Warning: Spoilers for Green Lantern #7!
It’s no secret that people love anime, and now in DC Comics, Green Lantern Jo Mullein has made it possible for any number of characters to make a cameo appearance in the DC Universe! Of course, making constructs of the most popular anime characters might be entirely impossible legally speaking, but that doesn’t mean lookalikes of Goku, Naruto, Eren Yeager, and more can’t make the cut!
Made possible in Green Lantern #7, the second story titled “Deus Novus Viarum,” by Geoffrey Thorne, Tom Raney, and Marco Santucci deals with the newest Green Lantern on the block, Teen Lantern aka Keli Quintela, after her attempts at exacting revenge on Sinestro’s homeworld of New Korugar in response to believing this iconic villain was somehow responsible for blowing up Oa’s Central Power Battery. Assured that it wasn’t him considering he’d carve his name into Oa “large enough to be seen from space” this issue sees Keli in a sort of unconscious comatose state after expelling far too much energy fighting on New Korugar.
Taken back to Green Lantern Jo Mullein and Green Lantern Simon Baz’s spaceship, weird constructs begin appearing across the ship that Simon immediately recognizes as Keli’s subconscious will manifested. Acting as a sort of auto-defense, Simon has seen this happen before in the aftermath of the Central Battery destruction, and as the pair are tossed around the ship, Jo saves Simon from injury with a construct that may have just opened the door for some anime-related shenanigans.
Catching Simon with a stuffed animal construct, he immediately calls out the cuddly choice, only for Jo to justify it by saying, “Anime. Millions of people like anime,” giving fans an in for potential appearances by their favorite — and legally distinct — anime characters. And while Simon is quick to follow up this exchange with a “Hey, I’m not judging” comment, the thought of anime infiltrating the pages of Green Lantern books is a fun idea that fans will hopefully get more of.
Already having manifested a wild Gundam-esque mech last issue while fighting members of the Sinestro Corps, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Jo might toe the anime line yet again in future issues. Now potentially able to bring slightly different versions of the Titans from Attack on Titan, heroes from My Hero Academia, and even easter eggs from One Piece into the DC Universe, Jo Mullein’s penchant for being a huge anime admirer will no doubt pay dividends for fans of these Japanese shows should she continue down this nerdy path of using these types of emerald constructs in battle.
Green Lanterns are a powerful and imaginative group of heroes even without the anime influences, so this new construct wrinkle is a welcome one to be sure. And although DC Comics might not be home to too many anime-related characters and ideas at the moment, now with Green Lantern Jo Mullein admitting her love for the stuff, fans can expect many more anime and manga references to come.