Publication order and story order
A comic's publication date tells you when readers encountered it. An origin retelling can be published decades after the character's debut and still take place near the beginning of that character's life. Our reading guide offers a practical sequence; the fictional history places selected events in relative order.
For example, Secret Origin is a 2008 retelling in Green Lantern (2005) #29–35. You can read it first to meet Hal, or at its publication position within the Johns run. It is not another event that happens to Hal after the Sinestro Corps War. DC's collection listing identifies the issues and premise.
Mainstream comics and retcons
A retcon revises how earlier events are understood. It can change an explanation without requiring readers to pretend the earlier publication never existed. The Parallax and Ion guides distinguish a character's use of a name from later stories about a separate entity.
Likewise, a new #1 is not automatically a clean reset. The 2011 New 52 relaunch kept Green Lantern's ongoing story substantially intact while changing the surrounding DC landscape. Read the Johns-era Green Lantern (2011) as a continuation, not a second origin. DC explains why Green Lantern was an exception.
Alan Scott and the Starheart
Alan Scott is the original Green Lantern, introduced before Hal Jordan and the interstellar Corps. His Starheart tradition belongs to the magical and Justice Society side of the mythology. Sharing the name does not make him an ordinary recruit trained on Oa.
Distinguish that legacy from the reimagined Alan in Earth 2 (2012). Look at the series title and publication year before combining origins, relationships, or powers from different versions. The Starheart guide explains those differences and supplies primary references.
The Absolute Universe is a separate route
Absolute Green Lantern (2025), by Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay at launch, reimagines familiar names on an alternate Earth. Its opening brings an alien threat to Evergreen, Nevada, where Hal, John, Guy, and Jo face circumstances different from their mainstream counterparts. It is not the next chapter after Far Sector or War Journal.
Start: Absolute Green Lantern Vol. 1: Without Fear, collecting #1–6. No Johns-era checklist is required for this entry. Then: continue with #7 in the same series. Keep its revelations out of mainstream character biographies. DC's collection listing identifies the alternate setting, creators, and contents.
Screen adaptations have their own histories
Our screen guide groups adaptations by production, not by one shared chronology. A film or series can borrow a character, premise, or visual without reproducing the comics' sequence. If you arrive from a screen version of Hal or John, choose the Hal route or John route as an introduction to the comics, rather than as a promised account of the show's past or future.
Reviewed November 4, 2026. This page explains reading conventions without revealing story endings. How we use sources and spoiler labels.