J: Jack T. .Chance!

J 

is for Jack T. Chance.

(Before I get into this post, proper, I just want to give myself a little 'high five' for making this my 100th post to the blog, since starting back in August of 2011. Woo hoo! :) Also, in the past four months I've posted around 55 entries which is more than I did in 2010 and 2011...combined.)

Now...on to letter "J".

Jack T. Chance was created by John Ostrander and, as the story goes, loosely based off another Ostrander character....GrimJack.

For the uninitiated, the Green Lantern corps was founded by an ancient race of beings called The Guardians as a, sort of, intergalactic peace keeping force. Choosing a champion from each planet and giving them one of the most powerful weapons in the galaxies (the amazing power ring), the Green Lanterns are to keep peace in their respective sectors while still adhering to the Guardians strict code of non-lethality.

Jack T. Chance was the exception to that rule.

From the planet Garnet, also known as "Hellhole" due to it being one of the worst criminal planets in existence, Chance was chosen basically as a last resort. A loose cannon...and one of the Guardian's secret weapons on the war against evil.

Chance was given something that no other member of the core had been given before that time.

He was allowed to use more "questionable methods to get the job done...,but there was a catch. While most Green Lanterns had jurisdiction over an entire sector of space, Chance was to be confined just to his planet. The ring wouldn't work offworld and he was to be subjected to periodic checks by the Guardians to make sure he wasn't getting too out of hand. As if there was such a thing on Hellhole.

Even though he was a very minor character in the Green Lantern lore, I always liked Jack. He could 'stick it to the man' and get away with it, because they needed him to keep a lid on his planet. 

Chance billed himself as a "good, bad man", chain smoked, and carried a big gun as backup to his power ring. He refused to wear the typical Green Lantern uniform and, instead, just put a pin on his lapel to designate his membership in the Corp. Plus...he wore a bolo tie and I was big into bolo ties in the 90s. Don't judge. :P

Like another rebel Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, Jack T. Chance was a nice change from the usual 'boy scout' type member of the Corp...even reciting his own oath while recharging his power ring.

The typical oath goes like this:

In brightest day, in blackest night

No evil shall escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil's might

Beware my power, Green Lantern's light.

Jack's oath was:

You who are wicked, evil and mean

I'm the nastiest creep you've ever seen!

Come one, come all, put up a fight

I'll pound your butts with Green Lantern's light!

Chance was killed when the entire Green Lantern Corp tried to stop the galaxy wide threat known as Parallax and his ring crushed.

And before you ask, no, I don't know what the "T" stood for. :)

Tomorrow we'll speed along with one of the big gun's sidekicks....