Abin Sur is a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

appearing in American comic books published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. He was a member of the

Green Lantern Corps The Green Lantern Corps is a intergalactic Peacekeeping, peace keeping agency appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the plan ...

and is best known as the predecessor of

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

Hal Jordan Harold "Hal" Jordan, one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created in 1959 by writer John Broome (writer), John Broome and artist Gil Kane, and f ...

, whom Abin Sur's power ring chose as his replacement. After the ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

'' events, details of Abin Sur's past are altered, and he was revealed to be a brother-in-law of

Sinestro Thaal Sinestro () (or simply Sinestro) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, particularly those featuring Green Lantern. Created by John Broome and Gil Kane, Sinestro is a former Green Lantern Corps member w ...

and uncle of his daughter Soranik Natu. Abin Sur has appeared in various media outside comics, primarily in association with Green Lantern. Peter Mark Richman, Corey Burton, and Arnold Vosloo have voiced the character in animated television series and films. Furthermore, Temuera Morrison portrays Sur in ''

'' (2011).

Publication history

Abin Sur first appeared in ''Showcase'' #22 and was created by John Broome and

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz , ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day vers ...

Fictional character biography

Originally a history professor on the planet Ungara, Abin Sur is appointed

of Space Sector 2814 in the mid-1860s. As a child, he befriends Ruch Ehr and later, by association, Munni Jah. The two were a couple and Abin secretly loved Munni, but never spoke openly of this. In early adventures in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, Sur encounters various heroes, including Starman,

Bulletman Bulletman and Bulletgirl are fictional superheroes originally published by Fawcett Comics. Publication history Created by Bill Parker and Jon Smalle, Bulletman first appeared in ''Nickel Comics'' #1 (May 1940). This comic was distinct from other ...

, and

Martian Manhunter The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" in ''Detective Comics ...

. After being fatally wounded in a ship crash, Sur gives his ring to Hal Jordan. In later appearances, Sur appears as a spirit, while his past self is transported to the present during '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!''. He undergoes the Karamm-Jeev Descent, an Ungaran form of reincarnation, and is reborn as Lagzia, the daughter of Ruch Ehr and Munni Jah. Abin also has a son,

Amon Sur Amon Sur is a supervillain in the DC Universe. He is the son of the Green Lantern Abin Sur and nephew of the villain/antihero Sinestro by marriage with Sur's sister Arin. Publication history Amon Sur first appeared in ''Green Arrow'' (vol. 3) #24 ...

, who is the leader of the Black Circle crime syndicate. Amon is angry at Abin for abandoning him for the Corps and becomes a member of the

Sinestro Corps The Sinestro Corps, occasionally known as the Yellow Lantern Corps, is a supervillainous group and analogy, analog to the Green Lantern Corps in the DC Universe. They are led by Sinestro, and derive power from the emotional electromagnetic spectr ...

and an enemy of the Green Lanterns.''Green Lantern'' vol. 4 #14 (November 2006)''Green Lantern'' vol. 4 #15 (November 2006)''Green Lantern'' vol. 4 #16 (January 2007)

The Prophecy

During ''

Sinestro Corps War "Sinestro Corps War" is an American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover event published by DC Comics in its ''Green Lantern'' and ''Green Lantern Corps'' titles. Written by Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons and drawn by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleas ...

'', it is revealed that Abin discovered a prophecy concerning his death and the

Blackest Night "Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in i ...

, an uprising of the

Black Lantern Corps The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of wikt:corporeal, corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of d ...

.''Green Lantern'' vol. 4 #25 (December 2007)''Green Lantern'' vol. 4 #29 (March 2008) While Sur is investigating the prophecy,

Atrocitus Atrocitus (Atros) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the leader of the Red Lantern Corps and an enemy of the Guardians of the Universe and Sinestro, their former Green Lantern. Publication history A ...

attacks him, leading to his death.

Blackest Night

In ''Blackest Night'', Abin Sur and his sister Arin are resurrected as

Black Lanterns The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of deceased fictiona ...

before Hal Jordan, Sinestro, Indigo-1, and

Carol Ferris Caroline "Carol" Ferris is a fictional character appearing in the . She is one of many characters who has used the name Star Sapphire, and the long-time love interest of Hal Jordan, the Silver Age Green Lantern. In her role as Star Sapphire, Fe ...

kill them. Furthermore, it is revealed that Sur helped found the

Indigo Tribe The Indigo Tribe is a fictional organization that appears in DC Comics publications, primarily those of the ''Green Lantern'' series. In the DC Universe, it is one of the seven major groups known to comprise the Lantern Corps. The group was crea ...

by creating their central power battery and is included in their oath.

''DC Rebirth''

In ''

DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 (2011–2016) initiative in May 2016 as its launching point ...

'', Hal Jordan meets with Abin Sur in Emerald Space, an afterlife for fallen Green Lanterns. Furthermore,

Jessica Cruz Jessica Cruz, one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, she is a member of the Green Lantern Corps and Justice League ...

and

Simon Baz Simon Baz, one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, created by writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke. Baz is an officer of the Green Lantern Corps, an extraterrestr ...

use Ungara as a sanctuary for Molite refugees.

Other versions

Earth-3

An alternate universe variant of Abin Sur from

Earth-3 Earth-Three, or simply Earth-3 or Earth 3, is a “partially-reversed” Earth, where supervillainous counterparts of the mainstream DC superheroes reside. It first appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #29 (August 1964), and the concept has ...

appears in ''Justice League'' (vol. 2) #26. This version's power ring hosted the malevolent, ancient entity Volthoom and chose a cowardly janitor employed by Carol Ferris.

Earth One

The corpse of an alternate universe variant of Abin Sur from Earth One appears in ''Green Lantern: Earth One''.

Flashpoint

An alternate timeline variant of Abin Sur appears in '' Flashpoint'' and ''

Convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

''. This version survived his crash landing on Earth and became a

White Lantern The White Lantern Corps is a fictional organization appearing in comics published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. Founded during the ''Blackest Night'' event, the members of the White Lantern Corps are powered by the white light ...

In Darkest Knight

An alternate universe variant of Abin Sur appears in the one-shot ''In Darkest Knight''. This version's power ringer chose a young Bruce Wayne.

Multiversity

An alternate universe variant of Abin Sur appears in ''Multiversity''. This version possesses horns and comes from an unidentified Earth that had recently finished World War II. After taking part in a war against Vandal Savage, he helps the save the multiverse from a cosmic army before joining a cross-dimensional group called Justice Incarnate.

Superman: Red Son

An alternate universe variant of Abin Sur appears in '' Superman: Red Son''. After his spacecraft crashed at Roswell, he died shortly after. Following this,

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...

arranges for Sur and his ship to be hidden in

Area 51 Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range in southern Nevada, north-northwest of Las Vegas. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force B ...

Superman: Last Son of Earth

An alternate universe variant of Abin Sur appears in '' Superman: Last Son of Earth''. Due to conflict in another part of his sector, this version failed to save Earth from a meteor that resulted in all but one million people's deaths.

World's Finest

An alternate universe variant of Abin Sur appears in '' Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl''. This version is a longtime member of the

Justice Society In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes'' of Justinian, a ...

who has visited Krypton many times and develops a bond with Supergirl.

Absolute Universe

An alternate universe variant of Abin Sur appears in ''

Absolute Green Lantern ''Absolute Green Lantern'' is a superhero horror comic book series published by DC Comics. It is based on the character Green Lantern, presenting a reinterpretation of the character's mythos. The series is written by Al Ewing and illustrated by J ...

''. This version appears over Evergreen, Nevada with a Green Lantern symbol. He gives Hal Jordan a black hand due to Hal's desire to become a hero.

In other media

Television

* Abin Sur appears in the ''

Challenge of the Superfriends ''Challenge of the Superfriends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from September 9 to December 23, 1978, on ABC. The complete series (16 episodes) was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and is ...

'' episode "Secret Origins of the Super Friends", voiced by Dick Ryal.

Lex Luthor Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...

travels back in time in an attempt to steal Abin's power ring before Hal Jordan can get it, but the Super Friends also travel back in time to foil his plot. * Abin Sur appears in the '' Superman: The Animated Series'' episode "In Brightest Day...", voiced by an uncredited Peter Mark Richman. This version was killed by Sinestro while his power ring chose

Kyle Rayner Kyle Rayner (), one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is depicted as being associated with the Green Lantern Corps, an extraterrestrial police force of ...

. * Abin Sur appears in the ''

Robot Chicken DC Comics Special ''Robot Chicken DC Comics Special'' is an episode of the television comedy series ''Robot Chicken'' and it was aired as a one-off special during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on September 10, 2012. A DC Universe special, in collaboration with DC ...

''. This version was killed by a bear. * Abin Sur appears in the ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013, and is based on DC Comics' fictional superhero team the Teen Titans. The series ...

'' episode "Orangins".

Film

* Abin Sur appears in '' Justice League: The New Frontier'', voiced by Corey Burton. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. This version was caught in the explosion of a US spacecraft called the ''Flying Cloud'' while it was traveling to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

. Due in part to Hal Jordan co-piloting the spacecraft, Abin gives his power ring to him before dying. * Abin Sur appears in '' Green Lantern: First Flight'', voiced by

Richard McGonagle Richard Francis McGonagle (born October 22, 1946) is an American actor, voice actor and motion-capture performer. He is most known for his voice work in various video games, movies and television shows. He is also known for his work by voicing C ...

. This version possesses a more alien appearance with horns and four-fingered hands. He was tasked by the

Guardians of the Universe The Guardians of the Universe are a race of extraterrestrial superhero characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Green Lantern. They first appeared in ''Green Lantern'' (vol. 2) #1 (July 19 ...

to work undercover in

Kanjar Ro Kanjar Ro is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is an alien dictator from the planet Dhor and an enemy of the Justice League. Kanjar Ro has also appeared in various media outside comics. Marc Worden, René Auberjo ...

's gang after they stole the yellow element. However, one of Kanjar's underlings discovered Abin's identity and mortally wounded him. After stealing a ship, Abin crash-landed on Earth, was found by Hal Jordan, and gave his power ring to him before dying. * Abin Sur appears in '' Green Lantern: Emerald Knights'', voiced by Arnold Vosloo. Similarly to the events of " Green Lantern: Secret Origin", this version previously worked with Sinestro and was warned of his impending death and Sinestro's betrayal by

. Additionally, his power ring was originally wielded by Avra, the first Green Lantern to use their ring to create constructs. * Abin Sur appears in ''

'' (2011), portrayed by Temuera Morrison. This version previously fought

Parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different sightline, lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to perspective (graphica ...

and used a starship to evacuate planets that the entity targeted. After being fatally wounded by Parallax, Abin flees in one of his starship's escape pods, crash-lands on Earth, and passes his power ring onto Hal Jordan before he dies. Abin's body is subsequently discovered and taken by the

Department of Extranormal Operations Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

(DEO), who task

Hector Hammond Hector Hammond is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics who is primarily an enemy of Green Lantern. Peter Sarsgaard portrays Hammond in the 2011 film ''Green Lantern''. Publication history Hector Hammond origina ...

with performing the autopsy, which results in Hammond being infected by Parallax's DNA. * The '' Flashpoint'' incarnation of Abin Sur makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in '' Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox''. This version died before he could pass his power ring on to Hal Jordan, after which the U.S. government recovers his body and spaceship in an attempt to stop the war between

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

and Themyscira. * The '' Superman: Red Son'' incarnation of Abin Sur appears in the self-titled film adaptation. Following his death, this version and his ship were discovered by the U.S. government in 1967. By 1983, U.S. scientists successfully reverse-engineer Abin's ring and grant its capabilities to Hal Jordan and a small team of soldiers so they can fight the Soviet Superman.

Video games

Abin Sur appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

Merchandise

* Abin Sur received a figure in

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

DC Universe Classics DC Universe Classics was an action figure toyline, a sub-line of the DC Universe toy brand manufactured by Mattel. They were 6-inch scale figures based on the fictional characters owned by DC Comics. The entire line was sculpted by the Four Horse ...

line as part of a two-pack with Hal Jordan. Additionally, a figure of Abin as a Black Lantern was released individually in a later wave. * The ''Green Lantern'' (2011) incarnation of Abin Sur received a figure in the associated tie-in toy line.

References

External links

DC Guide entry for Abin Sur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sur, Abin Comics characters introduced in 1959 Characters created by John Broome Characters created by Gil Kane DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics male superheroes Fictional characters from the 19th century Fictional historians Green Lantern Corps officers