Comic Title: DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #4
Publisher: DC (DC Comics Inc.)
Address: 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY
Cover Date: Sep/Oct 1980
On Sale Date: June 12, 1980 Newsstand Date June 12, 1980
Source: DC Coming Attractions, #43

Copyright Date June 12, 1980
Source: Library of Congress, Copyright Office 1980

Newsstand Date June 11, 1980
Source: Comic Reader, #180

Newsstand Date June 10, 1980
Source: Daily Planet, Vol. 80 #20
Listed as on sale the week of June 10th

Shipping Date May 20, 1980
Source: DC Coming Attractions, #43

Frequency: Bi-monthly
Cover Price: $0.95
Page Count: 96
Editor: Jack C. Harris

See Also: The Guide to DC Giants

Title: "Planet of Doomed Men"
Pages: 15

Feature(s):
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan of Earth-1)

Writer: John Broome
Penciller: Gil Kane
Inker: Murphy Anderson

Reprinted From:
Green Lantern #1 (1960)

Feature Character(s)

• Green Lantern (last appearance in Brave and the Bold #30; next appearance in Green Lantern #1)

Supporting Character(s)

• Guardians of the Universe (first appearance; last appearance in All-Star Squadron Annual #1; next appearance in Green Lantern #7)
• Abin Sur (appears in flashback; last appearance in Showcase #22; next appearance in Showcase #22)

Villain(s)

• Dryg (no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Citizens of the planet Calor (no further appearances)

Comments:
Green Lantern’s origin is told in this story. It is almost verbatim of the one from the first story in Showcase #22.

Abin Sur’s appearance in this story is a flashback to Showcase #22.

The voice of Green Lantern’s power battery is revealed to come from the Guardians of the Universe.

The power battery is shown with an invisibility shield for the first time.

Synopsis:
Hal Jordan is flying a new experimental space-plane when he is struck by a moment of weakness. He regains control of the plane and continues to fly. Hal’s weakness was caused by the Guardians of the Universe, a council of beings from the planet OA. The Guardians have pulled an energy duplicate of Hal to the planet in order to ascertain whether he is worthy of being given the power battery.

The Guardians begin by explaining to the duplicate of Hal, that they observed the crash landing of Abin Sur’s ship and the launching of his probe to locate a successor. However an ion storm prevented further communication, and they ask Hal to continue the story of how he received the battery. Hal finishes explaining the details of his meeting with Abin Sur, and his subsequent role as the possessor of the power battery. The Guardians deem Hal worthy of his role and dismiss the duplicate, while erasing it’s knowledge of their meeting from it’s mind.

The real Hal Jordan has landed the test plane and returns to the hangar where his power battery is stored. The Guardians communicate with Hal, via the battery, an emergency on the world of Calor. Hal, as Green Lantern, races through space to the rescue.

After arriving on Calor, GL encounters a race of yellow skinned humanoids. They believe he was brought to them through prayer given to a strange tree. The ring allows Hal to learn of a menace called Dryg which threatens these people. Hal investigates and finds a valley of volcanoes. Suddenly, the Dryg appears.

The Dryg is a sixty-foot brown creature. Green Lantern attempts to intervene using his ring, but a burst of mental energy from the Dryg weakens Hal’s will. Weakened by the energy GL is forces to create a coating of liquid oxygen to freeze the creature. The creature is vulnerable to the cold. Hal finally encases the creature in a block of ice and deposits the block in the polar region where it can’t escape. Finally GL flys back to Earth.