Wouldn't be funny if Earth's next Green Lantern wasn't even a human? Like, we've been through six of these guys and The Guardians were just like "Okay, you know what? Humans are too squishy". Maybe we could get a rhino alien, or an alien made of pure light, or a gaseous alien. Say, isn't there an alien who's just a tree? No, not that guy! This guy! From DC Comics, our Z-Lister today is Medphyll, The Green Lantern!
Medphyll first appeared in "Green Lantern #11 Vol. 2" in 1962 and was created by John Broome and Gil Kane. Medphyll comes from a planet called J586, a planet populated by sentient plant-life. As the Green Lantern of Sector 586, Medphyll is a strong-willed hero of his people and loyal friend to Earth's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. Medphyll's appearances were pretty small within the Green Lantern title, but he was later featured in an issue of "Swamp Thing" where the title character was lost in space and found his way to J586. Swamp Thing tried to possess the plant planet to survive, but as a result he accidentally possessed its people and transformed them into horrific monsters. Medphyll single-handily stopped Swamp Thing and saved his planet, first by using his ring to create non-harmful lights that distracted Swamp Thing, and then by offering the dead body of his mentor for Swamp Thing to possess. In this new body, Swamp Thing was sent back to Earth by Medphyll.
Hal Jordan would later become possessed by a being known as Parallax and destroy The Green Lantern Corps, however Medphyll and several other "retired" Lanterns formed a new peacekeeping unit called The Darkstars. He remained a member of the team until their leaders-The Controllers-withdrew their powers and disbanded the team.
In his next appearance, Medphyll joined Jack Knight (the current Starman) and a group of rebels to help Prince Gavyn (the former Starman) seize the throne of The Crown Imperial Empire. However, the twist at the end of the story was that Medphyll had been hired by Gavyn's enemy to betray Jack Knight and the rebels. In doing so he'd receive a planet of his own. It is implied he fell from grace as a Green Lantern and that his people possibly exiled him from J586. Before his betrayal could kill Jack Knight, Jack summoned The Star Rod, became Starman, and killed Medphyll. However, it is later revealed in Sinestro's secret files on the GLC that Medphyll's people have the ability to transfer their minds into plant-life, implying Medphyll could still be alive.
After the 2011 reboot of the DCU, Medphyll appeared in an Animal Man story called "Rot World". In this story, the villain Anton Arcane used "The Black"-the literal force of Death-to rot the planet and it's people. Animal Man, Beast Boy, Steel, and a few other characters were able to survive The Rot, including Hal Jordan. With Hal gone, The Guardians of The Universe sent Medphyll to save Earth from "The Black", but he was captured by Anton's servant Blackbriar Thorn. Animal Man and his team manage to save Medphyll and he joins them in their final battle against Anton Arcane.
At first I assumed this guy was "the Groot" of the Green Lantern Corps. Though not as interesting as Groot or any Green Lantern, there is something appealing about a plant-like being making such human decisions. He stopped Swamp Thing non-violently which is no small feat, and his double-crossing in return for a home was so unexpected that it gave just a little of depth to this otherwise background character. He's not as good as Hal Jordan or as sinister as Sinestro, he's just a former hero trying to get by. And that's at least something. Medphyll proves The Green Lantern Corps goes beyond it's front-pagers, that every member of the Corps has a story, they have their victories and they have their mistakes. Despite being a walking fern, Medphyll is as human as any of us.
Thanks for reading.
Hal Jordan would later become possessed by a being known as Parallax and destroy The Green Lantern Corps, however Medphyll and several other "retired" Lanterns formed a new peacekeeping unit called The Darkstars. He remained a member of the team until their leaders-The Controllers-withdrew their powers and disbanded the team.
In his next appearance, Medphyll joined Jack Knight (the current Starman) and a group of rebels to help Prince Gavyn (the former Starman) seize the throne of The Crown Imperial Empire. However, the twist at the end of the story was that Medphyll had been hired by Gavyn's enemy to betray Jack Knight and the rebels. In doing so he'd receive a planet of his own. It is implied he fell from grace as a Green Lantern and that his people possibly exiled him from J586. Before his betrayal could kill Jack Knight, Jack summoned The Star Rod, became Starman, and killed Medphyll. However, it is later revealed in Sinestro's secret files on the GLC that Medphyll's people have the ability to transfer their minds into plant-life, implying Medphyll could still be alive.
After the 2011 reboot of the DCU, Medphyll appeared in an Animal Man story called "Rot World". In this story, the villain Anton Arcane used "The Black"-the literal force of Death-to rot the planet and it's people. Animal Man, Beast Boy, Steel, and a few other characters were able to survive The Rot, including Hal Jordan. With Hal gone, The Guardians of The Universe sent Medphyll to save Earth from "The Black", but he was captured by Anton's servant Blackbriar Thorn. Animal Man and his team manage to save Medphyll and he joins them in their final battle against Anton Arcane.
At first I assumed this guy was "the Groot" of the Green Lantern Corps. Though not as interesting as Groot or any Green Lantern, there is something appealing about a plant-like being making such human decisions. He stopped Swamp Thing non-violently which is no small feat, and his double-crossing in return for a home was so unexpected that it gave just a little of depth to this otherwise background character. He's not as good as Hal Jordan or as sinister as Sinestro, he's just a former hero trying to get by. And that's at least something. Medphyll proves The Green Lantern Corps goes beyond it's front-pagers, that every member of the Corps has a story, they have their victories and they have their mistakes. Despite being a walking fern, Medphyll is as human as any of us.
Thanks for reading.
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