Guy Gardner: Warrior #29

It's My Party and I'll Fight if I Want To

Beau Smith Head Waiter
Phil Jimenez Maitre d'
John Stokes & Dan Davis Bartenders
Gene D'Angelo Busboy
Albert DeGuzman Bouncer
Eddie Berganza Hat Check Girl
Warriors designed by Brad Gorby

The cover is made of card stock, and it opens up in the middle like doors to a restaurant. Inside is an awesome image penciled and inked by Phil Jimenez and colored by Tom McCraw.

And yes, our pal Impulse is here — he's squished over on the right edge. DC actually had a contest with this cover. The first person to correctly name every single character here would be eligible to be drawn in an issue of Guy Gardner: Warrior. There was also a variant cover by Jimenez, Dan Davis and Mark Chiarello, which was based off the famous Edward Hopper painting, "Nighthawks." And Curtis King was the cover editor for this issue.

I haven't read too many Guy Gardner stories, as he rarely interacts with the Flash family. But I do know he's traditionally a Green Lantern. But in 1995, Kyle Rayner was the only Green Lantern, meaning Guy had to find other means to be a superhero. In fact, Guy was one of the handful of heroes to have a significant change brought about by Zero Hour, gaining this strange, possibly alien war suit that bonded with his skin and can create any weapon he thinks about. At least that's how I understand it. If I'm completely off, and you know it, please let me know.

But a complete lack of Guy Gardner knowledge can't prevent you from enjoying this wonderful issue. It begins with Guy holding the grand opening for his bar, Warriors. Almost every single DC character ever conceived shows up, and it is a lot of fun. Every page is covered with tons of characters I know and love, and many characters I don't know yet. Impulse arrives with Arsenal, but the two of them mostly stay in the background the whole time.

But bad things happen when you get too many superheroes drinking in one place. Guy starts a fight with Captain Atom (I think for letting the super heroine Ice die) and Donna Troy fights with the Amazon Artemis for wearing Wonder Woman's outfit. And then Lobo shows up and all anarchy ensues. I think Impulse even punched somebody, but I can't tell who it's supposed to be. Like I said, there are a LOT of characters in this issue. Even some real-life actors show up — Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Ultimately, everybody leaves, Lobo tires himself out and then consumes all the alcohol in the building.

Yeah, there were a few other things that happened in this issue, but they aren't pertinent to Impulse, so I skipped over them. And even though Impulse did virtually nothing here, I absolutely loved this issue. There was so much fun stuff going on in every panel. And I the cover is really cool, too. Even if I have no interest in Guy Gardner, I am still very happy that I have this issue. And having it in print adds to the fun. A digital version — still not available — would not have the cool effect of opening the doors to the restaurant.

The letter column, Dotting the Eyes, naturally doesn't mention Impulse. But it is still pretty fun to read, as all the letters are answered from Guy Gardner's point of view. So let's get on to the ads, with one very special advertisement I'll save for last.

Nerf. Welcome to Max Force. This ad is designed to look like a comic book page with real photos used for the panels. My brothers and I had our fair share of Nerf guns back in the day. Fun stuff.

How to Draw Comics! Marvel and DC artists show you how! If you're willing to cut up your comic book, you can send in an order form, plus $19.95, for this book.

Comic Buyer's Guide 1994 Fan Awards. Another ad that asks you to rip a page out of your book to write down your favorite writer, artist, letterer, etc., and mail it off to Wisconsin. I don't know how many kids actually had a favorite letterer, but that was one of the categories nonetheless.

Need hard data fast? Psyba Rats. They'll steal anything, anytime, anywhere. Chuck Dixon, Michal Dutkiewicz, A.J. Kent, Bob McLeod. Three-issue miniseries. Boots up in February.

Death. Corruption. Bigotry. The music of the night. Batman Jazz. A three-part Legends of the Dark Knight miniseries by Gerard Jones & Mark Badger.

One legend's dream is another's nightmare. Legends of the World's Finest. Collecting the acclaimed three-issue miniseries. Written by Walter Simonson and fully painted by Daniel Brereton.

Why put off till tomorrow ... what you can buy today! A DC subscription order form. You could get 12 issues of Guy Gardner: Warrior for only $15.

Superman#100. The Death of Clark Kent. Smashing beyond! Jurgens, Breeding and Rubinstein.

Flash #100. The Quick and the Dead. Racing beyond! Waid, Larrocca, Pacheco and Marzan Jr.

Now you're on fire! NBA Jam Tournament Edition. Unfortunately, I didn't have this edition as a kid — just the normal, boring one that only had two players per team, and not "over 100 NBA superstars" like this version did. It still was the best game ever, but it could have been the bestest game ever.

And now, the best ad in the whole issue!

Sometimes you just gotta go with your Impulse. Mark Waid, Humberto Ramos, Wayne Faucher. Ongoing monthly, on the move starting in February. Bart Allen's only been around for half a year, and he already has his own book coming out! And I already love Ramos' art! This Bart looks more like a 14-year-old than any other version we've seen before — even by Mike Wieringo. And this ad is funny, too! Impulse is writing, "I won't run in the hall." while he is obviously running in the hall. It's also considerate of him to not write anything in the space his head was. :)

But this is great cause for excitement and celebration. And we have only five more issues to cover before we get to do Impulse #1! Next up is Deathstroke: The Hunted #45.