Green Lantern #26
Green Lantern #26 (January 1964) is a double-barreled Silver Age key, delivering both the second appearance of Star Sapphire and the first appearance of the sorcerer Myrwhydden within a single issue. The lead story deepens the emotional stakes of the Hal Jordan–Carol Ferris relationship by having Hal unmask Star Sapphire and discover she is Carol — a revelation that inverts the issue's own cover promise and adds real dramatic irony to the series' central romance. The back-up story, 'World Within the Power Ring!', is a genuine conceptual landmark for the mythology: it establishes that Abin Sur captured a villain inside his power ring itself, making the ring not just a weapon but a living prison — an imaginative expansion of what a Green Lantern ring could be that later writers have returned to repeatedly.
In "Star Sapphire Unmasks Green Lantern!", Hal Jordan faces off against Carol Ferris—now re-embracing her Star Sapphire persona—in a high-stakes battle of wills that tests more than just strength. Written by Gardner Fox and brought to life with dynamic art by Gil Kane, inks by Joe Giella, and lettering by Gaspar Saladino, this 1964 classic sees Hal lose the contest, only for a twist to strip Star Sapphire of her powers and return Carol to herself—leaving the truth of the encounter lost in memory. The cover, by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson, captures the moment of revelation with striking intensity.
In this classic 1964 tale from Green Lantern #26, Carol Ferris returns as Star Sapphire for a dramatic showdown with Hal Jordan, testing their powers and wills in a high-stakes contest of superiority. As tensions rise, Hal's defeat leads to a shocking moment when he unmasks the Star Sapphire — only to trigger a sudden reversal that leaves Carol unaware of the encounter, her identity restored but her memories erased.
In "World Within the Power Ring!", Hal Jordan ventures into the depths of his Green Lantern ring to confront Myrwhydden, a sorcerer who has reclaimed his magic after Abin Sur’s death. Trapped in a realm of shifting illusions and ancient enchantments, Hal must navigate the ring’s hidden world to stop Myrwhydden before the sorcerer escapes once more.
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The issue falls squarely within the Julius Schwartz–edited run of the Silver Age Green Lantern series, the same creative environment that had launched Hal Jordan in Showcase #22 (1959) under the pens of writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane. By 1964, writer Gardner Fox had taken over scripting duties on the title alongside Broome, and Fox authored both stories in this issue. DC's own editorial records, supplied by Julius Schwartz, credit Gil Kane as penciler and Murphy Anderson as inker on the cover, though comics historian Nick Caputo has noted evidence that Joe Giella may have supplied additional inks on Green Lantern's face — a point that remains a topic of friendly debate among Silver Age researchers.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: January 1964; published by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics) as Green Lantern vol. 2 #26.
- Contains two stories: 'Star Sapphire Unmasks the Green Lantern!' (lead) and 'World Within the Power Ring!' (back-up).
- Second appearance of Star Sapphire (Carol Ferris), whose first appearance as Star Sapphire was Green Lantern vol. 2 #16 (October 1962).
- First appearance of Myrwhydden, a rhyme-casting sorcerer originally imprisoned inside Abin Sur's power ring; created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Gil Kane.
- The lead story features Hal Jordan deducing that Star Sapphire is Carol Ferris by unmasking her — a significant early step in the long, complicated history of these two characters knowing each other's secret identities.
- The back-up story introduces the concept of Abin Sur using his power ring as a supernatural prison, holding Myrwhydden at submicroscopic scale inside a miniature world; Hal must enter the ring to re-imprison him.
- Cover penciled by Gil Kane; DC's editorial records credit Murphy Anderson as inker, though the precise inking credits remain disputed among historians.
- The issue has been reprinted in multiple formats: The Green Lantern Archives Vol. 4, Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 2 (2007), The Green Lantern Omnibus Vol. 2 (2011), Green Lantern: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (2017), Green Lantern: The Silver Age Vol. 3 (2018), DC Finest: Green Lantern: The Defeat of Green Lantern (2024); 'World Within the Power Ring!' was also separately reprinted in DC Special #17.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Mystery in Space #49 (1959)
Reprinted in Groene Lantaarn Classics #2724 (1971), DC Special #17 (1975), Green Lantern Archives #4 (2002), Showcase Presents: Green Lantern #2 (2007), The Green Lantern Omnibus #2 (2012), Green Lantern: The Silver Age Omnibus #1 (2017), Green Lantern: The Silver Age #3 (2018), DC Finest: Green Lantern: The Defeat of Green Lantern #[nn] (2025), Top Comics Die Grüne Laterne #118
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