Salaak

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caption = Art by Ron Marz, Greg Tocchini and Jay Liesten
character_name = Salaak
publisher = DC Comics
debut = Green Lantern #149 (February 1982)
creators = Marv Wolfman, Joe Staton
alter_ego =
full_name =
species = Slyggian
homeworld = Slyggia
alliances = Green Lantern Corps
aliases = Pol Manning
supports=
powers =

Salaak (sometimes incorrectly spelled Salakk, even in the published comics) is a fictional comic book superhero, an extraterrestrial from the planet Slyggia, and a member of the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps, who appears in DC Comics. Physically he appears to be an insect humanoid with pinkish orange skin and four arms.

History

A famous pessimist and loner, Salaak is a creature of protocol and laws. A veteran Green Lantern he has served in many Corps campaigns over the years. During the Crisis on Infinite Earths he protects multiple sectors, but found the experience depressing. After this, he went to Earth looking for company amongst his fellow Green Lanterns. He served with the contingent of Green Lanterns assigned to Earth and became good friends with Ch'p of H'lven. For a time Salaak lived in the future, filling the identity of Pol Manning as Hal Jordan had before him. While in the future, Salaak was married to a human woman.

Salaak returns to the present day to warn about the destruction of the Corps. He was too late to stop the execution of Sinestro. The Central Power Battery on Oa ends up destroyed, and with it, Salaak's ring is made inoperable. He finds transport to H'lven where he reunites with Ch'p, one of the few Lanterns whose ring still functioned. Salaak remains on H'lven and acts as Ch'p's advisor until they discover that the Guardians have returned and have rebuilt the Corps. The two later petition for reinstatement, but Ch'p is killed in a traffic accident. The Corps is destroyed again when Hal Jordan, crazed with grief at the loss of friends, became the entity known as Parallax. Hal's activities caused the shutdown of the Oan battery again and Salaak, along with all other Green Lanterns, were left powerless.

Salaak ends up captured, along with multiple other Green Lanterns and one Darkstar. They are scheduled to be sold into slavery but former Green Lantern Guy Gardner, with unrelated GL powers, rescues the entire group.

Salaak attends Hal's memorial service on Earth. The Corps, reformed again, has Salaak as the senior administrator and the Keeper of the Book of Oa. The Book tells of the adventures of multiple Green Lanterns throughout the history of the universe.

Salaak reinforces the squadron of Lanterns sent to save Mogo from Ranx the Sentient City and other Sinestro Corps members (Sinestro having returned from the dead). He has expressed displeasure at the fact that the Guardians have rewritten the Book of Oa to allow lethal force against members of the Sinestro Corps, but is still committed to serve.

He survived the Sinestro Corps War without major injuries, he continues to hold onto his position as keeper of the Book of Oa but is kept out of the loop in some instances by the Guardians who neglected to tell him their plans to create the Alpha Lanterns. More recently however he is seen getting into an argument with Guy Gardner over a bar he wishes to open. Salaak quickly disapproves, which leads Guy to use his ring to make a miniaturized version of Salaak mocking him for "hanging out with midgets".

Other Versions

*He has had a small cameo role in the "Justice League" animated series.
*Salaak, along with other Green Lanterns, was killed off in a Green Lantern crossover with the Dark Horse comic "Aliens". However, as inter-company crossovers are not considered canonical, this was ignored.
*An animated version of Salaak appeared in the "Duck Dodgers" episode "The Green Loontern."
*Salaak's head was redesigned in 2005 so that his eyes were at the front of his head instead of in the center. Ch'p had given Salaak the name pickelhead as a playful jab at its shape. (He has since been restored to his original design.)

External links

* [http://glcorps.dcuguide.com/book2.php The Book of OA]
* [http://members.tripod.com/~Lantern_light/ The Green Lantern Shrine]
* [http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/1185/glc_who.html The Captains Log]