When it comes to wielding the immense power of the Emotional Spectrum, one Corps, in particular, stands out as the most recognizable: the willpower-fueled any number of iconic DC Comics’ storylines, it’s the Orange Lanterns that are obsessed with taking that metaphorical cake away no matter the cost and claim it as their own.
But who are these avarice stricken Orange Lanterns? And why is their power over the orange light of greed such a formidable opponent when stacked up against other of the six Corps of the Emotional Spectrum?
The Origins of The Orange Lantern Corps
Billions of years ago, and well before the inception of the cosmic police force known as the Green Lanterns were even a green-tinged thought in the eyes of the Guardians of the Universe, a different kind of army, dubbed the Manhunters, were used to carry out the Guardians’ bidding. These robotic enforcers scoured the universe to bring peace and justice to any world that needed it, and through their travels across the galaxy came to a far off world named Okaara in the now off-limits Vega System. Looking for a band of thieves that had unknowingly stolen an artifact that contained the powerful fear-based entity known as Parallax, the Guardians and Manhunters honed in on their location deep in a hostile environment called the Forbidden Forest of Weeds, and arrived at their destination ready for a fight. But what greeted them was something they did not expect, yet were able to use to their advantage.
Forced deeper into the forest and stumbling into a long-forgotten temple, the band of thieves came upon an orange light that called to them in their haste, mesmerizing them like a hypnotist out for revenge. Revealed to be an Orange Lantern Power Battery, the thieves began to fight over who would get to keep it, and started a violent struggle in the name of greed. But when the Guardians and their robotic minions finally pushed into the temple itself and confronted the thieves, the orange light sapped the power of the Manhunters, and in the resulting chaos, several Guardians along with a member of the thieves guild were killed. Only wanting the box that contained the Parallax entity, the Guardians struck up a deal with the remaining two thieves: give them Parallax and they could keep the Orange Lantern Power Battery and do with it as they saw fit. Additionally, the Guardians promised that they would keep their policing forces out of the Vega System indefinitely, and no one would speak a word of this incident ever again. The thieves agreed and handed over the box containing Parallax, and as the Guardians absconded with their prize, the spark of greed flickered in the eyes of one of the remaining thieves as he brutally murdered his comrade and took sole control over the power of the orange light, a power he would hoard over for years to come.
Larfleeze, The Leader of The Orange Lanterns Explained
Given the codename Agent Orange by the surviving Guardians, the thief who laid claim to the Orange Lantern Power Battery was at first known as Larfleeze, a member of a long-lived species of alien who’s back story is as muddled and scattered with lies as his trustworthiness is. Based on the information dictated by Larfleeze himself (who has been known to exaggerate and manipulate more often than not), his early life was one of loss and hardship. Taken from his parents at a young age, Larfleeze was forced to work as a slave in a cruel and harsh environment that saw his captors starve and abuse him and his fellow slaves for no other reason than to weed out the ones unfit for the back-breaking work forced upon them. After a time, and with fatigue and hunger closing in on all sides, Larfleeze began hearing the “voices” of the material possessions that his overlords possessed beckoning for him to own them. And as even more time ed, the whispers grew worse until Larfleeze was able to escape his hellish internment and strike out into a universe that now labeled him a criminal.
ing up with the aforementioned guild of thieves, Larfleeze found himself on the Guardians of the Universe’s original homeworld of Maltus. While there, they were able to obtain various artifacts of great importance including the box that contained Parallax and a map that eventually led them to the orange light of avarice deep in the far off Vega System. After the scuffle with the pursuing Guardians and Manhunters, Larfleeze beat the remaining thief to death and laid claim to the power of greed. As time ed and Larfleeze’s reliance on the orange light grew to untold, paranoid heights, Larfleeze’s mantra of everything being “Mine!” became something of a religion for him, and when the Controllers, an off-shoot of the Guardians of the Universe, showed up on his doorstep to attempt to take the orange lantern from him in order to make their own Corps, Larfleeze summarily slaughtered them using the orange constructs of fallen enemies (more on that later). Infuriated that the Guardians would break their millennia-old truce (Larfleeze couldn’t tell the difference between the Controllers and the actual Guardians), Larfleeze voids his agreement with them, and threatens to unleash the full wrath of the Orange Lanterns for their transgressions, a threat that he would make good on in the near future.
Addicted to Avarice, Agent Orange’s Greedy Power Consumes All
With Larfleeze almost exclusively on the wrong side of whatever conflict he happens to find himself in at the time, the power of the orange light is something he wields effectively and in ways that are much different from any other Corps. Unlike the way that the Green Lanterns or Sinestro Corps use their power rings to form constructs stemming from their respective powers of the Emotional Spectrum, Larfleeze’s constructs are quite literally made from the fallen souls of his enemies. Raised from the dead after their life is snatched from them, they are “reborn” as pure orange light and added to the ranks of Larfleeze’s ever-growing army. These recruits are then used to do Larfleeze’s bidding, taking out his enemies and reviving them as agents of the orange light ad nauseam until his Corps is brimming with the dead souls of victims that never stood a chance.
And while Larfleeze is the sole wielder and owner of the power of avarice (Blue Lanterns have been known to help quell the insatiable hunger and similar side-effects the parasitic force of the orange light forces on its . Larfleeze may have full and exclusive control over his end of the Emotional Spectrum, but it’s also clear that its power controls him just as well.
Where Are The Orange Lanterns Now?
Though Agent Orange flip-flops his loyalty from being a straight-up villain to an anti-hero of sorts depending on his own personal needs and the bargains he strikes with those that want his help, Larfleeze has been known to fight on the side of good during the all out war with the army of the dead as seen in the Blackest Night crossover event. Since then he has begrudgingly helped Kyle Rayner’s quest to master all lights of the Emotional Spectrum in his attempt at becoming the White Lantern of life and even convinced Guardian of the Universe and co-founder of the Blue Lantern Corps, Sayd, to act as his own personal guardian for a time.
But ever since then, and with a few evil agendas enacted on his end from time to time to keep his sometime-allies on their toes, Larfleeze hasn’t been seen much in post-Rebirth continuity. His last appearance was in an issue of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps where he was controlling Brainiac 2.0, only to escape back amongst the stars once the conflict ended. It is foretold that Larfleeze may one day give up his power over the orange light to be reunited with his long lost family, but as can be expected, he will return to his selfish ways before very long.
When it comes to the orange power of avarice, the Green Lantern Corps can’t compete with the sheer number of underlings Agent Orange can wield. And while Larfleeze might not be as prevalent as he once was in current Green Lantern continuity, the leader of the Orange Lanterns is far too greedy for his own good, and with a lifespan as long as his, it’s only a matter of time before he comes back to obtain anything and everything that he most certainly will claim as “Mine!”.
