A Wedding, A Phantom Zone Projector and a Dead Man Who Isn't Dead.

 

cover art by Dick Giordano

It'll take a moment to set up the background for this issue (Green Lantern/Green Arrow #122, November 1979). Back-up Green Lantern Guy Gardner had supposedly been killed in a Power Battery accident six issues earlier. Guy had been friendly with a gypsy named Kari Limbo, who had psychic powers. Since then, Hal Jordan has gotten friendly with Kari. So, as writer Denny O'Neil and artist Don Heck begin this issue, Hal and Kari are going to the chapel and are gonna get married.

But on the way into the church, Kari has a vision and draws a picture of a Phantom Zone projector. This sends Superman--a guest at the wedding--off to the Fortress of Solitude to check on his projector. Once there, though, he is pulled into the Phantom Zone by what looks suspiciously like a Green Lantern-created construct.

Hal and Kari, meanwhile, are soldiering on with the ceremony. But when they get to the "I do" part, Kari goes into a full-on trance, mumbling about Superman, a power ring and darkness. This pretty heavily implies that Superman is in danger and that it is Green Lantern related.

Well, you can't marry your gal while she's in trance and besides, helping the Man of Steel seems to have become Hal's responsibility. He flies to the Fortress. Unable to get past the security features, he uses his ring to fish up the Phantom Zone projector. Then he recharges his ring and enters the Zone.

What follows is a Lantern vs. Lantern fight, with both GLs using their rings in clever ways. The other GL, to no one's surprise by this point, is Guy Gardner. The accident that supposedly killed him threw him into the Zone, where he's been watching Hal play footsie with Kari. Also, the Phantom Zone criminals, led by General Zod, are controlling him and lending their own will power to his ring. Also, Superman has been beaten unconscious and is being held by the criminals.

It's a cool fight, with Guy gradually coming out ahead thanks to the increased power provided by the criminals. But Superman has been playing possum and interfers at just the right moment. He and Hal save each other from certain death in the ensuing struggle before Hal, who had maintained a link with his power battery to keep an exit open, escapes with Superman in tow.

This issue is pretty cool, mostly because of the clever use of the Phantom Zone in the story and Don Heck's imaginative depiction of a Green Lantern battle. Looking back at the Hal/Kari romance arc that had been playing out in the preceding issues, it can be argued that their relationship was too quick and too superficial to bring enough emotional impact to the spoiled wedding. But two Green Lanterns going up against each other with constructs that include a battle axe, a giant magnet, and giant scissors makes up for a lot. 

At this point, Hal still needs to rescue Guy, but that will have to wait for the next issue, which we will look at next week. We'll then be returning to Green Lantern every few weeks for an epic storyline that builds off of this one, in which Oa itself is threatened with invasion.