Guy Gardner

Guy Gardner
Information

History

Early life

Guy was raised in Baltimore by his parents, Roland and Peggy Gardner. Roland was an abusive alcoholic who beat Guy repeatedly. Guy worked hard in school to try to win his father's approval, but Roland instead lavished attention and compliments upon Guy's older brother, Mace. Guy's only escape at this time was General Glory comic books, going so far as to model his bowl haircut on Glory's sidekick, Ernie.

During his mid-teens, Guy became a juvenile delinquent. He was straightened out by his brother, now a police officer, and he eventually went to college, supporting himself, and earning bachelor's degrees in education and psychology from the University of Michigan, where he also played football until a career-ending injury.

After college, Guy worked as a social welfare provision|social welfare caseworker, dealing with prison inmates and their rehabilitation. He abandoned this line of work, however, fearing it brought out his aggressive nature. Moving on, he became a teacher for children with disabilities.

Green Lantern Corps

Guy Gardner's first appearance in Green Lantern #59 (March, 1968).

The appointed Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814, an alien named Abin Sur from the planet Ungara, crash-landed on Earth after being mortally wounded. As Sur died, his power ring sought and found two potential successors: Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan. Jordan was nearer to the crash, so he was chosen over Gardner.

When Jordan became aware of Gardner's status as his backup, he went out of his way to set up a chance meeting, and the two became friends. Though Gardner was originally naive to Jordan's secret identity, he eventually assisted Jordan during his adventures. He is later partnered with Jordan after completing his training under Kilowog.

During an earthquake, Gardner was hit by a bus while attempting to rescue one of his students. During his recovery, the Guardians recruited John Stewart to be Jordan's new "backup".

Some time later, during a period where Gardner was performing his duties as a backup Green Lantern, Hal Jordan's power battery, the source of the ring's energy, exploded in his face due to damage done to it by the Crumbler and trapped him in the Phantom Zone. Jordan and Kari Limbo, Gardner's girlfriend at the time, both believed him to be dead, and the two developed a romantic relationship, and ultimately culminated in a marriage proposal. Gardner was able to interrupt the wedding by contacting Limbo telepathically. By then, however, Gardner's bus accident, the power battery explosion, his assimilation into the zone, and the subsequent torture at the hands of General Zod and other residents of the Phantom Zone had affected his mind. When Gardner was released from the Phantom Zone, he was diagnosed with brain damage and was comatose for a number of years.

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Guardians of the Universe split into two factions over how to confront the Crisis. A minority faction of six Guardians emulated their former brethren, the Controllers, by recruiting a Green Lantern to directly attack and destroy the forces of the antimatter universe. For reasons unknown, Gardner was revived by the renegade Guardians, given a power ring not tied to the Central Power Battery on Oa and sporting a uniform similar to that worn by the Fists of the Guardians, and given a mission. He was to recruit and command the deadliest and most powerful criminals in the universe, including the Shark, Hector Hammond (left behind after trying to attack Gardner), Sonar, Throttle, Blindside, and Goldface, to launch a strike against the home base of the Anti-Monitor.

Gardner's brain damage manifested itself in the form of an arrogant, violent, unstable, and often childish new personality. Gardner believed himself to be the last "true" Green Lantern, superior to all the others, particularly Jordan. Five of the renegade Guardians were slain by a wave of antimatter, and the sixth eventually reconciled with the rest of the Guardians. In the meantime, Gardner succeeded in his task of recruiting powerful villains. Both Hal Jordan and John Stewart prevented Gardner from completing his mission, which would have ultimately destroyed the universe.

Following the Crisis, the Guardians along with the Zamarons left the universe to create the next generation of Guardians. Gardner was placed under the care of the remaining Guardian-turned-mortal Appa Ali Apsa (who later went on to become the "Mad Guardian") on the planet Maltus in order to teach Gardner the ways of the Corps, a situation which Gardner resented. Gardner eventually escaped and returned to Earth, but was recaptured by Appa Ali Apsa (with the assistance of two Corps honor guards) intending to reclaim Gardner's power ring. At the request of Kari Limbo, Hal Jordan pleaded on Gardner's behalf for his freedom, which was granted with no return of gratitude from Gardner.

As a consequence of the Corps executing Sinestro the majority of the Corps lost their power rings; Gardner was one of the few remaining active Green Lanterns. After the defeat and death of the "Mad Guardian" the Guardians returned and assigned Gardner to be the official Green Lantern of Sector 2814 while Jordan was assigned to recruit new Corps members.

Justice League International

Guy Gardner, Justice League member.

Soon after obtaining his freedom from Maltus, Gardner became a founding member of the Justice League International after the original JLA disbanded. In his time with the JLI, Gardner resented Batman's leadership of the group, going so far as to challenge the Dark Knight to a fist fight; Batman immediately downed Guy with one punch. Guy's run in JLI was full of constant personality shifts and endless arguing between team members. This led to a fight with Lobo, the sucker-punching of Blue Beetle during a boxing match, and finally him quitting the team after being "belittled" by Superman.

Gardner was romantically involved with his fellow Leaguer Ice, even learning some rudimentary Norwegian.

Guy Gardner: Reborn

Guy Gardner with his yellow power ring nd a change of costume.

After completing his assignment of recruiting new Corps members, Jordan returned to Earth to reclaim his title as Green Lantern of Sector 2814. Gardner's response was to challenge Jordan to a fight where the loser would quit the Corps. Gardner lost and surrendered his ring. After some failed run-ins with Goldface and Black Hand as a non-powered vigilante, he set out on a quest to regain his power and identity. Tricking Lobo into assisting him, he invaded Qward to find the yellow power ring of Sinestro, but was told by the Qwardians that the ring was unique & never returned to Qward. He then travelled to Oa where he found it on Sinestro's hand in Oa's "Crypt of the Green Lantern Corps".

Gardner's own adventures began with him using the yellow ring and a modified costume similar to his Green Lantern costume but from street clothes. The yellow ring didn't use a battery to recharge, instead needing to be used against the power rings of Green Lantern Corps so it could absorb their residual energy to restore its power, which Gardner discovered by accident when Kilowog fought him while his ring was powerless.

Guy Gardner returned to Earth to pick a fight with Superman but eventually rejoined the Justice League and helped battle the monster Doomsday, in which he and his teammates were brutally beaten and Superman was killed during the creature's defeat. During the Reign of the Supermen when four different versions of Superman appeared after his death, Guy fought, became allies and later endorsed the Last Son of Krypton Superman who was actually the Eradicator. Later, Guy cleared his name of murder that was committed by his clone and learned that his brother Mace had become the assassin Militia; after a brawl between the two, Guy decided to take the codename Warrior.

Warrior

Warrior Costume

After a visit back home to Baltimore, and finding out for the first time that his father was dead before he could confront the old man about his years of abuse, Guy determined to reinvent himself once again, give himself a new look, and let the world know that he was back. Wearing an updated leather jacket, gloves, boots and a logo on his chest, he became Guy Gardner: Warrior

Guy Gardner: Warrior

By this time, the power of Guy's ring had begun to fluctuate due to the meddling of the villain Parallax. Deprived of his powers, Guy wore a golden exosuit provided by Blue Beetle which simulated superhuman strength. However, Guy wasn't happy with this initial suit as it didn't feel as natural as using ring power.

Although the exosuit was destroyed during combat with Militia, Guy's power ring surged and provided him with a new exosuit constructed of ring energy. This was much more to Guy's liking.

Emerald Twilight

Main article: Emerald Twilight

After Coast City was destroyed by Mongul and Cyborg Superman during Reign of the Supermen, Hal Jordan, the greatest Green Lantern, turned insane. Determining that the Guardians of the Universe were unfit leaders after they blocked his attempts to recreate his home, he went on a rampage destroying the entire Green Lantern Corps. Traveling to Oa, Hal murdered the Guardians, Kilowog, Sinestro, destroyed the Central Power Battery and left the rest of the Corps for dead. He began calling himself Parallax.

Parallax

Ganthet first came to Guy Gardner to offer him the last Green Lantern power ring. When Gardner refused, Ganthet decided to entrust it to Kyle Rayner.

After Guy started having visions of Oa's destruction and his power started to mysteriously increase, he led a group of heroes to Oa to find out what happened to the Corps. Guy and his team were ambushed and quickly defeated by Parallax (Hal Jordan). But Guy managed to trick Hal into thinking that he was dead by simulating a ring powered construct of himself that had been impaled by an energy pike. After his entire team was defeated, Guy used the element of surprise and managed to evenly match Hal in a fight for a few minutes due to the fact that his ring siphoned residual Green Lantern plasma-energy. But eventually Hal gained the upper hand, defeated Gardner and destroyed his ring, depriving him of his ring-powered exosuit.

Ring Destroyed

Parallax then punched out one of Gardner's eyes and sent him and his team back to Earth. Guy later awoke in hospital after spending three weeks in a coma. Deprived again of his power-ring, he was forced to find an alternate means of acquiring power.

Guy would join up with Buck Wargo and his globe-trotting Monster Hunters, which featured obscure hero Tiger-Man (Desmond Farr) along with Joey Hong and Rita Muldoon. On an expedition to the Amazon Rainforest, Gardner found a chalice of the Warrior Water. He drank from it, and this activated alien DNA that was implanted in his bloodline a millennium ago by a space-traveling race called the Vuldarians. He discovered new, shapeshifting abilities which would allow him to resume his role as a superhero. When Guy first emerged from having drank the Warrior Water, his body had assumed the shape of his old exosuit, albeit red instead of gold, and his lost eye had been restored. Guy's body remained that way until the end of the Zero Hour Crisis, morphing weapons directly out of his arms.

Gardner opened a superhero theme bar called Warriors, as both a source of income and a base between his adventures.He would be joined by Buck's group, Veronna, mightiest of the Nabba Jungle tribe of women whom guarded the Warrior Water and believed herself to be destined as Guy's mate (sharing limited telepathy with him), and those brought on as bouncers for Warriors but acted as fellow adventurers Lady Blackhawk(displaced in time by Zero Hour), Wildcat, Lead, and Arisia.

Warrior: the last Vuldarian

His early days as Warrior saw him struggling with his newfound powers. He had difficulty changing his body into any weapon, and his transformations often caused him pain. After a breakdown that led to a confrontation with Superman and Supergirl, with some soul-searching help from his supposed ancestor Cardone, Gardner was finally able to use his new powers to form most non-energy-based weapons from his body, as well as absorb some forms of energy and redirect them through his various "weapons". Another ability, his capability to use the knowledge of warriors from across space and time, was rarely used and mostly forgotten. Guy had many enemies during the series including Evil Star, Gorilla Grodd, Black Serpent, Sledge, Major Force, Martika the Seductress, Bronkk and the Tormocks (ancient nemeses to the Vuldarians), Mudakka, and Dementor as well as the return of his clone (now going by the name Enforcer), the Quorum, and his brother Militia with girlfriend Honey. He also teamed with many heroes including Steel, with whom he became close friends after discovering Steel attended the University of Michigan and played on the same football team. Gardner also became good friends with Lobo after the defeat of the Tormocks (so far as the bounty hunter giving Gardner one of his space bikes and the skull of Bronkk).

During the time that Gardner fought against Dementor, he learned that his enemy was also a product of Vuldarian breeding. Dementor's father had raped a Vuldarian woman. Dementor was sent to Hell, where he eventually revealed that he was the one responsible for Gardner's constant personality shifts (in a sense, explaining why his personality changed drastically over the years).

eventually Guy would rejoin the Corps, after his Vuldarian powers are suppressed.

Actions During the Warping Week

Guy found himself back in Manhattan, at his old Bar and his old Monster Hunter buddies, however his Power Ring's charge was dying and there was no Connection to OA. however he continued to help with the Evac of New York. he used the last of his charge to save a neighbourhood from being drowned in the super tidal wave

Post Warping Week

Guy fell into a Coma as his previously suppressed Vuldarian Nature roared back to dominance he was taken by S.H.I.E.L.D. and cared for until the process was complete and then he was offered a position on the Avengers.

Powers and abilities

Power rings

Guy Gardner was trained to use a Green Lantern power ring, which is only limited by the user's will power. He later acquired Sinestro's Qwardian power ring, which was later revealed to be based on the bearer's control of fear. This early version of a yellow power ring was powered by absorbing plasma radiation that had been expelled from a Green Lantern ring and seemed to make Guy more invulnerable than a normal Green Lantern power-ring. He used both for basic Lantern abilities including constructs, flight, and energy projection, though it also caused him some difficulty on occasion-for example, if he asked it a question he would get an answer in Qwardian, which he didn't speak. currently both Guy's Yellow Power Ring and Green Lantern Power Ring are dormant

Vuldarian powers

Guy creating weapons

Guy's Vuldarian powers include limited shapeshifting abilities in which he can create weapons out of his body. At first, these transformations caused him pain and he was unable to shrink from his 7-foot height. He maintained super strength, stamina, and durability around Superman's strata, the power of flight, capable of surviving in outer space unassisted, accelerated healing, and had access to the memories of deceased Vuldarians (touted as the most dangerous warriors in the history of the universe). Trained by the Vuldarian Cardone, Gardner become highly trained in using his abilities and practiced extensively in the martial arts. During the

Rogues gallery

Black Serpent

Anthony Serpente is a modern day pirate whose crew came into conflict with Warrior and Black Serpent later joined Martika's coalition against Gardner.

Bolphunga the Unrelenting

Working as a bounty hunter, Bolphunga crossed swords with Gardner and after his defeat sought the Green Lantern during his vacation.

Dementor

Failed attempt at a Vuldarian/Terran hybrid that became Warrior's nemesis. Met his demise as part of Martika's group of Gardner rogues.

Enforcer

A clone of Guy Gardner that began using the original's middle name 'Joe' and had a power glove based on Sinestro's power ring. Was a member of Martika's Guy Gardner revenge squad.

Major Force

A sociopath that came into conflict with several Green Lanterns, Force tried to kill Gardner's mother (instead murdering her neighbor by accident) and slew Arisia as part of Martika's group of enemies faced Gardner.

Martika

Able to entrance men, the seductress targeted Guy but when she was not able to dominate him sought to break him down with a group of his worst enemies. She seemingly dies after her group fails to kill Warrior.

Militia and Honey

Guy's brother, Mace Gardner, and his girlfriend, Militia was turned into a cyborg by the Quorum and became a mercenary. Believed killed by Major Force when Martika's team fought Warrior but returned to face the Outsiders.

Sledge

Created by the Quorum, Sledge was a super-powered soldier that went rogue and fought Warrior and Steel in Washington, D.C. He would later join Martika's affiliation of Gardner villains. Believed to have died as part of the Suicide Squad, he appeared later as part of the Society.

The Tormocks

The alien race that threatened the Vuldarians, they largely died out under the leadership of Bronkk when they came into conflict with Warrior, Justice League America, Hawkman, Lobo, and Probert as part of the Way of the Warrior event. Notable Tormock agents include Empress Karine (Bronkk's sister), Slabb, Slarm, Wep-Tex, Treach, and Lupus. Their forces include the flying Shrike-Fighters, Leechuns, Kraggz drones, the living planet Terra-Sphere, and the living black hole Black Vortexer.