Even those of us who love the first teaser for the HBO Max show Lanterns have to admit that it’s pretty light on the superhero stuff. It might be about space cops, and it might feature a founding member of the Justice League, but most of the teaser features Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and new recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) traveling across the Nebraska countryside in plainclothes.
That is until the final seconds. That’s when Stewart asks Jordan if he ever talks to any other Green Lanterns. Jordan scoffs at the suggestion, (wisely) ignoring Guy Gardner to claim that he’s the only human before observing, “One of them’s a fucking squirrel.” That squirrel is a surprising deep dive for a teaser with little DC Comics lore, drawing attention to the late and loony Ch’p of H’lven.
Ch’p first appeared in 1982’s Green Lantern #148, as part of the “Tales of the Green Lantern Corps” backup stories that regularly ran after the main story. Written by Paul Kupperberg and drawn by Don Newton, the story introduces Ch’p as the noble defender of the planet H’lven, also populated by intelligent squirrels. The Guardians of the Universe, the founders and chiefs of the Green Lantern Corps, order Ch’p to come to the aid of the planet Berrith, whose dog-like inhabitants threatened to destroy H’lven long ago.
Ch’p soon became a regular fixture in Green Lantern, especially when he and several other members of the Corps were permanently stationed on Earth around the time of Crisis on Infinite Earths. That period saw the most development for his character, where he was the playful, sensitive counterpart to the cold and calculating Lantern Salaak. Artist Joe Stanton started drawing Ch’p less like a real squirrel and more like Mickey Mouse, which led writer Steve Englehart to add more Disney-inspired characters from H’lven, including girlfriend M’nn’e, best friend D’ll, and arch-enemy Doctor Ub’x.
