Ahead of HBO's new "Lanterns" series, Collider has put together a beginner's reading list of essential Green Lantern comics, focusing on the Hal Jordan and John Stewart incarnations of the character since those are the versions featured in the show. The piece traces the hero's evolution from his 1940s magic-based origins as Alan Scott through to the Silver Age reinvention that introduced the now-familiar space-cop mythology, weakness to yellow and alien Corps.

Among the recommended starting points are Showcase #22 (1959), the John Broome and Gil Kane story that introduces test pilot Hal Jordan and the modern Green Lantern concept; Green Lantern: Secret Origin, Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis's streamlined retelling of Hal's beginnings; and DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke, which folds Hal's Korean War-era origin into a wider retelling of the Justice League's formation. The full list runs to ten titles intended to guide newcomers through Hal Jordan and John Stewart's key stories.