After restructuring the entire Green Lantern Corps, the Guardians name the Crux Worlds that are crucially important to the DC Universe.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Green Lantern #2 by Geoffrey Thorne, Dexter Soy, Marco Santucci, Alex Sinclair and Rob Leigh, on sale now.
Following the events of Green Lantern #1, Oa was accepted into the United Planets and the entire Green Lantern Corps was restructured. The Guardians throw out the established Corps hierarchy, eliminate 1200 sectors, and reassign countless Lanterns. Most notable are the reassignments of the human Lanterns, which reveal the most important planets in the DC Universe.
While Guy Gardner is assigned an “outrider” and John Stewart is assigned to lead a quest into the dark regions of the universe, the other human Green Lanterns are assigned to the five remaining Crux Worlds.
The blunt and immediate nature of this major change coming so quickly after the loss of the Guardian rubs many members of the Corps the wrong way. John Stewart takes it upon himself to bring their questions and concerns up to the Guardians, who explain the importance of the Crux Worlds was a deciding factor for the reorganization of the Green Lantern Corps. They go on to say that every universe has seven Crux Planets that are essential to the growth and preservation of life and that each of the seven planets is uniquely adept at producing particular wonders. Earth, for example, is the crux of heroes. The Guardians point out that this is why there have been so many Green Lanterns from Earth.
Sadly, two of the Crux Planets have already been destroyed. Best known for being the native planet of Superman, Krypton exploded due to the instability of the planet’s core. Xanshi, the other lost Crux Planet, represents one of John Stewart’s greatest regrets. In Jim Starlin, Mike Mignola and Carlos Garzon’s 1988 Cosmic Odyssey #2, John Stewart failed to prevent a bomb from going off in Xanshi’s core. The explosion destroyed a significant portion of the planet and launched what remained into the sun. Stewart has always blamed himself for the tragedy of Xanshi, so the Guardians designating it as a Crux Planet weighs particularly heavily on him.
The Guardians don’t go so far as to list all seven Crux Planets in their conversation with Stewart, but the assignments of other Lanterns earlier in the issue give readers enough information to fill in the gaps. Aside from the aforementioned Earth, which is to be watched over by Hal Jordan, the other remaining Crux Planets are Oa, Mogo, Oishiha and Raggashoon.
Oa, of course, is the home of the Guardians of the Universe and base of operations for the Green Lantern Corps. The Guardians assigned Simon Baz to protect the planet and its maximum-security prisons, the sciencells. Mogo, the sentient Green Lantern planet, has been tasked with guarding himself. At various times Mogo has been used as a second base for the Corps, and there is even a prophecy that suggests that he will be the final Green Lantern. Surely, Mogo’s existence as a sentient planet is enough to qualify him as a cosmic wonder.
Little is known about Raggashoon, which was assigned to Kyle Rayner. It appears in the 1984 Omega Men #11 by Roger Slifer, Tod Smith and Mike DeCarlo and is a planet best known for its brothels and psychological resources. There is even less information about Jessica Cruz’s Crux Planet, Oishiha. In fact, this appears to be the first mention of Oishiha.
After the issue goes through the trouble to set all of this up, this status quo is effectively thrown out the window when the destruction of the Central Power Battery on Oa at the end of the issue leaves both the well-being of the Lanterns and the future of their assignments in serious doubt. The attack on Oa also raises concerns about the security of the other four Crux Worlds which will surely come into play in future issues of Green Lantern and potentially throughout the entire DC Universe.
About The Author
