EL'QA SQA ZREENAHEL'QA SQA ZREENAH
HOMEWORLD: unknownSECTOR: unknown
FIRST APPEARANCE:
GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL # 5
(1996)
"Nobler in the Mind"
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Humanoid torso with four arms, blue carapace, dark bluish-green hair. Lower body is snake-like with a dual hooked tail
KNOWN RELATIVES: none
HISTORY:
Battling the warlike Statejians, Green Lantern El'Qa Sqa Zreenah was blasted by solar cannons. The energy inflicted severe damage on the Green Lantern, and he believed he may have been mortally wounded. El'Qa Sqa Zreenah commanded his ring to take him to the nearest inhabited planet, Qualar IV.
He ordered his ring to seek out one among the native race who was completely without fear. The search did not go well. Across the planet, each candidate fainted in terror at the touch of the emerald light.
El'Qa Sqa Zreenah was astounded by the results. The ring had found only one on Qualar IV that appeared to be without fear, but had rejected him. El'Qa Sqa Zreenah was in no mood for discussion and commanded the ring to bring that candidate to him.
The ring brought Perdoo. The Green Lantern tried explaining the many responsibilities to Perdoo, but the native of Qualar IV was easily distracted by flitterbys, local flying insects similar to butterflies on Earth. The oath did not go as well as El'Qa Sqa Zreenah would have liked, but it had to do. Before going off into space, Perdoo saw to El'Qa Sqa Zreenah's injuries.
The newest Green Lantern believed the Statejians were giant flitterbys and grew very annoyed when they attacked him. Unprepared for this new Green Lantern, the Statejians inadvertently turned their weapons on themselves. Perdoo's world was saved.
Perdoo returned to Qualar IV, to the praise of El'Qa Sqa Zreenah. The injured Green Lantern was proud he had chose such a worthy successor as Perdoo. Even though he survived his injuries, El'Qa Sqa Zreenah was prepared to relinquish the title of Green Lantern to one so noble and worthy. The newest Green Lantern appeared unmoved. He returned the ring to El'Qa Sqa Zreenah, requesting lunch.
El'Qa Sqa Zreenah returned Perdoo to his home, which was actually a mental hospital on Qualar IV. Perdoo was the only one without fear on that world because he was mentally unbalanced.
[GLA # 5]
OATH:
Despite Perdoo's interpretation, we can safely assume El'Qa Sqa Zreenah's oath was the same as Hal Jordan's:
"In brightest day, in darkest night,
no evil will escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might,
beware my power... Green Lantern's light"
-GLA # 5
CREATIVE TEAM:
KNOWN APPEARANCES:
'mouse note -
As part of DC's 1996 Annuals featuring "Legends of the Dead Earth," the Green Lantern Annual # 5 was to represent the continuation of the Green Lantern legacy. The stories feature the passage of the power ring from Green Lantern to Green Lantern, supposedly Kyle Rayner's ring.
There's more evidence on hand to believe these are stories set in the pre-Kyle days. Each ring bearer is threatened by energy rays which are coincidentally yellow, and in this story, the power ring talks to El'Qa Sqa Zreenah. A nice touch is the power ring's "voice" to the Green Lantern... it's set in a GL insignia shaped word balloon with green, mechanical looking text.
It's been established the power ring won't work for anyone but Kyle or Hal, that eliminates the "bad-guy's-got-the-ring-plot", but what if it was willingly given up?
If, in fact, these stories *are* about the lineage of Kyle's ring, we're given an interesting turn on events... El'Qa Sqa Zreenah *believes* he is dying and passes the ring on to Perdoo. It turns out he *didn't* die and Perdoo passes it back. Perhaps the last power ring has to be willed to a successor, rather than just taken.
