Ch’p
on December 23, 2013
Ch’p of the planet H’lven was a hero before he ever got his power ring. He participated in the defense of his planet from the crabster robots of Doctor Ub’x. He was captured, but during his incarceration, a Guardian of the Universe came to him and granted him a power ring and inducted him into the Green Lantern Corps. Ch’p used his new powers to defeat Ub’x and stop the invasion.
Ch’p went on protecting Sector 1014, while living a civilian life on his planet, where he continued to thwart the nefarious schemes of Doctor Ub’x. He eventually married his girlfriend M’nn’e. During the reality altering Crisis on Infinite Earths, Ch’p was away from his world, but when he returned, he discovered that history had been changed. He apparently died in an accident fifteen years ago, and his wife was married to his best friend. This crushed Ch’p, and with nothing left to live for on H’lven, he went to live on Earth with a contingent of Green Lanterns, including John Stewart. Since the Guardians of the Universe left the regular plain of existence following the Crisis, Ch’p was free to defend whatever Sector he wanted to.
The Green Lanterns on Earth were some of the few beings in the universe who still remembered Ch’p. He ran into his old nemesis Doctor Ub’x, who had also managed to escape the effects of the Crisis, and was also aware of the previous reality. The two stopped fighting when they realized the strange circumstance they were in. Being the only two from their world who remembered its past reality, in a sense, they were all they had left. They decided to set aside their differences.
Ch’p became close with Salaak, but despite that, his time on Earth was a challenge for him, and he decided to return to his home planet in the hope of winning back his wife.
After the Central Power Battery on Oa was destroyed, Ch’p had one of the few functioning power rings in the universe. Despite this, living life on his planet, where no one remembered him, drove him to depression, and he was about to commit suicide before being stopped by Salaak.
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Ch’p is included in several animated features. This caption includes his Duck Dodgers appearance. |
Later on, Ch’p went into a deep hibernation, and when he came out of it, he decided to charge the ring for the first time in a long while. When he charged it, he saw that the Green Lantern Corps was reforming. Together, he and Salaak went to Oa to enlist in the new Corps.
On Oa, Ch’p and Salaak met up with Green Lantern John Stewart, who was assigned to oversee the Mosaic World; a patchwork of cities from various different worlds in the universe, transplanted to Oa by an insane Guardian.
Ch’p was bothered by the fact that Hal Jordan, who had been assigned to find new recruits for the Green Lantern Corps, did not ask him to join. John did not know why Jordan overlooked him, but John said that Ch’p could help him look after the Mosaic.
While Ch’p was on patrol, John Stewart came under the influence of the spirit of Sinestro, and Ch’p was forced to battle John, who he could not defeat. When John became his normal self again, he asked Ch’p what he saw that unnerved him so much. Ch’p was so flabbergasted by the situation, that he ran from John, right into the path of a large yellow truck that ran him over. Ch’p died from his injuries shortly afterward.
Though Ch’p was dead, he still came to John Stewart in visions and dreams, where he acted as a spirit guide for John. Ch’p helped John realize that he had, in fact, intentionally invited Sinestro into his mind so that he may gain some of Sinestro’s strength and use it to run the Mosaic with order. John came to learn even deeper truths about the Mosaic and himself, which led to him becoming the first mortal Guardian of the Universe. With his new powers, John reached beyond the wall of death and resurrected Ch’p, but the small Green Lantern disappeared when Hal Jordan became Parallax and stole the energy from the Central Power Battery.
Though he’s annoying to some, I’ve always been fond of Ch’p. He’s one of the most recognizable alien members of the Green Lantern Corps. As such, it’s kind of interesting that after all these reboots and resurrections, Ch’p never returns. Aside from in Green Lantern: Mosaic, that is. I guess he’s like Tomar-Re and Katma Tui. Though we may see them used in other media outlets, like cartoons, those characters do not return to life in the comics, no matter what.
Oh well… Thanks for the memories, Ch’p!
