Abin Sur's career

[johnreiter902]

First, I'm still getting used to having this shoot the breeze section in addition to the writer ideas section, so if this seems like it is in the wrong place, go ahead and move it. As I read comics, though, I get ideas, which do not necessarily lead to stories, but which I'd like to discuss with other people who would appreciate them.

This is my thought. As far as I know, pre-crisis, Abin Sur only visited Earth once, in the late 1920s to capture a gangster who the gaurdians felt was a potential galactic threat.

Granted, major planetary threats were very uncommon before the age of heroes, but this still seems a little strange. We know the Guardians have sent Green Lanterns to planets where a criminal or dictator has gained a new unstoppable weapon, so why didn't they send Abin Sur to Earth when the Microwave Man debuted?

Even more glaringly, The Guardians have sent Green Lanterns to prevent wars of aggression many times. So does anyone have a theory why Abin Sur did not become involved in World War 2 or, alternatively, why he was unable to end it sooner on Earth-1?

[DocQuantum]

Yeah, I think this could be discussed here. If it turns into a story idea, then you might want to create a brainstorming post in the writer's group, but for now it's fine.

I've always assumed that the Guardians forbade Green Lantern Corps interference in local wars, except in cases where there was interference from other worlds. For example, if alien weapons dealers began supplying one or both sides in a war with advanced weaponry, then the Guardians may call in the Green Lantern Corps to stop them. That's assuming they're even aware of such interference occurring at all, of course. The Guardians aren't omnipotent, of course, so they wouldn't know everything that's going on throughout the universe.

I used an idea like this on an Earth-4 story, which features the return of Stardust the Super-Wizard. In order to explain why Stardust arrived on Earth in the first place, and why he left after only a couple of years at most, I claimed that extraterrestrials had interfered with Earth's development by supplying gangsters with weaponry that could have enabled them to conquer the planet and later threaten other worlds. Once the immediate threat was over and done with, Stardust moved on to another world and didn't return to Earth for several decades. Now, in the present, he takes a hands-off approach with Earth, preferring to work through agents in the form of the Paragons or other Earth heroes.

Anyway, the above is all speculation. I'd be interested in looking at the various published instances of the Guardians sending Green Lanterns to other worlds. That might help us establish a pattern, and might help explain why Abin Sur was sent to stop that Al Capone-like gangster.