Green Lantern #176

May 1984 · DC · 0.75 USD; 0.95 CAD; 0.30 GBP

📊 ~34,676 copies sold its debut month

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“Mind Games!”

★ 1st appearance — Tawny Young

About this Issue

Green Lantern #176 earns its key-issue status as the debut of the Demolition Team — Rosie, Hardhat, Jackhammer, Scoopshovel, and Steamroller — a construction-themed squad of mercenaries who would recur across DC continuity for decades and eventually appear in animated and live-action television. Beyond the new characters, the issue is the climactic chapter of the Shark confrontation, resolving that threat through a battle of pure willpower fought inside a psychic dreamscape rather than with punches and power-ring blasts — a storytelling device that leaned on the ring's core mythology in a way that felt fresh for 1984. The issue also features early coordination between Congressman Bloch and the pre-Crisis Monitor figure, threading this done-in-one story into the larger tapestry that DC was quietly weaving toward Crisis on Infinite Earths.

writer Len Wein · artist Dave Gibbons · inker Dick Giordano · colorist Anthony Tollin · letterer Ben Oda · cover Dave Gibbons

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $5

CGC 9.8 · 10 in census $85

CGC 9.6 · 3 in census $39*

CGC 9.4 · 3 in census $27*

CGC 9.2 · 1 in census $25*

CGC 9.0 · 1 in census $22*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

Writer Len Wein and British artist Dave Gibbons produced this issue as part of what DC marketed as a fresh creative partnership launched with Green Lantern #172 — Gibbons's American mainstream debut. Gibbons came to the title directly from 2000 AD and Doctor Who strip work in the UK, and his clean, kinetic line became the defining visual voice of the run. The issue carries a May 1984 cover date and is titled 'Mind Games!'; within a year of completing this Wein/Gibbons collaboration, Gibbons moved directly into his partnership with Alan Moore on Watchmen, making the entire Sector 2814 run a historically significant warm-up for one of the medium's landmark works.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of the Demolition Team: Rosie (leader), Hardhat, Jackhammer, Scoopshovel, and Steamroller — five construction-themed mercenaries created by Len Wein and Dave Gibbons.
The Demolition Team was hired by Congressman Jason Bloch to destroy the Los Angeles branch of Ferris Aircraft while Hal Jordan was incapacitated; their weapons and equipment were supplied by the Monitor.
The Shark dies in this issue — trapped aboard an exploding S.T.A.R. Labs vessel in the Pacific Ocean — though he is later resurrected in Green Lantern (Vol. 2) #196.
The main story, titled 'Mind Games!', depicts Hal Jordan battling the Shark on a psychic plane while comatose; Carol Ferris and Tom Kalmaku sneak into Mercy Hospital to recharge his power ring, which breaks him free.
The mysterious Predator — not Hal Jordan — defeats the Demolition Team single-handedly in this issue, adding to that character's early mystique.
The issue features early appearances by the pre-Crisis Monitor and Harbinger (Lyla) as background figures, connecting it to DC's broader Crisis on Infinite Earths buildup.
A page-a-day calendar device, carried over from the previous issue, anchors the story's in-universe date to January 19, 1984.
The issue is reprinted in the trade paperback Green Lantern: Sector 2814 Vol. 1 (DC, 2012), which collects Green Lantern #172–176 and #178–181 — the full Wein/Gibbons run.