American Update: DC Debuts! John Stewart Premieres in Green Lantern #87, by O’Neil and Adams
*DC: DC’s groundbreaking and controversial run of Green Lantern (cover-titled ‘Green Lantern co-starring Green Arrow’) was renowned for its tackling of issues which had been seldom raised in comics before – albeit, in retrospect, perhaps heavy-handedly, it nevertheless raised many questions the medium had previously failed to address. One such was racism, and when, after Hal Jordan got injured, the Power Ring selected African-American John Stewart as a temporary replacement Green Lantern, the heroes were forced to confront certain unspoken truths in their society. Originally intended as a one-off character, John was brought back frequently, often replacing Hal for long stretches, both in the Justice League and as the Green Lantern of Earth – mercifully having abandoned his cliched ‘angry black dude’ persona early on. This copy of the debut of DC’s first black super-hero is a FN p copy, minor foxing at upper and right cover edges but otherwise unmarred, on sale at £125.