Two high profile members of the Justice League in DC Comics, Green Lantern and the Flash, are each extremely powerful in very different ways. A descendant of the two heroes got the best of both worlds with the power of the Flash and Green Lantern, but with a catch. The Flash can tap into the Speed Force to reach a power far beyond super speed alone, via energy manipulation and time travel capabilities. Green Lantern uses the power of his cosmic ring to create anything his mind can conjure. Together, the Flash and Green Lantern are basically untouchable unless going up against a villain with near identical powers, and their descendant was granted those same powers, with just one limitation. 

Green Lightning aka Ali Rayner-West is the descendant of both Kyle Rayner and Wally West and made her first appearance in the comics series Green Lantern: Circle of Fire by Brian K. Vaughan and Norm Breyfogle. In that storyline, a powerful cosmic entity known as Oblivion is attacking planets across the universe and says that Earth is its very next target. In an effort to fend off the beast, the Green Lantern Corps sends every member they have from not only the present, but the past, future, and alternate universes. Within the ranks of the responding Green Lanterns there is Green Lightning who stands above the rest given her heritage, though she has to be selective with which power she can use at a given time. 

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Green Lightning has access to the Speed Force like the Flash as well as Green Lantern’s ring, making her a formidable member of the Green Lantern Corps. However, in order to use one of her powers, she can’t simultaneously use the other. If Green Lightning wants to move faster than the speed of light, she can’t do so while willing energy materialized objects into existence and vice versa. The limit on her power is unfortunate, though it makes sense as she has to tap into two completely different energy sources to use each power. The ring is its own source of power that evidently cannot be wielded while the user is also pulling from the Speed Force. Even though there is a catch to Green Lightning’s two abilities, it doesn’t seem to slow her down any at all. 

As shown with the Flash and Green Lantern respectively, they more than hold their own against nearly any threat that comes their way. Green Lightning has the powers of both at her disposal, she just has to use those powers one at a time. That catch could actually work in Green Lightning’s favor as both abilities require the full attention and focus of the user so even if she could use them both at the same time, the level of distraction from either power could get her killed. 

Green Lightning proved to be a great asset to the heroes of Earth when the villainous Oblivion came to conquer, impressing her ancestors with the level of skill she wielded as a member of the Green Lantern Corps and as a speedster. The Flash and Green Lantern share a descendant who has the powers of both superheroes, and while the rules of wielding those powers could seem like a downside, it is assuredly the only way to use them both properly and to their fullest potential.

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