Finished Lanterns? Here's What to Read Next

HBO's Lanterns took Green Lantern out of deep space and dropped it into a small town in Nebraska, with a veteran Hal Jordan, a rookie John Stewart, and a murder to solve. If the season left you curious about where these characters came from, the comics have more than 80 years of answers, and they're a lot easier to get into than the shelf of trade paperbacks suggests.

You don't need to read everything. Pick the path that matches what you liked about the show.

If you want to know John Stewart

The show gives John a fresh backstory built around his family. The comics have their own long history with him, and it's worth seeing where he started.

• Green Lantern #87 (1971) and Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes. John debuts in #87, from Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, as an architect from Detroit chosen as a backup Lantern. The O'Neil and Adams run is also where Hal and Green Arrow road-trip across America, which is a good match for the show's Midwestern, down-to-earth feel.
• Green Lantern: Mosaic. A John Stewart story through and through, with John put in charge of a patchwork of alien cultures. It's one of the most distinctive things he's ever been given to do.
• Cosmic Odyssey (1988). Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola's cosmic crossover is where John carries a weight that shapes him for decades. If you want to understand why John takes the job so seriously, start here.

If you want to know Hal Jordan

Kyle Chandler's Hal is an older, more weathered version of the character. The comics are where you meet the younger one.

• Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn (1989). Hal's origin as a reckless test pilot who inherits a dying alien's ring.
• Green Lantern: Rebirth (2004). Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver rebuilt the modern Green Lantern mythology here and brought Hal back. A lot of the great Green Lantern stories that followed grew out of this book.
• Green Lantern: Secret Origin (2008). Johns and Ivan Reis retell Hal's beginnings for the modern era. If you only read one Hal origin, this is a strong pick.

If you want to know Sinestro

The series is set after Sinestro's fall, so his history is part of the backdrop. Sinestro Corps War is the big comic story where that conflict plays out, and it's a great way to see why Hal and Sinestro's history is so charged.

If you liked the mystery

The show is as much a detective story as a superhero one. For more of that flavor, try Green Lantern: Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell (2020). It follows Jo Mullein, a Green Lantern policing a massive alien city while she investigates a murder. It's science fiction with a procedural heart, and the art is gorgeous. Jo is still around, too: she stars in the current Absolute Green Lantern series from Al Ewing.

If you want what's on the shelves right now

Jeremy Adams' Green Lantern run has Hal and the Corps on a new mandate to patrol the galaxy, with issue #19 marking the start of that era. Green Lantern Corps is also worth a look, with Jessica Cruz now leading the Corps. Both are ongoing, so you can catch up and then read along month to month.

A quick path if you only want three books

1. Green Lantern: Secret Origin for Hal
2. Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes for John and the road-trip tone
3. Green Lantern: Far Sector for the mystery side

That gets you a first taste of the character, the Earth-based stories, and the detective angle, in about the time it takes to finish a season of television.

What's next on screen

John Stewart is set to appear in the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, due in summer 2027, so now is a good time to get familiar with him. We'll keep tracking Green Lantern news here at Green Lantern Watch.