Green Lantern: New Guardians

Green Lantern: New Guardians
250x450px Cover for Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 (November 2011). Art by Tyler Kirkham, Batt and Rod Reis.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	September 2011
Number of issues	20 (ongoing)
Main character(s)	Arkillo Atrocitus Carol Ferris Larfleeze Kyle Rayner Saint Walker
Creative team
Writer(s)	Tony Bedard
Penciller(s)	Tyler Kirkham and Andrei Bressan
Inker(s)	Batt and Amilcar Pinna
Colorist(s)	Neil Ruffino and Rod Reis

Green Lantern: New Guardians is an American comic book series originally written by Tony Bedard with art by Tyler Kirkham and Batt and published by DC Comics.

The team consists of representatives of each of the Corps that tap into a particular portion of the emotional spectrum. Its original members were Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern Corps), Arkillo (Sinestro Corps), Bleez (Red Lantern Corps), Glomulus (Orange Lantern Corps), Munk (Indigo Tribe), Saint Walker (Blue Lantern Corps) and Fatality (Star Sapphires). The group disbands in issue #0 (September 2012), and reforms in issue #13 with Kyle Rayner, Arkillo and new members Carol Ferris and Atrocitus. Larfleeze joins in issue #15.

Publication history

Green Lantern: New Guardians debuted as part of The New 52 in September 2011. It is part of the Green Lantern family of titles that includes Green Lantern', Green Lantern Corps and Red Lanterns.

The series crossed over with Blue Beetle (vol. 9) #9 in May 2012, and was part of the "Rise of the Third Army" storyline running through all four Green Lantern titles from October 2012 to January 2013.

Starting with issue #13, Andrei Bressan and Amilcar Pinna became the new artists. Beginning with issue #21 in June 2013, the creative team will be Justin Jordan and Brad Walker.

Plot

After Lanterns from various Corps are suddenly and mysteriously decommissioned, their rings seek a replacement. They fly to Earth, where Green Lantern Kyle Rayner is selected by the rings to join the six other Corps. He is immediately attacked by Red Lantern Bleez, Yellow Lantern Arkillo, Indigo Tribesman Munk and Star Sapphire Fatality, who think Rayner is a "ring thief." Blue Lantern Saint Walker arrives and aids Rayner. The two flee to Oa seeking answers, and they are pursued by their attackers. Assuming he acquired the rings by foul play, Rayner is attacked by the Guardians. He briefly holds them at bay by utilizing the power of his new rings, but is only able to escape with the aid of Saint Walker, the Lanterns who had been pursuing him, and Orange Lantern Larfleeze.

The group recovers at Larfleeze's home, where he tells them he identified the source of the rings' attraction to Rayner. Bleez returns to the headquarters of the Red Lanterns, and the other five leave Larfleeze to investigate, accompanied by one of Larfleeze's constructs. They locate a space station the size of a solar system, and during their investigation they are attacked by Archangel Invictus, the ruler of the space station. He accuses them of conspiring with "the Beast," referring to a statue of Larfleeze.

As Saint Walker faces him, Invictus reveals that he is the last of a species of angelic beings who sought to bring the light to the universe before Larfleeze attacked them. Unable to absorb the rapidly-ascending spirits of the angels into his Corps, Larfleeze hunted Invictus's race to extinction, subsequently trapping him on the other side of the other-universal portal that Invictus sought to use to banish Larfleeze. Having returned, Invictus intends to kill Larfleeze and destroy the Vega System, replacing it with the Orrery he has constructed, containing duplicates of the worlds that were lost and "corrupted" by Larfleeze (He also reveals that he had nothing to do with their vanishing rings, suggesting that Larfleeze set the event up to trick the other Corps into doing his work for him). Despite Kyle Rayner protesting that Larfleeze alone wasn't responsible for what has happened to the Vega System since Invictus's time, citing the current teamwork of the seven ring-wielders as proof that miracles can happen, Invictus only agrees to let the 'New Guardians' go if Kyle kills Larfleeze.

With their power running low after they depart the Orrery, the 'team' split up to recharge. Bleez accompanies Rayner to Earth to recover his power battery, wondering at his continued ownership of a green ring and access to the Green Lantern database despite his "expulsion," while Fatality and Walker return to their Corps' respective homeworlds. Meanwhile, Munk is recalled to the Indigo Tribe, leaving Arkillo, now one of the last Sinestro Corps members after Sinestro captured and destroyed the Central Power Battery, to receive an independent but potentially unstable new battery from the Weaponer of Qward.

While Rayner recharges his ring on Earth, he and Bleez are attacked by a bounty hunter who is trying to collect a reward the Guardians have put on Rayner. Although Glomulus is apparently destroyed, Kyle and Bleez are aided by Blue Beetle, who tells them Odym, the homeworld of the Blue Lanterns, is under siege by the intergalactic army The Reach. Saint Walker rallies the other Blue Lanterns to repel The Reach while Rayner contacts the other New Guardians for help. Despite aid from Kyle, Fatality and Arkillo (Bleez having returned to the Red Lanterns and Munk being presumably occupied back on Nok), Odym falls to The Reach. Saint Walker believes its secret location was revealed to The Reach by Larfleeze, and the New Guardians go to confront him. However, upon confronting Larfleeze, who has just regenerated the previously-dispersed Glommulus, he reveals that he had no part in the attack on the Blue Lanterns, before attempting to consume the New Guardians himself. Fortunately, Munk is able to disrupt the Orange Lanterns by tapping into the Orange light, but the fight is ended when Invictus attacks the Vega System, forcing the Guardians to focus on the more immediate threat.

They defeat Invictus by relocating his ship while he is fighting them on Vega, depriving him of his power source. Sayd reveals she was responsible for the rings of weaker Lanterns abandoning their bearers to travel to Kyle Rayner, intending for Kyle to unite the Corps to save Ganthet. The team disperses, digusted by her method to unite the Corps.

Reception

New Guardians was ranked as the eleventh best selling book in September 2011 by units, and received mostly positive reviews.

Collected editions

• Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 1 - The Ring Bearer (Green Lantern: New Guardians #1-7)
• Blue Beetle Vol. 2: Blue Diamond (Green Lantern: New Guardians #9 and Blue Beetle #7-12)
• Green Lantern: New Guardians, Vol. 2: Beyond Hope (Green Lantern: New Guardians #8-12, Blue Beetle Vol 9 #9)
• Green Lantern: New Guardians, Vol. 3: Love & Death (Green Lantern: New Guardians #0, 13-20)
• Green Lantern : Rise of the Third Army (collects Green Lantern Annual #1, Green Lantern (vol.5) #13-16, Green Lantern Corps (vol.3) #13-16, Green Lantern: New Guardians #13-16, Red Lantern #13-16, Green Lantern Corps Annual #1, 416 pages, Hardcover, September 10, 2013, ISBN 1-4012-4499-8)
• Green Lantern: Wrath of the First Lantern (collects Green Lantern vol.5 #17-20, Green Lantern Corps Vol.3 #17-20, Green Lantern: New Guardians #17-20, Red Lantern #17-20, 416 pages, hardcover, February 25, 2014, ISBN 1-4012-4409-2)