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The Guardians of the Universe are a group of immortal Oans who organized and run the Green Lantern Corps. They have been trying to bring order to the universe for eons, with varying success.

The Guardian's roots start on the planet Maltus and they were possibly the first intelligent life forms in the DC Universe. At this time they were tall greyish blue humanoids with black hair. In the early days of the universe, they were a war-filled race. Sometime later, they became scientists and thinkers, experimenting on the worlds around them. One experiment led to the creation of a new species, the Psions. In a pivotal moment, billions of years ago, a Maltusian named Krona used time-bending technology to observe the beginning of the Universe. This experiment flooded the beginning of the Universe with entropy causing it "to be born old".

Feeling responsible for this, some of the Maltusians relocated to the planet Oa (at "the center of the Universe") and became the Guardians of the Universe. Their goal was simple: combat evil and create an orderly universe, and they acted quickly on that goal. During this period they also changed to their current appearance.

Before life existed on Earth, they learned how to manipulate what they called "the Glow", and eventually created a Central Power Battery to store this energy. This "energy" was actually the collective willpower of the inhabitants of the universe, and the center energy field of the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum. Accessing and manipulating this willpower gave the Guardians an ultimate tool to pursue their goals.

Trying to remove magic from the Universe, they bound as much magical energy as possible into an orb called the Starheart. This would eventually become the ring and lantern of Alan Scott.

On Mars, the Guardians confronted the destructive race known as "The Burning" and split the race into two new species: the Green Martians and the White Martians. The Guardians changed their reproductive behavior, and gave them an inherent fear of fire in order to stop their species from destroying much of the universe.

The Manhunters were the first attempt of the Guardians of the Universe to create an interstellar police force that would combat evil all over the galaxy. Their name and much of their code of behavior was modeled by the Guardians of the Universe on the Manhunters of Ma'aleca'andra (Mars). For thousands of years, they served the Guardians well. However, the Manhunters became obsessed with the act of hunting criminals. Their code, "No Man Escapes The Manhunters", became more important to them than seeing justice done.

The Manhunters' narrow view on justice lead to their program being compromised. The rogue Oan Krona reprogrammed the Manhunters to prove to the Guardians that there were flaws in an emotionless police force. Krona's reprogramming influenced the Manhunters into deciding that because all crime is the result of emotional responses, and all emotions come from organic life, then the solution on maintaining order in the universe was to remove all organic life from it. This was the final breaking point, the simultaneous glitch that occurred within the Manhunters: eradicate all life. The Manhunters descended upon Sector 666 and wiped out any organic life forms that they found. When the massacre was over only five beings escaped the Manhunters. Vowing to avenge their Sector these beings, demons of great power, became the Five Inversions lead by Atrocitus and dedicated to destroy the Guardians for unleashing the Manhunters. They managed to form an Empire of Tears which spanned three galaxies. During that time the Five Inversions would peer into the future and see the Blackest Night the end of all life within the universe. The Manhunters that survived hid away on many planets, such as Biot, slowly rebuilding their forces and spreading their "beliefs" to other machines.

The Manhunter rebellion led to schisms. One group (the Controllers) thought that the only way to protect the Universe was to control it. The female Oans (the Zamarons) felt no need to involve themselves in the Universe's problems. Over the years, both groups evolved to look most unlike the Guardians. Other groups have also left the Guardians; one such group settled on Earth, becoming the origin for leprechaun legends.

The Guardians then captured a fear elemental called Parallax. They imprisoned the creature in the Central Battery hoping to lock it away forever. A millennia ago after a protracted war they achieved an accord with the Reach an alien race who turned out to be the source of the Blue Beetle Scarab. The magic-wielding Empire of Tears was subjugated and imprisoned on the throneworld and tombworld of Ysmault. The Five Inversions killed many Oans that day, but in the end the Guardians were victorious. Unable to kill the demons the Guardians crucified the Five Inversions and imprisoned their servants on Ysmault which was declared forbidden territory to everyone.

The MadGod that was the entire Sector 3600 was defeated by the Guardians and was constrained by a matrix of their making. By showing the sector that they were its superiors, the Guardians had imprisoned it for all time. The insect race of Tchkk-Tchkki, later known as Legion, was enclosed in an emerald forcefield around their world. They reached an accord with the Spider Guild whereby they and their operatives would stay out of Vegan space. Due to this agreement, the Omega Men have become the only peacekeepers in their sector. The true reason for this was to keep Larfleeze and the orange light imprisoned there.

After the failed experiment with the Manhunters, the Guardians invented other ways of opposing evil in the universe. The Green Glob was an intelligent teaching machine created from their emerald energy, programmed to educate mortals all over the universe and able to briefly alter reality to do so. The Halla's, an intergalactic police corps wielding power guns channeling the emerald energy, was a short-lived successor of the Manhunters and a precursor to the successful Green Lantern Corps.

Finally, the Green Lantern Corps was established to replace the Manhunters and the Halla's. These troops were given some of the power of the Central Power Battery, accessed through a ring. Due to Parallax's imprisonment in the Battery, these rings had no effect on the color yellow, which Parallax was attuned to through the Emotional Spectrum; this "flaw" was used as a limitation to control the Green Lanterns in case of their corruption. Against Apokolips, they waged a war. They tried several times to infiltrate Darkseid's home, finally deciding on a war against his rule. Their troops were brutally defeated with two-thirds dead. The attack on Apokolips ended with a truce with the Guardians forced to abandon a soldier (Raker Qarrigat) to Darkseid. Fearing dissension, they ordered all records of the campaign expunged.

Time Passes...

Originally a history professor on the planet Ungara, Abin Sur was soon appointed Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814 in the mid 1860s. As a child, he became best friends with Ruch Ehr and later, by association, Munni Jah. The two of them were a couple and Abin secretly loved Munni, but never overtly spoke of this. Recruited by the Green Lantern known as Starkaðr, he is known to have come to Earth on several occasions. In the Old West, he teamed up with a Henry Lee Jordan, an ancestor of Hal Jordan, to battle an alien named Traitor who was responsible for the death of Starkaðr. During World War Two, he briefly encountered Starman and Bulletman when the three battled an alien being under the control of Mr. Mind. After the disbandment of the JSA, he visited Earth once more in pursuit of the genocidal criminal Tybalt Bak'sar, where he encountered the Martian Manhunter.

Sinestro was selected by the Guardians of the Universe to become a member of the Green Lantern Corps for his honor and fearlessness. At his height, he was considered to be the greatest of all the Green Lanterns, and Sector 1417 was almost entirely devoid of crime and lawlessness under his vigilant protection. The Guardians had never erred in their judgment before, and he would later be considered one of their greatest mistakes. His prowess was so great that he was assigned as a mentor to a number of rookie lanterns showing similar promise.

Kilowog was a geneticist and one of the Bolovaxians most brilliant minds. He hailed from the planet Bolovax Vik, which was one of the most crowded worlds in the universe; it had sixteen billion residents with a communal mind. After the previous Lantern, Branwilla, died, Kilowog was chosen to be a member of the Green Lantern Corps. It was a great honor, but it meant leaving Bolovax Vik and going into space on missions; this was tantamount to exile for a Bolovaxian. Nevertheless, Kilowog carried out his duties with pride. He would go on to be one of the Corps' best recruiters and trainers.

Abin would importantly learn about a prophecy that concerned the fate of the universe known as the Blackest Night. His curiosity on the Blackest Night led him on a journey to the planet Ysmault and interrogated its inhabitants the Five Inversions, who had foreseen the prophecy. Qull of the Five Inversions told Abin about The Black, a complete antithesis of the Emotional Spectrum, that will consume all life. Abin's questions also foretold him about the War of Light, the downfall of the Green Lantern Corps, and as well his death, when his ring fails him at a critical moment, but will be succeeded by his successor that will be the greatest amongst his contemporaries.

Abin's discovery of the prophecy of the Blackest Night was also previously written in the Book of Oa. However, the prophecy was believed to be a lie concocted by their enemies, the Guardians of the Universe in which the passage on the Blackest Night was later removed from the Book of Oa. Only two Guardians, Ganthet and Sayd, as well as a Zamaron tribe, would take his discovery seriously. Regardless of the Guardians' inaction, Abin sought to find a way to counter the prophecy from happening.

Throughout his time in the Corps, Abin Sur was Thaal Sinestro's best friend and trusted confidante, so much so that they considered each other to be brothers. He would eventually fall in love with and marry Arin Sur, his friend's sister, and the two would have a child together. Abin confided in Sinestro what he had learned of the Blackest Night, where a darkness would rise to destroy all life, something Sinestro dismissed as lies by the Five Inversions who told Abin the prophecy.

Hal Jordan was born in Coast City to Jessica and Martin Jordan, the middle child between older brother Jack and a younger brother Jim. As a boy, he idolized his father, a test pilot who worked for Ferris Aircraft. At a very young age, he had to face his greatest fears when his father died in a plane crash at an air show right before his eyes. Despite his family's wishes, he followed in his father's footsteps and eventually joined the United States Air Force on his 18th birthday, turning up that very morning outside the Armed Forces Career Center before it had even opened. Hal earned the reputation of being the best pilot in the Air Force, but also the most dangerous and expensive, crashing planes during test flights and even taking unauthorized "joyrides." This led to him getting kicked out of the Air Force. But his problems didn't end at work: his mother fell ill and died of cancer. Hal's brother, Jack, resented him for turning his back on his family and leaving their mom to die.

Long ago, when the rogue Manhunters rampaged through Green Lantern Sector 666, Atrocitus was one of only five beings in the entire sector to escape death. He and the other four survivors formed a terrorist cabal known as the Five Inversions, bent on the destruction of the Guardians of the Universe and all who served them, with Atrocitus serving as their leader. The Five Inversions performed a ritual that allowed them to peer into the future and discover the prophecy of the Blackest Night, which decreed that all life in the universe would end. They ruled a massive domain known as the Empire of Tears, until the Guardians of the Universe defeated the Five Inversions and imprisoned them on their capital, Ysmault. After Abin Sur arrived trying to locate survivors of a crash on Ysmault, he went to the imprisoned demons and asked for their assistance. Atrocitus refused to help him, but his comrade Qull freely offered to answer three questions: the location of the survivors, the fate of Abin Sur, and the prophecy of the Blackest Night. Sur told this to the Guardians of the Universe, in turn kept the Five Inversions on Ysmault instead of transferring them to Oan sciencells. Following this, Sur began to make periodic visits to Ysmault to learn how to prevent the Blackest Night. Sur even went so far as to free Atrocitus from his imprisonment so he could lead the Green Lantern to Earth, the birthplace of "the black" that would end the universe. Abin Sur, who is flying a transport due to a diminishing faith in his Power Ring, escorts Atrocitus to Earth in an attempt to avert the prophesied Blackest Night. While caged in Sur's starship, Atrocitus is able to instill fear in Sur, allowing the yellow impurity to seep into his willpower constructs and weakening them enough to escape.

Atrocitus breaks free and attacks Abin Sur, Badly injured and with his space ship seriously damaged, Abin made an emergency landing on the nearest habitable planet and crash lands in the middle of the California desert. Dying, Abin Sur sends a distress signal to Thaal Sinestro, before sending his ring to find a replacement, he commands his power ring to seek out a worthy successor - one who proves to be fearless and strong-willed. Miles away, test pilot Hal Jordan is examining a flight simulator when a corona of green light envelops him, pulling him along with the simulator to the spot of Abin Sur's crashed vessel. Hal was dragged inside by an unknown force that spoke to him telepathically and inside the airship, he is greeted by an agonizing red alien, who tells Hal that he has been chosen to be his successor as the Green Lantern guardian of Sector 2814. He instructs him that the ring will obey his every command but is powerless against anything colored yellow. He also tells him that the ring's energy must be charged from the power battery once every twenty-four hours. Hal didn't understand the meaning of the message, but before he knew, the alien died and the mysterious green ring flew from the alien's hand unto Hal's hand. Hal was instantly given the powers of the ring and the same uniform as the alien was wearing. Hal agrees to accept the responsibility of wielding the ring in the cause of justice, and, with that, Abin Sur passes away. Hal Jordan is now Green Lantern.

Wishing to get out of there, Hal realizes that he can command the ring in order to perform anything he desired, including flying as free as a bird. Hal's confusion increased and even after coming to terms with the fact that he now had powers, he still had troubles to get used to it. As Jordan is testing his abilities as Green Lantern, he stumbles across an aeroplane that loses control. Green Lantern saves the pilot, delivering him back to Ferris Aircraft. After saving a pilot, Green Lantern returns to Abin Sur's corpse and gives him a proper burial. After finding his new Power Battery, Jordan is transported to Oa, where Kilowog and Hal Jordan engage in a physical fight until they are interrupted by Tomar-Re. Tomar-Re was a scientist on the planet Xudar before joining the Green Lantern Corps. He became a pivotal member of the Corps, training new members, like Arisia, and serving in the Honor Guard. During a discussion, Jordan informs Tomar-Re that Abin Sur died when his ship crashed. After much training with Kilowog at Kilowog's training camp, Hal Jordan earns his badge as Green Lantern. Meanwhile, Ganthet sends Sinestro to Earth in order to investigate the circumstances of Abin Sur's demise.

The wreckage of Abin Sur's ship is discovered by scientists working with Ferris Aircraft. Despite being advised against it, Dr. Hector Hammond decides to investigate the wreckage without protective clothing. As a result, Hammond is exposed to the ship's fuel source, causing his head to grow to abnormal proportions. Hammond begins hearing everyone's thoughts in his own head as he develops telepathy and telekinesis. Upon Hal's return to Earth, his friend Tom Kalmaku helps Hal maintain his secret as Green Lantern. Wanting to support his family in Alaska, Thomas Kalmaku took some seasonal work as an airplane mechanic at an arctic air force base. His father, however, wanted to find his own ways to gain money and maintain the family. Tom's father and an associate named Jimmy Dawes found a gold mine and split a map with its location in two parts. Unfortunately, Tom's father died of natural causes, and his associate never returned with his half of the map. Tom set to find this associate in Coast City, where he took a job in Ferris Aircraft, where a couple of thugs assaulted him and stole his map. There he met Hal Jordan and Green Lantern, who helped him find the thugs and the gold mine. Tom however deduced Green Lantern's identity due to how similar both Hal and Green Lantern fought the thugs. Since that point, Tom became Green Lantern's confidante, keeping track of their adventures together in a journal.

Angrily confronting Carol Ferris because Hal blames her father for the death of his father, she empathizes with him and offers him his job as a pilot back. As Jordan is flying a plane, he is forced to crash after his flight is interrupted by the Green Lantern known as Thaal Sinestro. After a confrontation, Sinestro rebuilds the plane while lecturing Jordan on his misuse of his power ring. As Jordan returns to Ferris Aircraft, both him and Carol Ferris are suddenly assaulted by a deformed and super-powered Hector Hammond. Hammond uses his telepathy to discover that Hal Jordan and Green Lantern are the same..

At the Hand Mortuary, young William Hand looks at a body bag. As he unzips it, his mother comes in, telling him that he's been told to stay out of here, but Hand only insists that he just wanted to look at the body. Mrs. Hand asks why he can't be more like his brothers, and young William replies that he doesn't know. Growing up as part of the wealthy and respectable Hand family in Coastville, California, William had always been the black sheep. He hated his family, and strived to do anything he could to distance himself from his three brothers because they treated him badly despite claiming to be Christians and because their parents favoured them over him. As they were all profitable in legitimate business, he turned to a life of crime.

Starting with smaller crimes such as pickpocketing, and working his way up to larger felonies, he developed his own methodically written "black book" which contains a complete listing of everything a criminal must do to succeed, as well as a contingency plan for every situation. However, he knew it was inevitable that eventually he was going to have to fight local superhero Green Lantern. A brilliant inventor, he constructed a device that would allow him to absorb and harness quantities of the power ring radiation, and use it back against Green Lantern.

At Ferris Aircraft, Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris buckle under Hector Hammond's telepathic onslaught. Hammond is aware that Hal is Green Lantern and demands that he turn over the ring. Hammond then sees Hal looking at Carol, and tells her that he can't have her. Hal says he doesn't want her, and Hammond throws him across a airstrip. Hal feels the ring slipping off, so he temporarily blinds Hammond. Helping Carol up, Hal tries to get them away, but Hammond throws a fighter at them. However, they're shielded by Sinestro, who has been watching an informs Hammond that he's in violation of 34 laws, both terrestrial and interstellar, including assaulting an officer of the Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro throws a bubble around Hammond's head, rendering him unconscious, and wrongly chastises Hal for being so easily attacked by such a novice telepath. His features obscured by the sun, Carol assumes that he's the Green Lantern from the other week. Sinestro then takes Hal away, leaving a confused Carol behind.

At a local gun-shop, Atrocitus, having just killed all the people inside, is building a device which will store the power of the Black for his return to Ysmault. Complete, he holds the device which will take him to William Hand—a cosmic divining rod.

In the desert, Sinestro wrongly chastises Hal for his recklessness, and feels that he needs far more training. Hal says that Kilowog already taught him how to ringsling, and Salakk already instructed him on Power limitations. The only question he has is why the Yellow Impurity exists. Sinestro chuckles, saying that he's also sought the cause for the Yellow Impurity for years, and was even suspended when he accused the Guardians of the Universe for placing the cause in the Central Power Battery. Finally, they reach Abin Sur's burial site. Sinestro explains that Abin was his mentor, and reflects that he was as insolent to Abin as Hal is to him. Sinestro admits that they are both individualists, which lead to Sinestro's questioning, but Abin taught him how to temper that without losing his inquisitive nature.

At that moment, Hal's power ring says that it has a message ready for Sinestro. The message is from Abin Sur, in the event of his death. Abin wishes Sinestro good fortune, but asks him to complete his final mission. Abin recently discovered the prophesied doom of the universe, which has its origins in the Manhunters fall from grace—the Massacre of Sector 666. Billions of years ago, they suffered a simultaneous glitch which lead them to conclude that there could only be order in the universe if there was no organic life. They descended on the worlds of Sector 666, wiping out all life. There were only five survivors in the entire sector. These beings became the Five Inversions, lead by Atrocitus, who have sought to harness the power of the Blackest Night to take revenge on the Guardians for unleashing the Manhunters. Abin begs Sinestro to complete his mission and stop the Five Inversions. As Hal comments that Abin looked terrified, Sinestro realizes that it was Atrocitus that killed Abin Sur—and that he's still on Earth.

At the Hand Mortuary, a funeral is concluding. Slipping away, William Hand goes to touch the dead body in the casket, only for Atrocitus to break through the wall. Atrocitus throws the casket at William's mother and throws William out of the building into the graveyard. Saying his insides hold the doorway to darkness, Atrocitus prepares to strike, but Sinestro and Hal appear. Declaring them as guilty as their masters, Atrocitus breaks the green chains they wrap him in and attacks. Hal tells William to run, making some dog constructs to get him going. Suddenly, his power ring starts draining. Sinestro says that Atrocitus has a divining rod which can locate and take power. They're going to have to defeat Atrocitus without their rings.

William Hand cowers as Hal Jordan and Sinestro battle Atrocitus. After recharging their power rings, Hal Jordan and Sinestro manage to subdue Atrocitus. William Hand grabs Atrocitus' weapon and quickly flees the area. After an argument with Sinestro, a frustrated Hal Jordan barges into Carol Ferris' house to confront her father. He instead discovers that he has been bedridden for quite some time. Carol tells Hal that her father blamed himself for the death of Hal's father and that the guilt took a toll on his health. Hal and Carol Ferris reconcile, just before Hal makes peace with Sinestro. The two are then called upon by the Guardians of the Universe for breaking intergalactic law.

As Hal Jordan and Sinestro are taken toward Oa, Hal asks what is going on, and Sinestro explains that the Guardians of the Universe want a word with them, which is rarely a pleasant experience. As they fly through Oa, Kilowog, C'hp, and Salakk see them fly by, and a crowd soon gathers at the Guardians chamber.

Inside the chamber, Sinestro tells Hal to let him do the talking. The Guardians ask why Sinestro was outside Sector 1417, and Sinestro explains that he was apprehending Atrocitus of the Five Inversions, which Lantern Jordan assisted in. The Guardians decree that Atrocitus is to be returned to Ysmault, where he will serve out his sentence. However, the Guardians note that this is Sinestro's second violation of the territorial edict, also with the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, but with Abin Sur. The Guardians remind Sinestro that this law is in place for a reason, and Hal asks why. After giving him a cold stare, the Guardians reply that Lanterns are supposed to fly alone to grow stronger and depend on themselves, and not to question the Guardians actions. Hal again asks why, and the Guardians reply that they have lived and protected the universe for billions of years. Hal points out one problem: the Manhunters' actions in Sector 666. The Guardians say that Atrocitus was lying, and Hal says that they learned of the massacre from a message Abin Sur left on his power ring. The Guardians say that they are lies meant to instill the Green Lantern Corps with fear.

Angered, Hal says that it's not the Green Lanterns who are afraid, but the Guardians themselves. The Guardians are incensed at Hal's accusation, and Sinestro tells Hal to shut up, but he continues. No one can explain the Yellow Impurity, but the buildings on Oa are all yellow. It's a countermeasure in case the Green Lanterns turn on the Guardians like the Manhunters did. The territorial edict is meant to prevent conspiracies from being formed against the Guardians, except on Oa, where the Guardians could act. The Guardians command Hal to be silent, and that he faces expulsion. Sinestro says that if they expel Hal, they can expel him as well. As much as it shocks him, Sinestro says that Hal's reasoning is right, but that if Green Lanterns can work together, they can not only grow stronger, but keep each other in check, and prevent the Massacre of Sector 666 from occuring again. Sinestro also tells them that this all happened because one of the Guardians ordered Sinestro to Earth to help Jordan, one who called himself Ganthet. The Guardians actually taken aback by Sinestro's revelation, and decide to allow Jordan to remain. However, his actions will be monitored, and will reflect on Sinestro himself. Sinestro has no problem with that.

On the training field, Hal is trying to show the other Lanterns that he could affect yellow objects. His efforts prove futile, and Kilowog, Ke'Haan and Sinestro say that he imagined it, but Tomar-Re believes him. Sinestro tells Tomar that he is too trusting, and Tomar counters that it was something Abin Sur taught him. Sinestro has to return Atrocitus to Ysmault and asks Hal not to make him regret defending him. Hal promises that he won't and Sinestro says that they'll meet again in one month. However they won't be meeting on Earth, but Korugar.

After Sinestro dropped Atrocitus off at the prison world of Ysmault, Atrocitus taunts Sinestro with a prophecy of the chaos and deadly coup that would lead to Sinestro's fall from grace. However, Sinestro ignores him and leaves. However, as he became increasingly stressed with keeping his sector as perfect and as ordered as he needed it to be, Sinestro slowly became more unhinged and started employing more questionable tactics in his behavior. His actions were unwelcome by the Korugarans, and threats were made against his family. Arin recognized the danger posed by Sinestro's methods and secretly gave their daughter away. Sinestro would be unable to find his daughter, and Arin soon died through unknown circumstances.

Back at the airfield, Tom is amazed that Carol Ferris is going to let Hal fly, and as the only pilot, he'll be logging in a lot of hours. Hal doesn't mind, and asks what he'll be flying today. Tom says that it's something special—the old plane that Martin Jordan used to fly, and the first plane Hal ever flew in. Hal is amazed that Tom did that, but Carol Ferris comes and says that it was on her instructions, to give him incentive to stay. Hal is grateful, and offers to buy Carol dinner.

At Edwards Airforce Base Hector Hammond is locked in a containment box to prevent him from taking control of anyone's mind. He thinks that it is unfair, that it is so lonely and cramped in there and that Green Lantern did all this to him. As he thinks about Hal Jordan he admits that he's had such a marvelous life. The thrills, the experiences, and the women. And how Hector wants it so much. At Coast City Hospital a security guard is checking the morgue, where he finds young William Hand still wearing the suit from the other night unzipping a body bag. The guard tells William to get up, but William kills him with the cosmic diving rod. William is not upset, but mutters that "dead is good"...

On Ysmault, Sinestro finishes crucifying Atrocitus, adding more nails in so that he is completely immobilized. Qull says that they saw Abin Sur's fate they can see another. Sinestro is uninterested in their prophecies of the Blackest Night, but Roixeaume says that it's his future they see. Atrocitus says that Korugar will fall to civil war and Sinestro will be unable to stop it. His world will embrace chaos because Sinestro was protecting others. Sinestro says that Korugar will not fall to chaos while he is there and he will not fall to fear. Atrocitus silently vows that if Sinestro won't be broken by his own fear Atrocitus will burn him with his rage...

At the graveyard, Hal Jordan looks at his parents tombstones. His brother Jim shows up, saying that Jack won't be coming. Hal is not surprised saying that he has been a terrible brother. Jim tries to deny it, but Hal goes on saying that hasn't been a part of their lives. Saying that stops now Hal Jordan powers up and reveals that he is the Green Lantern. He has a long story to tell so he wrote it down in his flight log.

Test pilot Hal Jordan goes to the office of Carol Ferris. He asks Carol out on a dinner date and Carol agrees. Suddenly, an S.O.S. pipes through the office intercom. A Ferris aviator piloting the experimental Flaming Spear is in trouble. Hal sneaks away and changes into the Green Lantern. He flies to the runway and helps bring the Flaming Spear safely to ground. His ring picks up a strange radiation emanating from the nose of the plane. Tracing the energy signature back to its source, Green Lantern finds that a group of saboteurs are responsible for disrupting the Flaming Spear's flight path. When Green Lantern appears before them, the thugs begin shooting at him, but he uses his ring to make their bullets explode. One of them picks up a yellow lamp and heaves it at Hal Jordan. As the power of his ring is vulnerable against anything colored yellow, the lamp succeeds in striking Jordan's head, knocking him down. The saboteurs take this opportunity to make their escape. Green Lantern revives and gives chase, but quickly discovers that their getaway car is colored yellow as well. He uses his ring to spike the vehicle's tires causing it to skid to a halt. The three criminals attempt to flee, but Hal binds them with tendrils of green energy. With the threat abated, Green Lantern changes into his civilian attire and returns to Ferris Aircraft.

Carl Ferris calls Carol and Hal into his bedroom for an important announcement. He tells them that he is going on an extended vacation for the next two years. During this time, Carol will retain full control of the company. After Carl leaves the room, Hal asks Carol if they are still on for their dinner date, but Carol tells him that, as his new boss, their relationship will be "strictly business" for the next two years. Back in his locker room, Hal laments the fact that his power ring can grant him his every desire except the one thing he wants most in the world - Carol..

Returning to his dressing room at the Ferris Aircraft Company, Hal gets a message from his Power Battery asking him to defend the beings on the planet Calor. Traveling out that way, Hal finds a race of primitive humanoids being terrorized by a monstrous creature that can fire mental bolts of energy. As he battles the creature, it's a race against time as the 24 hour deadline for his power ring's charge looms. Hal uses his power ring to freeze the creature in ice and places it in a glacier where it will not thaw out. Hal returns to Earth with just enough time before his power ring loses its charge.

The Green Lantern is presently participating in the annual Coast City parade. His mind is also elsewhere, he's thinking about a series of bizarre crimes that have been plaguing the city. In each case, a law-abiding citizen tries to rob a place and is captured by the Green Lantern. In each situation the person caught claims to have been controlled as if like a puppet. After a series of "puppet master" crimes, Green Lantern is convinced that there is somebody controlling other people. Hal is suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when one of the balloons in the parade -- made to look like a puppet -- suddenly comes to life and starts shooting at him with a giant gun. Hal however, easily defeats the puppet with his power ring.

Later while taking Carol to a dance, the Puppet Master uses his hypno-ray to bring Green Lantern to his secret hideout. The Emerald Crusader manages to free himself and the Puppet Master is no match in battle against him and he easily captures him and turns him over to the police.

After a series of strange holes appear around Coast City, Hal Jordan laments over the fact that Carol Ferris loves Green Lantern more than she loves Hal Jordan. Hal is then confronted by a man named Telle-Teg who asks for the help of Green Lantern and went to Hal because he had heard of his rivalry for Carol's affections with Green Lantern from the newspapers. Wanting to know what it's about Hal has a telepathic story beamed into his head:

Telle-Teg is from the Antimatter Universe on a planet call Qward, where being evil is lawful and being good is against the law. Telle-Teg and some other non-evil Qwardians have learned about a device that can transport them into the positive matter universe. The device however is being held by the Weaponers of Qward. Transporting himself across this device, Telle-Teg has since been followed by a Weaponer who has been trying to smite him with their golden thunderbolts. Hal agrees to find Green Lantern and leaves Telle-Teg alone while he changes. When Green Lantern arrives Telle-Teg is attacked by a Weaponer during the fight Green Lantern is able to force the evil Qwardian to flee but Telle-Teg is killed in the fight. Hal then travels through the doorway into Qward and battles the Weaponers, frees Telle-Teg's friends and brings them into the positive matter universe. After sealing the doorway closed one of Telle-Teg's friends warn that he too spied on the Weaponers and learned that their ultimate goal is to collect all the Green Lanterns in the positive matter universe.

Since Hal Jordan can't be with who he wants, he takes Betty Sloan out to a dance club as a favor for Carol Ferris. Hal is hypnotized by Betty and commanded to type secrets about devices the Ferris Aircraft Company is making for the U.S. Military to mail to spies in Bialya. After a few nights of typing up these letters and fighting crime by day, an accidental fire at night prompts Hal's Power Ring to warn him of the danger snapping him out of his hypnotic trance.

Realizing what he's done Hal gets Thomas to help him out the following night. When after preparing a new letter of secrets and going to sleep for the night Thomas Kalmaku would use Hal's power ring to will himself a tracking device small enough size to be put in the envelope to be mailed to the spies. When the spies received the envelope later that day Hal would be awake and free of the hypnosis and break free as Green Lantern rounding them up and turning them over to the authorities.

With nobody to remove the hypnotic spell on Earth without revealing his true identity, Hal flies into space to get the Guardians of the Universe to do it for him.

On his way to have the hypnotic suggestions made by Betty Sloan removed from his mind by the Guardians of the Universe, Green Lantern suddenly finds himself pulled to a planet ruled by Evil Star and his minions, the diminutive Starlings. All invincible and armed with Star-Bands, devices that act like power rings but have no known weaknesses. Evil Star imprisons Hal, taking away his power ring, hoping to destroy all the Green Lanterns and the Guardians of the Universe in a bid to take over the universe, Evil Star then leaves his minions to guard the seemingly defenseless Green Lantern while he goes off to deal with the Guardians.

Using Betty's hypnotic charm, Hal manages to hypnotize the Starlings to take him to Oa, where he arrives to foil Evil Star's attempt at posing as Green Lantern, but not before Evil Star is able to immobilize the Guardians. Attempting to take back his power ring meets with failure when Evil Star uses his Star-Band to make Hal's ring explode. Undaunted, Hal fights Evil Star in hand to hand combat, besting the villain and taking his Star Band and using it to defeat Evil Star.

Afterward, he uses the Guardian's giant power battery to restore his immobilized masters who imprison Evil Star and remove the hypnotic suggestions placed by Sloan. Hal then returns to Earth where he tells Thomas of his adventure in space.

Various parts come from designs originally made by HenshinDaisuke

Description
The Guardians of the Universe are a group of immortal Oans who organized and run the Green Lantern Corps. They have been trying to bring order to the universe for eons, with varying success.

The Guardian's roots start on the planet Maltus and they were possibly the first intelligent life forms in the DC Universe. At this time they were tall greyish blue humanoids with black hair. In the early days of the universe, they were a war-filled race. Sometime later, they became scientists and thinkers, experimenting on the worlds around them. One experiment led to the creation of a new species, the Psions. In a pivotal moment, billions of years ago, a Maltusian named Krona used time-bending technology to observe the beginning of the Universe. This experiment flooded the beginning of the Universe with entropy causing it "to be born old".

Feeling responsible for this, some of the Maltusians relocated to the planet Oa (at "the center of the Universe") and became the Guardians of the Universe. Their goal was simple: combat evil and create an orderly universe, and they acted quickly on that goal. During this period they also changed to their current appearance.

Before life existed on Earth, they learned how to manipulate what they called "the Glow", and eventually created a Central Power Battery to store this energy. This "energy" was actually the collective willpower of the inhabitants of the universe, and the center energy field of the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum. Accessing and manipulating this willpower gave the Guardians an ultimate tool to pursue their goals.

Trying to remove magic from the Universe, they bound as much magical energy as possible into an orb called the Starheart. This would eventually become the ring and lantern of Alan Scott.

On Mars, the Guardians confronted the destructive race known as "The Burning" and split the race into two new species: the Green Martians and the White Martians. The Guardians changed their reproductive behavior, and gave them an inherent fear of fire in order to stop their species from destroying much of the universe.

The Manhunters were the first attempt of the Guardians of the Universe to create an interstellar police force that would combat evil all over the galaxy. Their name and much of their code of behavior was modeled by the Guardians of the Universe on the Manhunters of Ma'aleca'andra (Mars). For thousands of years, they served the Guardians well. However, the Manhunters became obsessed with the act of hunting criminals. Their code, "No Man Escapes The Manhunters", became more important to them than seeing justice done.

The Manhunters' narrow view on justice lead to their program being compromised. The rogue Oan Krona reprogrammed the Manhunters to prove to the Guardians that there were flaws in an emotionless police force. Krona's reprogramming influenced the Manhunters into deciding that because all crime is the result of emotional responses, and all emotions come from organic life, then the solution on maintaining order in the universe was to remove all organic life from it. This was the final breaking point, the simultaneous glitch that occurred within the Manhunters: eradicate all life. The Manhunters descended upon Sector 666 and wiped out any organic life forms that they found. When the massacre was over only five beings escaped the Manhunters. Vowing to avenge their Sector these beings, demons of great power, became the Five Inversions lead by Atrocitus and dedicated to destroy the Guardians for unleashing the Manhunters. They managed to form an Empire of Tears which spanned three galaxies. During that time the Five Inversions would peer into the future and see the Blackest Night the end of all life within the universe. The Manhunters that survived hid away on many planets, such as Biot, slowly rebuilding their forces and spreading their "beliefs" to other machines.

The Manhunter rebellion led to schisms. One group (the Controllers) thought that the only way to protect the Universe was to control it. The female Oans (the Zamarons) felt no need to involve themselves in the Universe's problems. Over the years, both groups evolved to look most unlike the Guardians. Other groups have also left the Guardians; one such group settled on Earth, becoming the origin for leprechaun legends.

The Guardians then captured a fear elemental called Parallax. They imprisoned the creature in the Central Battery hoping to lock it away forever. A millennia ago after a protracted war they achieved an accord with the Reach an alien race who turned out to be the source of the Blue Beetle Scarab. The magic-wielding Empire of Tears was subjugated and imprisoned on the throneworld and tombworld of Ysmault. The Five Inversions killed many Oans that day, but in the end the Guardians were victorious. Unable to kill the demons the Guardians crucified the Five Inversions and imprisoned their servants on Ysmault which was declared forbidden territory to everyone.

The MadGod that was the entire Sector 3600 was defeated by the Guardians and was constrained by a matrix of their making. By showing the sector that they were its superiors, the Guardians had imprisoned it for all time. The insect race of Tchkk-Tchkki, later known as Legion, was enclosed in an emerald forcefield around their world. They reached an accord with the Spider Guild whereby they and their operatives would stay out of Vegan space. Due to this agreement, the Omega Men have become the only peacekeepers in their sector. The true reason for this was to keep Larfleeze and the orange light imprisoned there.

After the failed experiment with the Manhunters, the Guardians invented other ways of opposing evil in the universe. The Green Glob was an intelligent teaching machine created from their emerald energy, programmed to educate mortals all over the universe and able to briefly alter reality to do so. The Halla's, an intergalactic police corps wielding power guns channeling the emerald energy, was a short-lived successor of the Manhunters and a precursor to the successful Green Lantern Corps.

Finally, the Green Lantern Corps was established to replace the Manhunters and the Halla's. These troops were given some of the power of the Central Power Battery, accessed through a ring. Due to Parallax's imprisonment in the Battery, these rings had no effect on the color yellow, which Parallax was attuned to through the Emotional Spectrum; this "flaw" was used as a limitation to control the Green Lanterns in case of their corruption. Against Apokolips, they waged a war. They tried several times to infiltrate Darkseid's home, finally deciding on a war against his rule. Their troops were brutally defeated with two-thirds dead. The attack on Apokolips ended with a truce with the Guardians forced to abandon a soldier (Raker Qarrigat) to Darkseid. Fearing dissension, they ordered all records of the campaign expunged.

Time Passes...

Originally a history professor on the planet Ungara, Abin Sur was soon appointed Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814 in the mid 1860s. As a child, he became best friends with Ruch Ehr and later, by association, Munni Jah. The two of them were a couple and Abin secretly loved Munni, but never overtly spoke of this. Recruited by the Green Lantern known as Starkaðr, he is known to have come to Earth on several occasions. In the Old West, he teamed up with a Henry Lee Jordan, an ancestor of Hal Jordan, to battle an alien named Traitor who was responsible for the death of Starkaðr. During World War Two, he briefly encountered Starman and Bulletman when the three battled an alien being under the control of Mr. Mind. After the disbandment of the JSA, he visited Earth once more in pursuit of the genocidal criminal Tybalt Bak'sar, where he encountered the Martian Manhunter.

Sinestro was selected by the Guardians of the Universe to become a member of the Green Lantern Corps for his honor and fearlessness. At his height, he was considered to be the greatest of all the Green Lanterns, and Sector 1417 was almost entirely devoid of crime and lawlessness under his vigilant protection. The Guardians had never erred in their judgment before, and he would later be considered one of their greatest mistakes. His prowess was so great that he was assigned as a mentor to a number of rookie lanterns showing similar promise.

Kilowog was a geneticist and one of the Bolovaxians most brilliant minds. He hailed from the planet Bolovax Vik, which was one of the most crowded worlds in the universe; it had sixteen billion residents with a communal mind. After the previous Lantern, Branwilla, died, Kilowog was chosen to be a member of the Green Lantern Corps. It was a great honor, but it meant leaving Bolovax Vik and going into space on missions; this was tantamount to exile for a Bolovaxian. Nevertheless, Kilowog carried out his duties with pride. He would go on to be one of the Corps' best recruiters and trainers.

Abin would importantly learn about a prophecy that concerned the fate of the universe known as the Blackest Night. His curiosity on the Blackest Night led him on a journey to the planet Ysmault and interrogated its inhabitants the Five Inversions, who had foreseen the prophecy. Qull of the Five Inversions told Abin about The Black, a complete antithesis of the Emotional Spectrum, that will consume all life. Abin's questions also foretold him about the War of Light, the downfall of the Green Lantern Corps, and as well his death, when his ring fails him at a critical moment, but will be succeeded by his successor that will be the greatest amongst his contemporaries.

Abin's discovery of the prophecy of the Blackest Night was also previously written in the Book of Oa. However, the prophecy was believed to be a lie concocted by their enemies, the Guardians of the Universe in which the passage on the Blackest Night was later removed from the Book of Oa. Only two Guardians, Ganthet and Sayd, as well as a Zamaron tribe, would take his discovery seriously. Regardless of the Guardians' inaction, Abin sought to find a way to counter the prophecy from happening.

Throughout his time in the Corps, Abin Sur was Thaal Sinestro's best friend and trusted confidante, so much so that they considered each other to be brothers. He would eventually fall in love with and marry Arin Sur, his friend's sister, and the two would have a child together. Abin confided in Sinestro what he had learned of the Blackest Night, where a darkness would rise to destroy all life, something Sinestro dismissed as lies by the Five Inversions who told Abin the prophecy.

Hal Jordan was born in Coast City to Jessica and Martin Jordan, the middle child between older brother Jack and a younger brother Jim. As a boy, he idolized his father, a test pilot who worked for Ferris Aircraft. At a very young age, he had to face his greatest fears when his father died in a plane crash at an air show right before his eyes. Despite his family's wishes, he followed in his father's footsteps and eventually joined the United States Air Force on his 18th birthday, turning up that very morning outside the Armed Forces Career Center before it had even opened. Hal earned the reputation of being the best pilot in the Air Force, but also the most dangerous and expensive, crashing planes during test flights and even taking unauthorized "joyrides." This led to him getting kicked out of the Air Force. But his problems didn't end at work: his mother fell ill and died of cancer. Hal's brother, Jack, resented him for turning his back on his family and leaving their mom to die.

Long ago, when the rogue Manhunters rampaged through Green Lantern Sector 666, Atrocitus was one of only five beings in the entire sector to escape death. He and the other four survivors formed a terrorist cabal known as the Five Inversions, bent on the destruction of the Guardians of the Universe and all who served them, with Atrocitus serving as their leader. The Five Inversions performed a ritual that allowed them to peer into the future and discover the prophecy of the Blackest Night, which decreed that all life in the universe would end. They ruled a massive domain known as the Empire of Tears, until the Guardians of the Universe defeated the Five Inversions and imprisoned them on their capital, Ysmault. After Abin Sur arrived trying to locate survivors of a crash on Ysmault, he went to the imprisoned demons and asked for their assistance. Atrocitus refused to help him, but his comrade Qull freely offered to answer three questions: the location of the survivors, the fate of Abin Sur, and the prophecy of the Blackest Night. Sur told this to the Guardians of the Universe, in turn kept the Five Inversions on Ysmault instead of transferring them to Oan sciencells. Following this, Sur began to make periodic visits to Ysmault to learn how to prevent the Blackest Night. Sur even went so far as to free Atrocitus from his imprisonment so he could lead the Green Lantern to Earth, the birthplace of "the black" that would end the universe. Abin Sur, who is flying a transport due to a diminishing faith in his Power Ring, escorts Atrocitus to Earth in an attempt to avert the prophesied Blackest Night. While caged in Sur's starship, Atrocitus is able to instill fear in Sur, allowing the yellow impurity to seep into his willpower constructs and weakening them enough to escape.

Atrocitus breaks free and attacks Abin Sur, Badly injured and with his space ship seriously damaged, Abin made an emergency landing on the nearest habitable planet and crash lands in the middle of the California desert. Dying, Abin Sur sends a distress signal to Thaal Sinestro, before sending his ring to find a replacement, he commands his power ring to seek out a worthy successor - one who proves to be fearless and strong-willed. Miles away, test pilot Hal Jordan is examining a flight simulator when a corona of green light envelops him, pulling him along with the simulator to the spot of Abin Sur's crashed vessel. Hal was dragged inside by an unknown force that spoke to him telepathically and inside the airship, he is greeted by an agonizing red alien, who tells Hal that he has been chosen to be his successor as the Green Lantern guardian of Sector 2814. He instructs him that the ring will obey his every command but is powerless against anything colored yellow. He also tells him that the ring's energy must be charged from the power battery once every twenty-four hours. Hal didn't understand the meaning of the message, but before he knew, the alien died and the mysterious green ring flew from the alien's hand unto Hal's hand. Hal was instantly given the powers of the ring and the same uniform as the alien was wearing. Hal agrees to accept the responsibility of wielding the ring in the cause of justice, and, with that, Abin Sur passes away. Hal Jordan is now Green Lantern.

Wishing to get out of there, Hal realizes that he can command the ring in order to perform anything he desired, including flying as free as a bird. Hal's confusion increased and even after coming to terms with the fact that he now had powers, he still had troubles to get used to it. As Jordan is testing his abilities as Green Lantern, he stumbles across an aeroplane that loses control. Green Lantern saves the pilot, delivering him back to Ferris Aircraft. After saving a pilot, Green Lantern returns to Abin Sur's corpse and gives him a proper burial. After finding his new Power Battery, Jordan is transported to Oa, where Kilowog and Hal Jordan engage in a physical fight until they are interrupted by Tomar-Re. Tomar-Re was a scientist on the planet Xudar before joining the Green Lantern Corps. He became a pivotal member of the Corps, training new members, like Arisia, and serving in the Honor Guard. During a discussion, Jordan informs Tomar-Re that Abin Sur died when his ship crashed. After much training with Kilowog at Kilowog's training camp, Hal Jordan earns his badge as Green Lantern. Meanwhile, Ganthet sends Sinestro to Earth in order to investigate the circumstances of Abin Sur's demise.

The wreckage of Abin Sur's ship is discovered by scientists working with Ferris Aircraft. Despite being advised against it, Dr. Hector Hammond decides to investigate the wreckage without protective clothing. As a result, Hammond is exposed to the ship's fuel source, causing his head to grow to abnormal proportions. Hammond begins hearing everyone's thoughts in his own head as he develops telepathy and telekinesis. Upon Hal's return to Earth, his friend Tom Kalmaku helps Hal maintain his secret as Green Lantern. Wanting to support his family in Alaska, Thomas Kalmaku took some seasonal work as an airplane mechanic at an arctic air force base. His father, however, wanted to find his own ways to gain money and maintain the family. Tom's father and an associate named Jimmy Dawes found a gold mine and split a map with its location in two parts. Unfortunately, Tom's father died of natural causes, and his associate never returned with his half of the map. Tom set to find this associate in Coast City, where he took a job in Ferris Aircraft, where a couple of thugs assaulted him and stole his map. There he met Hal Jordan and Green Lantern, who helped him find the thugs and the gold mine. Tom however deduced Green Lantern's identity due to how similar both Hal and Green Lantern fought the thugs. Since that point, Tom became Green Lantern's confidante, keeping track of their adventures together in a journal.

Angrily confronting Carol Ferris because Hal blames her father for the death of his father, she empathizes with him and offers him his job as a pilot back. As Jordan is flying a plane, he is forced to crash after his flight is interrupted by the Green Lantern known as Thaal Sinestro. After a confrontation, Sinestro rebuilds the plane while lecturing Jordan on his misuse of his power ring. As Jordan returns to Ferris Aircraft, both him and Carol Ferris are suddenly assaulted by a deformed and super-powered Hector Hammond. Hammond uses his telepathy to discover that Hal Jordan and Green Lantern are the same..

At the Hand Mortuary, young William Hand looks at a body bag. As he unzips it, his mother comes in, telling him that he's been told to stay out of here, but Hand only insists that he just wanted to look at the body. Mrs. Hand asks why he can't be more like his brothers, and young William replies that he doesn't know. Growing up as part of the wealthy and respectable Hand family in Coastville, California, William had always been the black sheep. He hated his family, and strived to do anything he could to distance himself from his three brothers because they treated him badly despite claiming to be Christians and because their parents favoured them over him. As they were all profitable in legitimate business, he turned to a life of crime.

Starting with smaller crimes such as pickpocketing, and working his way up to larger felonies, he developed his own methodically written "black book" which contains a complete listing of everything a criminal must do to succeed, as well as a contingency plan for every situation. However, he knew it was inevitable that eventually he was going to have to fight local superhero Green Lantern. A brilliant inventor, he constructed a device that would allow him to absorb and harness quantities of the power ring radiation, and use it back against Green Lantern.

At Ferris Aircraft, Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris buckle under Hector Hammond's telepathic onslaught. Hammond is aware that Hal is Green Lantern and demands that he turn over the ring. Hammond then sees Hal looking at Carol, and tells her that he can't have her. Hal says he doesn't want her, and Hammond throws him across a airstrip. Hal feels the ring slipping off, so he temporarily blinds Hammond. Helping Carol up, Hal tries to get them away, but Hammond throws a fighter at them. However, they're shielded by Sinestro, who has been watching an informs Hammond that he's in violation of 34 laws, both terrestrial and interstellar, including assaulting an officer of the Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro throws a bubble around Hammond's head, rendering him unconscious, and wrongly chastises Hal for being so easily attacked by such a novice telepath. His features obscured by the sun, Carol assumes that he's the Green Lantern from the other week. Sinestro then takes Hal away, leaving a confused Carol behind.

At a local gun-shop, Atrocitus, having just killed all the people inside, is building a device which will store the power of the Black for his return to Ysmault. Complete, he holds the device which will take him to William Hand—a cosmic divining rod.

In the desert, Sinestro wrongly chastises Hal for his recklessness, and feels that he needs far more training. Hal says that Kilowog already taught him how to ringsling, and Salakk already instructed him on Power limitations. The only question he has is why the Yellow Impurity exists. Sinestro chuckles, saying that he's also sought the cause for the Yellow Impurity for years, and was even suspended when he accused the Guardians of the Universe for placing the cause in the Central Power Battery. Finally, they reach Abin Sur's burial site. Sinestro explains that Abin was his mentor, and reflects that he was as insolent to Abin as Hal is to him. Sinestro admits that they are both individualists, which lead to Sinestro's questioning, but Abin taught him how to temper that without losing his inquisitive nature.

At that moment, Hal's power ring says that it has a message ready for Sinestro. The message is from Abin Sur, in the event of his death. Abin wishes Sinestro good fortune, but asks him to complete his final mission. Abin recently discovered the prophesied doom of the universe, which has its origins in the Manhunters fall from grace—the Massacre of Sector 666. Billions of years ago, they suffered a simultaneous glitch which lead them to conclude that there could only be order in the universe if there was no organic life. They descended on the worlds of Sector 666, wiping out all life. There were only five survivors in the entire sector. These beings became the Five Inversions, lead by Atrocitus, who have sought to harness the power of the Blackest Night to take revenge on the Guardians for unleashing the Manhunters. Abin begs Sinestro to complete his mission and stop the Five Inversions. As Hal comments that Abin looked terrified, Sinestro realizes that it was Atrocitus that killed Abin Sur—and that he's still on Earth.

At the Hand Mortuary, a funeral is concluding. Slipping away, William Hand goes to touch the dead body in the casket, only for Atrocitus to break through the wall. Atrocitus throws the casket at William's mother and throws William out of the building into the graveyard. Saying his insides hold the doorway to darkness, Atrocitus prepares to strike, but Sinestro and Hal appear. Declaring them as guilty as their masters, Atrocitus breaks the green chains they wrap him in and attacks. Hal tells William to run, making some dog constructs to get him going. Suddenly, his power ring starts draining. Sinestro says that Atrocitus has a divining rod which can locate and take power. They're going to have to defeat Atrocitus without their rings.

William Hand cowers as Hal Jordan and Sinestro battle Atrocitus. After recharging their power rings, Hal Jordan and Sinestro manage to subdue Atrocitus. William Hand grabs Atrocitus' weapon and quickly flees the area. After an argument with Sinestro, a frustrated Hal Jordan barges into Carol Ferris' house to confront her father. He instead discovers that he has been bedridden for quite some time. Carol tells Hal that her father blamed himself for the death of Hal's father and that the guilt took a toll on his health. Hal and Carol Ferris reconcile, just before Hal makes peace with Sinestro. The two are then called upon by the Guardians of the Universe for breaking intergalactic law.

As Hal Jordan and Sinestro are taken toward Oa, Hal asks what is going on, and Sinestro explains that the Guardians of the Universe want a word with them, which is rarely a pleasant experience. As they fly through Oa, Kilowog, C'hp, and Salakk see them fly by, and a crowd soon gathers at the Guardians chamber.

Inside the chamber, Sinestro tells Hal to let him do the talking. The Guardians ask why Sinestro was outside Sector 1417, and Sinestro explains that he was apprehending Atrocitus of the Five Inversions, which Lantern Jordan assisted in. The Guardians decree that Atrocitus is to be returned to Ysmault, where he will serve out his sentence. However, the Guardians note that this is Sinestro's second violation of the territorial edict, also with the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, but with Abin Sur. The Guardians remind Sinestro that this law is in place for a reason, and Hal asks why. After giving him a cold stare, the Guardians reply that Lanterns are supposed to fly alone to grow stronger and depend on themselves, and not to question the Guardians actions. Hal again asks why, and the Guardians reply that they have lived and protected the universe for billions of years. Hal points out one problem: the Manhunters' actions in Sector 666. The Guardians say that Atrocitus was lying, and Hal says that they learned of the massacre from a message Abin Sur left on his power ring. The Guardians say that they are lies meant to instill the Green Lantern Corps with fear.

Angered, Hal says that it's not the Green Lanterns who are afraid, but the Guardians themselves. The Guardians are incensed at Hal's accusation, and Sinestro tells Hal to shut up, but he continues. No one can explain the Yellow Impurity, but the buildings on Oa are all yellow. It's a countermeasure in case the Green Lanterns turn on the Guardians like the Manhunters did. The territorial edict is meant to prevent conspiracies from being formed against the Guardians, except on Oa, where the Guardians could act. The Guardians command Hal to be silent, and that he faces expulsion. Sinestro says that if they expel Hal, they can expel him as well. As much as it shocks him, Sinestro says that Hal's reasoning is right, but that if Green Lanterns can work together, they can not only grow stronger, but keep each other in check, and prevent the Massacre of Sector 666 from occuring again. Sinestro also tells them that this all happened because one of the Guardians ordered Sinestro to Earth to help Jordan, one who called himself Ganthet. The Guardians actually taken aback by Sinestro's revelation, and decide to allow Jordan to remain. However, his actions will be monitored, and will reflect on Sinestro himself. Sinestro has no problem with that.

On the training field, Hal is trying to show the other Lanterns that he could affect yellow objects. His efforts prove futile, and Kilowog, Ke'Haan and Sinestro say that he imagined it, but Tomar-Re believes him. Sinestro tells Tomar that he is too trusting, and Tomar counters that it was something Abin Sur taught him. Sinestro has to return Atrocitus to Ysmault and asks Hal not to make him regret defending him. Hal promises that he won't and Sinestro says that they'll meet again in one month. However they won't be meeting on Earth, but Korugar.

After Sinestro dropped Atrocitus off at the prison world of Ysmault, Atrocitus taunts Sinestro with a prophecy of the chaos and deadly coup that would lead to Sinestro's fall from grace. However, Sinestro ignores him and leaves. However, as he became increasingly stressed with keeping his sector as perfect and as ordered as he needed it to be, Sinestro slowly became more unhinged and started employing more questionable tactics in his behavior. His actions were unwelcome by the Korugarans, and threats were made against his family. Arin recognized the danger posed by Sinestro's methods and secretly gave their daughter away. Sinestro would be unable to find his daughter, and Arin soon died through unknown circumstances.

Back at the airfield, Tom is amazed that Carol Ferris is going to let Hal fly, and as the only pilot, he'll be logging in a lot of hours. Hal doesn't mind, and asks what he'll be flying today. Tom says that it's something special—the old plane that Martin Jordan used to fly, and the first plane Hal ever flew in. Hal is amazed that Tom did that, but Carol Ferris comes and says that it was on her instructions, to give him incentive to stay. Hal is grateful, and offers to buy Carol dinner.

At Edwards Airforce Base Hector Hammond is locked in a containment box to prevent him from taking control of anyone's mind. He thinks that it is unfair, that it is so lonely and cramped in there and that Green Lantern did all this to him. As he thinks about Hal Jordan he admits that he's had such a marvelous life. The thrills, the experiences, and the women. And how Hector wants it so much. At Coast City Hospital a security guard is checking the morgue, where he finds young William Hand still wearing the suit from the other night unzipping a body bag. The guard tells William to get up, but William kills him with the cosmic diving rod. William is not upset, but mutters that "dead is good"...

On Ysmault, Sinestro finishes crucifying Atrocitus, adding more nails in so that he is completely immobilized. Qull says that they saw Abin Sur's fate they can see another. Sinestro is uninterested in their prophecies of the Blackest Night, but Roixeaume says that it's his future they see. Atrocitus says that Korugar will fall to civil war and Sinestro will be unable to stop it. His world will embrace chaos because Sinestro was protecting others. Sinestro says that Korugar will not fall to chaos while he is there and he will not fall to fear. Atrocitus silently vows that if Sinestro won't be broken by his own fear Atrocitus will burn him with his rage...

At the graveyard, Hal Jordan looks at his parents tombstones. His brother Jim shows up, saying that Jack won't be coming. Hal is not surprised saying that he has been a terrible brother. Jim tries to deny it, but Hal goes on saying that hasn't been a part of their lives. Saying that stops now Hal Jordan powers up and reveals that he is the Green Lantern. He has a long story to tell so he wrote it down in his flight log.

Test pilot Hal Jordan goes to the office of Carol Ferris. He asks Carol out on a dinner date and Carol agrees. Suddenly, an S.O.S. pipes through the office intercom. A Ferris aviator piloting the experimental Flaming Spear is in trouble. Hal sneaks away and changes into the Green Lantern. He flies to the runway and helps bring the Flaming Spear safely to ground. His ring picks up a strange radiation emanating from the nose of the plane. Tracing the energy signature back to its source, Green Lantern finds that a group of saboteurs are responsible for disrupting the Flaming Spear's flight path. When Green Lantern appears before them, the thugs begin shooting at him, but he uses his ring to make their bullets explode. One of them picks up a yellow lamp and heaves it at Hal Jordan. As the power of his ring is vulnerable against anything colored yellow, the lamp succeeds in striking Jordan's head, knocking him down. The saboteurs take this opportunity to make their escape. Green Lantern revives and gives chase, but quickly discovers that their getaway car is colored yellow as well. He uses his ring to spike the vehicle's tires causing it to skid to a halt. The three criminals attempt to flee, but Hal binds them with tendrils of green energy. With the threat abated, Green Lantern changes into his civilian attire and returns to Ferris Aircraft.

Carl Ferris calls Carol and Hal into his bedroom for an important announcement. He tells them that he is going on an extended vacation for the next two years. During this time, Carol will retain full control of the company. After Carl leaves the room, Hal asks Carol if they are still on for their dinner date, but Carol tells him that, as his new boss, their relationship will be "strictly business" for the next two years. Back in his locker room, Hal laments the fact that his power ring can grant him his every desire except the one thing he wants most in the world - Carol..

Returning to his dressing room at the Ferris Aircraft Company, Hal gets a message from his Power Battery asking him to defend the beings on the planet Calor. Traveling out that way, Hal finds a race of primitive humanoids being terrorized by a monstrous creature that can fire mental bolts of energy. As he battles the creature, it's a race against time as the 24 hour deadline for his power ring's charge looms. Hal uses his power ring to freeze the creature in ice and places it in a glacier where it will not thaw out. Hal returns to Earth with just enough time before his power ring loses its charge.

The Green Lantern is presently participating in the annual Coast City parade. His mind is also elsewhere, he's thinking about a series of bizarre crimes that have been plaguing the city. In each case, a law-abiding citizen tries to rob a place and is captured by the Green Lantern. In each situation the person caught claims to have been controlled as if like a puppet. After a series of "puppet master" crimes, Green Lantern is convinced that there is somebody controlling other people. Hal is suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when one of the balloons in the parade -- made to look like a puppet -- suddenly comes to life and starts shooting at him with a giant gun. Hal however, easily defeats the puppet with his power ring.

Later while taking Carol to a dance, the Puppet Master uses his hypno-ray to bring Green Lantern to his secret hideout. The Emerald Crusader manages to free himself and the Puppet Master is no match in battle against him and he easily captures him and turns him over to the police.

After a series of strange holes appear around Coast City, Hal Jordan laments over the fact that Carol Ferris loves Green Lantern more than she loves Hal Jordan. Hal is then confronted by a man named Telle-Teg who asks for the help of Green Lantern and went to Hal because he had heard of his rivalry for Carol's affections with Green Lantern from the newspapers. Wanting to know what it's about Hal has a telepathic story beamed into his head:

Telle-Teg is from the Antimatter Universe on a planet call Qward, where being evil is lawful and being good is against the law. Telle-Teg and some other non-evil Qwardians have learned about a device that can transport them into the positive matter universe. The device however is being held by the Weaponers of Qward. Transporting himself across this device, Telle-Teg has since been followed by a Weaponer who has been trying to smite him with their golden thunderbolts. Hal agrees to find Green Lantern and leaves Telle-Teg alone while he changes. When Green Lantern arrives Telle-Teg is attacked by a Weaponer during the fight Green Lantern is able to force the evil Qwardian to flee but Telle-Teg is killed in the fight. Hal then travels through the doorway into Qward and battles the Weaponers, frees Telle-Teg's friends and brings them into the positive matter universe. After sealing the doorway closed one of Telle-Teg's friends warn that he too spied on the Weaponers and learned that their ultimate goal is to collect all the Green Lanterns in the positive matter universe.

Since Hal Jordan can't be with who he wants, he takes Betty Sloan out to a dance club as a favor for Carol Ferris. Hal is hypnotized by Betty and commanded to type secrets about devices the Ferris Aircraft Company is making for the U.S. Military to mail to spies in Bialya. After a few nights of typing up these letters and fighting crime by day, an accidental fire at night prompts Hal's Power Ring to warn him of the danger snapping him out of his hypnotic trance.

Realizing what he's done Hal gets Thomas to help him out the following night. When after preparing a new letter of secrets and going to sleep for the night Thomas Kalmaku would use Hal's power ring to will himself a tracking device small enough size to be put in the envelope to be mailed to the spies. When the spies received the envelope later that day Hal would be awake and free of the hypnosis and break free as Green Lantern rounding them up and turning them over to the authorities.

With nobody to remove the hypnotic spell on Earth without revealing his true identity, Hal flies into space to get the Guardians of the Universe to do it for him.

On his way to have the hypnotic suggestions made by Betty Sloan removed from his mind by the Guardians of the Universe, Green Lantern suddenly finds himself pulled to a planet ruled by Evil Star and his minions, the diminutive Starlings. All invincible and armed with Star-Bands, devices that act like power rings but have no known weaknesses. Evil Star imprisons Hal, taking away his power ring, hoping to destroy all the Green Lanterns and the Guardians of the Universe in a bid to take over the universe, Evil Star then leaves his minions to guard the seemingly defenseless Green Lantern while he goes off to deal with the Guardians.

Using Betty's hypnotic charm, Hal manages to hypnotize the Starlings to take him to Oa, where he arrives to foil Evil Star's attempt at posing as Green Lantern, but not before Evil Star is able to immobilize the Guardians. Attempting to take back his power ring meets with failure when Evil Star uses his Star-Band to make Hal's ring explode. Undaunted, Hal fights Evil Star in hand to hand combat, besting the villain and taking his Star Band and using it to defeat Evil Star.

Afterward, he uses the Guardian's giant power battery to restore his immobilized masters who imprison Evil Star and remove the hypnotic suggestions placed by Sloan. Hal then returns to Earth where he tells Thomas of his adventure in space.

Various parts come from designs originally made by HenshinDaisuke