Fans already know about the source of the power of Iron Man. It is because of the arc reactor that Tony Stark has implanted in his chest.
It is only because of his device that Tony Stark could even charge up his armored suits. This grants him super strength and the ability to fly. But what would have happened if he got Green Lantern’s power battery?
It actually happened during a brief period where DC and Marvel have merged for a new Amalgam world in comics. In the strange world, DC and Marvel characters have come together with heroes like Super Soldier that use Captain America with powers of Superman. It also has a Dark Claw that uses Wolverine with the crime-fighting style of Batman.
For Iron Man, The Creators Had A Unique Choice
In Iron Lantern #1, readers were actually introduced to Howard “Hal” Stark. He was a millionaire and the founder of the Stark Aircraft. Hal was caught in the power beam of an alien while working on the flight simulator. In the process, Hal was injured. His destiny changed when he entered the craft and met alien Rhomann Sur.
Unfortunately, Sur died before he could talk to Hal, abandoning his expectations as a mystery. However, Hal agreed to cannibalize the alien technology of the ship and turned it into an armor that would protect his heart from beating. To power the armor, Hal wielded a battery in the craft that appeared like a lantern. Thus empowered, the “Iron Lantern” battled both aliens and human criminals.
Much like his Marvel counterpart, Iron Lantern proceeded to revise his armor and went on to protest more influential adversaries like “Madame Sapphire” (Iron Man’s Madame Masque and Green Lantern’s Star Sapphire mashed together) and the shark-like “Great White android.” Although he never enlisted with any version of a Lantern Corps, he did find out that the green powers of his battery came from “Oa, the Living Planet”.
Most amusingly, when Hal Stark desires to unlock his armor, he uses safety phrases like “In Brightest Day” and “No Evil Shall Escape My Sight”! While he ultimately stops being pendant on his armor to keep his heart beating, he begins taking advantage of the Power Batteries’ unusual energy source to do aspects that Iron Man never could.
Like Green Lantern, Iron Lantern can build constructs of strong green energy. He can even cover his armor in green energy constructs, enabling him to “grow” to a huge size.
A mash-up of Iron Man and Green Lantern that is Iron Lantern shows the overpowered heroes when legends of Marvel and DC combined.
