Green Lantern’s Nemesis Beat the Corps by Redefining What They Stand For

For years, Green Lantern’s archenemy Sinestro has desired nothing more than to destroy the Corps, but has he already succeeded? The Green Lantern Corps’ reputation on one planet may hint how the fallen Lantern has done something far worse than dismantling his former organization.

As the number one threat of the interstellar peacekeeping force, Sinestro is the Corps’ ultimate cautionary story. Once upon a time, he was a stalwart member of the Green Lanterns and his sector was known for being one of the least crime-ridden. However, it was discovered that Sinestro was abusing the powers of his Green Lantern ring and running his sector like a dictatorship, even keeping the people of his home planet living in fear. After Sinestro’s sins came to light, he was banished from the Corps, with the disgraced officer swearing that he would have his revenge on the Guardians of the Universe and the Green Lanterns.

But as it turns out, he may have already succeeded in those efforts. In Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #1 by Geoff Johns and Patrick Gleason, the Corps is reassembling for the first time since its destruction. As rings scatter throughout the galaxy, one finds its way to the Green Lantern nemesis Sinestro’s home world Korugar and selects the highly esteemed doctor Soranik Natu. However, instead of taking pride in being selected, Soranik reacts in fear, calling the ring a “symbol of oppression and pain“. She brings up the previous Korugaran Lanterns “Sinestro the Wicked” and his successor “Katma Tui the Lost” as examples of what happens when her people accept the Green Lantern ring. Though Soranik does accept the ring to help her save an ailing man’s life in surgery, her colleagues tell Natu that she’s damned herself joining the Corps.

It’s understandable that the Korugarans fear the Power Ring. As a Green Lantern, Sinestro used his powers to keep order on his planet by threat of violence. And while she was a much better Lantern than Sinestro, Katma Tui was violently killed in the line of duty. But it seems that the fear all begins with the terror that Sinestro instilled during his days as a Lantern, showing how deeply his actions have effected Korugar.

Though Sinestro once strongly believed in the Corps, he’s become intent on its destruction after being expelled for his crimes. While it’s unlikely that he’ll ever achieve that goal, he’s already done something arguably worse: killed the credibility of the Green Lantern Corps. The organization generally has a reputation as being one of the most honorable forces in the entire DC Universe, but the actions of one man effectively poisoned the entire Corps for all of Korugar. Who knows how far that line of thinking goes as Sinestro dominated an entire sector all by himself and likely created similar anxieties regarding the Lanterns. Sinestro might not be able to take down the Green Lantern Corps, but he’s done outstanding work undermining their reputation on the cosmic stage.