Guy Gardner got his start as the backup Green Lantern for Hal Jordan. He has since become one of the most prominent Green Lanterns of the Corps, despite possessing an egocentric personality.
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Guy Gardner was the youngest son of Roland and Peggy Gardner and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. An alcoholic, Roland lavished his eldest son Mace with praise but was abusive toward the meek young Guy. Guy’s only escape was superhero comics, particularly his favorite, General Glory.
In his teens, he constantly defied authority, but his brother Mace (now a police officer) convinced him to start behaving. Guy supported himself at the University of Michigan and hoped to play football professionally, but a field injury ended that possibility. After college he moved to Coast City, California and became a teacher for children with disabilities.
When the alien Green Lantern named Abin Sur crash-landed on Earth, his power ring looked for a person “honest and without fear” to succeed him as protector of Space Sector 2814. The two nearest candidates were Guy Gardner and test pilot Hal Jordan. Jordan was chosen, since he was closer. The Guardians of the Universe, the aliens who created the GL Corps, considered Gardner a Lantern reservist.
After learning about Guy, Jordan befriended him. When Guy was struck by a bus and temporarily confined to a wheelchair, the Guardians chose John Stewart to be their new reserve GL. Meanwhile, Guy began dating Kari Limbo. After he recovered, he was given a ring and asked to stand in for Jordan. But when Guy tried recharging his ring with a damaged Green Lantern power battery, it exploded and sent him into the Phantom Zone, a “twilight dimension” used to imprison criminals from the planet Krypton. On Earth, Hal and Kari started dating, believing Guy dead.
After being tortured and brainwashed by the Phantom Zoners into attacking Hal and Superman, Guy was kidnapped by Sinestro, a renegade Green Lantern who fought the Corps with a power ring of yellow energy. Hal rescued Guy, but the traumatized man slipped into a coma. Upon realizing Guy was alive, Kari and Hal broke up.
A group of Guardians of the Universe revived Guy and made him their personal Green Lantern. His experiences, combined with brain damage from the battery explosion, resulted in him now being an aggressive, impatient warrior who resented the attitudes of many Green Lanterns. Following the events of the Crisis, Guy Gardner started his own hero career in earnest.