Darkseid vs. Green Lantern

[xdoop.insanejournal.com]

This is from Green Lantern 80-Page Giant #3. It's written by Scott Beatty and illustrated by Grant Miehm.

Comments

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

... that's a really interesting question. What's more sophisticated, a GL ring or a motherbox? GL rings no longer seem to possess the same sentience they exhibited pre-Crisis, while 'boxes are still quite alive and have personalities, so in that sense they're probably a step up, but their actual ability to analyze and affect the world around them seems far more limited.

[blake_reitz.insanejournal.com]

Well, going by Final Crisis, the mother box would be the more sophisticated entity, since using a green lantern ring was only part of what was needed to build a "cargo cult" mother box. Actually, this is one of the reasons I'm glad the New Gods have their own little corner of the multiverse.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Well, componency isn't necessarily indicative of greater end sophistication. A living cow, for example, is a much more sophisticated thing than a hunk of ground beef or a leather car seat. Without knowing whether all of the ring's function was required, or whether the ring was even being used in the way it was designed (a desktop PC can make a very effective space heater in winter, which is an absurd waste if you buy it for that purpose, but if you need a space heater and already have a PC on hand...), we can't say whether the motherbox is really "Lantern Ring Plus."

[blake_reitz.insanejournal.com]

Going to be honest here in my personal comic cosmology, cosmic power is measured in Kirby Dots. Slight bias...

An interesting point in that we don't really know in what way the ring was used. One might assume that the GLC battery might be considered the higher level of technology, as it was the target of Granny Goodness. Now that I'm thinking about it, we've really not seen all that much of mother boxes in terms of raw power compared to GL rings. The reason being that for most of the corps, the ring is the whole of their superpower, while the New Gods are using mother boxes as, well, "fancy god ipods."

I'm still leaning towards mother boxes as the more sophisticated tech, since they seem to contain a metaphysical or spiritual aspect to them, and pull off feats that I've never seen out of a ring (Boom Tubes being the big one, also healing.)

Now, if we gave Himon, creator of the motherbox, a GL ring, would he be able to re-create the motherbox? Didn't Scott Free get his soul transferred into a GLC ring via motherbox in the sequel to The Nail? Crossover questions are starting to muck up my thoughts.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Rings can heal and teleport, though the second use we haven't seen since Crisis and the first only seems available to people who don't know any better (Ice did it with Guy's ring, and Guy has never been able to duplicate it because he "knows" it isn't possible... much the way the yellow weakness has been retconned). I don't think there's any reason to think a ring couldn't make a Boom Tube whatsoever. On the other hand, there's fair reason to think there aren't many Lanterns who could make a Boom Tube. Motherboxes are fundamentally user-friendly, while GL rings are manifestly not.

Actually, there's the solution - there are various New God Lanterns in the various mythoi. Do they still carry motherboxes, and if so, why did they bother to accept rings in the first place? If your society has access to guns, a crossbow-wielding military service isn't going to hold much appeal for you as a way to make a difference in the world. I think we're looking at something more like a laptop/hybrid car distinction - two devices only comparable in the most broad terms, given the disparity in purpose and the cultural take on usage between them.

[blake_reitz.insanejournal.com]

Agree on all points, especially the laptop/car comparison. Both devices show very little overlap in application (even personal flight - new gods always seem to be zipping around on those hover-disks). The ring may be the more flexible of the two devices, especially if the owner isn't aware of it's limitations, but does have the will/imagination to pull it off. You mention Ice healing with it, and I remember in JLA that Dream had referred it as a literal "wishing ring."

There's another aspect I hadn't thought of, to the "can a ring make a box" question, which is: could a mother box make a ring? I'm actually leaning towards "no" although I have no evidence to back this up.

[blake_reitz.insanejournal.com]

Sidethough: There's a GL who talks to the dead. Is that a ring-powered ability? Especially in recent years, there's been a lot of unique ring-bearer specific powers.

[jlbarnett.insanejournal.com]

Actually the answer is "Of course it can"

The ring relies on the imagination and will of the user. You got enough willpower and you think you can create a mother box you can.

There was a JLA or GL 80 page Giant where Kyle was doing some training with J'onn and after Kyle mentioned not knowing the chemical formula for something J'onn told him that shouldn't have been a deterent.