John Stewart

Origin

John Stewart was a boy growing up in Detroit with a father who was far from a great man. His father drank, abused his mother and instilled a reckless contempt for society in him before selfishly leaving the family. When John was fifteen, he went joyriding as he often did in his aunt's car along with his younger brother Damon and younger sister Rose. A drunk driver crashed into them, causing a terrible accident that killed Rose. The event was so traumatic for John that he blocked some of those memories and turned his attitude around to be more focused and disciplined.

Graduating from school, John wanted to become an architect, but he joined the U.S. Marine Corps first. The experience further honed his focus and discipline, and he excelled as a sniper. He succeeded in becoming an architect after leaving the corps. However, the job he landed a firm only lasted eight months before he was fired. Reasons for his lay off were given, but the real reason that was apparent to John was racism.

When Guy Gardner was injured and unable to continue his duties as a Green Lantern soon, the Guardians of the Universe selected John to be Guy's temporary replacement. Hal Jordan did not initially agree with the Guardians decision, seeing John's anger toward society as making him unfit and untrustworthy for a power ring. However, John quickly proved Hal wrong and became much more than a temporary replacement for anyone.

Creation

The character was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams comics. John first appeared in Green Lantern Vol. 2 #87. John is one of the very first DC Comics African American super heroes in the silver age. John Stewart (today) is one of the most popular Green Lanterns in GLU continuity. He originally had his own series in the early 1990's entitled Green Lantern: Mosaic,while the series only lasted 18 issues, John Stewart wasn't getting as much recognition as other Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner. The series was then canceled and John started to appear more and more in the Green Lantern comic book series starting with volume 2. From there comic readers became more familiar with John Stewart and he began to be shown more in the Green Lantern comic book. Today, after his starring role in the animated TV Show Justice League, John Stewart is one of the most renowned Green Lanterns in modern days.

Powers and Abilities

Green Lantern Ring Mastery: Stewart's constructs are amongst the most powerful. As noted by many, Stewart's constructs are never hollow. He builds them from the inside out, down to the last nut and bolt.

Architecture: John is a accomplished architect having had a hand in building the new Hall of Justice and the JLA Watchtower as well as rebuilding Coast City. He was also pivotal in renovating the estate of the late Wesley Dodds into the JSA Museum.

Equipment

Green Lantern Power Battery: Power Batteries are constantly charged by the Central Power Battery to manually fuel about 7200 individual Green Lantern Rings.