Green Lantern #77
Green Lantern #77 is the second chapter of Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams's landmark run that recast a struggling space-cop title as a road-trip through the social wounds of contemporary America — a storytelling pivot widely cited as one of the catalysts of the Bronze Age. The 'Journey to Desolation!' story transplants the duo into a company-town parable about labor exploitation and authoritarian power, deliberately grounding superhero fiction in the kind of real-world injustice that the Silver Age had all but ignored. By restricting Hal Jordan's ring power mid-mission, O'Neil uses the issue to force Hal into a crisis of self-reliance and conscience, deepening the ideological friction between the law-following Green Lantern and the activist Green Arrow that defined the entire run. The issue also carries a preview panel of Black Canary (Dinah Lance) that functions as a teaser for her debut in the series the very next issue, broadening the cast that would anchor DC's most socially engaged comic of the era.
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 1970 the Green Lantern series was in serious sales trouble, giving editor Julius Schwartz and his creative team unusual latitude to experiment. According to O'Neil's own account, his journalism background and social activism led him to wonder whether superhero comics could engage real-world problems — and with a book already on the ropes, there was, as he put it, nothing to lose. Neal Adams, who had already redesigned Green Arrow visually in The Brave and the Bold, joined O'Neil to make Oliver Queen the run's moral conscience, while Adams's naturalistic, cinematic draftsmanship gave the stories a visual weight that set them apart from standard DC house style. Editor Schwartz's records, later provided to DC Comics, confirmed all script, pencil, and ink credits for this issue.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: June 1970; on-sale date: April 9, 1970. Published by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics) as part of Green Lantern Vol. 2.
- Story title: 'Journey to Desolation!' — written by Dennis O'Neil, penciled by Neal Adams, inked by Frank Giacoia, lettered by John Costanza, cover colors by Jack Adler, edited by Julius Schwartz.
- Second issue of the O'Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow team-up run that began in #76; the title's cover logo had already changed to 'Green Lantern Co-Starring Green Arrow' with that debut issue.
- The Guardian companion traveling with Hal and Oliver — referred to in the story as 'the Old Timer' — is later formally named Appa Ali Apsa; this issue is cataloged as one of his early appearances in the role.
- Black Canary (Dinah Lance) appears only as a cameo in a preview panel teasing the following issue, #78, where she joins the series as an active supporting character.
- The plot centers on the company town of Desolation, where a corrupt land baron named Slapper Soames (aided by escaped Nazi war criminals) plans to execute folk singer Johnny Walden for inspiring the oppressed miners to resist — a story that uses the company-town genre to interrogate power, complicity, and the limits of rule-of-law heroism.
- A key character beat: the Guardians of Oa, citing Hal's leave of absence, deliberately reduce his ring's power mid-mission, forcing him to question whether his courage is real or merely a product of his weapon — an internal conflict O'Neil develops across multiple issues.
- The issue has been reprinted extensively, including in the 1972 Paperback Library collection, the 1983 DC reprint series, the 1992 Hard-Traveling Heroes collection, the 2000 hardcover, Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 5 (2011), and the 2015 Absolute and 2018 Deluxe Edition hardcovers, among others worldwide.
Cast · 7 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and the Old-Timer come across the company town of Desolation, where the boss Slapper Soames plans to execute Johnny Walden to silence the songs he sings which have inspired the people of Desolation to think about a better way of life. As Green Lantern joins the townspeople in attacking Soames' stronghold, the Guardians inform him that since he is on a leave of absence they have reduced the power of his ring. But even weakened, Green Lantern and Green Arrow are able to free Johnny and turn Soames and his men over to the authorities.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).