Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner #1 Review

 

Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner #1 Review

Writer: Gerry Duggan

Artists: Matteo Lolli, Laura Braga & Vasco Georgiev

Colorist: John Kalisz

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Cover Artist: Edwin Galmon

Variant Cover Artists: David Aja, Ariel Olivette & Ethan Young

Editors: Jillian Grant & Paul Kaminski

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $5.99/$6.99 Card Stock

Release Date: May 6, 2026

 

People may distrust his judgment. They may dislike his style. But like him or hate him, Guy Gardner gets things done. If he's not saving Lois Lane on a spaceship powered by Kryptonite, he's fighting in the Omega Tournament to preserve reality. But what do his fellow Lanterns think of Guy Gardner? And when Internal Affairs on Oa wants to investigate his activities, who do they call on for help? Let’s slip on our rings, leap into Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner #1, and see!

 

Story

After Starbreaker led a devastating attack on Oa, Enquar tore through space in his quest for revenge against the Green Lanterns' crimes against his planet. As worlds and suns die, refugees flood Oa. While the Green Lantern Corps tries to find everyone new homes, Guy Gardner learns about a sun that went supernova. When he investigates a planet in the doomed solar system, the population has vanished. Which may be good, except that one of its inhabitants owed Guy money.

 

Zardum, who polices the Green Lantern Corps, narrates this tale of one of his best operatives. But while shining the spotlight on Guy, the Internal Affairs officer also enlists another Green Lantern from Earth. While Zardum delivers his imperative, John Stewart makes one thing clear to the Green Lantern cop. Like his flamboyant friend, John Stewart will conduct the investigation his way in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner #1.

 

As Gerry Duggan keeps the story moving with action and humor in equal doses, the Lanterns’ concern for each other shines through. Still, after Starbreaker’s intergalactic reign of terror and Darkseid’s attempted Reality coup, Guy Gardner and John Stewart are both marked by death. So Zardum observes the Lanterns from Earth to determine if their brightest days lie behind them. And as he watches and waits, Zardum tasks a leader who embodies the Corps' future to investigate Guy Gardner's seemingly wild claims in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner #1.

 

Art

With his bowl cut and collared gilet, Guy Gardner makes a striking presence as he points to his perp, and then at the faces emerging from the Source Wall. Then Guy reclines on a beanbag, taking notes while surrounding his suspect with a stone block cell. After mounting a platform with his prisoner bound in a yoke, Guy raises a fist in triumph to the Drekonites surrounding them in the desert. As his fans extend their arms out the passenger cars' windows, Guy plays his electric guitar atop the engine of a celestial steam locomotive. When he pulls the train into the impromptu Malaqyte Station, a giant green thumb points back toward him as Guy leaves Jessica Cruz and her people to feed, house, and resettle the latest refugees on Oa.

 

As Matteo Lolli, Laura Braga, and Vasco Georgiev propel Guy Gardner across worlds and moons, John Kalisz lavishes bright colors on the cavalcade of characters and settings. John Stewart forms a demurer appearance. As he saves travelers wearing a black-and-green bodysuit, the yellow and orange surrounding the troubled vessel recalls the world where Guy liberated the Drekonites. Zardum’s clothes, cane, and prosthetic leg link him with Guy and John. Yet the Internal Affairs officer's red Tootsie Roll Pop links him with the object of Guy's concern in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner #1.

 

Dave Sharpe fills white dialogue balloons with black uppercase letters and white narrative boxes with green letters. John's ring speaks green words into white balloons. Raised voices enlarge letters, change text color, and deform balloons, while lowered voices shrink words. Music notes adorn a splash page that science-fiction writer Michael Coney would love. Sound effects enhance battles, earthshaking developments, and the latest advancements in home security. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

Everyone needs to make a good impression to get ahead. Yet, when a hunch doesn't pay off, Guy Gardner's methodology threatens to cut short his career. As his penchant for theatricality fills the Internal Affairs office with complaints, Zardum wonders if he can still trust his officer’s instincts in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner #1.

 

Rating 9.7/10

 

To look inside see my preview of Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner #1.