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Well folks, its been about 100 issues of Kyle Rayner as Green
Lantern. If you love him, hate him, or just dont care about him it looks
like hes here to stay for a while. I am very fond of the character myself.
Ill just put that out there to start with so those of you who cant stand
to hear anything positive regarding Kyle can save yourselves some time
and stop reading. Still there? Great. Before we dive into me looking at
what I consider to be the significant points of Kyles run as GL Ill
explain why I like him so much. Green Lantern (Hal) was my favorite
character on Super Friends, and to me has always been one of the best
character concepts. Who wouldnt want a ring that could make whatever
you could imagine? When I was younger I had read issues of various
titles with Hal, John, Guy and many other GLs. So, when a new person
was stepping into the role of GL and I identified with them on multiple
levels . . . what more could I ask for other than having the ring myself?
With that said lets look at Kyles path to where he is today.
"All I want is whats mine. Youre not Green Lantern. No one believes
youre Green Lantern. I am." - Hal to Kyle - Green Lantern #63
Hal Jordan versus Kyle Rayner. This was a battle between both the
characters and the fans, and sometimes the flow of one battle seemed
mirrored in the other. Lets look at the fans first. I was not thrilled to
see Hal go, but the idea of more than one person being GL had been
established LONG ago. Alan Scott was GL before Hal, and John Stewart
and Guy Gardner had been GLs between Hal and Kyle. To this day, I
dont understand why people get bent out of shape over Kyle carrying
on the name. Now, I can understand some disbelief at the idea that Hal
would go "bad." Unfortunately Hal was human and his inability to
balance his personal life and his duties as a member of the Green Lantern
Corps never quite worked out. Hal quit the GLC a few times only to come
back in the end. He clashed with the Guardians of the Universe many
times regarding his duties and had a tendency to blame them for many of
the problems in his life that were connected to the balance between
being GL on Earth and doing what was asked of him off Earth. He was
also very demanding when it came to regaining his status as a member of
the GLC. The groundwork for Hal being unable to deal with failure, and
blaming others for it, was laid long before Ron Marz began writing the
character. While Hal going down the road that led to him becoming
Parallax may not be easy to swallow it is believable if youre willing to
actually look.
Now, lets get to Hal and Kyle themselves. Hal, as Parallax, was
committed to changing history in order to give himself peace of mind for
not being able to stop the destruction of Coast City, and in his attempts
to do so he was able to obtain Kyles ring a couple of times. However,
each time Hal got the ring Kyle did his best to help him keep his head on
his shoulders, either through helpful words or standing up to Hal for his
own good. Even after those instances of losing his ring Kyle still saw
Hal for the hero he once was, and it would be Kyles pleas that started
Hal down that path in which he chose to sacrifice his life in order to save
the Earth. Later, due to some time travel mishaps, Kyle would have the
opportunity to work with Hal during his time as GL. At the end of their
time together Hal would leave Kyle with two things that were important
to the Green Lantern legacy. Those things were an appreciation for what
the Green Lantern Corps stood for, and a ring to help bring them back.
"Its up to me to create a new Lantern Corps." - Kyle Rayner - Green
Lantern: The New Corps #1
After working with Hal and the Green Lantern Corps Kyle
decided that he was going to do what he could to bring the GLC back.
Kyle now had in his possession one of the original GLC rings, and with it
he could make new rings and batteries. After giving Jade an original
style of ring, so she could fill in for him on Earth, Kyle headed out into
the universe to create a new GLC. While Kyles journey seemed to start
out positively things quickly took a turn for the worst. Kyles first
choice for a new GL, named Magaan, ended up being exactly the wrong
person to give a ring to. Were talking Sinestro bad here folks, only with
more muscle and other styles of weapons to back him up. Kyle enlisted
the help of four others to form a kind of emergency GLC in order to take
Magaan down. Kyle and the others were successful in defeating
Magaan but there were numerous costs, including the life of one of the
members of Kyles GLC.
So, with an unsuccessful first attempt at reestablishing the Green
Lantern Corps Kyle headed back to Earth. Now, we all know that failure
isnt a bad thing right? Its just part of the learning process. Kyle had
been on a long road to find that view of failure, but he was finally
starting to see it. He could now move on in his life because he
understood that becoming a hero was a process and despite what he, or
others, expected that process takes mistakes and time. However, Kyle
would find that this new understanding had come too late.
"Im you Kyle! Or, at least a part of you . . . the one made up of your
sorrow, anger, self-doubt, and fear." - Oblivion to Kyle - Green Lantern:
Circle of Fire #2
The original members of the Green Lantern Corps were chosen
because they were supposed to be honest and fearless. Now we had a
GL who had fear and we would understand, possibly, why the Guardians
sought out individuals without it. Shortly after becoming GL Kyles ring
fulfilled his subconscious wish to be rid of all the negative emotions that
were eating at him, because he was afraid of not being able to deal with
them. When those emotions were expelled from Kyle they still existed
and had an essence of their own, though Kyle wasnt aware of it. Over
time that essence, that was a part of Kyle, took on the mantle of one of
Kyles childhood creations named Oblivion. Oblivion also managed to
sustain his existence, and own powers, by somehow tapping the energy
that fuels Kyles power battery. After existing for over a year Oblivion
chose to attack the planet Rann, and due to that attack he ended up in a
fight with the Justice League of America, which Oblivion won. Kyle had
to put together a new team of heroes in order to take on Oblivion and his
call for help was answered by a number of familiar heroes and,
unexpectedly, other Green Lanterns that were supposedly from different
times and dimensions.
While all of the heroes and GLs took on missions to combat Oblivion
in one way or another the final showdown with Oblivion took place at
the remnants of the Guardians home planet of Oa. It was there that Kyle
confronted Oblivion and learned of how Oblivion came into existence.
Kyle also discovered that the new GLs that had appeared were actually
constructs he subconsciously created, and they represented positive
aspects of his personality. After rejoining with his GL constructs Kyle
fought Oblivion on Earth. Faced with the reality that he couldnt defeat
Oblivion Kyle decided to give Oblivion what he wanted, which was to be
a part of his mind again. Oblivion believed that Kyle wouldnt be able to
fight off his influence, since he was originally created due to Kyles
inability to deal with his fears. Kyle had done a lot of growing since the
time Oblivion had left though, and Kyle understood that he needed to
face his fears like any other person does. With that understanding Kyle
was able to reabsorb Oblivion into his mind and not lose himself to
Oblivions influence.
Kyle walked away from his experience of dealing with Oblivion with
the idea that he had faced his greatest personal demon and won.
Members of the JLA believed that Kyle had gone through an event
where he resisted the temptation of having absolute power, a temptation
Hal didnt resist. It would actually be later though that Kyle would find
himself in a situation where he truly possessed the power that Hal had as
Parallax. Before that would happen though the readers, and Kyle, would
see how truly powerful a persons inner demons could be if given form
through a power ring.
Ok, now before we move on I would like to address something that I
saw as a serious change in he character of Kyle as GL. This change was
brining on Judd Winick as the regular writer of Green Lantern. While
Ron Marz will probably be forever known as the man who "destroyed"
Hal Jordan he did a good job of dealing with the fallout of that situation
in the pages of Green Lantern. Unfortunately Marz didnt really seem to
help Kyle "grow" as a hero much, mostly because he didnt address
Kyles personal development. We saw plenty of Kyles actions as GL,
but not as himself. In my opinion Winick has done more to develop Kyle
as a full character in the short time he has written Green Lantern (since
issue #129) than Marz did during his entire run (the majority of issues
#51 - #125). Judd Winick has established Kyle as a respectable person
first and foremost to me, which makes him a much better and believable
hero. Of course, Winick also took the time to develop Kyles next
challenge after Oblivion.
"He was chosen to be the bearer of the ring, and he could change the
world at his whim . . . oh." - Dr. Arthur Phillips describing the supposed
delusions of Alex Nero - Green Lantern #134
Kyle had developed a healthy rogues gallery during his time as GL,
but his greatest opponent to date arrived in the form of Alex Nero. Nero
had been given a yellow power ring that for the most part works the same
as Kyles. The most dangerous part of Nero wasnt his ring though, it
was his mind. Nero had delusions of grandeur and was an artist with a
very vivid, and twisted, imagination. With the power ring he had gained
Neros own personal demons were given form, and he had MANY
personal demons. Neros creations were so numerous and dangerous
that Kyle needed to call in the JLA to help him. In the end Kyle realized
that his rational mind was no match for Neros unbalanced mind. Kyle
had to concentrate on each individual creation he made to fight Nero,
while Neros creations required no effort on his part because in his mind
they were already real. Kyle came up with the idea to turn Neros own
mind against himself, and it worked. Nero vanished when he was
confronted by his greatest personal demons and he would not be heard
from again until Kyles next evolution as a hero.
"You were given infinite power and the first thing you did was give
yourself a trim." - Jade to Kyle - Green Lantern #146
After Kyles fight with Oblivion something about him changed.
Somehow he was able to keep expending energy creating things with his
ring without having to recharge it. Plus, the things he would make were
becoming more complex, to the point where he could even change the
colors of what he created. What had happened to Kyle was that when
he reabsorbed Oblivion into himself the energy that made up Oblivion
moved on to find the power source of the Green Lantern. What the
Oblivion energy found was residual energy Hal had left behind when he
sacrificed himself to save earth. The Oblivion energy and residual
energy Hal left behind combined and began to grow. However, when
Kyle reabsorbed Oblivion to himself he somehow kept a connection to
the energy that made up Oblivion and was now able to tap into this new
energy pool without using his lantern.
At the time Kyle came to the realization of the changes that had
happened to him Nero had also become aware of the energy pool that
Kyle was using and decided to claim it for his own. Kyle and Nero
engaged in a battle in space for ownership of the energy pool. The battle
began with energy constructs from their rings, but Kyle was able to
create an environment where they had to fight hand to hand only. Kyle
defeated Nero and found himself confronted by Hal, now The Specter,
soon after. Hal gave Kyle the choice of going back in time to refuse
taking the ring that would make him GL or claming all of the new energy
which would give him the same power Hal had as Parallax. Kyle chose to
claim the new energy as his own and began his time as Ion.
As Ion Kyle could exist anywhere and at any time. He was able to
understand and change things on the most basic levels because he had
become a master of energy in nearly all of its forms. Now, while Hal
abandoned a large part of his humanity in order to bring about his own
goals Kyle did the opposite. Kyle began doing things as a hero, and
personally, that rooted him more solidly in his humanity. He used his
power to help his friends John and Jade to deal with problems they had,
and in the end each of them were "whole." He also began making
changes all over Earth and throughout the universe. However, a
conversation with Superman would make Kyle wonder if he was
overstepping his bounds as a hero. Kyle found that he had a decision to
make, and to make that decision he had to find the father he had never
known.
Using his powers Kyle was able to track down his father, and find
out why he had left Kyle and his mother. Kyle received the answers he
was looking for regarding his family, and in doing so was able to look at
himself and his powers in a new light. Through his conversation with
Superman, another with Hal, and the one with his father Kyle made a final
decision about his new powers. Kyle summoned the last Guardian,
Ganthet, to the recently restored planet of Oa and put his decision into
action. Kyle had decided that the Green Lantern Corps was still needed
and that a new GLC would need leaders, so he found the essences of the
Guardians that were left in his power, returned them to life as children,
and rekindled Oas power battery with the rest of Ion energy. After all of
this was done Kyle stood again as the only GL, but with the knowledge
that some day there would be others.
Today Kyle is on new ground, but he knows he has done thing that
will have benefits for others after he is gone or is no longer Green
Lantern. To mark this new point in his life Kyle chose to redesign his
costume, and did so in honor of the Earth GLs before him . . . at least in my
opinion. If you look at Kyles new costume you can see Alan Scotts
style of mask, the color layout of the GLC costume design that Hal
Jordan wore, a variation of the different GL symbol John Stewart wore for
a time, boots and a collar that show an influence from Guy Gardners GL
costume design, and influences of Kyles own old costume in the black
versions of his new GL symbols on his shoulders and his green gloves.
Kyle isnt the same person he was at the start of his career as Green
Lantern, and I believe others see him as the hero he truly is. Sandman
said once that Kyles knowing fear would let him surpass Hal (JLA #22).
While believing if Kyle has surpassed Hal is subjective, his fear has
helped him many times. It has made him question himself in order to
grow, his acceptance of it helped him defeat the darkest part of himself,
and it kept him rooted in his humanity during his time as Ion because he
was afraid of becoming what Hal became with that much power. Fear
isnt a bad thing, letting it get the better of you is. Kyle has learned
this, and I look forward to reading future issues of Green Lantern to see what
else Kyle learns.
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