Is Guy Gardner More Interesting as a Red Lantern?

[Adset]

I thought the writing was far better than a 3rd tier GL satellite book would normally command. Milligan's stuff was cool, then Soule did a great job picking it up and finishing the thing out.

[Adekis]

I can't pretend to know the best of what Guy can offer as a character. I'm mostly familiar with him as a cartoonish buffoon, like I think most casual fans are. That said, when I read some Red Lanterns because Supergirl was in it, I realized that Guy is a man whose own dealings with inner rage makes him an adept counselor to others. It made me realize I'd never really given Guy a fair shake, and re-contextualize my entire view of the character. I also suspect that being a Red Lantern specifically may have helped him with those emotions, though given my dearth of Gardner experience, I'm afraid that's just a guess. Still, I am absolutely, 100% on board with Red Lantern Guy, his surprising emotional maturity given what I was used to, his touching friendship with Supergirl, and his absolutely fantastic Steve Lombard mustache.

[Frontier]

I think Guy's time as the Red Lanterns was definitely a very engaging and interesting part of his history...but at his core he'll always be a Green Lantern.

[Vampire Savior]

Guy Gardner has actually worked well not being Green Lantern when he wore Sinestro's ring, so I don't think he needs that role to thrive. That said, the Red Lanterns are a pretty dumb concept, and outside of the interesting design of Bleeze, I don't think they have much to offer (no, I am not impressed by the cat), so I'd probably just never use them again.

[Vakanai]

Nah, as a Red Lantern he's merely another hothead in a whole darn corp of people/aliens in need of some desperate anger management. At least as a GL he's a pretty unique, fun, and immensely enjoyable loudmouth.

[Ascended]

Voted yes.

Guy is a great character, probably one of DC's most undervalued "real person" heroes. And I think Soule did a fantastic job with Red Lanterns and introduced a great new angle to explore with Guy. I also think it made a whole gods damn ton of sense, thematically. You know how many former soldiers and cops end up joining MC crews? The Reds as a space biker gang....that opens up avenues in cosmic DC we usually only see in C-list properties, but tying the whole thing to the Lantern mythology could give it legs to endure (if DC were inclined to try it for more than five minutes).

If you ask yourself "what does Guy do once he's done his time with the Corps and doesn't want to reenlist?" the Reds-as-bikers is probably the best answer there is. Sons of Anarchy meets Star Wars? Come on, how can you *not* want to dig into that concept?

[HandofPrometheus]

yes, him leading Red Lanterns and Kyle being the White Lantern were a smartest moves to adjust for a oversaturation of human GL people keep complaining about without disrespecting or shunning any character. They have this expansive Lantern mythos, they should use it more effectively.

Agreed. I see a lot of complaints about the colors but each human lantern had their own corner of the universe to explore and develop.

[SecretWarrior]

Agreed. I see a lot of complaints about the colors but each human lantern had their own corner of the universe to explore and develop.

Good points.

[Restingvoice]

I just want all of them to be different and not just Green again

[HAN9000]

No. I like his RL design and stories. But the guy loves the GL corps with his life. He was the second earth human chosen by the ring. He belongs to green.

[mikelmcknight72]

The comics with him as a Red Lantern were some of the best comics to happen during the New 52. That being said, I prefer him as a Green Lantern. The big reason is that the friction between him and other GLs has more story potential than the friction between a bunch of Red Lanterns. Ultimately, I'm happy either way. The big things that would make me less than happy would be a return to the Qwardian ring, the "magic river" derived Warrior, or the so very 90s Vuldarian powers.

[married guy]

I don't care WHAT colour ring he has.
I absolutely LOVE Guy Gardner. And that's down to the work done by (firstly) Chuck Dixon, but Beau Smith made Guy the loveable bastard he is today.

[Anthony Shaw]

Just my opinion:

I don't see Guy as a cosmic biker. He is not supposed to be visually cool.

He is supposed to be a foil to Hal, and other not so hard-lined heroes, to a lesser degree. Guy makes Batman seem like a pleasant fellow.

To me, he was overzealous, and followed the Guardians' orders down to the letter, even if the orders were flawed.

Where Hal would question, improvise, and ultimately work around the order, Guy would not.

The Guardians like Guy because he does not question them like Hal would.

Guy is the cop that would pull you over for speeding, and give you a ticket (even if you were not necessarily a danger, or only slightly above the legal limit). If you were in a hurry for an appointment, or event, he will intentionally make sure you are really late (a-hole).

Hal would size you up, access the situation, and determine if all you needed was a stern warning (if you were not necessarily being a danger on the road). If you were a clear danger, then Hal will take appropriate action.

Hal sees the shades of gray while Guy is basically black or white.

Guy got a chip on his shoulder for being at the wrong place at the wrong time which kept him from achieving greatness. Guy loves being GL, and the power that goes along with it.

[Anthony Shaw]

Guy was reinvented as a Reagan era, right-wing tough guy.

It is surprising no one has used Guy for a Trump themed story.

[Dr. Ellingham]

Hal sees the shades of gray while Guy is basically black or white.

Guy got a chip on his shoulder for being at the wrong place at the wrong time which kept him from achieving greatness. Guy loves being GL, and the power that goes along with it.

Agreed. That's definitely what Guy's narrative purpose was in the mid-80s through the early 90s, and even to some degree in the Johns era.

Guy is the very definition of a good team book character. Easy to grasp, write, and bounces off other characters in humorous ways.

Though later on Johns and Tomasi attempted to make Guy more 3D, more stable, a leader.

Which version to use now? Both work, so I guess it's whichever one fits the current direction.