John Stewart (character)

John Marshall Stewart is one of the superheroes known as Green Lantern that appear in American comic books published by DC Comics. One of the first African-American superheroes to appear in DC Comics, the character was created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams, and first appeared in Green Lantern (Volume 2) #87 (December 1971/January 1972). The concept for the character came from Adams' idea of a substitute Green Lantern that better reflected the racial makeup of the world's population. John Stewart, a college graduate and architect, was conceived by Adams to portray a better representation of black people in America, with Adams also diverging from the usual lighter coloring of black characters to depict him as dark-skinned, basing Stewart's design on actor Sidney Poitier.