Published August 1961
Writer: John Broome
Artists: Gil Kane and Joe Giella
Editor: Julius Schwartz
"The incredible occurrence in Valdale, an ordinarily busy community
on the West Coast, led Green Lantern, stalwart champion of justice,
on a long, long trail that finally brought him face to face with a
fantastic foe -- the amazing Sinestro, a renegade "Green Lantern"
who had joined forces with the evil Weaponers of Qward!"
---------
It's 9:14, and the citizens of Valdale are about on their daily
activities. Without warning, a strange shimmering light appears in
the air, followed by loud crackle. At 9:15, all 100,000 citizens of
Valdale have vanished without a trace!
When news of the mysterious happening is revealed, the entire nation
is stunned. Test pilot Hal Jordan, who is in reality the heroic
Green Lantern, is particularly puzzled. As he relates to his Eskimo
mechanic Thomas "Pieface" Kalmaku, who knows Jordan is the Lantern,
a scan of the entire town with his power ring revealed no clues. But
while returning from the ghost town, the Emerald Guardian recalled
that the mass disappearance occurred after nine. As it happens, he
was supposed to be in Valdale at that time to participate in the
opening ceremony for a boys' settlement house. But he couldn't make
it due to a case he was working on. If he'd kept the appointment, he
would have vanished as well. The discussion of the mystery is
interrupted when GL suffers a momentary blackout and forgets what he
was talking about. This temporary blank of the mind was actually the
summoning of his energy duplicate through the vastness of space to
Oa, home planet of the Guardians of the Universe, leading council of
the Green Lantern Corps.
GL's energy double is stunned to find himself in the Guardians'
council room, and even more stunned when he is informed that they
brought him there to warn him of a great threat against him. One of
the Guardians states that they have always exercised great judgment
when determining whom to bestow power batteries upon, requiring each
potential Green Lantern to prove their worthiness to bear the ring
and defend their sector of the cosmos. But they did make a mistake
in the past. On the world of Korugar in Sector 1417, a being named
Sinestro was chosen to be that planet's Green Lantern. He proved
that he was fearless and heroic, and honored his title by defending
his planet from the forces of evil. But as time passed, the power
Sinestro wielded began to corrupt him. He created a majestic
headquarters for himself and declared himself arbiter of justice,
forcing the citizens of Korugar to wait in line and present their
cases, and he would decide which problems were deserving of his
assistance. His arrogance and pride were growing out of control, and
it would soon progress...
When Ki-Mon, a Korugarn whom Sinestro refused to aid, lashed out at
the alien Green Lantern for becoming power-mad, the crimson-
skinned "guardian" lashed out in anger, striking the poor fellow
down with his power ring. He declared that no one could tell him
what to do, and soon took over his world in a one-man coup. He
became a dictator, dissolving the high council of Korugar and
putting his people under virtual enslavement. Anyone who spoke out
against Sinestro was not seen again. Thankfully for his home world,
the Guardians soon looked in and learned of the tyranny he had
imposed. They brought Sinestro before the council and berated him
for betraying his title and using his power for evil. He was
stripped of his title, ring and power battery, and as punishment for
his evil, banished to the antimatter universe of Qward (first shown
in Green Lantern #2, "The Secret of the Golden Thunderbolts!
where all was dictated by evil. The Guardians hoped that they had
eliminated the threat, but again, they were wrong, and that is why
they had to contact Jordan.
Though the Guardians could not enter Qward, they could observe it,
and witnessed scenes that greatly disturbed them. They found that
Sinestro was quick in contacting the masters of that world, the
Weaponers of Qward, and learned of their failed attempts to destroy
the Green Lantern of Earth. He informs the Weaponers that it is
because they are not evil enough, and that he would assist them in
becoming the ultimate in evil. Intrigued by his proposal, the
Qwardians forged and alliance with Sinestro and provided him with
all the resources he required. The exiled Korugarn knows that the
Green Lantern cannot be harmed while his power ring is active, but
he has found a way to exploit that. Using Qward's super radar, which
could detect what was happening on Earth but not directly see into
it, he learned of Green Lantern's appointment in Valdale, and that
during that time his ring would not be active. It was then that he
would activate the device he constructed, the Viso-Teleporter, which
would transport every visible being in Valdale directly to Qward,
including Green Lantern! Jordan was spared because he wasn't in the
city. The Guardians tell him that he must act alone as they have no
jurisdiction in Qward. He agrees, and the energy duplicate is sent
back to return Jordan's body, retaining full knowledge of what he
has learned, information that he cannot reveal to Pieface. With his
body and energy reunited, GL flies off from Ferris Aircraft,
determined to enter Qward, defeat Sinestro, and rescue the 100,000
captives.
At a hillside on the outskirts of Coast City, Jordan locates the
inter-dimensional aperture he had used to enter Qward in the past,
but incredibly it has been sealed! It's obviously the work of
Sinestro to prevent a surprise attack. With no other means of entry
into the evil alternate universe, GL comes to one conclusion, though
it's incredibly risky. Returning to Coast City, he flies overhead,
casting the beam of his ring over every person to temporarily make
them invisible. Soon, he is the only visible man in Coast City, and
therefore the only one capable of being affected by the Viso-
Teleporter. Jordan wanders around, his ring inactive, until he is
struck by the same strange light that appeared over Valdale. As GL
vanishes, the people of Coast City become visible again, the
temporary effects of the ring having worn off.
Jordan materializes in Qward, where the Weaponers are ready for his
arrival. They assumed he would be thrown off and unable to use his
ring during the cross-dimensional trip, and are ready to destroy
their apparently weakened foe. The Verdant Vigilante is bombarded by
radioactive blasts, but he was prepared for an ambush, and creates a
shield with his ring to deflect the attacks. Sinestro, however,
knows how to draw out his enemy. He informs Jordan that if he does
not surrender, then the people of Valdale will be killed. GL has no
other option; he surrenders on the condition that the prisoners are
returned to Valdale. Sinestro agrees, and the 100,000 captives
rematerialize in their city. Jordan, however, remains in Qward,
trapped in a yellow energy bubble which he cannot escape from since
his ring has no power over anything yellow. Sinestro informs his
prisoner that he knows from the super radar when the ring was last
charged, and that it will be out of power at 6:00. When that time
comes, Green Lantern will die! The Qwardians are so impressed with
Sinestro's evil genius that they decide to make him their chieftan.
He accepts, and declares that once Jordan is gone he will lead his
new followers into battle against the Guardians.
The minutes tick by as Jordan seeks a way to escape the bubble and
stop Sinestro's plans. It appears futile until he notices that the
clock in his prison chamber operates by vibration of atomic
particles, and that his ring had been receiving impulses from it. A
plan forms in his head...
When the clock strikes 6:00, GL's ring appears to be drained. He is
released from the bubble, and Sinestro fires a blast from an energy
gun, ready to finish off his foe. But the blast is reflected by a
beam from Jordan's ring, knocking the evil alien back! Sinestro is
perplexed - how could his foe still have power when the time limit
is up? The Emerald Champion reveals his secret; he used his ring to
propel the carbon dioxide he exhaled out of the bubble, firing them
at the clock to make it run faster. Thus, even though it appeared he
was out of time, his ring still worked. Pinning Sinestro to the
wall, he unleashes a tidal wave to wash away the Qwardians. But he
must work quickly. Despite his trick with the clock, he still has
very little time before his ring truly is out of power, and if he
passes the limit, he'll be stuck in the antimatter world.
GL faces his enemy again, only to be met with laughter. Sinestro
gloats that while he would have not hesitated to destroy Jordan, the
code of the Green Lanterns prevents them from killing or harming. He
declares that good is powerless, only evil can act. Furthermore, he
can't be taken back to the world of matter to be imprisoned since he
was banished from that realm for eternity by the Guardians, and a
Green Lantern cannot go against the order of the Guardians. Jordan
concedes that fact, but vows to show Sinestro that he is wrong about
the forces of good being powerless. In a swoop of poetic justice, he
traps Sinestro in an energy bubble created by his ring, one that no
force in Qward can penetrate. With his enemy trapped, GL returns to
his own world through the sealed aperture between universes, using
his ring and will power to propel himself through it. Once he's
returned, he quickly recharges his ring and recites his solemn
oath: "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my
sight. Let those who worship evil's might beware my power - Green
Lantern's Light!"
The next day, Jordan makes his promised appearance at the Valdale
Boys' Settlement Home. The opening had been postponed to to the
strange events that happened the previous day, and thankfully, the
Emerald Gladiator has nothing to keep him from appearing. Addressing
the youths at the home, Green Lantern tells them that as long as
right is on their side, they can always overcome evil.
------------
First appearance of Sinestro, the renegade Green Lantern who would
become one of GL's most persistent and dangerous foes. His physique
is supposed to be based on actor David Niven and altered to look
Satanic.
Sinestro has been prominently featured in animation based on DC
Comics. He first showed up on the small screen in "Challenge of the
Super Rriends" as a member of the Legion of Doom, voiced by Don
Messick.
The Superman animated series of the 1990s reintroduced Sinestro in
the episode "In Brightest Day", as a former Lantern who had been
dismissed from the Corps due to his corruption. He swore a blood
oath against all Lanterns, and slaughtered untold numbers before he
was defeated by Superman and Kyle Rainer. He later reappeared in
Justice League and Justice League Unlimited as a member of both of
Grodd's Secret Societies. In all appearances, he was voiced
by "Monk" star Ted Levine.
His most recent appearance was in "The Batman", voiced by Miguel
Ferrer.
