Worst Bosses In the Universe?
An interesting notion, and I think that the answer to that would have to be the Guardians of Oa...in a landslide. Although I must admit that I occasionally have days at work, where I would question that premise. As a result of their meddling, obtuseness, and all-around douchebaggery, they've almost managed to wipe out life, not in a few isolated planets or even galaxies, but the whole gosh-darned Universe. You almost have to be in awe of their total idiocy.
Which is why I am wondering...after Blackest Night, what next? Whither the Guardians? Do they really expect to just pick themselves up, and flutter back to Oa and start ordering the Corps around again? Granted, they never intended to bring about the end of the world, but still...that's almost what happened, and Lord knows that THEY didn't have anything to do with the miraculous rescue. Ganthet and Sayd were the only Guardians who actually helped, and they had been unceremoniously booted out for daring to have emotions.
So where do they stand? What will be the attitude of the Green Lantern Corps towards their Masters? Do they forgive and forget? Is this possibly something that has to do with Ganthet, Guy and Atrocitus? Why on earth would staging a coup upset Hal? I imagine that Sinestro would certainly be all for it.
There is the danger of a vacumn in the power base of course. There are a lot of unscrupulous characters lurking, just waiting to step into the Guardian's tiny little shoes.
So...what will happen now?
Although they are a bit on the cute side, and apparently they do a boffo song and dance number there at the end, I don't think that it's going to be enough to salvage their jobs. When you think about it, the Guardians are in a similar position to Wall Street at the moment. Reviled and loathed by just about everyone, for bringing about armageddon through their own failed and short-sighted policies.
So. Should the Guardians win the booby prize for being the stupidest Bosses around, or is your OWN boss a better choice? I actually like my boss. I work for a medium-sized company that is a third generation family-run business. There are pluses and minuses involved of course, and one of the minuses is that there is always at least ONE person in a family run corporation who is a complete and utter jackass...but there's nothing that you can do because his or her name is on the building. I have one of those. And there are days when he can certainly give the Guardians a run for their money.
Are your bosses better or worse than the Guardians of the Universe?
posted by SallyP @ 12:01 PM
11 Comments:
In fairness to the little blue guys, it should be remembered that they kept the universe more or less intact for several BILLION years (and that's a long time even in Washington DC), and that in the last few years they've taken about 65% casualties (there were, I believe, 23 Guardians pre-Crisis, down to 8 now). That's nearly two-thirds of their entire immortal race gone, even if you disregard their period of temporary total extinction.
The wisest move the Guardians ever made was giving the power rings to independent, free-willed beings chosen to be worthy of the trust placed in them. Indirectly, the Guardians did save us from Blackest Night – they empowered the Green Lantern Corps, and inspired the creation of the other Corps.
Bad quarterly review, yes. But in my book, they're a long way from incompetent. Now, I wouldn't want to work directly for them, but sector Lanterns seldom have to.
-- Jack of Spades
Well, I agree up to a certain point. They certainly have managed things fairly well for quit a long time. However, there WAS that little...um...accident with sector 666, and you know, the whole Manhunter kerfuffle, and pissing off the Zamarons, and sending Abin Sur to his death and lying about it, and not telling anyone that killing a Korugarian was a BAD idea, and letting Hal Jordan get away with RANK insubordination...well, their recent performance has been certainly sub-par.
No comment on my boss. None at all. As Craig Ferguson would say, I can't say anything for legal reasons...
For people who have been around a long time, the Guardians don't seem as smart as I hoped they'd be. Then again, they are a committee, and you know how great committees are....
Didn't the Guardians used to mindwipe Hal all the time? In fairness, my work does the same...oh, wait, I just zoned out for six hours. Eh, same difference.
Gaurdians are definitely the worst bosses (especially since they rationalize after a disater of their own causing and present it as grand design master plan).
Sally, I'd argue that letting Hal get away with rank insubordination was actually a good thing; I approve of a management philosophy of "hire good people and get out of their way." Sector 666 & the Manhunters, OK, we had one failed project billions of years ago, we replaced that hardware and things have run pretty well since then. The Zamarons left and founded their own little company that hasn't amounted to much; they're not exactly Microsoft to the Guardians' IBM. And as it turns out it's a good thing those little spin-offs tapped into the various colors of the spectrum, isn't it?
You're right, they've had problems lately. But I observe that the universe is still intact, largely due to the efforts of their organization and agents. I think that counts for something.
-- Jack of Spades
I'd disagree with the fact that Hal is a good employee, even if he does get results. I don't think stumbling and bumbling your way to a lucky win should be considered competence in any way, shape, or form -- and that's exactly what Hal does most of the time. To be fair, that's how superheroes operate most of the time because that's what keeps the story interesting, but he does it more than most and still gets to bask in the title of "the Greatest". He's a walking example of a person who gets all the lucky breaks over and over again -- he worked for Ferris forever despite the number of planes he ruined (and still is allowed to fly them around for fun, apparently), he even got back in the Air Force years after a dishonorable discharge (that should have landed him in jail for a while, too). Realistically, he should be wrong more often and make more mistakes operating the way he does. And he's not just making a Big Mac at McDonald's -- he's doing things that could result in people getting killed.
His impulsiveness is a strength sometimes because Lanterns have to think on the fly a lot, but I have yet to see him do or say anything to back up the claim that he actually has skill with that ring. (I think he does -- just not as much as people claim he does.)
I'm also not sure that the Guardians can take credit for keeping the universe more or less intact. I'm not convinced that the universe needed babysitting for all those years. Look at how many of the biggest threats came about because of the Guardians and the Corps, or in direct response to their presence.
That said, I suppose there could be worse bosses (the Controllers, perhaps?), but how could we ever know, if the Guardians smite anyone who tries to dethrone them?
If Ganthet and company are staging a quiet coup, I think Hal would be against it... but only at first. He trusts Ganthet, true, and he back-talks the Guardians all the time, but ultimately he's pretty loyal. He certainly was suspicious of Ganthet all of a sudden when he saw him leading the Blues, wasn't he? He'll get convinced by the end, though... probably just in time to save the day.
I'm not even that sure that the Guardians did such a bang-up job in the past. We are still dealing with the repurcussions of the Manhunters, and the whole decision to abandon emotion.
Who is to say that everything was just peachy a million years ago? Nobody but the Guardians apparently.
I've decided that if Ganthet wants to stage a coup, I'm all for it.
It depends. Are we talking about pre-Crisis or post-Crisis Guardians here?
Pre-Crisis, I remember them as being pretty decent fellows. They treated the Lanterns less like employees and more like favored grandchildren; their attitude towards the Corps in general and Hal Jordan in particular was frequently one of exasperated affection. When Hal was killed by Doctor Polaris (yes, really!) they actually cried.
Of course, this was before they were retconned into fascist Smurfs.
Gruff, but Grandfatherly actually works for me. Post-Crisis, they've been pretty obnoxious.
All I can say at this point is, you tell 'em, Salaak!
-- Jack of Spades
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