Green Lantern (Volume 4) #43 is an issue of the series Green Lantern (Volume 4) with a cover date of September, 2009.
Synopsis for "Tale of the Black Lantern"
On Oa, Scar looks through the Book of the Black. She has been alive for billions of years, but has not died like other things have. Like the rest of the Guardians of the Universe, she knows that if the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum is harnessed, it will herald the Blackest Night, a darkness that will consume the entire universe and all light and life. But unlike the other Guardians, she knows the name of the darkness. And she worships it.
In Coast City, William Hand (aka Black Hand) lies in a open grave surrounded by rotting corpses when he hears a mysterious voice he refers to as death calling his name. While awaiting instructions, he reminisces about his life and how he's heard death calling his name as long as he can remember.
Hand's father was a mortician in Coast City. When he was little, he obsessed about his father's job even though his two brothers didn't. After killing and mounting the family dog, Hand is sent to a psychologist where he begins to develop a false identity that made him simply the black sheep of the family. This worked for a while...until his encounter with Atrocitus during his battle with Hal Jordan and Sinestro.[1] Atrocitus gave Hand the cosmic divining rod that he built to "absorb power - including the light from the Green Lanterns' rings."
Hand's obsession with destroying the Green Lantern grew from this. The light of the Green Lantern was so bright it hurt William, and he intended to destroy it. He fashioned a costume out of a body bag and assumed the identity of Black Hand to try to stop Hal Jordan. When Hal Jordan became Parallax, the obsession subsided. The light haunting him had faded to a mere spark. But when Jordan became The Spectre, they encountered each other again. This encounter eventually ended up costing him his right hand.[2] Hand eventually got his hand back after meeting up with the Kroloteans.[3] This gave him the ability to hear and touch death but also see it. He began having visions of all the dead supers in the world, including those who died and came back to life. The voice wants them all.
Hand eventually ends up back at his father's mortuary where he murders his entire family and then himself using the cosmic divining rod. Scar appears next to the corpse of Black Hand stating that the murder/suicide pleases the mysterious voice. She then vomits up the first black lantern ring and proclaims that Black Hand is the embodiment of the Black Lantern Corp (much the same as Parallax, Ion and The Predator). Black Hand is prepared to use his power to extinguish the light once and for all.
The Black Lantern Corp is born....
Appearing in "Tale of the Black Lantern"
Featured Characters:
- Black Hand (William Hand) (Flashback and main story) (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
- Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) (Flashback only)
- Hand family
- Mr. Hand (Flashback and main story) (Dies)
- Mrs Hand (Flashback and main story) (Dies)
- Jonas Hand (Flashback and main story) (Dies)
- David Hand (Flashback and main story) (Dies)
- Marbles (Hand's Family Dog) (Dies in flashback)
Antagonists:
- Black Lantern Corps
- Atrocitus of the Five Inversions (Flashback only)
- Evil Star
- Sinestro (Flashback only)
- Kroloteans (Flashback only)
Other Characters:
- Abyssma (Flashback only)
- Guy Gardner (Flashback only)
- Romat-Ru (Flashback only)
- Slushh (Flashback only)
- Stanch (Flashback only)
- Star Sapphire (Flashback only)
- Green Lantern Corps (Flashback only)
- In Black Hand's vision (Flashback only)
- Anti-Monitor
- Aquagirl (Tula) (Deceased)
- Aqualad
- Atom (Al Pratt) (Deceased)
- Arthur Curry (Mentioned only)
- Bizarro
- Black Adam
- Black Condor (Ryan Kendall) (Deceased)
- Boston Brand (Mentioned only)
- Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) (Deceased)
- Bruce Wayne (Mentioned only)
- Captain Boomerang (Digger Harkness) (Deceased)
- Captain Cold
- Deathstroke
- Doctor Light (Arthur Light) (Deceased)
- Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny) (Deceased)
- Extant
- Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond) (Deceased)
- Flash (Barry Allen) (Deceased)
- Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) (Deceased)
- Heat Wave
- Human Bomb (Roy Lincoln) (Deceased)
- Ice (Tora Olafsdotter) (Deceased)
- Jean Loring (Deceased)
- Jenny Hayden (Mentioned only)
- Jonathan Kent (Mentioned only)
- Kid Flash (Bart Allen) (Deceased)
- Kilowog (Deceased)
- Libra
- Lois Lane
- Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) (Deceased)
- Maxwell Lord (Deceased)
- Neron
- Phantom Lady (Dee Tyler) (Deceased)
- Psycho Pirate (Roger Hayden) (Deceased)
- Question (Renee Montoya)
- Question (Vic Sage) (Deceased)
- Shadow-Thief
- Spectre (Hal Jordan)
- Spectre (Crispus Allen)
- Sue Dibny (Deceased)
- Superboy (Conner Kent) (Deceased)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (Deceased)
- Tara Markov (Mentioned only)
- Weather Wizard
- Wesley Dodds (Mentioned only)
- Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark)
- Wonder Woman (Diana Prince) (Deceased)
- Emotional manifestations
Locations:
- Oa
- Coast City
- Hand Mortuary
Items:
- Book of Oa
- Black Lantern Ring
- Book of the Black
- Cosmic Divining Rod
- Green Lantern Ring
- Star Sapphire gem
- Star-Band
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in Blackest Night: Green Lantern, Blackest Night Saga and Blackest Night Omnibus.
- First issue of this volume that has not featured a non-flashback speaking role for a Green Lantern.
- DC Nation features Dan DiDio's rumination on his favorite Justice League team.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Green Lantern Recommended Reading
- Green Lantern (Volume 1)
- Green Lantern (Volume 2)
- Green Lantern (Volume 3)
- Green Lantern (Volume 4)
- Green Lantern (Volume 5)
- Green Lantern (Volume 6)
- Green Lantern (Volume 7)
- The Green Lantern (Volume 1)
- The Green Lantern: Season Two (Volume 1)
- Green Lantern Corps (Volume 1)
- Green Lantern Corps (Volume 2)
- Green Lantern Corps (Volume 3)
- Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors (Volume 1)
- Green Lantern: New Guardians (Volume 1)
- Green Lanterns (Volume 1)
- Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps (Volume 1)