Green Lantern #194
Green Lantern #194 is the pivotal first issue of the Englehart-Staton run's Crisis-era gauntlet, delivering the moment fans had been building toward: the Guardians of the Universe formally induct Guy Gardner into the Corps, deliberately passing over retired Hal Jordan — a seismic inversion of the franchise's founding dynamic that would reverberate through the entire Green Lantern mythology. The issue simultaneously ties the title into the Crisis on Infinite Earths mega-event by dispatching John Stewart to the Monitor's satellite, making it one of the most consequential single issues in the Copper Age Green Lantern saga. Its drama — three Earth-born Lanterns jockeying for legitimacy as the multiverse itself collapses — illustrates why the Englehart-Staton tenure is regarded as the defining Copper Age chapter of the series.
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Steve Englehart took over the Green Lantern title with issue #188, inheriting a book where John Stewart was the active Lantern and Hal Jordan had resigned. Rather than follow the conventional expectation that Hal would soon reclaim his ring, Englehart — drawing on his Marvel background — chose to keep John and add still more Lanterns, including a radically reimagined Guy Gardner. Englehart gave Gardner an aggressive, almost jingoistic new personality, while artist Joe Staton reportedly modeled the visual redesign on Major Ronald Merrick from the British TV drama The Jewel in the Crown. Issue #194 lands squarely in the middle of this creative renaissance, its events dovetailing directly with Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 and #2 under the editorial guidance of Andy Helfer.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published with a cover date of November 1985 (on sale August 1985); written by Steve Englehart, pencilled and cover-drawn by Joe Staton, inked by Bruce D. Patterson, colored by Anthony Tollin, lettered by Lois Buhalis, edited by Andy Helfer.
- The Guardians of the Universe formally induct Guy Gardner as a full Green Lantern Corps member, choosing him over the retired Hal Jordan — the issue's central dramatic turning point.
- John Stewart is recruited by Harbinger to join the Monitor's coalition of heroes and villains; his scenes aboard the Monitor's satellite occur simultaneously with the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths #1.
- The Anti-Monitor blasts Oa's Central Power Battery, massacring the Guardians of the Universe — an event depicted here and in Crisis on Infinite Earths #2, leaving Oa surrounded by an impenetrable barrier.
- Hal Jordan has a reconciliation scene with Tom Kalmaku (and Kalmaku's family — Tegra, Keith, and Kari), in which Tom forgives Hal for resigning from the Corps without consulting him.
- The issue exists in two editions: a direct-edition variant and a newsstand edition — both depicting the Guy Gardner vs. Hal Jordan conflict on their covers.
- Collected in Green Lantern: Sector 2814 Vol. 3 (issues #194–200) and also in the 2019 oversize hardcover Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion: Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 (issues #194–198).
- Guy Gardner's bowl-cut hairstyle — which became his signature look — is shown in early form here, fully crystallizing by issue #197 according to DC editorial sources.
Cast · 40 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
After John Stewart and Katma Tui help Replikon find a new home, they return to Earth-1 as the Crisis is beginning. Stewart is summmoned to the Monitor by Harbinger, but Katma refuses to let him go, and a fight almost ensues, but John assures her everything will be alright. Meanwhile, the recovered Guy Gardner has made his way to Abin Sur's grave, where he fights with Hal Jordan before a Guardian appears.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).