Cover: Neal Adams

Green Lantern #80

Oct 1970 · DC · 0.15 USD

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“Even an Immortal Can Die!”

About this Issue

Green Lantern #80 is the fifth chapter of Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams's socially charged 'Hard-Traveling Heroes' run — the creative arc widely credited with inaugurating mainstream American comics' Bronze Age of social relevance. Where the preceding issues grounded their commentary in earthbound settings, this issue was the first of the run to transpose its political argument into a science-fiction allegory: the Guardian called Old-Timer is hauled before a rigged interplanetary tribunal on a planet O'Neil pointedly named 'Gallo' (evoking 'gallows'), with the kangaroo-court imagery drawn explicitly to parallel the then-freshly concluded Chicago Eight/Seven trial and the silencing of defendant Bobby Seale. That marriage of superhero adventure with immediate, recognizable political theater demonstrated how far DC's 'relevance era' could stretch the genre, and the issue has remained a touchstone of that experiment ever since.

In "Even an Immortal Can Die!", Green Lantern faces a chilling trial on the distant Planet Gallo, where the Guardians of the Universe have sent the ancient Old-Timer to be judged—only to find the process is a sham. With Green Arrow as a witness and the Tribunal’s authority seemingly absolute, the heroes uncover a terrifying deception: the real Tribune have been replaced by their mechanic, and justice itself has been corrupted. Written by Denny O'Neil and brought to life with powerful, expressive art by Neal Adams—both in the interior and on the cover—this landmark 1970 issue delivers a gripping, morally complex story that challenges the very foundations of authority.

writer Denny O'Neil · artist Neal Adams · inker Dick Giordano · inker Mike Peppe · letterer John Costanza · cover Neal Adams

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (Fine) $24

CGC 9.8 · 15 in census $1,112

CGC 9.6 · 34 in census $317

CGC 9.4 · 57 in census $156*

CGC 9.2 · 47 in census $155

CGC 9.0 · 40 in census $100

CGC 8.5 · 40 in census $79

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CGC 8.0 · 19 in census $73

CGC 7.5 · 29 in census $50

CGC 7.0 · 19 in census $44

CGC 6.5 · 17 in census $44*

CGC 6.0 · 10 in census $44

CGC 5.5 · 10 in census $37*

CGC 5.0 · 7 in census $35*

CGC 4.5 · 6 in census $34

CGC 4.0 · 3 in census $30*

CGC 3.5 · 2 in census $28

CGC 3.0 none in existence

CGC 2.5 none in existence

CGC 2.0 · 1 in census $20*

* 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 GL/GA run was born from DC editorial director Carmine Infantino essentially telling O'Neil and editor Julius Schwartz to do whatever it took to rescue a flagging title — an open mandate that O'Neil, drawing on his background in political journalism and activism, used to reimagine Green Lantern as a vehicle for real-world social commentary. Neal Adams, whose hyper-realistic, cinematic draftsmanship was already redefining DC's visual language, was assigned the book in place of the expected Gil Kane. Issue #80 fell squarely within that experiment's momentum: confirmed credits from Schwartz's own editorial records show O'Neil on script, Adams on pencils, and Dick Giordano (with Mike Peppe on some figures) on inks — the core creative team that had been sharpening its approach since #76.

Trivia · 7 facts

Story title: 'Even an Immortal Can Die!' — 22-page main story scripted by Denny O'Neil, penciled by Neal Adams, inked by Dick Giordano (and Mike Peppe on some incomplete figures); cover by Neal Adams; edited by Julius Schwartz.
Features Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), and the Guardian of the Universe known as 'Old-Timer' (later identified in DC continuity as Appa Ali Apsa), whose fate drives both this issue and its immediate sequel, #81.
First issue of the O'Neil/Adams run to embed its social commentary within a sci-fi/fantasy allegory rather than a purely Earth-bound story — the rigged trial on the alien planet Gallo was directly modeled on the Chicago Eight/Seven trial, with the fictional judge's appearance based on real-life presiding judge Julius Hoffman.
The letters column includes a contribution from Don McGregor, the future writer of Black Panther's landmark 'Panther's Rage' arc, providing a snapshot of the readership that the 'relevance era' was cultivating.
The GL/GA run — of which this issue is part — won the Shazam Award for Best Continuing Feature in 1970, the industry's premier recognition at the time.
Reprinted over fifteen times internationally, including in DC's own Green Lantern/Green Arrow #3 (1983), the Hard-Traveling Heroes trade collection (1992), and every subsequent collected edition of the run up through the 2018 Deluxe Edition and the 2024 Hard Travelin' Heroes Omnibus.
Part one of a two-part arc: #80 ends with the apparent farewell to the Old-Timer, a resolution immediately reversed when the character returned in the very next issue, #81 ('Death Be My Destiny!').