Classic Crisis #14 - The Taxicab Of Crime!

This 1967 Green Lantern crossover doesn't even rate a cover featuring the event. That's unfortunate, especially given that the cover itself actually eliminates most of the story's mystery.

 

"Our Mastermind The Car!" by John Broome with both pencils and inks by Gil Kane is a light-hearted romp of a story, a sequel to the previous crossover between the two Lanterns. The story begins with Tom (Pieface) Kalamaku sharing an untold story with the reader from his Casebook of Green Lantern. In Coast City Hal Jordan and Alan Scott have dinner and discuss the adventure from the previous year in which Doiby Dickles ended up with his bride on Myrg. They plan to give Goitrude, Doiby's taxicab to him as an anniversary present. But when they check Goitrude has vanished from the garage. The scene shifts to Goitrude under "her" own power and thinking her own thoughts rolling down the street looking for gangsters to start up a crime spree. After finding some likely thugs the crimes begin and the Lanterns show up to stop it, but are surprised that Goitrude is able to escape. Meanwhile Doiby plans to show up on Earth-1 to visit Goitrude himself and soon finds the Lanterns. Goitrude is soon found with gang in tow, paralyzes the Lanterns and Doiby, and then explodes revealing the real villain Sinestro who has escaped. He takes his thugs along to commit a great crime. On Oa meanwhile the Guardians are startled to find their Master Battery, which powers all the Green Lanterns, is gone. An alert goes out to all Green Lanterns. Finally Hal Jordan is able to overcome the paralysis and the Lanterns and Doiby escape to find the villain. Sinestro has used the Master Battery to create his own legion of evil Lanterns out of the thugs. Quickly the Lanterns of Earths 1 and 2 dispatch these bad Lanterns and blend their rings power to defeat Sinestro. The baddie defeated, they turn him over to the Guardians. Then the Lanterns give Doiby a little model of Goitrude for a present and he heads back to Myrg a happier man despite the loss.

The story's title is a spoof of the then popular TV show My Mother The Car. It's a pretty thin thread to hang this whole adventure on for sure. The mystery of Goitrude's true nature is unfortunately revealed on the cover which shows Sinestro's mug in full conflict with Green Lantern. So while the mystery was a decent one actually, it's totally ineffective. There is a real farce-like quality to this story as a whole to honest, and the threat presented by Sinestro never feels all the dire actually. It's a pretty story with lush Kane art, and fun romp, but little else. 

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