Green Lantern #82

Green Lantern #82 (On Sale: December 24, 1970), has a nice cover by Neal Adams. Julius Schwartz had been unable to work out the cover copy for this issue. Dick Giordano mentions in his introduction for the graphic novel Green Lantern/Green Arrow Volume Two that having seen the cover, he turned and started to walk away, chanting "The harpies are coming, the harpies are coming" (paraphrasing a popular movie of the time, The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!). Schwartz liked this, and so THE HARPIES ARE COMING! became the cover copy – which really pleased Giordano.

We have Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary in "How Do You Fight a Nightmare?" by Denny O'Neil,  Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano, with an assist by Berni Wrightson. Green Arrow visits Black Canary, offering her a box of roses, but when the box is opened, two harpies fly out and attack. The harpies soon fly away, and Oliver sends a message to Green Lantern in hopes that his experience with the supernatural would be of use. Green Arrow and Black Canary go to the flower shop from whence the roses came, while Green Lantern follows the harpies' trail. Green Lantern is led by the Harpies to their leader, the Witch Queen, who entraps him in another reality at the behest of her unseen brother.

Green Arrow and Black Canary investigate the flower shop, but they are soon attacked by three Amazons who seem intent on killing only men. Black Canary defeats them, and they explain that a male wizard had betrayed and banished the Witch Queen and themselves to the same reality that Green Lantern has been trapped in, sparking their mission to kill all men. They promise to guide an unhurt Green Arrow and Black Canary to their leader.

The Witch Queen's ally is revealed to be Sinestro, whose Yellow Power Ring was embedded within the Witch Queen's scepter, allowing her to trap Green Lantern. Suddenly, Green Arrow bursts through the window, instantly firing an arrow and knocking the ring from Sinestro's hand. Together, he and Black Canary defeat the Witch Queen and Sinestro. Unfortunately, Green Arrow is unable to rescue the Lantern from the "Dimension of Furies", because he is a man; only one male may inhabit it at any one time. Black Canary volunteers to go in his stead.

Meanwhile, in the other dimension, Green Lantern is attacked by Medusa for being a man. Fortunately, Black Canary arrives with the Amazons and explains that Medusa is being used by Sinestro as a pawn to kill his enemy. Medusa releases him, and Black Canary and Green Lantern return to their own reality to tell Green Arrow their story. This story has been reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #16 (1981), Green Lantern/Green Arrow #4 (1984), Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection HC (2001), Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol. 1 TPB (2004), Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 5 TPB (2011), Green Lantern/Green Arrow TPB (2012), and Absolute Green Lantern/Green Arrow HC (2016).

Edited by Julius Schwartz.