How to use this guide
Series key: on this page, Green Lantern means the series launched in 2005 (vol. 4); Green Lantern Corps means 2006 (vol. 2); Emerald Warriors means 2010. Later relaunches reuse these issue numbers.
Core means the event’s central narrative. Recommended adds the Lantern viewpoint. Optional adds another cast or aftermath. These priorities are editorial guidance, not a requirement to buy everything. The main guide keeps progress at the story level; this page is a reference for switching series.
The lists avoid plot resolutions. Linked publisher descriptions and outside guides may contain spoilers. If you own a complete crossover collection, its printed arrangement is a convenient alternative; compare its contents with the ranges below.
Order is not the same as a minute-by-minute fictional timeline. Sinestro Corps War and War of the Green Lanterns alternate an ongoing narrative between titles. Blackest Night has a complete central miniseries and concurrent side fronts; its interleave below is a practical editorial arrangement.
Sinestro Corps War
Commitment: eleven central issues plus one epilogue. Before: the event overview explains the setup; the longer route reaches this point after Green Lantern #20.
Read in this order. The special opens the conflict, the two ongoing series carry parallel fronts, and the final Corps issue provides aftermath. The list numbers below are reading stops, not the comics’ sometimes overlapping chapter labels.
- Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1 — opening special
- Green Lantern #21
- Green Lantern Corps #14
- Green Lantern #22
- Green Lantern Corps #15
- Green Lantern #23
- Green Lantern Corps #16
- Green Lantern #24
- Green Lantern Corps #17
- Green Lantern Corps #18
- Green Lantern #25 — climax
- Green Lantern Corps #19 — epilogue
Optional character material
After the central story, try Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Parallax #1, Cyborg Superman #1, Superman-Prime #1 and Ion #1 for additional viewpoints. These occur around the war, so reading them afterward is a companion route, not strict chronology. Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps Secret Files #1 supplies further background.
The Tales collection also reprints the opening special and backups from Green Lantern #18–20. Those overlap the main route; there is no need to reread them to complete it.
Contents: DC’s combined collection. Sequence cross-check: DCU Guide’s issue index (independent reference).
Next: Green Lantern #26–28; return to the Alpha Lantern stop.
Blackest Night
Shortest route: Blackest Night #1–8. Read #0 first for an optional recap and prologue. Add the other series if you want their perspectives on the same event.
Recommended Lantern route: add all ten Green Lantern issues, #43–52, in the sequence below. The optional Corps insertions add nine issues, #39–47, focused on the wider ensemble. Skip those insertions if you only want the central event and Hal’s thread.
Why this order: it keeps each title’s own issue sequence intact, places Black Hand’s prologue before the outbreak, and follows the parallel fronts as the main miniseries advances. Green Lantern #52 goes before the event finale; Corps #47 goes after it. Concurrent scenes can overlap, so this is not a claim that every panel has one definitive chronological placement.
- Green Lantern #43 — recommended Black Hand prologue.
- Blackest Night #0 — optional event prologue.
- Blackest Night #1 — core. Optional after: Green Lantern Corps #39.
- Green Lantern #44 — Lantern route.
- Blackest Night #2 — core.
- Green Lantern #45 — Lantern route. Optional after: Green Lantern Corps #40.
- Blackest Night #3 — core.
- Green Lantern #46 — Lantern route. Optional after: Green Lantern Corps #41.
- Green Lantern #47 — Lantern route.
- Blackest Night #4 — core. Optional after: Green Lantern Corps #42.
- Green Lantern #48 — Lantern route.
- Blackest Night #5 — core. Optional after: Green Lantern Corps #43.
- Green Lantern #49 — Lantern route.
- Blackest Night #6 — core. Optional after: Green Lantern Corps #44.
- Green Lantern #50 — Lantern route.
- Green Lantern #51 — Lantern route. Optional after: Green Lantern Corps #45.
- Blackest Night #7 — core.
- Green Lantern #52 — Lantern route. Optional after: Green Lantern Corps #46.
- Blackest Night #8 — core finale. Optional after: Green Lantern Corps #47 (epilogue).
Match the books to the route
Other tie-ins: choose them for characters you already follow. Tales of the Corps is an anthology of shorter stories. Compare the shorter paperbacks, Absolute edition, and omnibus in the Blackest Night collection guide.
Interleave reference: adapted from the Collected Editions / Paul Hicks reading order, reduced to the three Lantern-related books. The publisher links above verify each book’s contents; the placement of parallel tie-ins is reading guidance.
Next: Green Lantern #53–62, collected as Green Lantern: Brightest Day. The separate Brightest Day #0–24 event is an optional branch. Return to the Hal route or read the event overview.
War of the Green Lanterns
Commitment: one prologue and ten numbered crossover chapters. All three titles contribute to the central narrative; the Corps and Emerald Warriors chapters here are not optional side adventures.
Before: Green Lantern #53–62 establishes the entity plot. Emerald Warriors #1–7 is an optional Guy Gardner lead-in; #7 is its immediate prelude. Then follow the crossover’s chapter numbering:
- Green Lantern #63 — prologue
- Green Lantern #64 — part 1
- Green Lantern Corps #58 — part 2
- Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8 — part 3
- Green Lantern #65 — part 4
- Green Lantern Corps #59 — part 5
- Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #9 — part 6
- Green Lantern #66 — part 7
- Green Lantern Corps #60 — part 8
- Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10 — part 9
- Green Lantern #67 — part 10 / conclusion
After the war
Optional aftermath: War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath #1–2, Green Lantern Corps #61–63 and Emerald Warriors #11–13. Use the Aftermath collection's sequence for this companion material. These are outside the ten-part war.
Publisher chapter checks: Green Lantern #63 (prologue), #64 (part 1), Emerald Warriors #8 (part 3), and Green Lantern #67 (conclusion). Reading Orders independently cross-checks the full interleave.
Catalogue correction: DC’s collection description stops its Green Lantern range at #66; the publisher’s separate #67 listing confirms that the finale must be included. The full range is #63–67.
Next: Green Lantern (2011) #1. The relaunch continues this plot; Johns’ run ends in 2013. Continue the main guide or read the event overview.
Reviewed November 4, 2026. Issue counts refer to original comics, not the page count or number of volumes in any particular edition.
Artwork credits (1 image)
Credits refer to the illustrations shown here. Open a record for sources, adaptations and unresolved details. Some artwork and source pages contain story spoilers.
- Scw — Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special (2007) #1 — second-printing cover. Ethan Van Sciver (cover art).
