Green Lantern: New Guardians, Volume 1: The Ring Bearer

Green Lantern: New Guardians (Collected Editions)

by Tony Bedard (Writer), Keith Giffen, Tyler Kirkham (Illustrator)

A New York Times Best Seller!
Green Lantern Kyle Rayner finds himself at odds with the Guardians of the Universe when rings from all the separate Lantern Corps come to claim him. But the other Corps aren't too keen on the Green Lanterns "stealing" their rings! Writer Tony Bedard (Green Lantern Corps) pens a new chapter in the Green Lantern mythos with a team of renegade Lanterns consisting of members from each Corps!

Collecting: Green Lantern: New Guardians 1-7

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Antony J. L. Bedard is an American writer and editor who has worked in the comic book industry from the early 1990s through the present. He is best known for his work at CrossGen Comics, where he was under exclusive contract, and for his run writing Marvel Comics X-Men spin-off Exiles.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story. Nice art.

But...

Can we please bring Kyle out of the closet already?!
Nobody cares anymore. Promise.

A ring from each spectrum flies to Rayner's hand.
A...rainbow of color, if you will.
Come on!
Really?!

[Fluffyroundabout · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better New 52 Lantern runs. When 6 of the other power rings from the emotional spectrum show up on Kyle Rayners front door he has to try and figure what the hell is going on along with Red Lantern Bleez, Yellow Lantern Arkillo, Blue Lantern Saint Walker, Purple Lantern Munk, Violet Lantern Fatality and the Orange Construct Glomulus.

The story is well written and continues through out to keep me interested. Having all these characters try to work together when they are each so different from the other is the best part about this book apart from the fact Larfleeze is in it! The art is also solid throughout and beautiful to look at with all the different colours representing each Lantern Corps.

My only Gripe is with the Purple Lantern Munk. During a conversation with Fatality he says "and you are a walking contradiction Fatality, you spent years hunting the green lanterns, yet here you are with blood on your hands, wielding the violet light of love." Munk is supposed to be the living embodiment of compassion and he says that?

Recommended for fans of any of these characters!

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bit if a hodgepodge of leftover characters, none of whom seem able to comprehend or calculate the events that are taking place around them. For the most part, the action consists of petty squabbling between the different coloured factions of the Lantern Corps.

You know, Lanterns of every colour seem really gullible these days. They seem perfectly content to not only be manipulated and lied to by the Guardians, but also by any past enemy that sings them a slightly sympathetic tune. Everyone in this title lacks a consciousness of their own, they just follow the herd and change directions when a new leader pops-up. There allegiances switch roughly four times in this story! It's kind of annoying, and I see it happening all across the Green Lantern franchise lately. We need some independent thinkers in this series!

Still, the art work is lovely and there are a few well-written moments of clarity.

3/5

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kyle Rayner is my favorite Green Lantern: the twenty-something sensitive artist type with a hopeful outlook that can still kick serious butt. I also enjoy the 'rainbow' lantern corps, in this case represented in the New Guardians. Put these two together in the Green Lantern New Guardians series and I'm loving it!

The problems I had were some confusing fight scenes and a bit too much talking throughout. Tyler Kirkham's art was very good although the fill-in artists were a bit disappointing. I liked Kyle's less clean cut image Kirkham has created for this series. I must also note the wonderful coloring job of Nei Ruffino - so many different colored lantern corps cannot be easy to color correctly but Ruffino pulls it off beautifully.

The collection ends in a cliff hanger of sorts, but this is the problem when reading a collection created from an ongoing comic. I'll be happy to read the next volume when it comes out to see what Kyle and the gang get into next.

[Boo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m surprised that the Green Lantern craze during the New 52 spawned so many Lantern books, and they all still managed to be at least halfway decent! But while both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps remain fantastic, and the first volume of Red Lanterns is surprisingly poignant, New Guardians, while being the worst of the bunch, is still an exciting adventure featuring Kyle Rayner and representatives from each Lantern Corps teaming up to stop a threat that has stolen rings of each color.

The Green Lantern mythology has been expanded in awesome ways with all the colors and this book serves as a way of exploring that even more. And ever since Geoff Johns put Rayner on the sidelines with the Rebirth of Hal Jordan, DC Comics has been struggling with how to use the once popular Green Lantern. We’ll see how this series goes, maybe it’ll be a good fit!

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Stared off very well but got a bit overloaded by the end. Still all in all pretty decent.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow each volume 1 of the New 52 Green Lanterns (Save for Red Lantern) was great

This might be one of my favorite things Tony Bedard made, or might just be his best. We have Kyle all of a sudden get stuck with power rings from all the different corps. So EVERYONE is after his ass. He goes back to OA but of course the Guardians have been pieces of shit and treat him like he's nothing. On top of that we have a new "villain" per say that is extremely powerful.

This was high paced, fun, exciting, and plenty of lolz moments. I loved almost all of it. Sure, sometimes it was to convenient where people were or what they set up. But I enjoyed the encounters, the fights, the humor, and pretty much everything else. A great start to the "New Guardians" series. It helps Kyle is the lead here too since he's the best Green Lantern.

A 4 out of 5.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a good job of establishing character through conflict - almost the entirety of the book is battles, and the personality of most of the characters comes through not just in the dialog but also in their approaches to battle. Using rings as a MacGuffin gets a strong start to the story, although the mystery of why they were all attracted to Kyle sort of disappears midway through in the shadow of a larger threat that drives the individuals toward teamwork. There's a lot of good here, better than much of the rest of the New 52, but it doesn't quite knock it out of the park.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is nearly a pitch-perfect continuation of the Rainbow Lanterns saga; it could have been written by Geoff Johns, for all that means, good and bad.

On the upside, we get great cosmic adventure and also a continued investigation of the background of the Rainbow Lanterns.

On the downside, characterization is pretty poor: it's almost all action.

Overall, it was a fun read if not a very deep one, that I definitely want to continue. Although I was annoyed by the too-typical-for-the-New-52 lack of any sort of conclusion in this TPB; instead the story just suddenly ends.

[Annice22 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the single issues instead of the trade edition.

I thought this was a fun read. The story, the writing and the characters were all very interesting. And I thought the artwork was really good. I look forward to reading the next volume.

[John Yelverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had great artwork and so much potential, and they wasted it all.

[The Spooky Jedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pacing and amazing art

Semi- predictable ending

[Sebastian Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

ESTO ES MUCHO MEJOR QUE GREEN LANTERN CORPS, HACE MUCHO NO LEO ALGO ASI DE ENTRETENIDO DE GREEN LANTERN. Amo a Kyle, a Blizz, a Larfleeze, la historia es misteriosa y epica, HAY UNA MAQUETA DE UN SISTEMA SOLAR ESCALA 1:1, muy buena serie

[Rick Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me forever to get around to reading this series. In fact, I started 46 of the original 52 titles in the New 52 universe before coming to this one simply because of the fact that I've never been much of a Kyle Rayner fan. The only GL that I like less than him is John Stewart. I probably wouldn't have liked this series at all if it focused solely on Kyle. Luckily for me, members of each of the other Corps are all equally showcased. St. Walker from the Blue lanterns is present. As is Arkillo from the Sinestro Corps and Bleez from the Red Lanterns. Fatality from the Star Sapphires. Glommullus from Orange, and one of the Indigo tribe are also involved. The Guardians of Oa, Larfleeze, and Atrocitus all make appearances too before the story reveals who is the main villain of the arc.

Tony Bedard, the writer for the series, kept me interested in the story, but that was mainly due to the fact that all of the Lanterns Corps were represented. As stated earlier, I don't really like Kyle, and it would have taken the most amazing story ever to keep me interested had he been the front and center the whole time. The people at DC gave the Red Lanterns their own book to start the New 52 and there are a couple of other Green Lantern titles, but the rest of the Lanterns Corps would be highly underused were it not for this series. Glommy isn't a huge part of the story, but he steals the show later in the book and becomes the one character I look forward to seeing more of in the future. The story is nowhere near as good as a Geoff Johns penned Lantern story. It isn't even as good as a Peter J. Tomasi helmed GL story, but it is still pretty good. I give the story 3.5 stars.

The art is handled by Tyler Kirkham. I've seen his art before and I've never been highly impressed by his work. He's really inconsistent. One panel will look great. The next might have below average art. Then a panel or two that are decent looking before going back to something that looks rushed. He's capable of really good art, but rarely ever turns into back to back pages or panels that are equally as good. Because of all the peaks and valleys in quality, I have to give this book a 3 star art score.

This ended up being a 3.25 star book. I rounded my average down for this site and a couple others. If you're into any of the Green Lantern books, check this out. It is worth reading. If you like Kyle as GL more than I do, you may love it.

[Paweł · Rating 3 out of 5]

Całkiem kompetentna przygoda niekompetentnej drużyny. Kto by wrzucił wszystkie kolory spektrum emocji i kazałby im się dogadać? Tylko wariat. Albo Pomarańczowy Latarnik, którego solowych zeszytów nie mogę się doczekać, bo jest najciekawszą postacią z tej historyjki.

Nie to co Kyle Rayner.

Nie chcę wiedzieć ile fujoshi shippuje Niebieskiego i Arkillo.

[James Dunphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Green Lantern: New Guardians should really be called Emotional Spectrum Rangers DCU New 52. It's not really a GL book, although it's in the GL sector of DC's diverse ecosystem.
DC has taken Kyle Raynor – the perpetual worst Green Lantern in history, and given him control of a green, yellow, red, blue, indigo, orange, and pink ring. In the process he creates a forced team up of all of the lanterns of the corresponding rings he's sort of steals. The story is full of Guardian deceit (typical), and a universe level threat complete from a dude named Invictus. A lot of the story deals with all the various one-dimensional emotional lanterns trying to get along.
This is basically the plot of Justice League International vol 1 spliced with the Green Lantern mythos. The plots are almost exactly identical save for the characters. It's an interesting story granted, but I can't help but feels it works to dilute the overall impact and meaning of each individual corps now that a few of their members are able to work together. Invictus is a decent villain for an opening arc, but he's pretty lame as a Warhammer 40k meets Diablo III steroided space-angel dude.
A lot of people are digging the art for this collection, but I wasn't. The super saturated colors of all the different corps just get in the way of everything. All the splash pages look like the same type of Power Ranger assemblage, and the over use of all the corps colors make the action sequences messy at time.
New Guardians vol 1 gets a 2 out of me. Easily the weakest of the GL New 52 titles. I don't know where this goes besides keeping the other corps colors relevant, but I hope the following arcs delve deeper into the shadiness surrounding the Guardians.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent idea: all the emotional spectrum of colours have to team up (just like Blackest Night/Brightest Day) except this time it's as individuals, outside of the 'rules'. It would be cliché to call them a rag-tag bunch of misfits, but that's sorta the idea here...Kyle Rayner and the others lol. Saint Walker is a good addition, as I enjoyed his character in every other instance I've seen him. Breez is Red, Glomulous is Orange like Slimer (Ghostbusters), then Fatality as Star Sapphire, Muk as Indigo, and Arkillo as Sinestro/Yellow.
They go to Oa to figure out what's going on, then get attacked by Ganthet (who's now emotionally empty) and the other Guardians, then go rogue to figure out what's happening, then of course, come across the reason behind them being drawn together: Larfleeze, Agent Orange himself, and his Guardian Sayd, who was attacked viciously by Ganthet even though they were close once...
Then shit gets odd...
An interesting story, takes itself just slyly enough not to be too serious.

Worth a read, if nothing else keeps up the whole 7 colours of the Lantern Spectrum story.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I thought I would. I’m a Green Lantern fan, but I have to say that I’m very over all the different ring colors, and the fighting that goes along with it. It was cool at first but now I’m just thinking, “Ugh, can we do something else please?” Kyle is an interesting character. I like the way they are setting him up to be able to use all the rings, rather than him just doing it at the point in the story where that has to happen. I appreciate small things like world building, rather than plot convenience. I don’t think I’ll continue to read this series but I will keep an eye on it.

[Gautam Surath · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had to happen. The only question was who and when? And I think the choice was perfect in the end. In fact you can probably say that Kyle exists only for this reason. Reason being of course to unite the spectrum and harness each individual colour and its power. The possibilities are enormous and it will be interesting to see where we go. I just feel that this edition not enough justice was done to Kyle and too many things were happening at the same time. Still the GL universe is so complex that sometime I wonder how they will bring all the threads together! Onwards

[Arturo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't even say if it's bad or what flaws it has, I eat this stuff up like skittles.
All the rings are drawn to Kyle, which is a mystery for a later time. When he heads to Oa, the Guardians attack him, which plants seeds for a later story. The rings Kyle has bring the wrath of a member of each of the Corps, but in the end they must work together against Invictus. A powerful seemingly unstoppable archangel. All because of Larfleez, and here we get to see how big of an evil beast he truly is.
To be continued in the next volume.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the Green Lantern books in the DCnU, this might be my favorite. I am not much of a Green Lantern fan. I typically only read the occasional arc. The idea of a team featuring a member from each of the corps is pretty interesting. I like Kyle's characterization, though I would have preferred seeing him use his ring more. The volume has a little too much exposition, but it is also accessible to new readers. The art is okay, but I really enjoyed the coloring.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the different colour rings are sent to Kyle, the lanterns without the rings are not happy. They go on a quest to find out who is stealing their rings. This is an interesting team book, all the characters have potential and the interactions between them make this book. It also has some great twists. A good read.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, Green Lantern and Tony Bedard. You really don't need to know more than that, to know you've got a great comic book in your hands. Loved every page of it and as the story is not complete, I'm greatly looking forward to the next volume. Loved it!

[Morbus Iff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the characters and the storyline, but Fatality's bosum was front-and-center far too many times.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fani Latarni w ramach New 52 są bardzo mocno rozpieszczani. Dostają kilka mocnych serii, w tym tą gdzie głównym bohaterem jest nie kto inny, jak Kyle Rayner.

Dowiemy się jak Kyle stał się Latarnią, ale nie to jest głównym daniem serii. Jak wiecie, jest więcej spectrum mocy Latarni niż ta zielona. Tutaj nagle poszczególni posiadacze pierścieni tracą je bez wcześniejszej utraty życia (co może spowodować utratę życia :)), zaś błyskotki pojawiają się przed Kyle'm z komunikatem, iż jest godny je posiadać.

Epicki moment psuje pojawienie się wysłanników różnych kolorów Latarni, po to aby odzyskać w ich mniemaniu, skradzione pierścienie. Szkopuł w tym, że te "uczepiły się" Raynera i prowadzi to do szeregu konfliktów. Co więcej bohater nie ma wsparcia nawet we własnym korpusie, przed którym musi się ewakuować, bo strażnikom z jakiejś przyczyny odbija.

Pierwszy tom to próbna wyjaśnienia zagadki pierścieni oraz spora doza akcji, aczkolwiek w drugiej połowie historia staje się mało interesującą siekaniną, która zahacza o interesujące postacie, ale nic z nimi kreatywnego nie robi.

Tyler Kirkham radzi sobie w obrazowaniu kosmosu i większość kadrów wygląda ładnie, aczkolwiek czasami mu nie wychodzi z wyglądem twarzy, co jest drobnym mankamentem w pracy jaką wykonał.

Dobry, solidny start serii z obiecującym zakończenie, przepełnionym akcją, choć niekiedy trudno było mi się wczuć w historię, bo autor spłycał ją nadmierną akcją.

[Ashe Catlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the plot is member from each corps are mysteriously losing their rings. It doesn’t matter what they’re doing, they could be in the depths of space which is causing a lot of trouble. From there A member of each corps decided to follows the rings to their destination, that happens to be poor Kyle. From there he goes to Mogo to get help from the Guardians. This is quite good when it gets going but it’s crammed full of introductions that stop it from happening. In the first issue you get Kyle which works well but the next is all the corps, then the Guardians, then a villain then another plot then something else. It’s set up so many damn things but they’re all crammed into this story and gets very little time to breathe. There are some really good bits about how Kyle got the ring, his day to day. Also the part where he had all the rings and challenged the Guardians was epic, Fatality gets a love in this as opposed to the rest of the corps, it'll be interesting to see where she goes. I will say that this isn’t a good comic for a first timer trying to get into the Green Lantern universe as it’ll confuse the hell of you with lore and what not. The fact that Larfreeze is kind of set up as a villain is quite interesting, there isn’t really an ending to this it’s left in the air but hopefully it has a good pay off in the second volume.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently elevated to the role of Green Lantern, our hero Kyle suddenly receives rings of power from the other colors of the emotional spectrum too. Why has he been simultaneously chosen for all these lantern corps and what does that mean for the whereabouts of Larfleeze, the sole member of the Orange Lantern Corp? This volume does a great job of playing in the Green Lantern sandbox and asking interesting questions about how the galaxy and the characters are supposed to interact.

Unlike the New 52 Red Lantern series which I also enjoyed, I'd say this one is a little less interested in making any deeper points. It sets its sights on grand, galactic-scale, science-fantasy storytelling and it hits its mark.

[Victor Orozco · Rating 3 out of 5]

New 52 strikes for the Green Lanterns in a special new series called the New Guardians. With the events of Green Lantern Vol.1 and Vol.2 setting the stage for the Lantern Guardians wiping out the Corps a new plan of action is being set against them with Kyle Rayner, the Green Lantern from sector 2814 to be granted powers of the entire emotional spectrum albeit while being manipulated by a secret party that has stolen all these rings from other Lantern Corps from across the Universe.

Its okay I guess, but it becomes to vast for its own good. That bit at the end with Invictus and those planetary system was odd. Its only begun but the writing isn't that strong. C+

[Douglas Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always fancied myself a purest so after Hal Jordan, you wouldn't think I have room for another Green Lantern in my life, but I really like Kyle Rayner. I am a fan of his 90's stories, but didn't know this series existed until a few months ago.
I like this first volume a lot, and it kicks off with plenty of action, in fact, so much that we don't get enough Kyle and the other Lanterns, but I am assuming we will get more of that in future volumes.