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GUY GARDNER
proposal and art by Kurt Belcher
This storyline could be presented in a number of fashions, from a mini-series to a story arc in LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE. The former would maybe make it more unique, but the latter might give it more exposure in an already-established book.
 It's time to rebuild the Warrior.
Guy Gardner is hanging around at closing time at his bar Warriors. When he goes to close up, he's accosted by two VERY large fellows who turn out to be Qwardians from the Anti-Matter Universe. Although he struggles, using his shape-shifting 'Warrior' abilities, the two fellows abduct him back to their own universe. Imagine, a super-hero abducted by aliens! ")
Back on Qward, Guy gets wind of some very suspicious goings-on, eventually being told straight up that Qward is gearing up for another big invasion of his homeworld. He also finds out exactly why he was taken captive: the Qwardians have reached an evolutionary dead end. They're just about at the end of the line, and they need something that will jump-start their development. So they've been spying on their old foe Guy Gardner, discovering he has shape-shifting powers given him by his half-Vuldarian heritage – and deciding that his DNA would be the perfect catalyst to refresh their stagnant gene pool. They drop him on the slab and use nanotechnology to remove his Vuldarian DNA, while rewriting his own genetics to keep him human and normal. You see, they don't want to kill him; they want him to be the first victim of the new shape-shifting and unstoppable Thunder Corps. They drop him into the deepest dungeon they have, along with dissidents like ex-Thunderers and other dissidents, and even a few captive ex-Green Lanterns. Together, the prisoners begin plotting…
When the new Thunder Corps are about to strike out for their greatest victory, loose bands of Qwardian Undergrounders, aided by Shadow Demons, still loyal to the Anti-Monitor and therefore opposed to the new Qwardian government. The prisoners are freed to help overthrow the current hierarchy, with the majority of them raiding the Weaponers' Armory, where Guy finds, you guessed it, an experimental new yellow power ring, one of the other schemes the Qwardians were hoping to use to make their conquest easier. Guy dons the new ring and, with the help of his newfound friend, a Shadow Demon with a conscience, he leads the Underground against the new Thunder Corps and defeats them in a decisive final battle. But his allies in revolution become his enemies in victory, as the new rulers of Qward quickly become as ruthless as their predecessors. Guy comes to a typically-Guy final conclusion: that he has to totally obliterate his enemies to make certain they don't come back. He decides to obliterate the Transformer Gate connecting their universe to his, and remain behind to make certain they don't threaten his home again. The Shadow Demon he had become friends with in such a short time is inspired by his valor to allow Guy to go home and destroy the Transformer Gate once he has safely crossed to the other side, and then lead more like him to oppose the new government. Guy returns home and returns to his role as Warrior, bullheaded defender of justice.
Let's have a short recap of Guy's deconstruction over the years:
He's taken out of the Green Lantern Corps.
He's taken out of the JLA.
He's deprived of his yellow power ring.
He's given crappy shape-shifting powers.
He's relegated to not even frequently-appearing supporting cast status in GREEN LANTERN.
In my mind, the most interesting period Guy Gardner saw was his yellow power ring WARRIOR days. It made him a separate entity from the Green Lantern Corps, while also building upon those mythos and creating his new character from the ashes of Sinestro's demise (one of them, anyway).
This was followed by what I deem the least-interesting period for the character, the shape-shifting, half-alien WARRIOR days. It made him almost a parody of himself and capitalized on the still-lingering popularity of the ultra-violent Lobo, taking Guy Gardner to the most gritty and unpleasant extrapolation of his personality.
It's preferable to build on a character when revitalizing it, taking it into new incarnations and uncharted territory, but returning Guy to his most interesting phase. Although Guy has never been a particular favorite of mine, his deconstruction always irked me, and making him interesting again seems like it would be an interesting challenge, something on par with what Joe Casey did on CABLE: taking a character with a checkered past and giving him depth and a personality beyond his one-tune or clone beginnings.
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