By any measure, Lobo is one of the most dangerous characters in the DC Universe. The interstellar bounty hunter might be the toughest guy in the galaxy, and he is always happy to prove it to whoever gets in his way. He has fought Green Lanterns plenty of times in his explosive career, but one particular incident was emblematic of both Lobo's crude character and one of the Green Lantern Corps' biggest weaknesses. As Lobo prepares to reunite with his estranged daughter, we're taking a look back at one of his less family-friendly adventures.
In David De Vries, Gene Ha, Scott Hanna and Tom McCraw's "Yella Belly", a story in 1994's Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #8, Lobo tacks down a bounty on the crime planet Garnet. He quickly apprehends the woman he came for but ends up killing an alien in the process. The kerfuffle attracts the attention of Jack T. Chance, the Green Lantern tasked with maintaining some semblance of order on Garnet. Chance and Lobo exchange words and quickly come to blows. The power of the ring gives the Lantern the upper hand until Lobo covers himself in the yellow blood of the alien he killed earlier, rendering the ring useless against him.
With his disgusting new look, Lobo makes short work of Chance, knocking him out with a few quick but devastating punches. In an effort to make the most of his situation, he tries to steal the power ring from the unconscious Lantern. When the ring won't budge, the ever-resourceful Lobo takes Chance's whole finger. Armed with the ring and his unhinged willpower, Lobo has found a successful loophole in the rules governing Green Lantern ring use that makes him almost unstoppable. Naturally, his first order of business is to use the ring to manifest a harem of scantily-clad women and green beer. His instinct to indulge in his most hedonistic desires above all else reveals a lot about his character. Despite the grand nature of his power, he is content to revel in the pursuit of crass pleasures.
After a while, Lobo looks to take his power ring on the road but discovers that the ring is bound to the planet. So, rather than wielding his new power over all of Garnet, he tosses Chance's finger aside and heads back into space, relegating his time as an unofficial Green Lantern to little more than a crude footnote in his history.
However, the very fact that Lobo was able to use the ring reveals a potentially fatal flaw in the Green Lantern Corps' system: There don't seem to be any safeguards in place to prevent people from using the ring for self-serving purposes.
In a John Ostrander and Flint Henry story in Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #1, the Guardians debate about whether or not to let Jack T Chance wear the ring. After some debate, they conclude that Green Lanterns need to be honest and strong-willed, but "nowhere in the requirements say [they] must be nice." This interpretation of the rules for wearing the power ring made room for Lobo to take control of a ring he wasn't even wearing since it was still technically attached to Jack. Had he been so inclined, Lobo could have wreaked havoc on Garnet. In the past, this loophole about not being "nice" has had disastrous consequences leaving room for Sinestro to abuse his power. Even Hal Jordan took advantage in the "Emerald Twilight" catastrophe when he used the power of multiple rings to destroy the entire Green Lantern Corps.
On the other hand, Guy Gardner benefits from the Guardians' flexibility. If niceness were a requirement, Guy never would have been given a ring. But, Gardner is a member of the Green Lantern Honor Guard and has unquestionably made a positive impact in the galaxy. He is proof that unkindness doesn't necessarily lead to corruption, and that the Guardians' faith in people is often rewarded.
While the weakness to yellow that enabled this story has come and gone, Lobo's time with the Green Lantern's ring exposed his true nature and the potentially dangerous nature of the power rings. The Green Lantern Corps operates on a degree of trust. The Guardians trust that the Green Lanterns will use their powers for good, and that trust usually pays off, outside of a few sad occasions where the betrayal of that trust has tragic results. But even if Lobo has the will to wield a Green Lantern ring, the Main Man almost certainly won't be in line for any Green Lantern openings anytime soon.