As the Green Lantern comics get closer to Blackest Night, the whole DC Universe is becoming further embroiled in the prophesized “War of Light.”

At the center of this war is the concept that emotions hold power, and that the energy of those emotions can be harnessed by ring-wearing “lanterns.” Each of these seven distinct emotions have a color associated with them, so when a “lantern” wields the energy of hate, that power manifests as red, or when a lantern wield the energy of hope, that power manifests as blue.

The concept came from the mind of Geoff Johns, the writer on Green Lantern since he relaunched the comic in 2005, soon after bringing Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps back to life in Green Lantern: Rebirth. As he developed this idea, his collaborator was then-Green Lantern artist Ethan Van Sciver.

Along with the colors associated with emotions are the symbols – usually worn on the chest of those Lanterns who wield the emotion’s energy. Click on the link above to read more.

In the first of a two-part interview with Van Sciver about the origins of these concepts, we talked to the artist about how he designed these symbols that have become so popular that it’s hard to walk through a comic book convention without running into someone wearing it on his chest.