Green Lantern #37
Green Lantern #37 is the debut issue of Evil Star, one of Hal Jordan's most enduring cosmic adversaries, and it introduced the Starlings — his diminutive, near-invulnerable minions — as a package deal, giving the Green Lantern rogues gallery its first truly galactic-scale immortal threat. The issue is also a neat structural showcase for Silver Age storytelling ingenuity: it runs two complete, interlocking plots (a Cold War spy caper on Earth and a universe-conquest gambit in space) within a single 12-page story, with Hal using a hypnotic side-effect from one plot to defeat the villain in the other. Evil Star has proved resilient enough to appear across six decades of GL continuity, animated adaptations, and Grant Morrison's prestige-era The Green Lantern series, testifying to the character's staying power beyond a single debut issue.
In "The Spies Who 'Owned' Green Lantern!", Hal Jordan races to Oa to purge the lingering hypnotic implants left by Betty Sloane, but his journey takes a dangerous turn when he crosses paths with the enigmatic new threat, Evil Star. Written by Gardner Fox and brought to life by Gil Kane’s dynamic art and Sid Greene’s precise inks, this 1965 Green Lantern classic blends cosmic intrigue with a personal struggle, all wrapped in a striking cover by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson.
In "The Plot to Conquer the Universe!", Hal Jordan races to Oa to have the Guardians remove the hypnotic implants left by Betty Sloane, but his journey takes a dangerous turn when he crosses paths with the mysterious and menacing Evil Star. With the fate of the universe hanging in the balance, Hal must fight not only his own mind but a new threat that's already plotting to take control.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 19 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Raw / ungraded ▾ $2.99–$24.99 12 listings
More listings for this title
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
By mid-1965 writer Gardner Fox had emerged as the dominant scripter on the title, gradually shouldering aside co-creator John Broome, with Fox's preference running toward science-fiction puzzles and villain-heavy cosmic plots rather than Broome's more character-focused human stories. Editor Julius Schwartz — the architect of DC's Silver Age revival who had shepherded the Hal Jordan Green Lantern into existence beginning with Showcase #22 (1959) — oversaw the issue, with pencils by Gil Kane (who drew all 59 issues of the initial run) and inks by Sid Greene, the regular inker at that point in the series. The cover was pencilled by Kane and inked by Murphy Anderson, with lettering by Ira Schnapp — a typical division of labor for Schwartz's tightly run editorial shop. No specific production anecdotes about this individual issue have surfaced in available sources beyond what the creative credits and GCD records confirm.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Evil Star — an alien scientist from the planet Aoran who invented the Star-Band to achieve immortality, which also corrupted his mind and annihilated his entire world, leaving him the sole survivor seeking universal conquest.
- First appearance of the Starlings — Evil Star's diminutive minions, described as invulnerable and armed with Star-Bands that function similarly to Green Lantern power rings but without a known weakness.
- Written by Gardner Fox, pencilled by Gil Kane, inked by Sid Greene, cover inks by Murphy Anderson; edited by Julius Schwartz — the core Silver Age creative team on the title at that time.
- The story's title is 'The Plot to Conquer the Universe!' — a two-threaded narrative that opens with a Cold War spy plot (Betty Sloan hypnotizes Hal Jordan to steal Ferris Aircraft military secrets) and escalates into an interplanetary showdown on Oa.
- Hal Jordan defeats Evil Star partly by exploiting Betty Sloan's hypnotic suggestion — using it against the Starlings — and ultimately bests Evil Star in hand-to-hand combat after his power ring is destroyed, then turns Evil Star's own Star-Band against him.
- Published with a cover date of June 1965 (on-sale April 8, 1965) at the standard Silver Age cover price of 12 cents.
- The issue has been reprinted at least seven times, including in Green Lantern Archives Vol. 5 (2005), Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 2 (2007, in black and white), The Green Lantern Omnibus Vol. 2 (2011), Green Lantern: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 (2018), Green Lantern: The Silver Age Vol. 4 (2019), and DC Finest: Green Lantern — The Defeat of Green Lantern (2025).
- Evil Star went on to appear across multiple decades of DC continuity — including the Darkstars titles in the 1990s, Green Lantern Corps (New 52), and Grant Morrison's The Green Lantern — and was voiced by J.K. Simmons in Batman: The Brave and the Bold and by Paul Frees in The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Batman #319 (1965), Green Lantern #4 (1974), Green Lantern Archives #5 (2005), Showcase Presents: Green Lantern #2 (2007), The Green Lantern Omnibus #2 (2012), Green Lantern: The Silver Age Omnibus #2 (2018), Green Lantern: The Silver Age #4 (2019), DC Finest: Green Lantern: The Defeat of Green Lantern #[nn] (2025)
Key issues in Green Lantern
★
★
★
★
★
★
★
★Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.