DOCTOR LIGHT versus GREEN LANTERN

The Ghost of Christmas Light (Marvel)
Where: Green Lantern #36 When: February 1993
Why: Gerard Jones How: Gene Ha

The Story So Far...
Hal Jordan's heading home for the holidays, bringing best pal Carol Ferris to the Jordan Family Christmas at his brother Jim's! A magical flight in sets the season off to a perfect start, but hidden within the majestic Northern Lights is the malicious manifestation of Doctor Light!

With his powers ever-expanding since experiencing death; Light no longer needs a physical form! He exists as a being of pure light, passing through particles and wavelengths as he searches for purpose and power. Finding himself drawn to the ethereal glow of the Green Lantern's power ring, the villain is on a course to crash the party!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 2 (Average)
Intelligence: Doctor Light 5 (Professor)
Speed: Doctor Light 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Green Lantern 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting: Green Lantern 4 (Trained)
Energy: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Green Lantern 27 (Metahuman)

Doctor Light has developed a bit of a reputation for being a chump, but he's undergone several transformations over the years that've enhanced, focused, and unlocked his light-based powers! In today's fight he's fresh from being spat right out of Hell -- and more at-one with light than ever before!

In past featured fights we've seen Arthur Light channel, control, and project light, such as: his team-up with Mirror Master against The League of Titans in Final Crisis #1, or attack on the Fortress of Solitude in Superman/Batman #43.

After his rejection from Hell: Doctor Light realized the ability to surrender his physical form and become light! This adds a new spectrum to his potentially deadly arsenal as he travels instantly through light while bending it to his will!

Fortunately, Green Lantern is no stranger to battling opponents who cast opposing light. The fearless Hal Jordan continues to clash with the likes of Larfleeze [Green Lantern #42] and a Parallax possessed Kyle Rayner [Green Lantern #24], to say nothing of his arch-nemesis Sinestro, who was finished off in a fistfight without the use of power ring projections in Green Lantern #25!

It's a good thing Jordan knows how to throw a punch when he can't rely on green hard-light constructs, too! When Doctor Light was part of The Society, we saw him literally extract the light-based powers of The Ray in Infinite Crisis #1!

The Black Lantern Martian Manhunter was also able to use intangibility, speed, and deceptive projections to beat both Flash and GL in Green Lantern #44.

To make matters even worse: these are the days before Parallax, which means Green Lantern power rings are still unable to act against anything yellow! We saw Professor Zoom pierce GL's light shields with common yellow objects in Green Lantern #40, and Golden Roc cause some trouble in Secret Origins #32!

if Doctor Light can exploit the fullest of his unlocked light-manipulation powers to move fast and create holograms and mirages -- he just might test the GL oath of might on a brightest day! Let's see how the Christmas clash went!

The Tape: Green Lantern Ranking: Green Lantern (#30)

What Went Down...
Christmas merriment turns to terror when the Jordan family's decorative lights leap from the tree and begin strangling Jim "Santa Claus" Jordan!

Within each globe gleams a cackling face and it doesn't take brother Hal long to figure out the most likely culprit. With a flash of his ring he dons the uniform of the Green Lantern and races to rescue his brother from Doctor Light!

The tendrils of colored lights wrap around GL, holding a yellow globe at his throat as the villain demands the green "supernal light" of the ring. Green Lantern struggles as the wiring wraps tighter around his throat.

As the family wonders how such a powerful hero could be challenged -- little Howie races to unplug the lights from the electrical socket. The strategy is a good one, but Doctor Light charges the globes to fire a laser that tags the boy on the shoulder and sets him aflame!

Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned! While Carrol Ferris tends to the boy, Sue Jordan flies into a rage -- launching herself at the malicious decorations! Lasers beam wildly from the coils wrapped around GL's body, but her sudden assault pays off. The Lantern coaches her to strip the yellow bulbs and free his green light to slice through the power chord!

The Christmas tree becomes a raging torch, but the peril seems to pass as Green Lantern directs the family to leave the house. He promises to collect the unconscious Santa and "guy in the Hall", maintaining the façade of a secret identity, but as he does -- he fails to notice a materializing figure!

The unexpected blast of the Doctor's solid-light beam knocks Green Lantern clean out of the air! It's enough to put the hero on his keister, but he's far from out. With a sling of his power ring he challenges Doctor Light to fight in the dark -- obscuring his eyes with a hard-light block from his ring, while taking his legs out with the mocking form of a flash light!

The villain concedes to taunts that he was always a lightweight, but Green Lantern has drastically under estimated the threat he presently faces!

While GL turns his attentions to snuffing the tree fire with a rug, Light dematerializes his way out of his blinders, and refracts himself into a one-man army of five Doctors Light!

The refracted Light brigade beats and batters an unprepared hero with a barrage of fists! They surround him, forming a chorus line of four who kick him back to the ground!

Even Light himself cannot answer the mystery of what's become of him since death. It hardly matters! He once again demands the power and knowledge of the Green Lantern's "light of unearthly perfection". GL obliges, using his ring to smack Doctor Light over the head with a lamp. The Lights furiously converge!

Glowing with yellow light, the Doctor issues an indignant ultimatum: Give him access to the green light - or "die in yellow agony!"

Engulfed in blistering yellow light - the Green Lantern is seemingly out of options, but a wry smile betrays his confidence! He summons his battery and gives Doctor Light a window to the source of a Green Lantern's power. It's exactly what he wanted -- but all is not as it seems!

Like the proverbial genie: Doctor Light is sucked into the battery! There, he will have his wish to be one with the light -- trapped within it!

The Hammer...
Just when you think you're out - they suck you right back in! A little bit of a cheap victory for Green Lantern in the end, but if you live by the light - I guess you die by it, too! Or at least... get sucked into the prison of a cosmic battery your light-based essence cannot escape from!

After a mostly comical stint with the Suicide Squad (that also ended with his temporary death), this was the story that finally put Doctor Light on ice.

I've always liked the idea that the Suicide Squad was the last refuge for characters who were on the chopping block. It kinda seems like that was the case for Light. As I say often, I've never been the biggest Teen Titans fan, and a guy with a silly hat who terrorizes kids with lightshows can seem a tad pathetic.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, Doctor Light didn't escape the Green Lantern's battery for over three years! By that time, Kyle Rayner had taken over the gig - and that's a battle I hope to come back to some time in the near future!

Consider this installment the first part in a fine example of what should be done with villains who've out stayed their welcome, or seemingly warn out their use. As we'll see in the future issue of Green Lantern: they can always be brought back with a spiffy new coat of paint. Although, considering where Doctor Light would wind up another decade later, the results may not always be lasting...

I didn't really pick this battle to talk about Doctor Light. Truth be told, I've had it on the To Do list for the last couple of Decembers, but something always gets in the way. In fact, this year I spent a whole lot of my Christmas working on the relaunch of Mortal Kombat Online, and now I'm sick! I was pretty determined to sneak this one through before the year ended, though. So here we are!

I wouldn't call Green Lantern #36 a uniquely important Holiday issue, but it's got a very nice balance of elements. In essence it's a sweet family gathering. The Jordan Family Christmas episode of the series, showing Hal Jordan in the fairly unusual environment of a domestic setting. Relatable, believable.

Of course, it wouldn't be a superhero's family gathering without some sort of big super-villain fight, and that breaks things up nicely!

As noted, the use of this particular villain holds extra weight given his increased powers, and his ultimate shelving afterward. Although, while it's interesting to think the character may've been on the way out, the issue doesn't actually read specifically like a swansong. Being trapped in GL's battery is a fairly temporary predicament, and the exploration of Doctor Light's powers opens things up.

There is a more deliberate sense of ominous mortality in the story, though.

For one, Green Lantern fights wearing a black arm band for Superman, who'd just been killed off in Death of Superman a month prior. The personalized presence of his family is also playing towards their ultimate deaths, at the end of '93, when Mongul and Cyborg Superman bring about the destruction of Coasty City, and the turn of Green Lantern into Parallax.

Whoa. What a downer! Fortunately, GL #36 isn't itself a downer at all and this fight was a lot of fun to go back to! I hope it brought our year of superhero smackdown to a fitting, belated Christmas close!

Technically Secret Wars on Infinite Earths ends the year in November, so you can check out the Top 20 Featured Fights determined by readers - or get all the gems that didn't make the cut by checking out the complete 2018 Feature Fight Recap! I've gotta tell ya, a lot of my favourites missed the Best Of this year so it's well worth your while digging into the full recap!

Just to be delightfully eccentric and inconsistent - the Annual Rankings Recap spans January to December, so fans who love to see where all the heroes land after we record these fights won't want to miss that! Today's battle has shot Green Lantern back up the list to #20! Hard luck for Aquaman, down to #21!

A big thanks to everyone who's been reading and sharing links throughout the year. A lot of great folks on Twitter have been hitting those retweet and likes! Don't forget Facebook and Google+ button at the bottom of every post! This weird world of superhero fights is something I like to do, but it's always nice to know somebody else is getting something out of it too! Happy new year!

Winner: Green Lantern
#20 (+10) Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
#75 (-5) Doctor Light
#547 (new) Sue Jordan [+1 assist]

FLASH versus GREEN LANTERN

A Flash of Evil (DC)
Where: Green Lantern #40 When: Late May 1993
Why: Gerard Jones & Joe Filice How: Claude St. Aubin

The Story So Far...
When the multiverse was gripped in a crisis of infinite Earths; The Flash disappeared in a race to save existence from the Anti-Monitor's cosmic weapons!

The only evidence of Barry Allen's brave sacrifice was an empty red and yellow costume, to be collected by his protégé Wally West. When the world was remade, Kid-Flash took up the mantle, filling the void left by Barry as the new Flash!

A sudden return of Barry Allen years later seems like a Christmas miracle, but all is not as it seems! The lingering mystery of his disappearance hides a sinister truth about his return. When Flash begins acting strange, best friend Green Lantern is reluctant to doubt him. His hesitance creates a deadly conflict with Darkstar -- forcing the Lantern to take-on his old friend in order to protect him!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Professor Zoom 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Professor Zoom 5 (Professor)
Speed: Professor Zoom 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting: Green Lantern 4 (Trained)
Energy: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Professor Zoom 28 (Metahuman)

Ahhh! Not so fast! It's another classic case of mistaken identity as the Reverse-Flash masquerades in red to pose as his classic arch-nemesis: The Flash!

You and I know the scarlet speedster Barry Allen gave his life to stop the Anti-Monitor's schemes in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8! That was a little less than eight years earlier in publishing time, but for the DC Universe, the gap may not be so significant. Further: Flash's sacrifice was without witness and tinged in cosmic mystery, meaning his old pal can't be totally sure of who he's fighting!

Green Lantern is Hal Jordan: the Silver Age ring slinger who spent many decades fighting alongside The Flash in team-ups, and as part of the Justice League of America! We saw the post-Crisis version of their first JLA adventure in Secret Origins #32, where Flash figured heavily in the defeat of The Wood King!

Flash's connection to the Speed Force always makes him a formidable foe! Hal learned that first-hand when he was smacked around by his buddy years later in Green Lantern (Volume 4) #44! By then, it turned out Barry Allen wasn't dead after all, and the Black Lantern Martian Manhunter turned them against one another with telepathic deception. Not really what we're here to talk about...

So far we know a speedster can do some serious damage to Green Lantern. In that battle, GL was reluctant to harm his friend. That's a major factor in today's fight, because he's coming in under the impression Professor Zoom is Barry!

Eobard Thawne (aka; Reverse-Flash) is a sycophant gone bad from the future of the 25th Century. He knows all of The Flash's old moves and has perfected them through his own mastery of the Speed Force! We saw that put to chilling effect in Flash: Rebirth #4, when he kept ahead of Barry Allen and Max Mercury!

Green Lantern clearly has his work cut out for him, but he also wields a power ring capable of willing into reality just about anything he can conceive!

At the time of this fight, the Green Lantern energy ring is unable to enact upon anything yellow. In the future, this would come to be known as the Parallax impurity, which is excised with the removal of the fear-based entity from the central battery. If Reverse-Flash was in his own yellow costume - that could cause some serious trouble! Fortunately, Flash Red means no immediate threat!

We've seen Jordan handle the yellow weakness fighting Golden Roc [Secret Origin #32]. At super-human speeds it won't be quite so easy, but he also has a diverse environment at his disposal to mount a defense.

The Tape: Professor Zoom Ranking: Green Lantern (#30)

What Went Down...
Soaring over Central City; Hal Jordan spots the trademark scarlet streak left by the speedster he believes is his mysteriously returned best friend.

Flash darts into The Flash Museum, ordering its occupants to exit or face death!

Green Lantern investigates, finding "Flash" resting casually against a statue in the museum rotunda. He has nothing but contempt for the honored legacy of his heroic "misspent youth". It's baggage he plans to shed with extreme prejudice, taking one of his goody-goody superhero friends with it!

Lantern manifests a massive hand to catch his friend-turned-foe in mid-dash. He has no desire to fight, but Flash doesn't share the sentiment. The speedster thrusts his hands at speed to create a compressed air battering ram that sends the vulnerable ring-slinger hurtling across the rotunda!

Still a little confused by his old friend's sudden hostility -- Jordan dips into his old bag of tricks, throwing a giant green boxing glove. Flash knows it well, racing in circles to deflect the projectile and send it back to its source!

A towering bronze statue of the real Flash becomes a battering ram in the impostor's hands. He dares GL to contemplate if his ring's energy will work on bronze. Fortunately, it does -- breaking the statue apart against the hard-light energy bubble he manages to form at the last moment!

Jordan goes on the offensive, throwing up a complicated mechanical restraint to pin the speedster down against a nearby wall.

The device locks around The Flash's neck, wrists, torso, and legs -- but it hardly matters! Like Barry Allen himself, the impostor is much more powerful than his successor. He can vibrate his molecules at such intense speeds he passes right through solid matter!

Flash disappears backwards into the wall, cackling, before charging right back through the same way! Green Lantern knows he's coming from somewhere, but can hardly prepare for the immediate onrush!

Flash narrowly misses Green Lantern on the way to The Rogues Gallery weapons storage! He remembers the roll call of those legendary fiends, and delights at the thought of eliminating Barry Allen's best friend with their lethal arsenal!

The barrage of weapons forces Green Lantern to erect another energy shield and start reconsidering his tactics. As he does - the phony Flash ups the stakes by unleashing one of The Top's poisonous spinning tops!

The spread of noxious gas brings forth coughing from museum curator Dexter! Unwilling to abandon his post, the dutiful museum worker now faces imminent death, if not for the nearby gasmask of Mister Element! GL's ring filters the air around him, while he sends the mask to Dexter and makes chase.

Desperate to talk sense into the man he still believes is his old friend -- Jordan ensnares his target in a coffin sized prison cell.

It's meant to be too small for Flash to vibrate free, but the yellow of his costume is all he needs to break the bars. He dashes through the exhibit of adventures in time and space, jumping onto the time defying Cosmic Treadmill!

He broadcasts his plans to escape to an exotic moment in time, but in truth simply darts back a few minutes prior to their entering the room! The trick lets him catch Green Lantern completely unawares with a sucker punch! He grabs the stunned hero by the ankles and starts spinning at super-speed!

The intense forces threaten to black out even a hotshot test pilot turned space cop! Green Lantern desperately summons the will to create a grappling hook with his ring -- bringing the tilt-a-whirl of doom to a sudden stop!

The pair spill to the ground, but GL recovers first and vows to finish the fight if he has to bring the whole museum down on top of Flash! The speedster sarcastically laments the impending end of the great Flash Museum, whipping up debris with a super-fast wave of his hand! GL goes on the defensive!

The intense barrage of objects begins to pierce the Lantern's energy bubble, but also creates cover for him to escape through the floor to come back around for a sneak attack. Just as he does -- Darkstar attacks from above!

Green Lantern's ring intercepts the deadly surprise blast fired by Darkstar! He races to grapple with his rival space-cop, who has no regard for any past associations the scarlet speedster may, or may not, have established on Earth!

Jordan's attempts to protect Flash earn him a speeding yellow boot to the back of the head! A parting shot as the impostor attempts a high-speed escape!

As Flash streaks out of the building - Darkstar takes to the skies in hot pursuit! Believing it may be his last shot at neutralizing a global threat -- he fires deadly bolts of energy that meeting their running target in a spectacular explosion!

Believing he's witnessed the death of his long missing friend -- Green Lantern erupts with rage! He launches himself at the Darkstar, but is met with pleas of innocence! The Darkstar's energy bolts were merely meant to stun!

Darkstar posits that super-speed rendered his body unusually unstable, while Green Lantern contemplates the true possibility that The Flash pulled a literal fast-one.

While the two intergalactic lawmen argue; Professor Zoom lies in wait beneath the ground, having vibrated at super-speed to disappear below the surface! A gambit that caused the ground to explode, but left him safely unseen.

The Hammer...
Darkstar may've gatecrashed the battle and brought it to an explosive end, but there were no winners in today's featured fight! His role was merely in providing an assisted distraction that allowed the impostor Flash a discreet exit.

If you paid attention to the Tale of The Tape, you already know this felonious false Flash is in actual fact Eobard Thawne: Professor Zoom!

Usually he'd be wearing yellow and red as the Reverse-Flash, but in '93, Zoom's super-speed, and knowledge of future-past, were tools in a ploy to stage the impersonated return of Barry Allen! A comeback easily achieved with a quick costume change and commitment to 25th century cosmetic surgery!

The story actually functions as a revamp and return for Prof Zoom, whose neck snapping death famously occurred ten years earlier! In that respect, it's a story that does deliver on a major return! Even if ultimately temporary as a new Zoom came to succeed Thawne as the Reverse-Flash in 2001.

The plausibility of Barry Allen's return is something I don't have a great memory of. The story was coming just a few months after Death of Superman, and slightly ahead of the much-hyped 'breaking of The Bat' in Knightfall. Significant changes were being visited upon DC's greatest heroes, and I have to imagine a return that would displace Wally West seemed at least conceivable, as a result.

Of course, when compared to the international headlines made by Superman and Batman, it was easy to overlook The Flash as just another monthly issue on the racks. If you weren't paying attention, you might not have even noticed that the scarlet speedster on covers wasn't the one who was supposed to be there!

It had only been eight years since Barry Allen's supreme sacrifice in the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths #8. It was a timeline that probably should've leant credence to his prospective return, but also reinforced a naïve confidence that it was too soon to unseat a replacement who'd served the post-Crisis DCU well.

The garbled transition from pre to post Crisis brought many frustrations for a young reader, but if there was one thing to take away, it was the sacred text of Barry Allen's death. It was an event so significant it placed him within the rare pantheon of the seemingly un-resurrectable: Thomas & Martha Wayne, Uncle Ben Parker, Gwen Stacy, Bucky Barnes & Jason Todd...

Yes, the rules have changed a lot in the decades since. The mid-2000s brought those last two back, and if you've been reading long enough, you're probably thinking heavily about the return of Flash in Final Crisis, and Flash: Rebirth.

Heck! Even Thomas Wayne has a bafflingly active fanbase now thanks to the regrettable tangents of 2010's Flashpoint. The template of early nineties stunt events seems to permeate today's publishing heavily, rather than lessons learned from all that had to be undone.

"The Return of Barry Allen" might not be as well remembered as Death of Superman, Knightfall, or even Green Lantern's fall from grace and turn to villainy. Yet, as an exception, it remains one of the better examples from that time. As an event, its dramatic tension is the threat of a return.

As a story, its end result is a contribution of something that had been taken away -- and a re-emphasis of an important piece of myth building. Good fiction builds on itself. It can twist, contort, progress and surprise without breaking. It creates problems (drama) without eroding the consequences of meaning of its own content. The kinds of comics I'm much preferring to read and revisit.

This month on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths we're featuring comics with the characters found in Injustice 2! The Flash, Green Lantern and Reverse-Flash are all characters you'll encounter in the sequel video game, albeit in a universe where many of DC's greatest heroes are no longer in tact.

Follow links throughout this post to find more from the heroes, villains and comics you love! Dive deeper to find every past featured fight in the Secret Archive Index, where they're organized by publisher, series, and issue number!

Get daily links to fights inspired by the major topics of the day by subscribing to Facebook and Twitter! A like, share or retweet is a great way to help support the site and dazzle your friends with spectacular superhero smackdown!

Winner: Draw
#28 (+2) Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
#133 (+161) Professor Zoom (Eobard Thawne)
#526 (new) Darkstar (Ferrin Colos) [+1 assist]

GUY GARDNER versus BLACK HAND

Book One Of Three (DC)
Where: Guy Gardner Reborn #1 When: July 1992
Why: Gerard Jones How: Joe Staton

The Story So Far...
As Green Lantern, Guy Gardner had the cosmos in the palm of his hand. He was an intergalactic space-cop and idol to millions - the Justice League of America's take no prisoners powerhouse. He had it all! Then he lost it...

Having gambled his power ring in a showdown with an Earthbound Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner is now a super-hero without super-powers! Not that that will stop him!

Back on the beat of New York City, Guy Gardner is going to clean up dirty streets - starting with Times Square! Possessing only his fists and a bad ass attitude, he begins a grass roots fight for justice starting with a smut peddling hero-hater he's handled before: Black Hand!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Guy Gardner 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Black Hand 5 (Professor)
Speed: Guy Gardner 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Guy Gardner 5 (Marathon)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting: Guy Gardner 4 (Trained)
Energy: Guy Gardner 7 (Cosmic Power)


Here on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths we use The Tale of the Tape to compare, contrast, and summarize the characters appearing in a featured fight. A popular shorthand has always been the tape stats [above], using an independent metric to highlight the strategic advantages of one character over the other(s).

These stats take from a standardized impression of the character - but sometimes circumstances have it that a character isn't fighting at peak condition. That fact plays a major role in today's featured face-off!

Guy Gardner has been better known for much of his career as one of several Green Lanterns designated to Sector 2814. Legend has it he was very nearly the first man of Earth to be chosen for the honor, but proximity to a fatal crash site of Green Lantern Abin Sur led daredevil test pilot Hal Jordan to receive the ring.

In later years, Guy Gardner became a reservist for the Green Lantern Corps, taking responsibility when Hal Jordan was forced away from his duties. In time, this led to full deployment as a Green Lantern, and even amendments by The Guardians to allow for multiple representatives from a single space sector. No such luck at this point in Guy's career, though!

Hal Jordan's return from a lengthy stay in space led to a showdown for patrolling rights on Earth. Refusing to give up his ring without a fight, Guy challenged Jordan to a powerless fist fight. The cocksure Gardner lost his fight, and we find him today shortly after he'd surrendered his ring.

Not having a power ring obviously lessens Gardner's offensive arsenal, but when it comes to fighting Black Hand -- it also diminishes the threat of the villain!

William Hand would eventually come to be known as the death obsessed scion of the Black Lantern. Long before that, he was merely a pathological hero-hater with a penchant for proverb, cliché, and crime! This profile led to inevitable conflict with local hero Green Lantern, who he battles with a device of special design that can drain a power ring of its energy - turning it against the wearer!

In a past feature we saw Black Hand wave his energy wand at Green Arrow and Speedy [Green Lantern: Rebirth #1]. They don't have super-powers to drain, but their archery gave them the edge against a feverish Hand. Will Guy Gardner be able to produce the same result with his fists? Let's find out...

The Math: Guy Gardner Ranking: Guy Gardner (#95)

What Went Down...
Like a human battering ram -- Guy Gardner ploughs through Black Hand and his gang of rubes! A right hook sends the ringleader flying, leaving his mooks to do the fighting in a descending five-on-one flurry of fists!

Black Hand commentates the action from the sidelines with an assault of applicable proverbs. Gardner takes his lumps from all sides and explodes out of the pack with an extension of muscle. He comes from Black Hand, but the villain uses his position to throw a leg at the stalking hero!

Gardner absorbs the kick to the gut and compliments his foe for scoring an impressive hit. It inspires the hero to strike back with another right hook, and an improvised adaptation of an old cliché: "A fist in the mouth..."

Black Hand's head snaps back from the blow, but is caught with another two-prong assault of mangled wordplay and a mangling left cross!

The big bad is on the ropes and his goons are getting antsy! It won't be long now before the Green Lantern tires of toying with his prey and scoops them up in a big green net of justice. Or will it?...

As the moustached mook tries to run, an observant goon points out a certain power ring absent from the Green Lantern's swinging, white gloved fists. With a twisted grin the meagre muscle rejoins the game, clutching a nearby desk lamp.

Unaware of the conspiracy around him, Gardner continues to sink his fists into Black Hand's waiting stomach. His nose bleeds and his body quivers, but still Hand manages a smile: "The... The... The light that burns twice as bright..."

This time quip serves a distraction gambit that pays off! A desk lamp rockets across the back of Guy Gardner's head - knocking him out cold!

The Hammer...
As commander of the nameless crooks who work for him, Black Hand claims a surprising victory over his arrogant nemesis!

With the former Green Lantern out cold in their midst, Hand and his boys toss him to the gutter, to resume their disreputable trade. It's a harsh lesson in adjustment for the now powerless hero, but as Hand would say, you've gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette! Or scramble some brains, as it were.

If you thought Hal Jordan was the first Green Lantern to be reborn - surprise! Guy Gardner was doing it a whole decade before it was cool! He even kicked off his mini-series with a fight with Black Hand -- something Hal Jordan did twelve and a half years later in Green Lantern: Rebirth #1!

The comparisons between GG Reborn and GL Rebirth taper off pretty quickly after that. There's whole a lot of ring slinging in both - naturally, and a face-off (or two) with Sinestro, but the intent of both stories is binary in difference.

When Hal Jordan was coming back in 2005, DC Comics were correcting course on a mid-nineties twist that turned their Silver Age icon into an arch-villain. The goal was to restore the character to his definitive identity as Green Lantern.

In 1992, Guy Gardner was heading in the opposite direction - ousted as Green Lantern, and in need of a new identity all his own. That identity would come at the end of Reborn through the acquisition of Sinestro's yellow power ring of Qward. A story I'm sure we'll look closer at some time in the future.

Ironically, the definitions of all of these details would be changed significantly by Green Lantern: Rebirth, and the extensive reign of Geoff Johns as writer and creative engineer for the entire Green Lantern mythos.

Rebirth restored Guy Gardner to the Green Lantern identity he was famous for as well, stripping him of Vuldarian powers he'd acquired a few years after Reborn as "Warrior". Guy's Qwardian ring returned to Sinestro, and eventually spawned an entire Yellow Lantern Corps. All the colors of the emotional spectrum would follow shortly thereafter, leading to Black Hand's rise as the first of the death wielding Black Lantern Corps.

I don't know that I'd called Guy Gardner Reborn ahead of its time, but it's certainly an interesting time capsule in the sprawling modern history of the characters involved. It taps into some interesting parody of trends of the time, while also indulging in them. Guy has misadventures as gun-covered vigilante, and doubles down on the bad taste violence in a tenuous team-up with another icon of parody gone straight: Lobo. If you were wondering how a smut peddling Black Hand factors into that - it's actually a callback to an issue of JLA!

If you're a Guy Gardner fan, rest assured there'll be plenty more opportunities to revisit his Rebirth, and other stories. In the mean time, we press on...

As you may know, the entire DC Universe is presently in the process of another line-wide "Rebirth", which is the theme running through all of our feature fights this July! Since we talked about it so much today, next week's feature fight will come from the pages of Green Lantern: Rebirth!

If you're reading this sometime in the future - you'll be able to find that fight and many more by scouring the Issue Index Archive! There you'll find even more superhero smackdown and comic book review!

Winner: Black Hand
#334 (+297) Black Hand
#105 (-10) Guy Gardner