Green Lantern Bronze Age: Key Issues #76 and #87

Green Lantern is one of the few characters to span all four major eras of American comics — under different identities. The Golden Age gave us Alan Scott in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940, Martin Nodell and Bill Finger), a character who draws his power from a mystical lantern rather than belonging to a science-fiction Corps. The Silver Age entirely reinvented the concept with Hal Jordan, a test pilot introduced in Showcase #22 (October 1959, John Broome and Gil Kane) — a genuine Silver Age grail documented through auction records, outside the reach of our eBay tool. Then came the Bronze Age: in 1970, Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams took over the series and turned it into the defining experiment of socially conscious superhero comics.

This guide focuses on the two Bronze Age keys covered by our estimator (eBay.fr + eBay.com, June 2026), with real eBay data and records documented by Heritage Auctions and specialist press. The eBay medians quoted are blended across all grades and printings — they reflect the market for reading-copy condition issues; CGC-certified high-grade copies occupy a very different price tier.

Bronze Age key issue values (eBay estimator + documented records, June 2026)

Both issues below have sufficient listing volume (above 15) for the eBay median to be meaningful — but that blended median is naturally low because it covers all conditions. Auction records from Heritage Auctions provide the reference for certified copies.

Record sources: Heritage Auctions, CGC Comics, GoCollect.

Green Lantern #76 (1970): the comic that changed the tone of superhero fiction

Published in April 1970, Green Lantern #76 marks the start of Denny O'Neil's scripts and Neal Adams's art on the series, under the editorial direction of Julius Schwartz. O'Neil placed conservative cosmic cop Hal Jordan alongside fiercely liberal Oliver Queen / Green Arrow, and used their friction to address the social fault lines of 1970s America: racism, poverty, drug addiction, political corruption. The opening story confronts the pair with a predatory landlord evicting his tenants, and Green Arrow's rebuke to Green Lantern has never been forgotten: "You helped people with blue skin, green skin, orange skin — what have you done for people with black skin?" The run covering issues 76 through 87 (with a coda in #89) is regularly cited as the founding act of the Bronze Age of American comics, and #76 appears in Overstreet's top 25 Bronze Age comics.

On eBay, our estimator returns a median of 9 EUR across 69 active listings — a reliable signal that the issue circulates regularly on the secondary market, mostly in reading-copy condition. The certified high-grade picture is entirely different: only two copies have ever achieved CGC NM/MT 9.8 grade, and one of them sold for $31,000 at Heritage Auctions in 2014. For collectors on a more modest budget, a solid ungraded GD/VG copy can be found for under 30 EUR, while a certified VF+ or above will comfortably reach several hundred euros.

Green Lantern #87 (1972): the birth of John Stewart

Published in December 1971/January 1972, Green Lantern #87 is the final issue of the O'Neil/Adams run and one of the most historically significant comics DC has published: it introduces John Stewart, the first Black superhero at DC to take over the mantle of a major pre-existing character. The concept came from Neal Adams, who wanted a substitute Green Lantern that better reflected the actual racial make-up of American society. Adams based Stewart's appearance on actor Sidney Poitier, and O'Neil wrote him as a Black architect struggling to find work — a grounding in real-world systemic discrimination entirely consistent with the run's ethos. The cover shows Stewart with arms crossed declaring "Let 'em try me!" as Hal Jordan lies unconscious at his feet. The same issue also contains the very first cameo appearance of Guy Gardner, later a recurring Green Lantern in his own right. The CGC Census counts approximately 1,950 certified copies — relatively accessible compared to other Bronze Age keys of similar importance.

Our eBay estimator returns a median of 9 EUR across 66 active listings — the same reading as for #76: lower-grade copies dominate the active market. In the certified tier, prices have retreated from the 2022 peak: a CGC 9.8 reached $20,000 in November 2022, then $12,500 the following March, before settling at $10,500 at Heritage Auctions in January 2025. This normalisation remains consistent with a top-tier Bronze Age key — the issue is still among the most sought-after in the entire Green Lantern run.

The Lanterns series on HBO: a potential demand catalyst?

A television series titled Lanterns is scheduled to premiere on HBO/Max on 16 August 2026. Kyle Chandler plays Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre portrays John Stewart, in a detective-thriller co-created by Damon Lindelof and Tom King. John Stewart's on-screen prominence — his first comic appearance being precisely in issue #87 — is likely to sustain collector interest in that key. The broader pattern with high-profile superhero adaptations, particularly on HBO, suggests that sustained multi-season visibility tends to generate durable demand from new collectors rather than a short-lived speculative spike.