Cover: Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson

Green Lantern #40

Oct 1965 · DC · 0.12 USD

📊 ~76,659 copies sold its debut month

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★ 1st appearance — Krona

About this Issue

Green Lantern #40 is one of the most structurally consequential issues of the Silver Age because it delivered three landmark achievements in a single story: the first appearance of Krona, the official origin of the Guardians of the Universe, and the explicit in-continuity premise that the DC universe is comprised of an infinite number of parallel earths. The mythological seed planted by writer John Broome — that Krona's forbidden experiment shattered a single universe into a multiverse — was later retconned and amplified by Marv Wolfman into the cosmological backbone of Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), making this 1965 issue the conceptual foundation of DC's entire multiverse tradition. As the first solo team-up of Hal Jordan and Alan Scott within the Green Lantern title itself, it also deepened the two-earths framework that editor Julius Schwartz had been carefully cultivating since 'Flash of Two Worlds,' giving the dual-Green-Lantern concept its richest single-issue mythological grounding to that point.

Contains 2 stories

Secret Origin of the Guardians!

23 pp · Superhero

Green Lantern [Hal Jordan]Green Lantern [Alan Scott]Doiby DicklesThe Guardians of the Universe (origin)Green Lantern [Ki-Nilg] (first appearance, flashback)Krona (first appearance, villain, origin)

Untitled Humor story

0.25 pp · Humor

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VG) $64

CGC 9.8 · 6 in census $11,535*

CGC 9.6 · 19 in census $3,524

CGC 9.4 · 31 in census $1,703

CGC 9.2 · 38 in census $922

CGC 9.0 · 57 in census $922

CGC 8.5 · 85 in census $468

Show all 22 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 87 in census $357

CGC 7.5 · 87 in census $268

CGC 7.0 · 115 in census $232

CGC 6.5 · 102 in census $220

CGC 6.0 · 109 in census $163

CGC 5.5 · 104 in census $163

CGC 5.0 · 100 in census $162

CGC 4.5 · 80 in census $162

CGC 4.0 · 98 in census $108

CGC 3.5 · 42 in census $74

CGC 3.0 · 36 in census $70

CGC 2.5 · 14 in census $70

CGC 2.0 · 13 in census $51*

CGC 1.5 · 2 in census $41*

CGC 1.0 none in existence

CGC 0.5 · 4 in census $31*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

The creative team of writer John Broome and penciller Gil Kane — the same pairing responsible for introducing Hal Jordan in Showcase #22 (1959) and virtually every major Green Lantern villain and concept in the early Silver Age — produced this issue under editor Julius Schwartz, who had a long prior professional relationship with Broome dating back to Schwartz's days as Broome's literary agent in the 1930s. The issue was published with an on-sale date of August 26, 1965, and carries an October 1965 cover date; the cover was pencilled by Kane and inked by Murphy Anderson, while interior inks were by Sid Greene. The story followed directly in the tradition of the successful Golden Age/Silver Age crossover formula that Schwartz and his writers had pioneered with 'Flash of Two Worlds,' applying the same Earth-One/Earth-Two conceit to the two Green Lanterns for the first time within the GL solo title.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Krona, the renegade Oan scientist whose forbidden experiment forms the mythological origin of the DC Multiverse; created by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane.
First solo team-up of Hal Jordan (Earth-One) and Alan Scott (Earth-Two) within the Green Lantern series itself — their original meeting had occurred in Justice League of America #21–22 (1963) as part of a larger JLA/JSA gathering.
Presents the first formal in-story origin of the Guardians of the Universe, explaining how Krona's catastrophe motivated the Oans to become cosmic policemen and create the Green Lantern Corps.
Establishes in-story that the DC Universe consists of an infinite number of parallel earths — a concept later retconned by Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (1985) to make Krona's experiment the literal cause of the Multiverse's creation.
Written by John Broome, pencilled by Gil Kane, inked by Sid Greene (interiors) and Murphy Anderson (cover), and edited by Julius Schwartz; cover date October 1965, on-sale August 26, 1965.
Also marks the first appearance of Alan Scott within the pages of the Silver Age Green Lantern solo title (he had previously appeared in other Silver Age books as a guest).
Also marks the first time Alan Scott encounters the Guardians of the Universe.
Reprinted in numerous collected editions including DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #4, Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol. 1, Green Lantern Archives Vol. 6, Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 3, Green Lantern: A Celebration of 75 Years, and the Green Lantern: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2, reflecting its enduring editorial importance.