Warning: Spoilers for DC’s How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days #1 ahead!
Out of all of Earth’s Green Lantern champions, few have been the butt of more jokes than the cocky and arrogant Guy Gardner. But a surprisingly thoughtful moment during a Valentine’s Day special reveals hidden depths, showing that Guy does indeed have the will and focus to match Earth’s greatest Lanterns — when he wants to.
DC’s How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days #1’s eponymous story by Kenny Porter, Nick Robles, Nick Filardi, and Travis Lanham covers some truly terrible dates between Guy Gardner and Vicki Vale: he’s an arrogant blowhard, while she’s only dating him to write an exposé for the Gotham Gazette. Although the two break up, Guy later returns to apologize for his behavior.
To show his sincerity, he uses his ring to recreate Vicki’s stolen childhood bicycle. This is no mere bicycle-shaped construct: as Guy puts it, “I found every picture and manual…and practiced until I mastered every single detail” to recreate the lost bicycle in full.
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The Green Lantern Corps’ Resident Meathead Holds Hidden Depths
It is difficult for Guy Gardner to stand out among the other Lanterns considering he shares the title with legends like Jo Mullein and John Stewart — especially since his claim to fame is his humiliating defeat at Batman’s hands. While Hal Jordan boasts incredible courage and Kyle Rayner’s artistry is unmatched, Guy is a simple brawler who freely admits that he’s “a self-righteous ass who charges in gloating and swinging.” Between his cluelessness and his anger issues, one could be forgiven for thinking that Guy’s “Warrior” persona from the ’90s fits him far better than being a Green Lantern.
The short story “How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days” shows that Guy Gardner is much more self-aware and skilled than previously thought. While John Stewart and Kyle Rayner’s feats of architecture and engineering with a ring catapult them into legendary status, Guy reveals that he is just as capable as they are of pulling off complex, intricate constructs, implying that he simply prefers not to. Rather, Guy knows his own strengths as a blunt instrument, and so a blunt instrument is what he prefers to be.
Guy Gardner Has the Will of a True Green Lantern
Guy Gardner may be a meathead, but he knows it — and being loud and arrogant doesn’t change the fact that his will is still unbreakable and that his heart is in the right place. When he is being sincere, Guy Gardner’s skill with a ring can rival that of the greatest Green Lanterns…he just won’t be anyone’s romantic rival any time soon.
DC’s How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days #1 is available now from DC Comics.
DC’s HOW TO LOSE A GUY GARDNER IN 10 DAYS #1 (2024) | |
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