Green Lantern Admits the "Pure Torture" Way He's Terrified His Superhero Career Could End

Summary Guy Gardner trapped in a bottled Czarnian city, unable to escape.

Forced to become a mailman, Gardner struggles with routine and discipline.

Green Lantern's nightmare reveals Guy's fear of a life without excitement and adventure.

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Green Lantern #12!In a world where Guy Gardner can't be a Green Lantern, he faces the absolute worst possible fate. Gardner has searched high and low for the Czarnian miscreant Lobo, and it only resulted in him becoming trapped in a bottled Czarnian city. With no way out, Green Lantern has no choice but to live out his worst nightmare.

In Green Lantern #12's backup story "Guy's Bogus Lobo Adventure - Part Three by Jeremy Adams and Kevin Maguire, Guy Gardner has been imprisoned by Brainiac in Paz City along with the rest of his Czarnian collection. Unfortunately, Green Lantern can't escape Paz City due to a chip that transports Guy inside the bottle should he leave.

With no other choice, Guy Gardner adapts to life among the Czarnians. Instead of operating as a Green Lantern, Guy is put to work in a new capacity as a mailman, something he describes as pure torture for someone like him.

Green Lantern's Worst Nightmare is Becoming a Mailman

Guy Gardner wasn't a fan when the United Planets stepped in to take over control of the Green Lantern Corps. However, he put his concerns to the side when Guy was asked to track and arrest Lobo. Gardner searched all across the universe for his foe but turned up short. However, he found a lead when he discovered a Czarnian was competing as a masked wrestler known as the 'Main Man'. Gardner apprehended the Czarnian (who genuinely wasn't Lobo), but before Green Latner recognized he'd made a mistake, the two were captured and imprisoned in Brainiac's bottled city.

Honestly, being a mailman is a pretty noble profession and a good career path for many. But for someone like Guy Gardner? Of course it would make him absolutely miserable. Guy is someone who lives for adventure and unpredictability, more so than the Green Lantern's designated loose cannon Hal Jordan. But being a mailman requires routine and discipline, things that just are Guy's best qualities. He was only in the bottle city for a few weeks at most, but Green Lantern's imprisonment horrified him and revealed just how terrified Guy is of living a life that doesn't involve ring-slinging.

Green Lantern Can't Imagine a Normal Life

Guy is someone who needs thrills and excitement. No matter how stable or secure, a life that doesn't give Guy the rush he needs to keep going is something he can't imagine. There are a lot worse things in life than having to deliver mail and packages. But for Guy, that kind of life represents an end to the wonder and amazing things he's seen in his time as a member of the Corps. This moment, though a bit odd, is an interesting look at what it is that drives the most boisterous Green Lantern.

Green Lantern #12 is available now from DC Comics.

Green Lantern #12 (2024) Writer: Jeremy Adams

Artists: Xermánico and Kevin Maguire

Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Rosemary Cheetham

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Cover Artist: Xermánico