Hero of the Week 2010 #8: Sinestro

SINESTRO (DC)
Real Name: Thaal Sinestro
First Appearance: Green Lantern #7 (August, 1961)
Group Affiliation: Sinestro Corps, New Guardians, White Lantern Corps
Gaming Credentials: DC Universe Online (TBR/2010); Green Lantern (TBR/2011)
Infinite Wars Ranking: #284



'And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from darkness,' - Genesis 1:2-1:4.

In the world of DC comics, the first light to splinter from the white of existence was green -- representing the fundamental expression of life's will to live. This power of will was harnessed by the Guardians of the Universe, who granted control over it's power to their intergalactic police force, the Green Lantern Corps. Other energies manifested from life to create an entire spectrum of emotion and would-be ring barers: Yellow (fear), Orange (avarice), Red (rage), Violet (love), Blue (hope), Indigo (compassion).

It was in the Green Lantern saga, Sinestro Corps War, that we were first introduced to Sinestro as leader of his own Yellow Corps of fear-inspiring baddies. He was defeated by his protege and arch-nemesis, Hal Jordan (with help from Kyle Rayner), but not removed entirely from the board. The actions of he and his Corps inspired the initiation of a new Green Lantern law -- authorized lethal force. It also resulted in the defeat of Anti-Monitor, whose helpless form was tossed through the gulf of space until it landed in Sector 666, from whence a new threat to the universe did rise -- the central power battery of the Black Lantern Corps!

Flash forward a couple of years, and you have the biggest event of 2009/2010 -- Blackest Night!
It turns out the darkness didn't much appreciate the creation of light, and thinks the universe would be a much more peaceful place if the light of life were extinguished! Enter Black Hand and Scar; heralds of a creature representative of the darkness personified, and master over death -- Nekron!

Sinestro and representatives of all the other Lantern Corps have no only had to unite against the power of Nekron and his endless hordes of raised Black Lantern corpses, but also deputize several representatives in order to double their might as the affectionately dubbed, New Guardians!
The universe's champions of light line-up as: Hal Jordan (green), Ganthet (green), Sinestro (yellow), Scarecrow (yellow), Carol Ferris (violet), Wonder Woman (violet), Atrocitus (red), Mera (red), Saint Walker (blue), Barry Allen (blue), Indigo-1 (indigo), Atom (indigo), Larfleeze (orange), and Lex Luthor (orange). Unfortunately, as we've seen in the pages of Blackest Night, even this mighty assembly hasn't had much luck against Nekron and the Black Lantern battery.

In Blackest Night #7, we've seen the situation go from bad to worse as the end game finally becomes apparent. Nekron, who's nested on Earth and enslaved the heroes you once thought had died but he allowed to be resurrected (Superman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, etc) -- and he's uncovered his ultimate prize: THE ENTITY!

What's The Entity, I hear you ask, intrepid reader?
Each power in the cosmic emotional spectrum has a creature inherently linked to it. When Green Lantern went nuts and started calling himself Parallax? Huh! That was actually the sinister machinations of the yellow fear creature! Similarly, Kyle Rayner and Sodam Yat, a couple of green ring slingers, have also been boosted up by possessing the power of the green will whale, Ion!

The Entity represents all life in existence and is a shiney white creature that -- if destroyed -- will wipe out all existence. Which would be really bad news for all of us pathetic humans, but fortunately, just as the other creatures can be used for great power, so too can the white light of The Entity be taken as a weapon. ENTER SINESTRO: the most qualified guy you never expected to save the day at the last minute!

Yes, indeed! The fallen Green Lantern who became one of the greatest villains in the universe actually managed to do what he'd always set out to do -- save us!

Sinestro's version of saving us led to some distinctly Nazi overtones, which actually makes his possession of the white power somewhat unpleasant, but I trust the heroes will have an ace up their sleeve if they need it. For the time being, this exciting development makes Sinestro the undisputed Hero of this Week!

If you've missed out on the exploits of Blackest Night, extra print runs of this top selling series should make it possible for you to catch-up. Don't let the plethora of tie-in titles intimidate or confuse you. Satellite stories add plenty of character-specific fun, but to get all the key points of the story, check out Blackest Night #1-7 (already on sale), Blackest Night #8 at the end of the month, and Green Lantern #44+! Hopefully you'll enjoy the epic cosmic madness! More information is available, as always, at DCcomics.com!

Sinestro deals damage with the yellow light of fear in test screens for DC Universe Online!

Sinestro also recently appeared in his earliest guise (as a dodgy Green Lantern) in the Direct-To-Video animated feature, Green Lantern: First Flight. He'll appear alongside Hal Jordan again, in 2011, when Ryan Reynolds takes the feature role in the first live-action Green Lantern movie. As if that wasn't enough, you'll also find Sinestro front-and-centre in the inevitable movie tie-in game, and DC's long coming Sony MMO, DC Universe Online. So fret not, you'll be able to Sinestro to your heart's content for years to come!

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