Why You Should Care is a feature at CraveOnline Comics that hopes to enlighten you on some characters that are damn cool, but under-utilized or long dormant. Sometimes they may be making a comeback in the monthly titles or have a new interpretation appearing soon, but more often than not, this is just us imploring you to dig through the back-issues at your local comic shop and seek out some new characters and stories that you might not have been aware of previously.
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Quite honestly, this is one character we should have featured ages ago. With all of the Green Lantern-centric happenings in the DCU as of late, it’s only fitting that we take a fond look back on one of the greatest Corpsmen to ever ringsling. Ch’p, the squirrel/chipmunk that hails from the planet H’Iven, was the Green Lantern of Space Sector 2014, and probably the cutest darned Green Lantern one could ever ask for.
First Appearance: Green Lantern #138 (vol. 2)
Real Name: Ch’p of H’Iven
Created by: Paul Kupperberg & Don Newton
Why You Should Care: First and foremost, he’s a freaking cutie pie. Second, Ch’p is a total badass. Think of it this way: Ch’p was in the same graduating class as Hal Jordon, taught by Kilowog. This means that Ch’p is a peer of the greatest Green Lantern of all time.
In seriousness though, as adorable as Ch’p may be, on the inside he’s a dark and brooding figure. It’s astonishing that such an intrinsically goofy character has such a heavy background. Originally, Ch’p was married to his soulmate and longtime sweetheart. However, the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths caused a ripple effect that altered history in such a way that everyone believed Ch’p to be dead, and his wife had remarried Ch’p’s best friend. In a desperate attempt to forget his life on H’Iven, Ch’p relocated to Earth where things were no better. Though he befriended Green Lantern John Stewart, Ch’p eventually returned to H’Iven.
Unfortunately, this is where things get grim. Ch’p couldn’t handle the pressures of living on his home planet where everyone believed him to be dead, so in an act of defiance, the chipmunk-like Green Lantern actually attempted suicide. Suicide for any mainstream comics superhero is intense, but when it’s an adorable rodent, it’s ten times worse. Needless to say, he was stopped by Salaak, but Ch’p’s deathwish was soon realized when the yellow impurity of the Green Power Ring gave way to his fitting death: he was run over by a yellow tractor trailer.
For a rodent that was a hero to his entire planet, it’s ironic he should wind up as everyday roadkill. We’ll have a special place in our hearts for Ch’p for all of eternity, until someone at DC Comics is smart enough to bring him back. As tongue-in-cheek as the character’s history is, there is legitimate potential for telling great, funny stories that would appeal to all Green Lantern fans.
Geoff Johns, you’ve give us so much, but why, oh why, couldn’t Ch’p have been one of the 12 lost sould resurrected for Brightest Day?
