroics by the government.

Video Games[link]

• Alan is a character in DC Universe Online, voiced by Jason Phelps

• A statue of Scott is seen in "Batman the Brave and the Bold" Wii game

Novel[link]

• Sleepers is a trilogy created by Mike Baron and written by Christopher J. Priest. Each volume focuses on a different Green Lantern including Alan Scott.

Action figures[link]

• In 2010, Green Lantern was released in Wave 14 of Mattel's DC Universe Classics toyline.^[35]

Collected Edtions[link]

• Golden Age Green Lantern Archives Vol. 1 (Green Lantern Vol. 1 #1 and All-American Comics #16-30)
• Golden Age Green Lantern Archives Vol. 2 (Green Lantern Vol. 1 #2-3 and All-American Comics #31-38)
• JSA Presents: Green Lantern (Green Lantern: Brightest Day, Blackest Night (one-shot); JSA: Classified #25, #32-33)
• Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol. 1 (Green Lantern Vol. 2 #40)
• Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol. 2 (Green Lantern Vol. 2 #45, 52)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Green Lantern (Alan Scott) at the Comic Book DB
• Alan Kistler Profile on Green Lantern
• Unofficial Green Lantern Profile
• JSA Fact File: Green Lantern
• Earth-2 Green Lantern Index
• Green Lantern Corps profile on Alan Scott
• Alan Scott's profile on the DC Database Project

Shoshana Bean
Shoshana Bean performing in Los Angeles, CA (June 2011)
Born	Shoshana Elise Bean (1977-09-01) September 1, 1977 (age 34) Olympia, Washington
Occupation	stage actress, singer, songwriter
Website
www.shoshanabean.com

Shoshana Elise Bean (born September 1, 1977) is an American stage actress, singer and songwriter known for her roles in Broadway musicals. She is best known for playing Elphaba on Broadway in the musical Wicked.

Early life and education[link]

Bean was raised in Portland, Oregon.^[1] She is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM),^[1] where she received a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre in 1999.^[2] At CCM she was roommates with Kristy Cates, a fellow Wicked alum.

Career[link]

Shortly after moving to New York City, she was cast in the 2000 Off-Broadway revival of Godspell. Bean subsequently performed in the national tour of Leader of the Pack. She was also an original cast member in the Tony Award-winning production of Broadway's Hairspray, originating the role of Shelley and understudying the roles of Tracy Turnblad, Velma Von Tussle, and Prudy Pingleton. During this time she was also a member of the Broadway Inspirational Voices Gospel Choir.

In 2001, she sang back-up for Michael Jackson's 30th anniversary concert celebration at Madison Square Garden.

Bean joined the Broadway production of Wicked, originally cast as Idina Menzel's standby. She officially took over the role of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) on January 11, 2005. She actually began performing the lead role full-time on January 8. Bean's year-long run in the lead role concluded on January 8, 2006.

During her run in Wicked, Bean made appearances on MTV's Made, Soul Train Christmas Starfest, and performed alongside Brian McKnight to honor Aretha Franklin at the 2005 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.

Bean reprised the role of Elphaba in the national tour of Wicked for a brief run in the fall of 2006, beginning September 6, 2006.^[3] She departed the touring cast on December 31, 2006. Since leaving Wicked, Bean has recorded background vocals for the film soundtracks to Hairspray, Enchanted and The Wayans Brothers' Dance Flick. Bean and Megan Hilty also began performing a variety show together called The Meg an' Sho Show. They often perform a "Wicked swap", in which Bean sings a medley of Glinda's songs and Hilty sings Elphaba's.

Bean released her debut solo album, Superhero, on December 2, 2008 on her own label Shotime Records.^[4] In its first week of sales "Superhero" hit #5 on the iTunes R&B charts making it the only independent album in the top 100. The first single, also entitled "Superhero", launched October 3, 2008 on iTunes, and was used to promote NBC's Monday night line-up in the fall of 2008. As a singer-songwriter her work has also been featured on MTV's The Hills, "Mercy", "The Bad Girl's Club" and Showtime's "The Big C".

In December 2008, she performed at the Kennedy Center in a concert of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Weber.^[5]

In May 2009, Bean starred as the Narrator in the Pittsburgh CLO production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and following her run in Pittsburgh, she performed at the Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles to kick off L.A.'s Gay Pride weekend. Bean sang both the music of her idol Barbra Streisand, as well as her own original material from her album.^[6]

In June 2009, she joined the new production of Peepshow in Las Vegas alongside Holly Madison.^[7] Her three-month contract lasted through September, when she was replaced by Aubrey O'Day.^[8] Shoshana can be seen in an episode of The Girls Next Door as the girls (Kristina and Karissa Shannon and Crystal Harris) go to see Madison in the show. Also in June, her voice could be heard singing the jingle in a national Tide detergent commercial.

On November 30, 2009 Bean made her New York City concert debut at Frederick P. Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center.^[9] Her single "Superhero" won an Independent Music Awards for Best R&B Song. Shoshana was also the Independent Music Awards Vox Pop winner for "Superhero".

In July 2010, Shoshana Bean made her Australian debut at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.^{[citation needed]}

On August 17, 2010, Bean made her solo concert debut in London's West End at the Ambassadors Theatre. The two concerts featured guest appearances from Oliver Tompsett, Dianne Pilkington, Gavin Creel, Michael Arden and Daniel Boys.^[10]

During the summer of 2011 Bean starred in the musical "Dear John Mayer" for which she wrote the music and lyrics. Fellow CCM graduate Eydie Faye (Cohen) wrote the show's book. ^[11]

Discography[link]

• School House Rock: Earth (2009) Featured on the song "Tiny Urban Zoo"
• Superhero (2008) Solo Studio Album
• Matt Cusson (2008) Featured on the song "Could"
• 37 Notebooks (2008) Featured on the song "House of Love"
• Enchanted (2008 Movie Soundtrack)
• Dreaming Wide Awake: The Music of Scott Alan (2007) Featured on the song "Home"
• Hairspray (2007 Movie Soundtrack)
• Hair (2005 Actor's Fund Benefit Recording) Featured on the song "I Believe in Love"
• Hairspray (2002 Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Godspell (2001 Off- Broadway Revival Cast Recording)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Internet Broadway Database listing
• Shoshana Bean at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2010)

Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter, stage, television and film actor. He originated the role of Melchior Gabor in the stage musical Spring Awakening and appeared as Jesse St. James in the musical television series Glee.

Personal life[link]

Groff was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to a Methodist mother – Julie, a gym teacher – and Mennonite father – Jim, a harness horse trainer and driver. He has one older brother, David. Of his upbringing, he has said "My mother’s side of the family is Methodist, which is how I was raised. It was conservative in that I had strong values—sitting down and eating with the family every day, listening to authority and going to church every week and having perfect attendance at Sunday school. But at the same time, my parents always encouraged my brother and me to be happy with what we were doing. My parents were athletes in high school; my mom and my dad were the stars of the basketball team, but they never pushed my brother and me to be anything we didn’t want to be."^[1] He graduated from Conestoga Valley High School in 2003 and was going to attend Pennsylvania State University for a BFA in Musical Theatre until he booked his first professional gig in New York city, the musical In My Life.^[2]

Groff told Broadway.com during the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., that he is "gay and proud".^[3][4]

Groff guest starred in the back nine episodes of the first season of Glee along with Spring Awakening co-star Lea Michele. During his role with Lea Michele in Spring Awakening, they became best friends. He introduced Michele to Glee creator Ryan Murphy prior to the show's start.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Groff had a year of waiting tables in New York until he booked his first acting job in 2005 as a swing/dance captain for the musical "In My Life" by Joseph Brooks. The musical was about a boy with Tourette's Syndrome, and Groff understudied the lead part. He never performed in the role. ^[2]

Groff originated the role of Melchior Gabor in the Broadway production of Spring Awakening. He played the role from the musical's Broadway debut on December 10, 2006^[5] through May 18, 2008. He also played the same role in the original Off Broadway production earlier during the summer of 2006.^[6] Groff also was in the National Tour of The Sound of Music as Rolf, and appeared in Fame at the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts. In April 2007, he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role in Spring Awakening. In May 2007, he was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance, with the award eventually going to David Hyde Pierce.^[7]

He played the recurring role of Henry Mackler on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. His storyline about a school shooting on the long-running soap opera was nixed due to the Virginia Tech shooting in April 2007, and he is no longer on the show.^[8]

Before performing on the Broadway stage, Jonathan was a performer at The Ephrata Performing Arts Center in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. There he portrayed such characters as Edgar in Bat Boy: The Musical and Ugly in Honk!.

Groff played as Claude in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Hair, which ran July 22 through August 31, 2008. He also appeared as Michael Lang in Ang Lee's major motion picture, Taking Woodstock.

Groff has appeared in the Off-Broadway production of Prayer for My Enemy by Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss, Light in the Piazza) about the consequences the Iraq war has had on an American family.^[9]

In August 2009, Groff performed The Bacchae as Dionysus as a part of the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park.

He was guest starring on Glee as Jesse St. James, the male lead of rival glee club, Vocal Adrenaline for eight of the back nine episodes. He also serves as a love interest for his former Spring Awakening co-star Lea Michele's character, Rachel Berry.^[10] Newsweek critic Ramin Satoodeh stated that Groff was unconvincing in the role of the straight Jesse ("he seems more like your average theater queen, a better romantic match for Kurt than Rachel").^[11] Groff's performance was defended by Glee creator Ryan Murphy and guest star Kristin Chenoweth, both of whom described Satoodeh's essay as homophobic; it was also condemned by GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios.^[12][13]

In August 2010 he made his West End debut in Deathtrap,^[14] at the Noel Coward Theatre in a production directed by Matthew Warchus.

Groff returned to Glee at the end of the second season, where his character tried to ask Rachel for forgiveness. He returned to the show on May 10 to finish out the remainder of the second season.^[15] Despite leaving the show for the first part of its third season, Groff returned to Glee in Saturday Night Glee-ver as the coach of his former Glee club, Vocal Adrenaline.

Credits[link]

Broadway

• Spring Awakening as Melchior Gabor (2006–2008)

West End

• Deathtrap as Clifford Anderson (2010)

Off-Broadway

• The Submission as Danny Larsen (2011)
• The Singing Forest as Gray Korankyi/Walter Rieman (2009)
• Prayer for My Enemy as Billy (2008)
• Hair - Shakespeare in the Park Revival as Claude (2008)
• Spring Awakening as Melchoir Gabor (2006)

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Cast recordings[link]

• Spring Awakening (2006)
• Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers (2010)
• Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna (2010)
• Glee: The Music, Volume 6 (2011)

Featured singles[link]

Other appearances[link]

• In February 2011, Jonathan appeared in two promotional videos for his brother Dave's commercial kitchen supply site, WEBstaurantstore.com. The first was one promoting the company's Facebook fanpage and contests for its customers. The second was a special Valentine's Day video in which he made a martini and promoted products sold on the site. The martini he made was a special recipe created especially for Jonathan called the "She Loves Me Martini", for the video by Dee Brun, "The Cocktail Deeva".^[24][25][26]

Awards and nominations[link]

Nominations[link]

• Drama League Awards: Distinguished Performance 2007
• Drama Desk Awards:: Outstanding Actor in a Musical 2007
• Tony Awards: Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 2007

Awards[link]

• Theatre World Award, 2007
• Obie Award, 2009 (for both "Prayer for the Enemy" and "Singing Forest")
• WhatsOnStage London Newcomer of the Year Award, 2011 (for "Deathtrap")

References[link]