Guy Gardner (DC)
Guy Gardner is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Guy Darrin Gardner
It was said that he was the son of Roland Gardner and Peggy Gardner with him having an older brother named Mace Gardner. The family lived in Baltimore where Mace was seen as the perfect son whilst Guy was often the victim of his father's mood swings and anger. (Guy Gardner v1 #11) He was 13 years old when Mace decided not to go to college but rather to apply to the police academy. Despite the decision, their father was proud of Mace leading to Guy attempting to prove himself by not going into sports but rather sciences. He studied hard and worked late in order to make a project that would get his father's approval. Around this time, he stumbled on his older brother doing drugs in secret where he promised to keep it a secret. Later on, Roland Gardner came to lose his job as a crane operator where at that time Guy looked to showcase his science project. However, his father came to knock it aside and break it where he came to blame Guy leading to him beating his son. Afterwards, he believed he could never compare to his older brother in the eyes of his father. This led to Guy deciding to become the opposite of Mace instead and he began to be a rebel. When he was 16 years old, he came to steal a convertible from a parking lot in Rosedale and took it for a joy ride. (Guy Gardner v1 #12)
After the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different series of events for the character. The rebooted continuity showed that Guy Gardner was the son of Ebenezer Gardner and Gillian Gardner. Guy had an older brother by the name of Gerard Gardner and a younger sister named Gloria Gardner. (Green Lantern Corps v3 #0) Guy often allowed himself to be beaten by his father with him doing so to prevent his dad from taking out his frustrations on his mother. (Green Lantern: Edge of Oblivion v1 #5) He lacked much of a connection with his mother which meant that after she died it hurt him less compared to the rest of the family. However, his older brother Gerard in his anger felt a need for control and took out his frustrations on Guy. During one such beating, his sister Gloria intervened to stop the beating and got hurt as a result. This caused Guy to let loose his anger and he picked up a bat and broke his brothers arm. A result of this act was that Gerard would be unable to play in the season at football leading to his father striking Guy. Despite this event, Gerard's attitude to his siblings changed as he apologized to Guy in the following year and never again hurt his brother or sister. The Gardner siblings went into the police force with Guy continuing the family tradition but his father never acknowledged his efforts. (Secret Origins v3 #11)
He was later an instructor in an eastern school in America when Abin Sur had crashed on Earth. The Ungaran sought a successor with his Power Ring identifying Gardner was a worthy candidate as he was without fear with Sur commanding it to select the nearest person which was Hal Jordan. (Green Lantern v2 #59) An earthquake in California caused a little girl named Suzy Delancy to be trapped on the edge of a collapsing bridge with Gardner attempting to save her but he was hit by a falling bus. He was rendered unconscious and left in a hospital in a coma state with it being months till he could recover. As a result, the Guardians of the Universe decided to find a new back-up Green Lantern for Earth with them deciding on John Stewart. (Green Lantern v2 #87) It was seven months later before Gardner recovered where one day he was encountered a carnival and met a fortune teller named Kari Limbo. She spoke that he had a great destiny in the future which he did not believe but he was attracted to Kari with the two briefly going out for a week. The pair fell in love with one another and when she moved with the carnival he drove out to meet her on weekends. Around this time, Gardner was approached by Hal Jordan who revealed his identity as being Green Lantern and that Guy was designated as a substitute. Jordan at this moment had to return to Oa and had given Guy a Power Ring in order to operate as Earth's Green Lantern in the mean time. (Secret Origins v2 #7) As Hal departed to repair his Power Ring, Guy substituted as the back-up Green Lantern and teamed up with the Green Arrow who he learnt was Oliver Queen. Together, they worked to fight a remote machine called the Eye that was being controlled by Professor Ojo. Guy succeeded and later went to recharge his ring from the Power Battery but was unaware that a fault existed in it causing it to explode seemingly killing Gardner before Jordan could save him. (Green Lantern v2 #116) In reality, he was catapulted into the Phantom Zone where he fell under the mental control of General Zod where his presence in that dimension allowed him to witness events on Earth. He saw Hal Jordan later fall into a romance with Kari Limbo and on the day of their marriage Gardner used his Power Ring to activate the Phantom Zone Projector where he dragged Superman into the Zone. Upon learning of this, Hal to the Fortress of Solitude where he was similarly dragged into the Zone by Gardner. Gardner battled Jordan under Zod's commands and at his own anger at Jordan for stealing Kari Limbo from him. Ultimately, Jordan managed to escape with Superman leaving Guy still trapped in the Phantom Zone. Meanwhile, Kari Limbo through her visions had learnt that Guy was still alive and though she loved Hal she decided not to marry him as Gardner was her first beloved thus causing her to call off the wedding. (Green Lantern v2 #122)
Green Lantern
Returning to Earth, he came to revel in the use of his powers and wanted to prove himself as a Green Lantern. This saw him journeying to the site where the Shark had been defeated where he used his Power Ring to warp time in the area to restore the aquatic supervillain. Gardner had done so in order to fight the Shark and defeat him so as showcase his strength. However, he was defeated by the Shark who went on a rampage and tracked down Hal Jordan where he attacked the other Green Lantern. After being defeat, Gardner arrived on the scene where he confronted John Stewart where he looked to prove himself the better Green Lantern. (Green Lantern v2 #196)
He came to be one of the founding members of one incarnation of the Justice League which included Batman, Martian Manhunter, Doctor Fate, Captain Marvel, Blue Beetle, Mister Miracle, Black Canary and Doctor Light. (Justice League v1 #1)
Yellow Ring
Following completion of his assignment of recruiting new Corps members, Jordan returned to Earth to retake his position as Green Lantern of Sector 2814. In response to this, Gardner decided to challenge Jordan for the title with the loser being forced to quit the Corps. Ultimately, Gardner lost the battle against Hal Jordan and had to relinquish his power ring. Despite that, Gardner decided to continue to operate as a non-powered vigilante but had failed encounters with Goldface and Black Hand. This leads to Guy deciding to find a means of regaining his power and identity. He would trick Lobo into assisting him in invading the planet Qward in order to find a Qwardian yellow ring like the one used by Sinestro. The Qwardians later told Gardner that the ring was unique and never returned to Qward. This leads to Gardner going to the Crypts of the Green Lantern Corps on Oa where he found Sinestro's hand in a tomb and took the yellow ring from it. (Guy Gardner: Reborn v1 #3)
Warrior
Following the destruction of Coast City, a grief stricken Hal Jordan went insane and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps. In the aftermath, Ganthet sought to give the last Power Ring to someone and approached Guy Gardner with an offer to make him Green Lantern. Gardner would refuse and Ganthet instead discovered Kyle Rayner who became the last Green Lantern. (Green Lantern Secret Files & Origins v1 #1)
Emerald Warrior
At some point, the Vuldarian DNA within Gardner began to be overwritten by his human DNA leaving him comatose and in agony during a time when the fear entity Parallax began possessing numerous Green Lantern hosts. During, Hal Jordan was restored to the living and a power ring had come to him. Jordan's ring would later split into two with one going to Guy Gardner where it stabilized him by turning him human and making him a Green Lantern again. With his return, the Guardians of the Universe decided to make Guy Gardner one of the senior officers of the rebuilt Green Lantern Corps. (Green Lantern: Rebirth v1 #1)
He came to El Passo when he received a distress call from the new Blue Beetle and witnessed the Reach attacking the town which was a clear violation of the peace treaty with the Green Lantern Corps. He worked alongside other heroes in defeating the Reach who were apprehended for their actions. (Blue Beetle v8 #25)
Red Lantern
Hal Jordan later approached Guy Gardner with a mission to go undercover into the Red Lantern Corps and investigate their activities in the aftermath of the defeat of the First Lantern. Gardner reluctantly accepts and ends up defeating Atrocitus with him becoming a Red Lantern whereupon he begins to lead that Corps. (Red Lanterns v1 #21)
Return to Green
He let himself be forcibly recruited by the Exo-Mantle in order to learn of the Darkstars plans but became overwhelmed by the command directives of the suit of armor. As such, he was prepared to execute his own father for how he treated Guy badly as a child due to Roland Gardner being drunk most of the time. Arkillo arrived at the scene and managed to convince Guy to use his willpower to stop him from killing whereupon he expunged the Exo-Mantle. He then departed with Arkillo to gather allies in fighting the Darkstars. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #47)
Overview
Personality and attributes
During his youth, he was regularly beaten by his father and by adulthood this shaped his life as he said that he never faced a beating as bad as that as his dad gave him. It was this reason why during fights he stayed standing even after being brutally beaten. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #16)
It was said that Guy was filled with anger and defined himself with that anger. (Guy Gardner: Reborn v1 #1)
Gardner was said to be the kind of person that stepped into the line of fire as he accepted bad things happened so he made sure they happened to him instead of anyone else. As a result, he had often take a range of bruises as he sheltered others from harm. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #21)
Being a Green Lantern came to be all that Guy cared about with the ring being his only source of self-worth. (Guy Gardner: Reborn v1 #1)
Gardner for a time was resentful of his family as he felt that they did nothing for him except teach him to take pain and to fight for himself. (Guy Gardner: Reborn v1 #1)
He believed that his father was simply born angry. (Guy Gardner v1 #11)
Guy had an older brother by the name of Mace Gardner. His brother was considered Mr. Perfect and held as an All-American hero in the family home. (Guy Gardner v1 #11)
The first woman he had fallen in love with was a fortune teller by the name of Kari Limbo. He did not believe in her premonitions and she was completely opposite to him but was attracted to her with her feeling the same. (Green Lantern v2 #116)
Powers and abilities
Upon being given a Power Ring, he gained all the abilities of a Green Lantern namely flight, ability to shoot green energy beams and create constructs based on his imagination. (Green Lantern v2 #116) He had been instructed on the way to warp back time over a select area thus reversing events and even bringing back the dead in the process. (Green Lantern v2 #196)
It was said that Gardner's ring operated like a leaky faucet with sparks always flying even when he was standing still as his willpower could not wait until it was freed. (Green Lantern: Rebirth v1 #6)
At one point, he came to stripped of his position as a Green Lantern and subsequently lost the use of a Power Ring. This saw Gardner looking for an alternative where he decided to take the yellow Qwardian Power Ring from Sinestro. Through his will alone, he was able to take over the ring and was able to use its powers where it functioned similar to his old Green Lantern ring. The Qwardian ring allowed Guy to fly, project yellow beams and create yellow coloured constructs through his imagination. (Guy Gardner: Reborn v1 #3)
Notes
- Guy Gardner was created by John Broome and Gil Kane where he made his first appearance in Green Lantern v2 #59 (March, 1968).
Alternate Versions
- In Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century v1 #6 (2007), a character by the name of Jordana Gardner appeared in the alternate reality setting that was a tie-in to the animated series set in the 31st century. She was a human that was chosen by the Green Lantern Corps where she became its youngest recruit causing her to be known as the Teen Lantern with her being designated to Sector 2814. It was said that she came from a long line of ring bearers dating back to the time of Superman. Both sides of her family had Green Lanterns in them with her once being invited to join the Legion of Super-Heroes but she declined due to her responsibilities to the Corps. She was briefly taken over by the Star Conqueror parasite along with the rest of the Corps until they were freed by Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
- In Gotham City Garage v1 (2017), Guy Gardner was shown to exist on this alternate reality where he was shown as being a non-powered drunk who frequented the Gotham City Garage until they attracted the attention of The Bat.
In other media
Television
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Guy Gardner made a number of appearances in the animated television series starting in the episode "Day of the Dark Knight!" where he was voiced by actor James Arnold Taylor. In "The Eyes of Despero!", he was shown to had gotten into a fight at the mess hall over a food order leading to him being sent into a detention cell that he shared with Green Lantern Sinestro. When G'Nort was sent to give them food, he accidently locked himself in the cell. The three escaped the disappearance of the Green Lantern Corps after their fight with Despero though Hal Jordan's Power Ring sought out Batman who came to Oa. He found the three Green Lanterns and enlisted their aid with Batman having constant arguments with Gardner. During one such argument, he knocked out Guy Gardner with a single punch to bring him in line. In the fight with Despero, he was dispatched to stop the mind controlled Mogo and found that Sinestro was seeding explosives to destroy the planet Green Lantern. To stop him, Gardner ended in a fight with him and ultimately managed to defeat him just as Batman defeated Despero. In the aftermath, the Green Lantern Corps was restored as Jordan had shrunk them all into his ring.
- In Young Justice, Guy Gardner made a number of cameo appearances in the animated television series where he had a non-voiced role.
- In Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Guy Gardner was introduced into the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Diedrich Bader.
Films
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, Guy Gardner as a Green Lantern appeared as a boss level antagonist for the villain side in the MMORPG video game where he was voiced by actor Joey Hood.
Toys
Others
Appearances
- Green Lantern v2: (1968)
- Green Lantern Corps v1:
- Justice League International v1:
- Guy Gardner: Reborn v1:
- Guy Gardner v1:
- Green Lantern: Rebirth v1:
- Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors v1:
- Red Lantern v1:
- Green Lantern: Edge of Oblivion v1:
External Links
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