Red Lantern's Powers Get a MASSIVE Upgrade in Green Lantern Twist DC Needs to Explore More

Warning: Spoilers for Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #6!

Summary Vlad Sokov retains immense power with an internal connection to the Crimson Flame without needing a Red Lantern ring.

Vlad's revival complicates the history of Red Lantern lore, indicating possible plans for his return in future DC comics.

The Red Lantern's escape and changed nature suggest a brutal reunion with Green Lantern, intensifying the dynamic conflict.

Vladimir Sokov, the Red Lantern to Alan Scott's Green Lantern, just got a promising power upgrade. One of the newest additions to Green Lantern lore, Vlad is Alan's former lover who turns out to have been spying for the Soviets during their entire time together. Now, he's the Red Lantern, proving to hold immense power and pushing Alan into the Green Lantern's best fight in 84 years.

In the series' final issue, Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #6 by Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey, Vlad reveals that he can control the Crimson Flame without the need of a Red Lantern ring. When the dust settles, the Red Lantern is arrested and sent to a detention center for his crimes.

He quickly unveils that he has no need for a ring, as he has an internal connection to the Crimson Flame that allows him to manipulate its energy. The moment not only expands on what readers know about Red Lantern lore, but it also opens the door for Vlad's return.

Related Green Lantern: Sinestro’s Red Lantern Upgrade Is Leading to a Brutal Reunion Green Lantern’s nemesis Sinestro is sticking with his new Red Lantern upgrade and that could mean trouble for his first meeting with his possible son.

The Red Lantern Retains the Crimson Flame

Green Lantern's New Archrival Lives to Fight Another Day

While Vlad himself is a new villain in the Green Lantern's rogues gallery, the concept of a Red Lantern is nothing new, as the Red Lantern Corps were first introduced in 2008's Green Lantern #25. Sinestro himself recently accessed the Red Light of Rage, becoming the new Red Lantern for modern times (and Hal Jordan's story), but Vlad recontextualizes the Red Light's history as one of the earliest renditions of the Red Lantern. Throughout his villainous turn in this series, readers learn as much about Vlad as they learn new info about the Crimson Flame.

Green Lantern #25, part of the "Sinestro Corps War" storyline, is by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver, Oclair Albert, Júlio Ferreira, Rod Reis, Moose Baumann, and Rob Leigh.

This latest story beat is the newest bit of lore that expands information about the Flame, making both Vlad and the Red Lanterns as a whole more dangerous. It's not quite clear yet if such a connection to the Crimson Flame is unique to Vlad or something that all Red Lanterns are capable of — if, indeed, the Flame is connected to the Red Light — but in the case of the latter, it makes Sinestro's turn to the Red Lanterns all the more concerning. And if it's unique to Vlad, then it hints that his revival at the hands of the Crimson Flame changed him more than he's let on.

DC All But Confirms that Red Lantern and Green Lantern Will Meet Again

A Return to DC Is Imminent for the Red Lantern

At the end of the issue, Green Lantern reveals in the narration that Vlad escaped his detention center off-panel. Alan also speculates that his death and resurrection via the Crimson Flame during the series' final battle did, indeed, change him. "It was like the Red Lantern became the Crimson Flame," he says. This sounds like a big loose end to leave open-ended like this — unless DC has plans to bring the Red Lantern back. For all the intrigue he brings to the table both in understanding his powers and revisiting his conflict with Green Lantern, Vlad should mostly certainly return.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #6 is available now from DC Comics.

ALAN SCOTT: THE GREEN LANTERN #6 (2024) Writer: Tim Sheridan

Artist: Cian Tormey

Inker: Jordi Tarragona

Colorist: Matt Herms

Letterer: Lucas Gattoni

Cover Artist: David Talaski