Tony Wyzek: In Brightest Day
Tony Wyzek was bored. That was the only word for it. He was dissatisfied with his life as the leader of a gang called the Jets. Tony wanted to have something a little more meaningful in his life. Doc, the owner of a candy store downtown, had been willing to offer him a job. Tony thought he’d probably take it since this life wasn’t offering much anymore. He said goodbye to his friends and headed for Doc’s to tell him he wanted the job, little knowing how fast his life was about to change. Before Tony got even halfway to Doc’s, he heard a voice in his mind calling his name. The next thing he knew, a sphere of some sort of green energy formed around him and carried him away. “Hey!! Let me out!! Where are you taking me?” Tony cried, scared of what was happening and trying to get out of the mysterious green orb.
When the orb finally released Tony, they were miles away from where they’d started. “What is this place? What am I doing here? Why did you bring me to this godforsaken mud hole?” Tony cried to the empty air. Then he spotted an object that looked like spaceship off in the distance. He went closer, trying to get a better look. He saw that there was a being inside it, but it was a being unlike any Tony had ever seen before. It appeared to have pale blue skin and scales, but that wasn’t the most interesting thing about it. It wore a skintight green suit with black sleeves, white gloves, white boots, and it held a strange green ring in its hand. “Tony Wyzek, you have been chosen to be a Green Lantern. Do you accept this duty?” the being asked him. “What’s a Green Lantern?” Tony asked it. “The Green Lantern Corps. is a group of beings dedicated to keeping peace in the universe. There are more than three thousand space sectors. Yours is sector 2814. If you accept this duty, be aware that you will not be loyal to just your planet, but to all planets and stars in your sector. You will report to the planet Oa for basic training before your active duties truly begin, but if you make it through that and master the powers of the ring, you will be a truly great Green Lantern. Do you accept?” the being asked again. “Yes, I accept,” Tony replied. “Then take the ring and protect the people of your sector. I will not see you again, for I am dying. Your ring will explain anything else you need to know,” the strange alien told him. Not long after, the alien breathed his last.
Tony gave him a proper burial and put on the ring he’d been given. Immediately he began to feel strange. A powerful rush of energy surged through his body and a skintight bodysuit similar to the one the alien had worn flashed into being on his body. Tony felt his feet leave the ground and (though he didn’t know it) his eyes flashed green. “Aaaah!” Tony cried, panicking as he zigzagged all over the sky trying to fly straight. Finally he managed to fly in a straight line and landed in front of Doc’s. Once inside, he explained to Doc what had happened. Doc, as it turned out, had been on good terms with Tony’s predecessor and knew all about the Green Lantern Corps. He gave Tony permission to not only charge his ring in the store cellar, but also to come and go as a Green Lantern from there. This was a great relief for Tony, as he’d been worrying about someone seeing him. Tony accepted Doc’s offer of a job and shortly after that, the ring transported him to Oa for basic training under a Green Lantern named Kilowag, who was a gigantic alien being. Training wasn’t easy and Tony got his butt handed to him several times, but in the end he made it and got his lantern logo on the front of his suit by saying the Green Lantern oath: In brightest day. In blackest night. No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might; beware my power: Green Lantern’s light! It felt good to Tony to really be part of the Corps. He then went back to Earth and found that for each of the days he’d spent on Oa, only one hour had passed there.
Tony went to work for Doc and told no one of what had transpired since the night he’d acquired the ring. Riff and the others got to wondering what Tony was up to when he wasn’t with them. However, one night they saw the Green Lantern come back to Earth and land nearby. They managed to get there just as he took off the ring and changed back to his normal self. Riff and the otheres confronted him about it and Tony finally had to tell them everything. If felt good to have them know his secret too because now he didn’t have to hide anything from them anymore. Soon, though, Tony faced his toughest challenge yet, when he had to face a rogue former Green Lantern — Sinestro, who was armed with a ring that was the antithesis to the Green Lanterns’ green power — yellow, the power of Fear. Sinestro was a tough battle. He’d managed to make himself look like Tony and commit crimes that caused people to think Tony had gone rogue. The only ones who didn’t believe it were Tony’s friends and Doc, and they sought to try to prove his innocence. Soon enough they succeded by provoking Sinestro into a battle against Tony. The people saw there weere two of them and then saw Sinestro transform back into himself. They realized Tony was innocent and threw their support back to him. Tony became a hero in the peoples’ eyes again. Tony had a long and illustrious career as the Green Lantern until he finally became too old to do the job. He then had his ring select a worthy successor and the saga began all over again.