Cover Date: June 1997
Story: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Paul Smith
Inks: Paul Smith, Al Williamson, Andrew Pepoy, Adams, Bob McLeod, Tom Palmer, and Al Milgrom
Cover: Paul Smith and Al Williamson
After Hal Stark, the Iron Lantern, drops off the evil H.E.C.T.O.R. for imprisonment on Oa, the Living Planet, he returns to Earth and reflects upon the events that led to the creation of his alien-powered armor. Pepper Ferris has to pilot a test aircraft in Hal’s absence, but the plane nearly crashes due to sabotage. Iron Lantern saves the day, and at a party later that evening, Hal and Pepper get an earful from her father, Senator Ferris. Pepper storms off, only to be possessed by a mysterious gem, turning her into the nefarious Madame Sapphire. Meanwhile, Kyle O’Brien slips away, looking to hijack the Iron Lantern armor for himself. Madame Sapphire attacks Stark Aircraft with the giant Great White, forcing Hal to don his Iron Lantern armor. He drags the massive robot shark into space, but down on Earth, Madame Sapphire captures Senator Ferris, and Kyle manages to overpower Stewart Rhodes and Happy Kamalku, then steal Iron Lantern’s power battery. With his energy cut off, Hal plummets towards Earth…and the villain responsible for Iron Lantern’s troubles is revealed, gloating in his base on the dark side of the moon: the evil Mandarinestro!
Put simply, when this book hit shelves in the spring of 1997, I spontaneously combusted. Green Lantern is my favorite comic book character, but Iron Man is right behind him. So you can imagine what happened when I found out that the two were being mixed together! And, like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Iron Lantern turned out great.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the Amalgam Comics project, it was the result of Marvel and DC “teaming up” in the late 1990s to created melded versions of their heroes and villains. During the All Access and Unlimited Access crossovers, their universes were temporarily merged into one, which fused a character from each universe into a new one; for example, Batman and Wolverine became Dark Claw. And thus, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) and Tony Stark (Iron Man) became Hal Stark (Iron Lantern).
Kurt Busiek’s lighthearted storytelling recalls the “glory days” of DC and Marvel in the Silver and Bronze Ages, and Paul Smith’s art captures this era perfectly. Also in tune with other Amalgam titles are the editorial bubbles referring to past books that never existed, like Showcase of Suspense. This continues with references to characters that do not appear in Iron Lantern, such as the Human Lantern of World War II, and the Green Guardsman. You know you’re not ever going to see them, but the book really makes you want to!
Even the letters page, “Sock it to Oa,” got in on the action! Fake fan letters referenced past issues, with a notable letter singing the praises of Arno Manning, the Iron Lantern of the year 5700! (Longtime fans of both Green Lantern and Iron Man are well aware of what that means.) All around, Iron Lantern achieved its goal: the telling of a fun, action-packed story.
The Amalgam Comics line was short-lived, and perhaps it wore out its welcome in that time. Still, there were some great stories to be had, and Iron Lantern was a shining example. If only it was an ongoing series…
