John Stewart was the back-up Green Lantern for Hal Jordon
(although I never understood the concept- if Hal Jordan
was injured or killed, then why not just wait and choose
a new Green Lantern then? Why go to the trouble of having
a reluctant reserve who does nothing most of the time?)
Anyway, at the time of the pitch Guy Gardner had barely
appeared and was a more minor character, so
Kenner decided to go with the Black Green Lantern (good
research there, guys).
While John did eventually get his own unique uniform,
at the time he was wearing the same basic outfit that
Hal did (albeit most of the time with no mask- again,
nice research Kenner!) This raises the question, was this
figure intended to be a straight repaint? Maybe a repaint
with a new head? In the concept art, they threw in a few
characters such as John here that beg for the repaint
treatment, rather than all-new sculpts. Was Kenner looking
at saving money as the line died down? An interesting
question that will go unanswered for now.
John Stewart is finally getting his due in the current
Justice League cartoon and following that, the current
comics themselves. Go read all about the "Black
Green Lantern" here.
Custom below by "General
Zod".
