Watch her Tango

The Green Lantern Corps is filled with so many exotic aliens that after a while it might just be a little mundane to see an Green Lantern with an extra mandible and limbs. But there’s one member of the Corps who only appeared in one story arc that made a big impact on fans and if recent events in Green Lantern Corps #29 are any indication, we’re about to see her return.  This is the story of R’amey Holl, an attractive Monarchist police officer from the planet Papilliox who appeared in three issues of Green Lanterns Corps volume 2 in a story arc that was never referenced to again but introduced us to the Green Lantern Corpse.

Origins

The idea of a Black Ops division came from the mind of writer Keith Champagne, who pitched the idea to Peter Tomasi upon his request for a Green Lantern story.  Champagne felt that the Green Lantern Corps might be to “in your face” for some missions and he came up with the idea of a secret division that only the Guardians were to be aware of. With approval from DC Champagne and artist Patrick Gleason moved ahead with the story and created the newest member of the Corps, a butterfly inspired alien woman names R’amey Holl.

The Dark Side of Green

Champagne’s story was told in three issues of Green Lantern Corps (volume 2 issues #7-9 in 2007) wherein Guy Gardner and R’amey Holl would be sent by the Guardians to meet up with Durlan Corpse agent Von Daggle, yes that Von Daggle.  Unbeknown to both Holl and Gardner their mission was actually to deliver themselves to Von Daggle as the newest recruits of the Green Lantern Corpse which the Guardians want to rebuild now that they’ve returned to the post- Green Lantern: Rebirth universe.  Gardner is drawn to the youthful Holl, and who could blame him as Holl is a beautiful orange skinned woman with butterfly wings, a backless uniform and a bit of attitude.  It appears that the attraction is mutual although as the story unfolds R’amey admits to using her physical appearance as an asset when needed.  Von Daggle’s current location is Corona Seven, an icy world which plays havoc with Holl’s metabolism.  (Writer’s note: This is also the planet seen at the end of the aforementioned Green Lantern Corps #29!)

When the veteran Guy promises to show R’amey “how to Tango” the phrase becomes a part of their flirtatious and competitive dialogue as Holl challenges Gardner’s perception of her as a rookie, underestimating her experience as a police officer on her homeworld in Sector 700.   The two find Von Daggle who proves to be too much for them when he tests their mettle.  But the Guardians have a mission for the Corpse which involves the Dominators, a ruthless race which is currently testing the effects of an ancient artifact on a Khund warrior in hopes of learning how to weaponize it.

Rather than use a power ring, the Corpse swallow a Green Lantern Corpse disk which internalizes their power source for five days, essentially becoming a living power ring.  Using the disks Von Daggle, Holl and Gardner go undercover on the Dominion World to stop the Dominators from accidentally killing millions of people. Guy questions the morality of the mission when he’s asked to kill the Khund, leaving doubt in Von Daggle’s mind that Gardner is capable of becoming a member of the Corpse and Guy falls victim to the supercharged Khund warrior.  Holl gets the worst of it, being nearly killed and falling on the artifact.

The artifact causes Holl to evolve and gain new abilities which she uses to rescue Guy before helping to kill the Khund warrior and the Dominion scientist behind the experiments despite Guy’s protestations. Guy is considered a wash up and R’amey wipes his memory of the incident, leaving him to believe that the mission to Corona Seven to locate the Durlan was a failure and that she perished, preserving the secret of the existence of the Corpse.

An idea buried…and resurrected

The Dark Side of Green story arc resonated with Green Lantern fans who wanted to see more, but for some reason the Corpse was never referred to again and both R’amey Holl and Von Daggle were forgotten if not for their inclusion in the Green Lantern section of the Sinestro Corps Secret Files.  A character bearing a striking resemblance to R’amey appeared in the War of the Green Lanterns story arc, but was never referred to by name. Given that Geoff Johns made it a point to say that she had gone missing in the information provided in the Secret Files listing it would be easy to conclude that this was R’amey’s successor.

Other than that both Von Daggle and R’amey Holl were unspoken in the halls of Oa, this is until recently when writers Robert Venditti and Van Jensen resurrected Von Daggle and the Corpse from the dead.  During Green Lantern Corps #29 Von Daggle leverages his position to get John Stewart and his group to agree to help him locate his female partner who went missing during a mission for the Guardians – presumably this is R’amey Holl, who also appears to be held captive by the Durlans in the closing panels of the issue which takes place on….Corona Seven.

R’amey Holl is a likable character who’s spunky attitude and penchant to use hyphenated synonyms made her a fan favorite.  Holl was even included in the 2011 live action Green Lantern movie, albeit cosmetically changed to make her look far more alien and much less humanoid. Long forgotten, R’amey Holl might emerge from her chrysalis and fly again thanks to the new creative teams.