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Arts & Entertainment

Pittsburgh Comics Lights Up for Green Lantern

Whether you go to the movie theater on the brightest day or the blackest night, Pittsburgh Comics owner Colin McMahon is shining a light on "The Green Lantern."

Colin McMahon, owner and operator of , and his customers are aglow awaiting the theatrical release of “The Green Lantern,” a superhero film opening June 17.

In the movie, Ryan Reynolds plays Hal Jordan, a test pilot who is given a super-powered magical ring that grants him the ability to make any object he can envision out of a malleable green energy. He can make a giant fist, a shield, a sword, a hat, a broach, a pterodactyl. He is widely known from his cartoon television adventures as a member of "The Justice League” and “The Super-Friends.”

Jordan joins a squadron of alien super soldiers who police the galaxy from cosmic threats. Picture the pitch: “It’s Star Wars meets Superman!”

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Most of the Green Lanterns look like they stepped out of the Mos Eisley Cantina. There’s Kilawog, Ch’ip, Tomar Re, G’nort, Salaak, Mogo and numerous others filling out the ranks of the Green Lantern Corps.

Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern was created by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell in All-American Comics in July 1940, but the updated Hal Jordan iteration of the character surfaced in September 1959. The magic ring became a product of alien super-science technology from the planet Oa.

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The character became relevant in the 70s when he and fellow superhero Green Arrow tackled a series of social issues in the comic book. The Green Arrow’s sidekick, Speedy, developed a drug problem. Writer Denny O’Neil and artist Neal Adams set the gold standard for the green heroes.

For new Green Lantern fans, McMahon recommends “Secret Origin,” a graphic novel that reveals how Jordan became to possess the ring. It is written by Geoff Johns, a definitive author in the Green Lantern comic book milieu.

McMahon also recommends “No Fear,” a story by Geoff Johns and several note illustrators. In the graphic novel, a compilation of several issues of the Green Lantern comic book, Hal Jordan has returned from the dead, but not everyone is happy to see him back on the job as Earth's protector.

He must re-establish his life as a test pilot for the Air Force and reconnect with his superhero comrades-in-arms. The Green Lantern faces renewed threats from his rogues gallery of foes, including Hector Hammond, the Shark, Black Hand and the Manhunters.

McMahon and his patrons are looking forward to the movie debut.

“It has all the elements of a classic action film; there’s a love story with Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), and high stakes drama where the Green Lantern must save the world, possibly the universe.”

Pittsburgh Comics will have a presence at the opening. McMahon is distributing free copies of a Green Lantern comic book at the Hollywood Theater Crown Center Stadium 14 in Washington, Pa. and at the Carmike Cinemas in South Hills Village.

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