“HALF A GREEN LANTERN IS BETTER THAN NONE!” Featuring the first appearance of Black Hand! A new villain has arrived on the scene. His name is Black Hand, and he’s devised a plot that will drain all of the energy out of Green Lantern’s ring!

Half A Green Lantern Is Better Than None!

The Green Lantern apprehends a gang of fur thieves. Soon after, a mysterious man arrives, at the scene of the crime, and activates a device that absorbs residual power ring energy. The Green Lantern apprehends a band of thieves at the freight yards. Once again, the mysterious man arrives on the scene, to collect more residual power ring energy. This man is revealed to be William Hand, the black sheep of the wealthy, and renowned, Hand family. Despising his family's respectability, Hand turned to a life of crime. Over the years, Hand honed his criminal craft to near mastery. Knowing that he would eventually have to cross swords with the Green Lantern, Hand began working out a plan to defeat the Emerald Gladiator.

Discovering that the Green Lantern's power ring left residual traces of energy behind, Hand began collecting it, to use as a weapon against the Green Lantern. Hand, now calling himself "Black Hand", issues a challenge to the Green Lantern, projecting his image through the Green Lantern's very power battery. As soon as the Green Lantern arrives to confront Black Hand, the entire left side of his body is projected into another dimension. Able to draw power ring energy from the half of the Green Lantern trapped in said dimension, Black Hand attacks the Green Lantern, with his own power ring energy. The Green Lantern, though, still proves to be equally matched with Black Hand, forcing the villain to withdraw.

Black Hand robs a jewelry store, then resumes his conflict with the Green Lantern. Again and again they spar, each time ending in a draw, as they are exactly evenly matched, forcing Black Hand to withdraw. Black Hand decides to disrupt a ceremony honoring his father and two brothers. Black Hand reveals his identity to his family, with the intent of taking thier place at the ceremony. Suddenly, the Green Lantern appears, and appears whole. Taking Black Hand by surprise, the Green Lantern quickly defeats his foe. The Green Lantern reveals that he used his power ring to fuse his mirror image to himself, to create the illusion that he was back to normal. Using Black Hand's device, the Green Lantern restores himself to normal, then carries Black Hand to jail.