As previously mentioned, it's Guy Gardner Week over at Dave's Long Box. Dave's vacation started today, but fear not... he decided to keep everyone busy in his absence by starting a Guy Gardner meme: "What is Guy saying? You make the call!" On the left is my own humble contribution.While Dave clearly provided us with the classic, psychotic version of Guy to work with, I have to admit that my fondest memories of Gardner are from his Justice League International days, after he suffered a severe blow to the head that resulted in a major personality shift, and the emergence of the nauseatingly kinder, gentler Guy Gardner.
This of course led to the classic sequence of JLI covers (from issues 18 and 19), wherein Guy reverts to type just in time to face the intergalactic mercenary Lobo. Of course, this was back when Lobo was still an obscure and enjoyable character, before the fanboys completely missed the point that he was intended as a parody of such "ultraviolent" Marvel characters as Wolverine and the Punisher, after which his massive overexposure as DC's resident badboy antihero began in force.Apparently, Lobo's appeal was as lost on Keith Giffen as Rorschach's popularity with fans was on Alan Moore. Which reminds me of a funny Lobo anecdote I posted on my Simpsons blog a few months back.
11 comments:
Oh, you just can't go wrong with Guy Gardner. He's my favorite Green Lantern.
I'm unfamiliar with the story of Alan Moore's not getting Rorschach's popularity. You got a link to that or know where I can find it?
I remember reading something many years ago (pre-internet) about how Moore was appalled that Watchmen readers didn't get that his depiction of Rorschach was supposed to be negative. I think it disturbed him to think that people would applaud Rorschach's views or methods. In that sense, I doubt Moore was much of a Punisher fan either. The best reference I can find on the web is this Stiptease article. After explaining that Rorschach was based on the Ditko characters "The Question" and "Mr.A," it goes on to say this:
Gibbons and Moore used these characters as a reference point, drawing on their extreme right wing political nature. In an interview with Moore, he stated that Rorschach was, "a tragic figure, a loser and a fool, who evoked the paranoid world of Steve Ditko, and took vigilantism as far as it could go" (Sabin 271). Much to the creators' disappointment, most fans singled Rorschach out as a hero instead of reacting against him.
Oh, you just can't go wrong with Guy Gardner. He's my favorite Green Lantern.
Sure, Sally, but do you have the Guy Gardner action figure from Green Lantern Series 2? (Nice GL blog, btw).
Hi Corey,
I don't have the second GG figure, but I do have the earlier one, with the bowl haircut, and it is awesome! Now I just need to get the Kilowog figure. I just loves me some Green Lanterns.
Kilowog's been one of my 2 favorite Lanterns ever since he built the "Club JLI" resort casino for Booster & Beetle (on the island nation of Kooey Kooey Kooey) in just a matter of hours (using Maxwell Lord's money, if I remember correctly). My other favorite is, of course, Gnort.
and I'll point out that Lobo became a parody shortly after this story anyway... not before...
Believe it or not, they are bringing back G'nort in November in the Guy Gardner mini-series with Chaykin. Should be interesting.
Sorry guys, but I think Guy Gardner looks gay.
Or happy...yeah, maybe he looks happy... :(
Maybe he would look better in a mullet...I don't know...he just doesn't do it for me...
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