Green Lantern IV

Abin Sur, an alien member of the Green Lantern Corps, crashed his rocket ship on Earth and was dying. He instructed his power battery to find an Earthling worthy of replacing him — one who was honest and without fear. The battery found two such people: Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan. Hal was closer, and so Abin bestowed upon him the power ring and battery.

Guy had a bad childhood. In a run-down section of Baltimore, his parents constantly fought. He became a physical-education teacher for special-ed students. While chaperoning a trip for his class, a sudden earthquake made the group's bus swerve near a chasm. All the children got to safety, except one girl. Guy was reaching out to her when the bus's brakes gave out. The bus hit Guy, plummeting Gardner and the girl toward their deaths. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) saved them, but Guy was badly injured. He was bedridden for some time and walked with a cane before fully recovering.

When the Corps needed more Green Lanterns, Hal gave Guy a ring and power battery. During a charging of the ring, Guy was cast into another dimension. While there, Gardner witnessed Hal and Guy's girlfriend together. He lived in anger until Hal rescued him, but his mind was damaged and he spent several years in therapy. Later, Guy received another ring from a Guardian who he thought was the last. (Crisis #9) The Guardians decided to let Gardner keep the ring if he underwent training, which Guy considered a punishment. Eventually, he escaped to Earth, where Hal Jordan pleaded to let Guy prove himself.

When the new Justice League was forming, Guy intended to become the leader but deferred when Batman decked him with one punch. (Justice League #5) Guy hit his head and revealed a split personality: one a sexist, obnoxious, right-wing egotist; the other a courteous, thoughtful, and sickeningly sweet man of peace. He always believed that he was the one, true Green Lantern. Well…

Guy remained with the Justice League throughout most of it's U.N.-sponsored time (but was rejected by the new JLA [JLA Secret Files #2]). During his time with the JLA, he also underwent many personal and physical changes. First, Hal Jordan became angry with Guy and destroyed Guy's power ring. (Green Lantern v.3 #25) After this, Guy began a successful quest to find the yellow power ring of the rogue, Sinestro. (Guy Gardner: Reborn #1-3)

Also during this time, Guy was kidnapped by the alien Draal's, who were abducting Green Lanterns around the universe. Once captured, the Lanterns' rings were taken and given to a duplicate/clone. (#11) In the process of duplication, Guy was forced to relive his past as his memories were extracted. When Guy's duplicate was activated, (#13) the two of them fought, but the duplicate escaped the Draal ship and headed for Earth. (#14) Later, on Earth, the duplicate took the name "Joseph." In his first JLA mission, he executed an alien villain (JLA #82) which put the JLA on his trail. NOTE: The duplicate claimed Joseph was Guy's middle name. Another story states his middle name as Darrin. He does not actually take the name Joseph until Showcase #??.

Guy and the other captured Green Lanterns eventually took over the Draal ship and headed to Earth, but the journey took several months. In the meantime, Joe assumed Guy's life but came to clash with the JLA. When Guy finally returned, he teamed with the League to defeat Joseph. Joe was given over to the Green Lanterns, who took him away into space. (JLA #83, GG #15) Joseph returned later empowered a yellow energy fist reminiscent of Sinestro's yellow power, and has plagued the Birds of Prey. (Birds of Prey #10-11)

Guy's older brother Mace Gardner (1st app. #12) resurfaced as the violent masked operative, Militia, working for a group called the Quorum. During their battle, Guy's ring began to malfunction due to Hal Jordan's attack on the central power battery on Oa. (#17) Hal Jordan subsequently killed Sinestro, Kilowog, and all of the Guardians except for Ganthet; he assumed all the Guardians' former power. (Green Lantern v.2 #50)

Guy's ring grew increasingly unreliable as he fought Mace. He accompanied a group of heroes to Oa to find out the cause of the disturbance to the GL Corps. There they discovered a graveyard of Green Lantern corpses, and were ambushed by Hal Jordan. (#18-20) In this unlikely battle, Hal defeated every one of his former comrades. Guy held out the longest, but Hal stripped him of his yellow ring and took out his eye (which was later healed by the Warrior Waters of Nabba). (#21)

As if Guy's ongoing power struggle weren't challenging enough, he also began a romance with his JLA, Ice. Unlike others, Ice was able to see through Guy's blowhard exterior into the good-hearted man inside. The two even professed love for one another and fantasized of marriage. But in the midst of losing his yellow power ring, Guy saw Ice for the last time. She soon died at the hands of the Overmaster. (Justice League Task Force #14) Strangely, Guy later began an affair with Ice's best friend, Fire. (GG #39)

Guy, it seems was destined for super-powered adventure. After the loss of the yellow ring, he commenced a quest for power and discovered that he was descended from an alien race called the Vuldarians (#22). Tapping this heritage enabled him to morph his body into any number of shapes and weaponry. In light of this dramatic change, he assumed the code name Warrior. (#0) Life was good for a time and Guy opened a sort of bar for super-heroes called "Warriors." (#29)

Warrior was severely injured in eastern Europe during the Imperiex/Brainiac 13 War. He was bonded to an Imperiex probe while his Vuldarian morphing/adapation powers went into overdrive. (JLA: Our Worlds At War) The probe (with Guy still attached) then fought General Zod in Pokolistan and Zod destroyed the probe. The explosion opened up The Gorge, a small pocket of Hell. Guy was sent there and eventually came to rule the Gorge and later tricked both Superman and Kancer into coming to the Gorge. Guy manipulated Kancer into taking Guy's place as master of the Gorge. Guy and Superman ended their adventure in Aruba, where Guy expressed his displeasure over being left behind in the wake of the Imperiex War. (Action #789-790)

Guy soon reclaimed some normalcy by partnering with a reformed super-villain named Blackguard. The two started a tavern nextdoor to the headquarters of the newly-formed Super Buddies. (JLA Classified #4) Guy was not asked to join, in fact quite the opposite. Nonetheless, his services were soon required when Booster Gold accidentally sent the team to hell. (#5)

Guy then revealed a humongous ace up his sleeve: he had somehow reacquired the yellow power ring! With this, he transported he and Power Girl to hell as well. He refused to explain how he gotten ring back, but made it very clear that his recent trip to hell had left him... quite changed. (#6)

With the rebirth of the Guardians of the Universe (G.L. v.3 #150) and the rebuilding of the Green Lantern Corps, (G.L. Corps: Recharge #1) Guy was recruited by the Guardians to serve in their new Honor Guard. He is a free-floating agent who also serves to train new recruits. His partner is the other Earth Lantern, Kyle Rayner.

 

Boisterously loud in regard to his hero life, Guy is a very private person and doesn't like to talk about his past. He has a hard time expressing his feelings, such as in the case of his former fellow Leaguer, Ice, whom he cared about very much.

Guy is stubborn, outspoken, and hates kids, pets, mimes, and musicals. He likes watching female sports, and only "reads" the pictorials in his favorite magazines. Guy is brave beyond reproach. He is loyal to his country and to his comrades. He doesn't like to take orders, but will be the first in line when he knows he can kick some — see some action. Guy is sometimes excessively violent when dealing with situations, and is very, very impatient. His haircut is patterned after the sidekick of his boyhood hero, General Glory.

Notes

The battle to the title "Green Lantern III" is undecided. Guy appeared before John Stewart (GL #59 and #87 respectively). But, although Guy was designated as Hal Jordan's backup, he was never actually shown in the costume before John. (John got his first shot at GL because Guy was injured). Although Guy appears in the costume in GL #59, this took place in an alternate reality. Can anyone cite a story which clears this up?

Powers

Guy weilds the most powerful weapon in the universe. The Green Lantern's ring channels the immense power of the Guardians of the Universe. From their central power batter, the ring's energy can be used to contain or affect almost all forms of matter and energy. The ring is also frequently used to build solid plasma constructs. The plasma is most often used for force or to construct force fields.

The ring also has a measure of "intelligence." It can be instructed to search for information, and it can propel the wearer at light speed through space. The rings have one crucial weakness: their green energies can not be used against the color yellow. This is because of the presence of Parallax (the universal embodiment fear) inside the central power battery. If the ring's weilder has sufficient will power to overcome fear, the weakness to yellow lessens. In addition, the rings must be purposely recharged every 24 hours.

Guy also possesses alien Vuldarian shapeshifting powers. These give him greatly increased strength and invulnerability and can change his shape into various forms, usually weapons. These powers seem to have gone into remission since regained the green ring.

Appearances + References

» FEATURED APPEARANCES:

• Action #690, 789-790
• Green Lantern v.2 #18, 25
• Green Lantern: Mosaic #16-17
• Green Lantern: Rebirth #1-6
•  JL Spectacular #1
• JLA: Classified #4-9
• JLA: Our Worlds At War
• Hawkman #22-23
• Justice League America #1, 5-7, 18, 28, 45, 63, 66, 69, 82-83, 100-102, Annual #5
• Justice League Quarterly #9
• Swamp Thing #81

» SERIES:

• Guy Gardner: Reborn, 3-issue limited series (1992)
• Guy Gardner, #1-16 (1992-94) becomes ...
• Guy Gardner: Warrior, #17-44 (1992-96)

» SEE ALSO:

• Unofficial Guy Gardner Homepage
• Book of Oa > Guy Gardner
• Monitor Duty: Green Lantern