The One and Only Green Lantern, Folks!

Yay! Issue #59! The first appearance of almost no-body’s favorite Green Lantern.

This cover set the pattern for just about every single Guy Gardner story ever until the late 90’s.

For those unfamiliar with the character, we learn in this issue that Guy was the ring’s second choice for Green Lantern. He was just as fearless as Hal, but Hal was closer. I always thought that was a BS excuse – the ring is a deus ex machina – distance is not an issue.

Anyway. in #59 Hal finds out about Guy and asks the ring to show him what would happen if Guy had been GL instead of Hal.

So GL Guy ends up fighting the same exact menaces as GL Hal? With the exception of Sinestro, that seems like a bit of a stretch. Especially if we consider Star Sapphire.

How do things end for Guy in this alternate world though? Happily ever after, right?

That’s right folks – even if Guy had been Green Lantern, it would just be a side thing on the way to Hal becoming Green Lantern.

This whole story has the feel of Hal as the sitcom wife who finds pictures of her husband with his old college girlfriend, and has to convince her that no, she’s the real love of his life and the prettiest.

Posted

in

,

by

typolad

Tags:

Comments

9 responses to “The One and Only Green Lantern, Folks!”

  1. Prudynce Avatar
    Prudynce

    Turning yellow has to be the worst thing that can happen to a Green Lantern.

  2. Naryldor Avatar
    Naryldor

    Yet another crotchless GL, it seems to go with the job, huh?

    Also, “sultan of sopersonic sound”? LOL That’s wrong in so many ways I’m just at a loss of words (I’m sorry about his horribly sprained knee though…)

  3. Naked Bunny with a Whip Avatar
    Naked Bunny with a Whip

    Sure, Guy, it’s an alien plague, not the whiskey.

  4. Naked Bunny with a Whip Avatar
    Naked Bunny with a Whip

    Typo, your sitcom allusion is giving me funny feelings when I think about Hal and his ring.

  5. Avatar
    Anonymous

    We call ’em “what-ifs” over on the Marvel side of things….

    Actually after all these years I feel sorry for Guy.  He’s a pure-D loser from the get-go, but at least he tries fer cryin’ out loud!  He doesn’t get himself knocked out by random Brownian movement then fall onto the bad guy like that makes-it-look-easy Hal Jordan.

  6. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Just ask Pie-Face!

    /apologies

  7. Michael Pullmann Avatar
    Michael Pullmann

    Given Geoff Johns’s revamping of Black Hand as an insipid, boilerplate serial killer, his nickname here of “the cliche criminal” amuses the heck out of me.

  8. Avatar
    Anonymous

    That entire story seems especially pointless.  There had to be a better way to bring Guy Gardner into the line, if that was in fact necessary.

  9. SteveAsat Avatar
    SteveAsat

    The Cliche Criminal?  Puh-SHAW!  Clearly that is Triangle Man, not some paint-by-numbers schtick villain.  His triangle-themed crimes were a constant delight and never became gratuitous or hackneyed.  I didn’t like the way Miller made him all dark and gritty, though.  Particle Man deserved better than that, and Tri had never demonstrated any tendencies toward cannibalism in the Silver Age.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *