Oa

Oa was a planet that lied at the center of the universe. Oa appeared as a desert-like, lifeless world.

The main feature was the Guardian's city. Since its inception, Oa was the planetary citadel of the Guardians of the Universe and the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps.

Background Information

Fifteen billion years ago, the planet Maltus formed. Millions of years passed as the planet slowly cooled and life formed in the moist air of the new world. The air borne life spread across the globe while more complex forms took to land and sea. The Maltusian race evolved, humanoid in appearance, one of the first intelligent life forms in the Universe. This was the beginning of a new age of cultural and scientific advancement. Their minds allowed them to create miracles as their lifetimes extended millions of years. Unfortunately, the power came at a price. And so, as their population increased, the humanoids evolved into separate races, blue-skinned and white-skinned. These races began to wage war against each other. Biological warfare resulted in the creation of a deadly disease virtually eliminating the possible of procreation, which almost wiped out the humanoids. Specifically, the white-skinned males. In order to survive, the blue-skinned male scientists of the polar city of Ap formed an alliance with an isolated society of white-skinned women who inhabited the Zamar area, and produced future generations of children by laboratory means. The males came to be called Aps, and the females Zamars. Those chosen to form a mediated group, raised the children, and called themselves Oans. As ages passed, the Oans evolved fantastic mental powers and increased lifespans, becoming virtually immortal.^[1]

In a pivotal moment, billions of years ago, a Maltusian named Krona used time-bending technology to observe the beginning of the Universe. His interference with nature somehow retroactively became the spark to ignite the ‘flaw’, thus creating an anti-matter counterpart to the universe, as well as splintering the single universe into a multiverse consisting of an infinite number of parallel universes, each with duplicates of all stars and planets except for what would eventually be known as the planet Oa. This unique planet has no duplicate in the multiverse. It is only duplicated in the antimatter universe as the planet Qward.

The Oans, feeling responsible for renegade scientist Krona's creation of the Antimatter Universe and the mulitiverse, and wanting to champion the cause of order, decided that a group of volunteers would colonize a planet near the center of the universe, which they named 'Oa'. It is from here that they believed that they could do the most good.^[2] These Oans, were consumed by guilt. They had created Evil, so they must do something to constrain it. Their first attempt to do so was the construction of 'Manhunter robots', which later proved defective. Their second, and better, solution was the creation of the Green Lantern Corps.^[3]

Maltusian Species

Oans: formerly Maltusians (Aps and Zamars), who migrated to the planet Oa after biological experiments and global war.

• The Guardians of the Universe: males who stayed on Oa after the races split
• The Zamarons (formerly from the region of Zamar on Maltus): females who left their Oan mates and became settled on the planet Zamaron
• The Controllers: those who left the planet Oa to pursue science and technological advancement. They colonized a binary star system

Other Maltusian Races

• Aps: blue-skinned male scientists at one time who populated the polar city of Ap on Maltus
• Zamars: white-skinned women who were indigenous to the Zamar region on Maltus
• The Timeless Ones: possibly those who stayed on Maltus
• Psions: The Psions originated on Maltus, the result of Maltusian experimentation on a local species of lizard. Left behind to fend for themselves as the Maltusians made their way to the stars, they evolved into an advanced society utilizing the abandoned technology of their creators. They began walking upright, and surgically removed their tails to better emulate their creators and separate themselves from the animals of Maltus. In turn, the Psions left Maltus in pursuit of their creators, believing they would take their place at their side. Not finding a refuge on Oa with their creators, they colonize another planet.^[4]

Gallery

Leaving Maltus and Heading to Oa!

Appearances

The Planet Oa never appeared on the SuperFriends Cartoon or in the SuperFriends Comicbook.

It did appear in the Filmation Series, The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967 – 1968) as part of the Aquaman Segement, in the Green Lantern Episodes:

• Evil is as Evil Does
• The Vanishing World
• Sirena, Empress of Evil

Notes

• The planet Oa first appears in Green Lantern, #1 (August 1960).^[5]
• The planet Oa was created by John Broome and Gil Kane.

External links

• See the Book of OA at the DCU Guide Website

References

1. ↑ As revealed in the post-crisis story: Secret Origins, #23 (February, 1988). In this story, the time given was Ten Billion years ago, not Fifteen Billion.
2. ↑ As revealed in the post-crisis story: Secret Origins, #23 (February, 1988).
3. ↑ This connection of the Oans to Maltus is made in the post-crisis stories: Secret Origins, #23 (February, 1988); Green Lantern, #45 (September 1993); and L.E.G.I.O.N. '93 #58 (September 1993).
4. ↑ The 'Psions' were first revealed in a non-credited appearance in The Witching Hour, #13 (March 1971). They were also seen in the Superman (TV series), episode: The Last Time I Saw Earth (1988).
5. ↑ Go to DC Database for more on Green Lantern, #1 (August, 1960).