Top 10 Tuesday - Top 10 Black Lanterns from Other Companies

We continue our coverage of Blackest Night with a very special edition of Top 10 Tuesdays! As we all know, because of the position of the main DCU Earth's universe among the 52 other universes, the Black Lanterns pose a threat to not only the Green Lanterns, but the entire Multiverse. But what if the power of Black Hand and the the Black Lantern Corps could extend beyond that to the entire Omniverse? The omniverse, in case you don't know, it's the compilation of all the multiverse's from different publishing companies. Imagine if the Black Lanterns could reach from all the universes from different comic book companies.

Partly inspired by 4th Letter!'s list of Top 10 Black Lanterns from Real Life, I proudly present (with my tongue firmly planted in cheek) the Top 10 Characters from Other Companies that the Black Lantern Crops should recruit. Hit the jump for the whole list.

Top 10 Tuesday - Top 10 Black Lanterns from Other Companies

#10 - Bill Foster
A.K.A. Black Goliath/Giant-Man/Goliath of the Avengers
(Marvel Comics)

One of the trends that we are seeing in the selection process for the members of the Black Lantern Corps is that Black Hand seems to choose people that will stir conflicting emotions against those that would oppose the Black Lanterns. Psychological warfare, if you will. Bill Foster definitely falls under that category. He was a long time member of various groups, such as the Avengers, the Defenders, and even the Champions, and has personal connections to a lot of people in the Marvel Universe.

He died during Civil War at the hands of a clone of Thor and his death made everyone involved in the war to question themselves and the side they were on. To see him come back from the dead would certainly be a shock to many heroes, most notably Tony Stark and Reed Richards, who were the architects of the Thor clone and, therefore, Bill Foster's death.


#9 - King Leonidas
Protagonist of 300
(Dark Horse)

Did you know that they are working on a sequel to 300 both in film and in comics? The article mentions that it would be hard to do because the star and lead, King Leonidas, died near the end of 300 after holding the Hot Gates against the might of the Persian army for three days.

Well, here's your sequel: King Leonidas is recruited by the Black Lanterns and returns to his "shouting at the top of his lungs" and "motivating the troops" ways as the new drill sergeant of the Black Lanterns (like Kilowog is to the Green Lanterns or Arkillo to the Sinestro Corps). Someone is going to have to teach all these reanimated zombies how to fight and Spartans are known for the might of their military tactics, so King Leonidas would be the perfect man for the job. I'll be waiting for my royalties, Frank Miller!


#8 - Charles Xavier
A.K.A. Professor X of Ultimate X-Men
(Marvel Comics)

The Ultimate version of Charles Xavier died at hands of Magneto in the miniseries Ultimatum, the ultimate bloodfest by Jeph Loeb. He got his neck snapped after his students left a wheelchair-bound man completely alone in a big dark mansion knowing that his life long archenemy was very angry at the world. If he ever came back, I'm sure he would be pretty annoyed with both Magneto AND his students (if they are still alive by the time Ultimatum ends).

Remember what I said earlier about psychological warfare? With Charles Xavier, it takes on a whole new meaning. This is a man who can turn your thoughts inside out, wipe your memory, and turn you into a vegetable. And let's admit it, he already had little scruples and was kind of a dick before, so imagine the way he would act if he came back as Black Lantern. Charles Xavier is dead and he doesn't have time for lowly concepts such as "morality" or "consideration", so he would make for a very formidable opponent to any hero.


#7 - Hawley Griffin
A.K.A. Invisible Man of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
(America's Best Comics/Wildstorm)

The Invisible Man was a member of the original League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but no one really liked him, and it was for a reason. His morals and actions were questionable from the beginning and no one trusted him. Eventually, he betrayed the League to the Martians from the War of the Worlds, aiding them in the fight against humanity. Mr. Hyde caught up to him, raped him and beat him half to death. He actually left him lying in agony while he went on to have dinner.

If anything, it would be worth it to have the Invisible Man come back just to see what state his body is in. But aside from that, the man already has a history of betraying his teammates and joining up with alien invaders, so he would fit right in with the Black Lanterns.


Note from the author: The next entry in the list is a pretty big spoiler for the people that follow Fables in the trades. Because I know a lot of people do that, I didn't want to spoil it for everyone. Therefore, the next entry is whited out. If you want to read it, just highlight it, if not, just skip to the next one.

#6 - Boy Blue
One of the Fables
(Vertigo)

Boy Blue was wounded by a magical arrow during the war against the Adversary and his forces. Despite all attempts to properly remove the arrow, pieces of it lodged in his arm, which then had to be amputated. He died shortly after because of complications from the various surgeries he had to go through, the powerful magical properties the arrow had, and the fact that a strand of the Witching Cloak remained inside his body. Following his death, he achieved martyrdom status and a religious cult popped up around his figure, claiming he would soon come back to life.

Imagine the shock they would have to see him come back in the form of a Black Lantern! Sure, he might have been a very nice guy to everyone, but he was also a veteran warrior and he single-handedly decapitate the Adversary twice (he got better, then Blue Boy did it again).


#5 - Walter Kovacs
A.K.A. Rorschach from Watchmen
(DC Comics)

Alright, so maybe I am cheating on this one a little bit, as this is a DC character. But the world of Watchmen is not one of the surviving 52, so I think it counts for the purposes of this post.

Rorschach's death is one of the most famous scenes in comics. After having disagreed with everyone else regarding Ozymandia's actions, he decides to tell the world of how the new world order came about. Doctor Manhattan stopped him and all that was left of Walter Kovacs was a blood stained smear in the snow.

But what if the Black Lanterns pieced him back together? Rorschach not only would come back to haunt his peers, particularly Nite Owl, who went on living happily with his girl without caring that his friend died a horrible death, but he would also disrupt the status quo. If Rorschach came back to spill the beans (ho ho), the peace between the U.S. and the Soviet Union would come to a screeching halt. Or maybe they would unite to kill all the people involved in this plot, either way, it will end in horrific deaths, and isn't that the ultimate end of the Black Lanterns?


#4 - Thanos
(Marvel Comics)

A lot has been said about whether "Death" counts as an emotion in the light spectrum, but all I know is that if it is, then Thanos is one moody bastard. He is literally in love with the embodiment of Death and would do just about anything to please her. Like that time he killed half the population in ALL OF THE UNIVERSE (they all got better).

Thanos died during the Annihilation event after Drax the Destroyer punched him through the chest. Thanos is now living happily ever after with Death, but that could all change if the Black Lantern Corps recruited him. Sure, Thanos sounds like prime Black Lantern material, but I am not sure he would like to be separated from his Mistress Death, nor do I think she would be too happy with all these people coming back to life (even if they are planning to kill some more).


#3 - Jeroen Thornedike
A.K.A. The Doctor of the Authority
(Wildstorm)

The Doctor always struggled with the responsibility of his position, both in the Authority and as the Shaman of the world. To escape the pressure of his roles, he relied on drugs, namely heroin, until he got a deadly overdose from Rose Tattoo (Don't do drugs, kids) in a very ... um... special way which we can't repost here because it is kind of NSFW (Instead, have a picture of one of the other times he almost OD'ed). His powers passed on to the next Shaman and poor Jeroen was pretty much forgotten.

Sure, The Doctor wouldn't gain his Shaman powers again, so he would be pretty much a useless human, and it's not like the former members of Authority would care that much about the fact that he is back (and it would probably take Midnighter all of two seconds to kill him again), but I just want to know if Black Lanterns have a bloodstream and if they can shoot heroin into it. A fan has a right to know these kind of things!


#2 - Johnny Bates
A.K.A. Kid Marvelman/Kid Miracleman
(Eclipse)

Johnny Bates used to be the sidekick of Marvelman and was known as Kid Marvelman. But, after Alan Moore got his hands on him, he became a ruthless and sadistic leader of a corporation with a mean grudge against his mentor Marvelman. The two fought on two occasions, with Kid Marvelman having the upper hand both times because he was more experienced with his powers. In the second and final battle, it was thanks to the teleportation powers of an alien that Marvelman was able to finally kill Johnny Bates. In the process, most of London was destroyed and the majority of it's population killed.

With that kind of power, you just know that the Black Lanterns are going after Kid Marvelman, whose badly damaged body is still somewhere in infraspace. If he was able to cause that kind of damage in such a short time, imagine what he would do as a super powered zombie after years of letting his grudge against Marvelman fester.


#1 - Jean Grey
A.K.A. Phoenix/Dark Phoenix of the X-Men
(Marvel Comics)

Coming back from the dead as a evil version of yourself to haunt and torment your loved ones while threatening the whole Universe? Jean Grey calls those days "Tuesdays". Others may have done it before and after, but no one comes back from the dead better or more often than Jean Grey.

By my count, she has died and come back to life like 4 or 5 times, although some of those have been retconned by claiming it was the Phoenix Force that replaced Jean for a time. With the kind of cosmic power she wields, and with her affinity to come back from the dead, Jean Grey would probably be one of the greatest Black Lanterns. Oh yeah, and probably none of the X-Men would be happy of having to deal with Jean, again, with the kind of death toll she ratchets up every time she comes back.


So that's it for my choices. Did I miss or forget anyone you wanted to see? Let me know about it on the comment sections.

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