4.07.2012

G is for Guy Gardner


Guy Gardner #1 is written by Gerard Jones with art by Joe Staton.


This series launches with Guy wielding the yellow power ring previously used by Sinestro.  Guy is using his power ring to clean up New York City the way he sees fit.  After a run in with Superman and breaking things off with Ice and the rest of the Justice League, Guy is approached by a talent agent who wants to make him rich.  Superman gets a call in to Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and Hal contacts the Guardians to assist in wrangling Guy in.  The issue ends with Guy battling some aliens who are wrecking the town when, suddenly, his ring loses its charge.  Not knowing how to recharge the yellow ring, Guy seems to be in for quite a pounding.

 

Unlike some of the other titles I'll read during the A to Z challenge, I'm actually pretty familiar with Guy Gardner.  This issue didn't really do a lot to help set up Guy's back story and I'm not sure how interested I would have been without my basic knowledge of the character.  Joe Staton art also distracted me quite a bit.  The characters look very raw and comical, which is fine when off-setting a jerk like Guy Gardner.  However, the art style in the scenes with Green Lantern, Superman, and Ice just didn't work on those characters for me and really took me out of the story.  One of my favorite writers, Chuck Dixon, came on board with issue #11 of the series and regular artist Mitch Byrd joined on in #17 when the subtitle Warrior was added.  This series lasted 44 issues altogether.

Fan of this series or Guy Gardner in general?  Feel free to leave a comment below.
at 09:29
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3 comments:

  1. Guy Gardner was the third Green Lantern ongoing series running at that time, and Gerard Jones was writing all three of them. He definitely tried to give them all a distinct voice - Green Lantern was traditional superheroics, Green Lantern: Mosaic was cerebral, abstract, and dark (really could have been a Vertigo title) and Guy Gardner was the humor book. Staton's art has always been a bit cartoony, but he went even further that direction for this series (as compared to his 80's work on Green Lantern / Green Lantern Corps).

    The Jones issues aren't that bad for what they were, but it got a bit more serious on Dixon's short run, and hit its stride with the Beau Smith / Mitch Byrd issues circa Emerald Twilight.

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  2. interesting comic character
    do check out my G at GAC a-z

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  3. My kids like Guy Gardner. Or more to the point they like to dislike him!
    Never knew what Ice/Tora saw in him.

    I am trying to read all the A to Z blogs, but coming back to the ones I really like.
    Looking forward to seeing what you do all month!

    Tim
    The Other Side
    The Freedom of Nonbelief

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