Green Lantern Corps #14

Now that is one arresting cover!



Guy has not been having an easy time of it.  As a part of their insidious plot, the Guardians have decided to set him up as their mostest fabulous Lantern...even more fabulous than Hal Jordan!  Due to a certain innate skepticism, Guy isn't buying it completely...and yet acceptance and accolades must sound very sweet to a man who labored in Hal's giant shadow for so very long.  Naturally the Guardians don't let him savor it for very long, right after elevating him to the highest status, they immediately give him an impossible task...take a cadre of Lanterns and guard some Ambassadors...oh and by the way, that Bad Guy that you beat back when you are a rookie?  He's out and gunning for you...and your family and world.

Well you know and I know how Guy is going to react.  And so of course, do the Guardians.  In fact, they are counting on it.  Guy leaves a bunch of his Lanterns to guard the Ambassadors, while he high-tails it to Earth to protect his family...just as the Guardians knew that he would.  It was all a feint anyway.  On the way, they are attacked by more of the Third Army.  Guy has the moxie and the willpower to survive...but does everyone else?  Alas no, and they area all over-run and assimilated, much to Guy's horror.

The Guardians on the other hand, are simply delighted.  They have a mind-link to their Third Army zombies, and can see what is going on throughout the sector, and are actually seemingly turned on by all of the mayhem.  Sick little blue Bastards!  Guy is sick with grief and guilt, but he's smart enough to get the heck out of there, and the Third Army guys aren't fast enough to overtake him, which makes the Guardians all sad, since they had planned for this to be a One Way Trip for Gardner.  They are all set to come up with another plan for this death,when Ganthet convinces them that it isn't necessary to kill him...he's more valuable to them in undermining the rest of the Corps...somehow.  Ganthet gives the news to Guy's old Nemesis, who isn't happy that he isn't allowed to rip Guy's arms off, but he's going along with it ....for now anyway.

On Earth, Guy unceremoniously snatches up his Dad, his Sister and his Brother, and dumps them on the Justice League, with a hurried explanation, that they need to have a place to hide for a couple of days.  Cyborg and Flash are fairly laconic in their response...Barry hopes that they like Thai food.  More and more, I'm thinking that Barry is secretly Wally in disguise...at least when it comes to the Justice League.  Maybe it IS Wally, and Barry is busy in his own book or something.  At least that would explain Flash's not quite sotto voce remark that he hoped Guy was the defunct Lantern in this months issue of that book! 

Meanwhile, back on Oa, Kilowog and Salaak have made a rather startling discovery, newly deceased Lantern's rings aren't going out after new recruits, so the ranks of the Green Lanterns are being slowly but systematically decreased.  Of course Mogo was the one who took care of that little chore, but I am sure that the Guardians are up to the task...wait-a-minute!  Oh, those cherubic charlatans!  Kilowog and Salaak are sitting on this information...for now, but at least they are aware that the Guardians are up to no good, since they also found out that they had suppressed the tape of John's little neck-snapping incident, and purposefully whipped up the whole Alpha Corps confrontation.

The Guardians are sneaky, and murderous and nasty...but they really aren't quite as smart as they think they are. 

John has been sent on a futile mission to recover bits and pieces of Mogo, which seem to be trying to coalesce themselves again, which if true, would be a Very Good Thing, since I love Mogo.  I had thought however that he was currently orbiting Oa as a ring.  But Fatality, as a Star Sapphire gets a message that Love is in trouble or something, and shows up to surprise John.  John is VERY surprised, since they spent an awful lot of time in the past trying to eviscerate each other.  On the other hand, John has been very lonely for a very long time, and it sure doesn't look as though Katma is going to be resurrected any time soon, so what the heck?

After putting his family in safe custody, Guy is heading back to Oa, but he sure isn't happy about it.  He does get a heads up from Salaak, who tells him to report...and to be careful, and prepared for the worst.  Well of course, the worst...at least according to Guy...does happen.  The Guardians pretend to be furious, he's lost his cadre of Lanterns, disobeyed orders, the Ambassadors are all wiped out (at the Guardians urging) and he's in deepest Doo doo.  Guy naturally does the honorable thing.  If there is one thing that Guy loves, it is the Corps.  So in front of everyone, he has to resign.  Ganthet gets this wierd smirk on his face, and they take his ring, and zap him back to earth.

And all he is left with, is his old motorcycle, which is rather poignant.

Damn. 

Those miserable little Fiends!  I can only say that I am REALLY looking for a Comeuppance of the highest Degree!  And yet...and yet, something isn't quite right.  The Guardians were completely willing and eager to have Guy killed.  And yet Ganthet was the one who talked them out of it.  Guy doesn't have a ring anymore, but he's free and alive and pissed off back on Earth.  Salaak and Kilowog have secretly sent B'dg to Earth, to scout things out, so presumably he's hanging out in a tree somewhere, gathering intel.  Simon  Baz is also on Earth.  And...Guy's uniform didn't disappear when his ring did either. 

Something is going on.

This is great. Read it and enjoy!