
Continuing our journey through the emotional spectrum on the way to Blackest Night #1, this week we take a look at the Blue Lantern Corps and their potential role in the upcoming DC event.
Emotion: Hope
Home Planet: Odym
Creation: During the Sinestro Corps War, the dissenting Guardians, Ganthet and Sayd, made their observations of the Blackest Night prophecy coming to pass known. Unfortuantely, these accusations, combined with their embracing of emotions, caused them to become outcasts from the Guardians. Upon their exile, they establish base upon the planet Odym, where together they created the Blue Power Ring. During "Rage of the Red Lanterns", the first Blue Lanterns emerge to assist Hal Jordan, drawing on the emotion of hope to fuel their power.
Key Players: Saint Walker, Brother Warth, Brother Hynn, Sister Sercy, Ganthet, Sayd, Hal Jordan
Powers/Weakness: The Blue Lanterns are one of the most unique of the new Corps, and the Rings themselves have perhaps the most cleverly instituted powers. A Blue Ring is fueled by the hope of its bearer, but it can also detect the insincerity of its wearer when it asks "What do you hope for?", causing its power to fail. More importantly, Blue Rings need to have the presence of a Green Ring in order to take advantage of their full power, as Geoff Johns explains that having hope is nothing without the willpower to enact it. Without a Green Ring around, the Blue Lanterns are limited only to the normal powers of the Ring, including flight and shielding. However, with a Green Lantern close by, the Blue Rings are able to neutralize Red Power Rings, drain the power of Yellow Rings, heal physical wounds, are immune to the power of Orange Rings, rapidly charge a Green Ring to twice its usual capacity, and also create constructs that play to the psyche and personality of those it is used against.
Potential Role in Blackest Night: The Blue Lanterns are a minimalist Corps, relying almost entirely on faith rather than numbers. Ganthet and Sayd represent the forward thinking of the Green Lantern Corps, yet they are ostracized from their group as the Guardians further cement their stubbornness, as well as get readers to question their motives, particularly after the events that took place in Green Lantern #42. In the coming event, the Blue Lanterns are primed to be perhaps the saving graces of the Green Lanterns in battle, though it wouldn't surprise me if their limited numbers were reduced to extinction by the end of it all.
