God, I love that cover.
My anticipation was deeply rewarded with this week's issue of GLC. Wielding both the green and red rings, Guy is getting in touch with himself...so to speak.
Kyle may have the right idea, and obviously he doesn't want to do anything that will hurt Guy. Too bad that Guy doesn't have the same reservations, because he starts tearing through the assembled Green Lanterns like a kid on Christmas morning through tissue paper.
Miri has the bright idea of throwing a love harpoon at him...and it sticks! Too bad he then takes them for a Nantucket sleigh ride. A dozen GL's can't even slow him down...a fact that I take GREAT pride in, and Kyle is beginning to get a bit frantic. Fortunately for them all, Mogo decides to take a figurative hand in all of this. Mogo, as I am increasingly becoming aware is awesome. Simply awesome.
Guy lands with a thud on the surface of Mogo, and starts to go through all the best and the worst aspects of his life, portrayed respectively in green and red auras. On the good side, he has his football career, being in the JLI, getting his ring, becoming Warrior, and of course, Ice. On the bad side is being beaten to a pulp by his miserable old goat of a father, Kyle's being Parallaxed, Hal's being Parallaxed, Ice's death, Kyle's death, and of course, being one-punched by Batman. Stupid Batman.
It's interesting that for practically the entire history of Green Lantern Corps, Mogo has been depicted as the spiritual anchor of the group. Practically ALL Lanterns take a trip to Mogo and let go of their problems. Everyone that is, except Guy, who has always seemed to take a perverse pride in not "needing" Mogo's brand of healing. Well, boy howdy, he's getting it now!
It works well enoughk or distracts him long enough for the rest of the Lanterns to restrain him. Kyle is still trying to get the red ring off of his finger, but if finally informed by Munk that this is a BAD idea, since it will kill Guy. Kyle is really having a very bad day. They need a Blue Lantern? Ok, let's find one. Well, Munk doesn't have the power to take him that far. Ok then, lock him up in one of the sciencells until they CAN find one. Uh, not enough power. Msn, that Indigo Lantern is one heck of a downer. Kyle is becoming more and more frustrated, and less and less inclined to just sit around and watch his friend go berserk again. Soranik performs an exam and realizes that the red infestation is all through Guy's body.
There is a rather poignant exchange between Kyle and Kilowog at this point. Kyle is becoming frantic, and Kilowog has to point out that they may not be able to save Guy, and asks just what it was that Guy said to him during those brief moments of clarity on Oa. Kyle lies, and says that Guy begged him not to give up, but Kilowog knows perfectly well that Kyle is lying, and KNOWS that Guy said to kill him, which Kyle reluctantly admits. Fortunately for them all, they STILL have Mogo on their side. Really, having Mogo around may be bad for your tides, but it is incredibly handy for everything else!
Guy is pulled into a shallow pool...a nutrient bath, to keep his body from going into shock. Before Kyle can figure out WHY Guy would be going into shock, Mogo releases the super leeches...and things get a little disgusting. For some reason, Guy seems to be the one Lantern that is subjected to problems like this. Von Daggle turns into a bacterium and Guy inhales him, and he comes out as a worm thingie through Guy's ear. He gets infected with Despotillis, and Leezil Pon has to go into his blood stream and do battle. Now he' has Mogo leeches coursing through his guts, like super anti-bodies, burning out the red infection. I would love it if he ended up with the most AMAZING IMMUNE SYSTEM ever!
I guess it works, because with a hearty "Son of a Bitch!" Mr. Gardner jumps out of the pool. Oh Guy. And right in front of everyone, he...he hugs Kyle. My jaw dropped to the floor, I kid you not. He doesn't really remember a whole lot of what happened, but he's just so...so sweet and confused. He's also a bit terrified that he actually may have hurt or killed some of his friends. Heck, he even offers to hug Mogo.
Mogo does warn him that that the treatment was not complete, he DOES still have some red blood in him, and that he needs to find a Blue Lantern sooner rather than later. Guy is happy that Kyle saved him, but wants to know who saved Kyle, so Kyle points out Miri. Guy may be feeling unusually mellow, but he's still Guy. He hangs an arm around her shoulders and tells her that she's got an open tab at Warriors fer life...and not just food, but BOOZE! The look on little Miri's face is absolutely hysterical. Oh Guy.
So, they all head back to the ruins of Oa, where the rest of the Indigo Lanterns have suddenly congregted, and charge up their rings and recite their oath, and everybody is ready to go charging off to Earth for the last stand.
This was good. This was SOOOO good. I loved Green Lantern of course, but man, this was my favorite. I'm going to miss Pat Gleason terribly.
