Monday, November 9, 2015

Manic Monday Triple Overtime--No Oath Required!

Around these parts, we've discussed the utility of Green Lantern's oath before.

Specifically, does a Green Lantern have to say the exact wording? Will any set of words do? Is it a "password" of sorts, needed to unlock the lantern?

Or is it merely a timekeeper, a way to ensure that your ring is placed against the battery for the requisite 10 seconds (more or less) it takes to recite the mantra? Or, could you speed-recite your way through the thing if you were in kind of a super-hero hurry? Or, if you're a slow-talker, would your ring be fully charged by the time you reach "no evil"?

Well, as mentioned in that post I linked to above, there have been many different variations of the oath over the years, so it's clearly not a password.

And now we have conclusive proof that it's also not a timing issue, either!

Hal's ring is out of power, and he's getting his but kicked by a bug-monster!! So, there's no time for niceties!!

Jordan literally holds his ring against the lantern for only "a second," and he's good to go!!

So for all those years, all those years of portentously intoning the oath--it's just a ritual. It's the Oan Pledge Of Allegiance!

Think of how many comics panels we could have saved over the years!! Just tap 'n' go, Hal, just tap 'n' go!!

From Flash #223 (1973)

1 comment:

SallyP said...

Oh those crazy Guardian's. I suppose the Lanterns are lucky they don't have to jump up and down while doing jazz hands as they charge their rings.