Actions
The Green Man THE GREEN MAN BIOGRAPHY
Created by Todd Klein and Dave Gibbons

The Original Universe


PERSONAL DATA


Occupation: Green Lantern
Status: Deceased
Homeworld: Uxor
Space Sector: 2828
Race: Uxorian
Marital Status: Unknown
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation(s): Green Lantern Corps, Alpha-Lanterns; Omega Men (former)
Sector Partner: Gretti (deceased)
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: Red
Hair: None
First Appearance: Green Lantern Vol. 2 #164/2 (May 1983): "Hero"
(as Alpha-Lantern): Green Lantern Vol. 4 #26 (February 2008): "The Alpha Lanterns Part 1"
Creators: Todd Klein and Dave Gibbons


HISTORY

Hailing from Uxor in Space Sector 2828, the Green Lantern of Uxor comes from a culture in which individuality is frowned upon. Uxorians are named for the job they perform in their society and are identified by their distinctive skin patterns, notably on their scalps and shoulders. The Green Man was a misfit who longed for a personal identity. When the Guardians of the Universe offered him the responsiblities of the Green Lantern Corps, the Uxorian jumped at the chance.


While on patrol, the Green Lantern came across an ancient caravan of "space gypsies". The caravan was threatened by a hole between the anti-matter universe and ours. Despite the threat, the space gypsies refused the Green Lantern's aid.

In accordance with the ways of their ancestors, no one outside of the caravan was allowed to aid them. They believed the gods had placed the evil in their ancient path and they must meet it bravely and alone.

In order to help the caravan, the Green Lantern gave Gretti a power ring. The young man was arrogant and impatient, but after the Green Lantern showed him what to do, Gretti closed the hole and saved his people. They returned to the caravan, with the young man regarded as a hero. The Green Lantern of Uxor left Gretti under the watchful eye of his grandmother. - Green Lantern Vol. 2 #164

There were many dangers throughout the vast reaches of space, one such threat was the Spider Guild. The insectoid species made relentless advances across many space sectors. The Green Lantern of Uxor was called upon to aid fellow ringwielder Brin who had almost been killed by the encroaching enemy.


The Green Lantern of Uxor followed the career of Earth's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. The Uxorian went to Oa with members of the Corps to lend support to when Jordan faced disciplinary action by the Guardians.

On the home front, space sector 2828 was constantly threatened by the Spider Guild. The Green Lantern fought a yellow drone ship to no avail. He paused in battle to recharge his power ring and was struck by an energy blast.

The Green Lantern crashed on a planet populated with humanoids in a pre-industrial society. A native known as the village "metalfinder" took the Green Lantern's power battery to melt down and sell. He tried without success to pull the ring from the unconscious Green Lantern's finger.

Not ready to give up his prize, the meatal finder tied the alien visitor down and brought him to the village. The Green Lantern told the villagers his story and asked for his power battery.

The Spider Guild drone ship had arrived, threatening to level the native dwellings if the Green Lantern did not surrender. In the few minutes he was given, the Green Lantern had convinced the locals to free him.

The Green Lantern used his power ring to create the appearance of a field on which the Spider Guild ship could land. After it had switched off its engines, the ship's golden hull passed through the green field, causing the craft's destruction on the rocky floor of a deep chasm. The robotic ruins were scavenged by the villagers who had never seen so much metal.

Although the villagers were happy, the metalfinder was not. He wanted the Green Lantern to remove the wreckage so that he would still be needed as a metalfinder. Unfortunately, the Green Lantern had to refuse, for he could not help one person at the expense of so many others.


The worlds of the Vegan system were not spared from the Spider Guild's designs. The Green Lantern was forbidden to enter that region of space due to the Guardians of the Universe's ancient non-interference pact with the Psions. He did so anyway. On Rashashoon, the Green Lantern went as far as to enlist the Omega Men's help in attacking a Spider Guild nestworld a few light years outside of the Vegan system.


The attack went badly, the Omegan's starship was seriously damaged. The Green Lantern felt obligated to help the Omegans by providing propulsion to their wounded ship. He had been reprimanded by the Guardians and ordered to aid them no further. When they reached the Vegan system, the Green Lantern entered the ship, he would not use the power of the ring.

He was set upon by the Omega Men who considered his actions traitorous. The Uxorian offered to help with the engines but without the aid of his ring.

In the burning cauldron of the star Vega, the mad goddess X'Hal planned to to gain her release and that of her child, Lambien by detonating the star. The being called Nimbus attempted to absorb their godlike powers to stop their mad plan. Their clash sent shockwaves across the billions of miles of space.

On the Omegan ship, the shockwave crumpled the ship's hull and irrevocably damaged the engines. Vega had been spared, but the Omega Men's ship was adrift in space. It was swallowed by a space-faring viathan.


The viathans were massive animals with similarities to Earth's whales. The great beasts could travel through warp space and were used to transport raw materials and passengers equipped with life support.

The viathan took its cargo to Wombworld, a vast Psion research center. Modelled after a DNA strand, the artifical world was comprised of "bio-links" encircling a central axis. Each of the twenty-eight active bio-links featured its own hostile environment in which the Psions would place their test subjects.


Deep in the Psion labs, the Omega Men were subjected to bioengineering operations. They would be released into bio-link eight to study the effects of behavior and physiology on survival rates.

The Uxorian had been attacked by one of the predators in the bio-link, but he had survived. His race's natural defense system was a deadly nerve toxin in the blood stream. The predator had been poisoned by its intended meal. Aside from this, the Uxorian was defenseless, his power ring was gone. The Green Lantern knew only the Psions could have taken his power ring.

The Omega Men allied themselves with Piper, a test subject in the bio-link. They rescued Piper's friend Twilla from a slug-like creature. Twilla and Piper had a symbiotic relationship in which Piper would receive rejuvenation in return for the memories that age his body. Twilla was the oldest and the wisest of the test subjects, she gave the Omega Men information to help them escape. They would have to slip through the ceiling air-vents at the top of the central shaft. There they would reach the Psion control centers.


The small band made their way up the central shaft to the axis of Wombworld. Without his power ring, the Uxorian felt he could not answer to the name Green Lantern. He would have to retrieve his power ring from the Psions. Though they were set upon by hounds, the Omegans found an ally in the form of Synapse, one of the In-Betweeners.

Each of the In-Betweeners worked in their own bio-link shaft. Their job was to keep the multitude of systems running. As a side occupation, Synapse ran the 'Tweener Network which broadcast adventure shows from Wombworld and translations from other star systems. At the start of the Citadel War, the Psions discovered the transmissions, the 'Tweener Network was cut back to internal systems only. Under orders from Artin, Synapse helped the Omega Men escape the hounds. -Omega Men #28

The power ring and battery were found in the midst of a Psion maze. The Uxorian attemted to charge his power ring, but flames of emerald energy burned into him. He was rejected by the green power.


The power ring and battery had disappeared, most likely recalled to Oa. The Green Man found himself with a new power, he could create an ectoplasmic portal through which he could see, hear and travel. He was able to traverse the distance in an instant to find himself by his friends.


The Omega Men would later discover that Artin, the ARTificial INtelligence of Wombworld, had merged himself with Primus, the former leader of the Omega Men. The two personalities could now share the body of Primus. Artin had secretly manipulated the bio-surgery of the other Omega Men to aid in his escape from the Psion complex. He had been planning a revolt from the Psions for many months. With the Omega Men and Primus, the time for rebellion had come.


Some of the Psions had realized Artin had been behaving erratically, but Wombworld's director refused to see the truth. The sentient computer was able to enact his plans. Artin recreated files from the Psion research banks detailing the answer to the first of their four questions: "Where do we come from?"

Billions of years ago, on the planet Maltus, the immortals studied all aspects of life. They took a local reptile for testing and discovered one part of the lizard's mind had the potential for much greater complexity. They enhanced the creatures, and found the new developments were passed to each suceeding generation. The reptiles were released back into the wild to chart their survival rate.

The Maltusians eventually left their world in a great exodus. The enhanced life forms evolved into the Psion race. The early Psions investigated the Maltusian labs and mimicked their creators. They went as far as cutting of their tails to look more like the Maltusians. After millenia, the Psions left Maltus to follow their creators.

The Guardians had found them. They were forbidden to travel to Oa, though they wished to leran more from the Guardians. The Oans regretted their decision not to destroy their equipment before leaving Maltus. Though the Psions had mastered the technology, they had gained little understanding. The Guardians felf responsible for the Psions and sent them to a distant galaxy where they could strive for comprehension. The Guardians ordered the Psions to stay within their assigned area and they would not be disturbed.

Humiliated by the Guardians, the Psions buried the truth. They exploited the lifeforms they found in the Vegan star-system, creating the many species of Vega's twenty-five worlds. In their research, the Psions had also given X'Hal virtually supreme power which she ultimately used against them.

The Psions rejected the idea, but were shown the truth by Artin. Forty-seven times the Psions had learned the truth only to surpress it. Seeing the reports caused the forty-eight repression, their lower brains incapacitated the Psions, allowing Artin to complete his plan.

Artin had arranged for the 'Tweener Network, the viathans and the Omegans to escape Wombworld. In the early days of his merger with Primus, Artin had created a new Omegan command ship on which they now travelled. Psion starsliders had been dispatched to stop the revolt, but they ignored the fleeing ships and viathans. The Psion commander opened fire on his support ships so he would gain control of the research facility.


To prevent the Psions from locating their group, Artin charted a course away from the Vegan system. Elu, a Roguian, had been badly injured in their escape from Wombworld. Artin required the mental powers of the Green Man to soothe their wounded friend during life-saving surgery.

The Green Man had doubts about Artin's need for him, which the sentient computer angrily dismissed. Artin knew the Green Man felt abandoned by the Guardians. The Uxorian's masters had recalled the ring and battery, but did not speak to him. The ringless Green Lantern was uncertain what the future held for him when he would finally be summoned to Oa for trial. Artin surmized the recent universal crisis was occupying the Guardians' attention and bid the Green Man to concentrate on the task at hand.

The operation was difficult for Elu and the Green Man. The Uxorian held back the Roguian's pain as best he could before passing out. The surgery proved successful, Elu was saved. During the medical procedure, their fellow Omega Men rescued two Vegans from one of the sick viathans before it died.


The Omega Men did not trust the altered version of Primus. Kalista would be the one to judge whether or not Primus was still the man they once followed. Kalista learned the true story of Artin and his merger with Primus. Without the presence of Artin, Primus and Kalista spoke of their feelings towards each other. Though they had come to an understanding, the hours of talking left them tired, they would tell the rest of the crew the next morning.

They didn't have to wait. Artin had been eavesdropping on Kalista and Primus' conversation, and unwittingly broadcasted it to the Green Man's mental frequency. The Green Man was able to inform the rest of the crew. -Omega Men Annual #2

Further along in their journies, the Green Man's mental powers received the thoughts of the Omega Man Nimbus. X'Hal had gathered six worlds from their different dimensions, and used the change-energy to compress them, trapping Nimbus in the center.

The refugees from Vega would be brought to Kuraq, but in secret. If the Psions discovered their experiments had left the Vegan system, the refugees would be hunted down.

The Omega Men were told of the threat X'Hal still represented. Even now, the mad goddess was making her way towards Vega.


The Omega Men visited Tamaran where they were manipulated by Auron and the Princess Komand'r into fighting the New Teen Titans. Komand'r, also known as Blackfire, had designs on ruling Tamaran. Auron fed his power to both sides of the fight so they would eliminate each other. With the Omega Men out of the way, X'Hal could destroy Vega without resistance. Blackfire and Auron's plan failed when the fighters learned they had been tricked.


The Titans remained on Tamaran to help fight the civil war. The Omegans still sought X'Hal. They were attacked by Auron and were able to catch the godling in the infinity loop of their starship's warp drive. This drew out the goddess X'Hal to free her son. X'Hal sensed pain from the Omegan ship and held back.

Artin had arranged a trap for X'Hal. Using Kalista and Elu, he arranged for them to bring the Orlac device in proximity of the goddess. The device was created millenia ago as an energy matrix to hold a human personality indefinitely. Elu released the device as he and Kalista were pulled to safety through the Green Man's mental gateway. X'Hal was dispersed throughout the Vegan system. Auron was released from the warp drive. He disappeared, vowing to find his mother.


The Omega Men travelled to each Vegan world, secretly deploying special transmission satellites designed by Artin. Many satellites were released, if the Spider Guild destroyed some, others would take their place.

Through his powers, the Green Man sensed his friends in danger on Kuraq. He jumped through the mental gateway he had created to help them against Kuraq's hostile lifeforms.

The Omega Men did not know that a small Psion fleet was following them. The Psions had orders to destroy Artin for his actions on Wombworld. They waited for the Omegans to make their way to Euphorix when they struck. By that time, there were only two Omega Men on the ship, Artin and Elu. The Psions expected Artin to be at the controls, unable to fire upon his creators. They were surprised to learn Elu was in command, the Roguian made quick work of the Psions.


Artin's plans were nearing fruition. The Spider Guild were unconcerned, eventually they would ensnare the Omega Men as they had so many other victims. The Psions felt differently. Artin's emigration plans would jeopardize their experiments in the Vegan system.

More Psion starsliders entered the Vegan system to surround the Omegan fleet. The Psions could easily claim victory over Artin, but they were ordered to hold position and wait. The Ultimate Psion held back all action until he analyzed an urgent report from Wombworld.

The Psion researchers had sent three manned probes beyond the barrier imposed by the Guardians of the Universe. There was no longer any need for the Psions to restrict their studies to the Vegan system. All Psions were given new assignments in light of the startling discovery. The Psions did not know the Guardians had left the universe for another plane of existence. -Green Lantern Vol. 2 #200

Broadcasting over the 'Tweener Network, Artin had devised a Psion transporter grid to bring the Vegan Spider War refugees to Kuraq. The satellites placed in orbit around the Vegan worlds beamed the digitzed molecules of each traveller across billions of miles to the artificial moon Refuge, which was a massive receiver orbiting Kuraq. From Refuge, the Vegans were beamed to the planet's surface to start a new life. For a short time, a number of the Omega Men stayed on Kuraq and knew peace. -Omega Men #38

The departure of the Guardians of the Universe, the creation of the Chosen during the Millennium project and the collapse of the Green Lantern Corps changed the balance of power in the cosmos. Many alien races feared the prophesies of the Guardians which foretold the coming of another race of immortals from Earth.


A number of races hostile to Earth joined together to deal with the perceived threat. An Alien Alliance comprised of Daxam, the Dominion, Durla, Gil'Dishpan, the Khunds, the Warlords of Okaara, the Psions, Thanagarians and the Citadel formed, an alliance that was suggested a decade before but was dissolved by Green Lanterns Sinestro and Hal Jordan. Free of outside interference, the races of the Alliance wished to exterminate the humans of Earth for fear of the "metagene," a genetic wild card that allowed humans to alter their physiology and gain super powers.


The Dominion moved quickly to eliminate any allies Earth might have in the universe. Though the Green Lantern Corps had disbanded, the Alliance hunted down any former ring wielders to prevent their influence on other worlds. D'aran Tuu of El'Sh'Tai was killed by an assassin. Green Lantern Pelle fell to a Khund pulsator weapon. Medphyll was blasted by a Khundian battle-wagon. The Omega Men were the next targets.

Receiving a distress call from Primus, Tigorr brought the Omega Men to the rescue. They were trapped by Primus' ship which was really a decoy created out of bio-linked Durlans. The Omegan ship could not warp away because of tractor beams from two Khundian battle-wagons.

Their hull was breached by the Durlans, the shape-shifting attackers outnumbered the Omega Men. The Green Man was one of three of the Omegans killed in the attack. The survivors were brought to the Starlag facility to serve as specimens for the Psions.


CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of The Green Man in chronological order click here (1983-2011) and here (2011-present)

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #9 (November 1985)


GLCWP NOTE

Best known as an accomplished letterer, Todd Klein had also created a number of Green Lanterns, such as Brin, Deeter, and Hollika Rahn. With the Green Lantern of Uxor, Klein went on to prove conclusively (to me, at least) that there was more to the character of a Green Lantern than a being in green and black tights with a power ring.

The OMEGA MEN comic, which was spun-off of GREEN LANTERN # 141, showed a different, darker side of the Guardians and their role in the universe. From Klein's run, the origin of the Psion race is interwoven with the history of the Guardians.

Few Green Lanterns have survived "retirement" in the DC Universe, they're usually served up as cannon fodder in an attempt to show how dastardly the villain of the month is. Klein and OMEGA MEN editor Alan Gold had planned an extended storyline for the Green Man, going more in-depth with their examination of the Guardians of the Universe. The demise of the OMEGA MEN book in May of 1986 was followed by the death of the Green Man in the INVASION! mini-series two years later. As to how I'd bring the Green Man back to life.... the Psions *could* clone his remains, right?

Who's Who lists Uxor as being in the Milky Way Galaxy, 52 light years from Earth in roughly the same direction as Vega. Furthermore, it states that Sector 2828 is in (or at least part of) the Milky Way. Following the "one tenth of a degree from Oa" division for space sectors, it would mean the Milky Way galaxy is divided into *at least* fifteen sectors, numbering 2814-2828!!! Omega Men #33 features a detailed map of the Vegan system.