Why Did Batman Recruit Guy Gardner For The JLI In The First Place?

[Timothy Hunter]

I'm reading the classic Justice League/Justice League International/Justice League Americs run by Giffen and DeMatteis and while in a vaccum it's amusing, when put into context with the larger DC Universe there are a slew of problems.

One of the biggest ones is why such a loose cannon as Guy Gardner ever be allowed to be a member of the Justice League, causing needless property damage during his fight with Lobo and almost starting an international incident between the United States and the Soviet Union just to name a few examples.

In the DC canon, Guy Gardner is mentally unhinged. His original, comparatively mild mannered personality was changed to be more sociopathic due to brain damage caused by time in the Phantom Zone.

[Holt]

He didn't. JLI was spun out of an event mini-series called Legends, which ended with Doctor Fate forming a new Justice League out of basically all the heroes who had shown up to help out (since the previous Justice League disbanded earlier in the same event). Guy got to be part of the JLI basically because he happened to be standing there when the group was formed.

[Timothy Hunter]

He didn't. JLI was spun out of an event mini-series called Legends, which ended with Doctor Fate forming a new Justice League out of basically all the heroes who had shown up to help out (since the previous Justice League disbanded earlier in the same event). Guy got to be part of the JLI basically because he happened to be standing there when the group was formed.

Ok thanks. I read Legends long time ago, forgot about that aspect of the story.

[Dr. Poison]

He didn't. JLI was spun out of an event mini-series called Legends, which ended with Doctor Fate forming a new Justice League out of basically all the heroes who had shown up to help out (since the previous Justice League disbanded earlier in the same event). Guy got to be part of the JLI basically because he happened to be standing there when the group was formed.

I think it would have been hilarious if Batman would have responded to Guy and said something like, "No need to think about it. I've still got Hal Jordan's number and if for some reason he's unavailable, I'm sure we can track down John Stewart."

[Holt]

I think it would have been hilarious if Batman would have responded to Guy and said something like, "No need to think about it. I've still got Hal Jordan's number and if for some reason he's unavailable, I'm sure we can track down John Stewart."

Young Justice had a similar gag I really loved.

[DrNewGod]

I think it would have been hilarious if Batman would have responded to Guy and said something like, "No need to think about it. I've still got Hal Jordan's number and if for some reason he's unavailable, I'm sure we can track down John Stewart."

In fairness, Batman didn't know Guy at that point. Nobody outside The GLC did. They figured him out about three pages into JL #2.1.

In fairness to The League, Batman wasn't in charge of recruiting, or anything else, at first. That also took about three pages.

[Riv86672]

In fairness, Batman didn't know Guy at that point. Nobody outside The GLC did. They figured him out about three pages into JL #2.1.

In fairness to The League, Batman wasn't in charge of recruiting, or anything else, at first. That also took about three pages.

^^^Yeah, this was new territory.
Relationships hadn’t been fleshed out all that deeply at that point.

Asking as someone who was around at the time but drawing a complete blank:
What exactly was Hal doing Post Crisis?
I have fond memories of grabbing up the first issues of Byrne’s Superman, Perez’s WW, Baron’s Flash etc. but Hal...?

[married guy]

Wasn't he a travelling toy salesman at this time?

[married guy]

Back on topic, thankfully Guy did mature into one helluva Green Lantern.
Thanks to the stellar groundwork laid down by Chuck Dixon and Beau Smith.
I got a kick out of how the rest of the JLA responded to him in the Way of the Warrior crossover.
It would've been nice to see him & Diana progress further too.

[Holt]

^^^Yeah, this was new territory.
Relationships hadn’t been fleshed out all that deeply at that point.

Asking as someone who was around at the time but drawing a complete blank:
What exactly was Hal doing Post Crisis?
I have fond memories of grabbing up the first issues of Byrne’s Superman, Perez’s WW, Baron’s Flash etc. but Hal...?

I have no idea. I read the trade paperback of the first JLI arc and the editor mentioned in the foreward that Hal Jordan was one of the few big name characters who conceivably could've been on the team since both books had the same editor at the time.

Maybe they just chose Guy because they wanted to grow his profile a bit, or thought he brought a more interesting character dynamic to the team.

[DrNewGod]

I have no idea. I read the trade paperback of the first JLI arc and the editor mentioned in the foreward that Hal Jordan was one of the few big name characters who conceivably could've been on the team since both books had the same editor at the time.

Maybe they just chose Guy because they wanted to grow his profile a bit, or thought he brought a more interesting character dynamic to the team.

I've read that - post-Legends - every major IP manager, except Batman's, refused making their characters available to Giffen et. al for JL. They had their own stuff going on.

But DC gave them the most promising of what was left. Blue Beetle, (The Real) Captain Marvel, and Mr. Miracle were all launching new series. Dr. Fate had a new mini-that was clearly intended as an on-ramp (no matter how weird it was). They quickly added Booster Gold, and Captain Atom who had their own titles. Mind you, the guy running this show was Giffen, who'd spent the last few years delivering a tour-de-force on The Legion of Superheroes matched only by Wolfman and Perez's New Teen Titans.

I sometimes wonder if DC was after an original JSA vibe? Except for using Batman as a draw, let the most popular have their own titles, and use JL to elevate the most promising to the next level.

[j9ac9k]

^^^Yeah, this was new territory.
Relationships hadn’t been fleshed out all that deeply at that point.

Asking as someone who was around at the time but drawing a complete blank:
What exactly was Hal doing Post Crisis?
I have fond memories of grabbing up the first issues of Byrne’s Superman, Perez’s WW, Baron’s Flash etc. but Hal...?

Right after Crisis, Hal was in the newly launched "Green Lantern Corps" team title (they just renamed the main Green Lantern title after #200 I think) that featured Hal, John, Katma, Arisia, Kilowog, Salakk, Ch'p and Guy Gardner.(who was more like a trouble-maker than a team member at first) It wasn't as big a deal since unlike Superman and Wonder Woman, there was no big reboot - the previous storylines just continued right after Crisis.

[marshal88]

in the first issue of green lantern vol 3, hal did go to the jli embassy and was invited to join , he turned it down and wanted to be just a drifter doing labor for pay, if i remember , he was happy with his life until old timer went crazy and kidnapped whole towns including hal new lady friend rose.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Aside from the metatexual answer that having Guy on the team made for awesome character dynamics, I'm sure, in story, there was also a strong desire on the part of Bats, J'Onn, and Dinah to keep an eye on Guy and hopefully guide him into becoming less self-destructive.

I mean, Dinah had first hand knowledge of what a bad deal Guy had been given by life. If memory serves, she was there with Ollie and Hal when Guy's malfunctioning lantern exploded and "killed" him. She was also there at Hal's aborted wedding to Kari Limbo when Guy reappeared after being trapped in the Phantom Zone after being tortured by Zod & co. and manipulated by Sinestro.

While I'm sure all the old hands of the JLA still found Guy exhausting and often morally reprehensible, I think they also felt they owed him a little leeway. However, there was obviously a limit to that. I remember when Guy *&%#ed up too badly one time and J'Onn absolutely reamed him out and kicked him out of the League. Can't remember how Guy managed to get back on the team, but that was a good moment and necessary one for Guy's future on the JLI.

[Riv86672]

Thanks for all the responses, guys. Things make a lot more sense, now!