Kyle Rayner

Ron Mraz was challenged to create a new character for the ongoing series Green Lantern in 1994, he was supposed to be a third generation hero, one for the new generation of comic readers. He was told to make the character from scratch, not to use one that had previously appeared in the DCU.

The character was scheduled to take over fromHal Jordan, not an easy thing to accomplish when Hal had so many fans.

In 1994, Marston wrote:
"We knew we’d have our readers, Hal was one of DC’s second-tier icons, and pulling the big switch with him was going to bring in everyone from the curious to the plain ol’ pissed off. So we’d have our readers; the trick would be holding on to them."

Kyle's first appearance was in Green Lantern #48 in a storyline called ‘Emerald Twilight.’ This storyline was one of the big ones for DC; ever since the Death ofSuperman, the DCU had been feeling the shockwaves, and Hal was arguably one of the biggest. Since the destruction of Coast City in The Death ofSuperman, Hal found himself homeless, his home destroyed and everyone he knew and cared about gone.

Emerald Twilight

Kyle’s first words in Green Lantern comics.
"I wish we could somehow get away from out troubles. Get out of this place... leave... escape."

Kyle, to be frank, was a nobody. A struggling graphic designer who was out at a bar trying to relax when destiny chose him, destiny by the name ofGanthet. Arriving outside the bar he handed the last Power Ring to Kyle before disappearing in a green burst of light. Kyle was understandably confused at the sight of a blue midget appearing and disappearing but decided to try on the ring anyway, and from there his life changed, and not always for the better. Kyle’s first fight was with a villain calling himself Ohm where he found himself doing better than he thought he would.

"Lack of confidence never really was one of my short comings, can’t recall ever being at a loss for words too often either. Maybe this is the right line of work for me."

Defeating Ohm, Kyle and his girlfriend Alex were on a beach, with Kyle testing out the ring and Alex taking photos for her magazine when his next big challenge came, this time by the name ofMongul. The fight wasn’t going well; to be honest Kyle was losing quite badly when he found some backup by the name ofSuperman. FightingMongultogether,Supermanspoke to Kyle of the Guardians, the Corps and the previous Green Lantern, none of which Kyle had heard of before, even so Kyle seemed to impressSupermanwith his abilities with the ring, even more puzzling was the fact that Kyle’s ring wasn’t vulnerable to yellow, something that all Green Lantern Ring’s in the past had been vulnerable to.

Next came the darkest time in Kyle’s life, the death of his girlfriend at the hands ofMajor Force.

Major Forcehad been hired by a rogue government agency to retrieve the ring from Kyle using any means necessary to get it. During the fight Kyle was to learn something else about the ring, that it required periodic charging or would go dead, leaving him extremely vulnerable in a fight.

Unbeknownst to Kyle,Major Forcehad brought the Power Battery with him to the fight, when he got it out to ask Kyle about it, the battery reformed in front of them, automatically charging the ring for Kyle. Being back up to full power, Kyle brought the fight back toMajor Force, letting all his anger and rage out. He was about ready to killMajor Forcewith an Electric Chair construct when the LASCU (Los Angeles Special Crimes Unit) intervened.

Leaving them to deal withMajor Force, Kyle left the scene, going back to his apartment where he found another unexpected guest,Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, now going by the name of Sentinel.

Alan explained the events leading up to the decimation of theGreen Lantern Corpsto Kyle, how Hal had gone mad with grief and had destroyed everything he once stood for.

"Hal’s become something other... with almost limitless power at his command. I was part of a team of heroes who confronted him, he defeated us utterly. Understand, Hal’s not evil. That’s just not theHal JordanI’ve always known. He believes he’s acting for the right reasons... to bring back the seven million people of coast city. But he’s no less dangerous because of it."

Leaving Kyle to think about what he had just learned, Alan left the scene with the parting words “Time is growing Short”, those words would be truer than they would ever know in the coming months.

Zero Hour; Crisis in Time

Crisis in Time

Zero Hour was a big thing for the DC universe, it was basically used as a restructuring event for the history of the DC universe, tying up loose ends and changing the past to fit in with the new storylines that had come about.

Parallax, and to a lesser extentExtant, were to be the main tools of this change. Hal was going to restart time, to change all the things that should never have happened in the original time line, to make the universe a better place, with him as God of it all.

For the first few issues we were led to believe that it wasExtantwho was behind it all, and only saw brief glimpses of Hal in shadows, manipulating events. Hal finally made his presence known in issue 34 of Zero Hour. Knocking outSupermanwith a single punch Hal made his grand entrance, to the disbelief of all who knew him. Among the people to see this entrance wereGuy Gardner,Aquaman,Green Arrow,Batgirl, Kyle Rayner andWaverider. Defeating the group easily and sending Kyle on an uncontrolled trip through time with just a click of his fingers, Hal defeated the group easily before destroying time as everyone knew it.

This was just the start of what he had planned. Kyle finally made in back in time for the end gambit, whereBatgirlsacrificed her life to thatGreen Arrowcould get one shot off, distracting Hal long enough so that Damage, powered up byWaverider,DarkstarandThe Spectrecould let loose a massive explosion, basically causing the big bang himself.

Restarting the DCU finally cleared up a lot of the mess that Crisis on Infinite Earths had left behind, but left its own mess as well. There were now subtle changes in the timeline,Guy Gardner’s powers had been changed as well as quite a few other changes that would become more apparent as time moved on. This was a new era for DC comics; they now had new heroes and villains in the universe along with the realization that Kyle really was the last Green Lantern.

Final Night

The Final Night

Final Night was a big storyline for the DCU, not in the fact that it did something major to the timeline or made drastic changes to the DCU, but in the fact that it played out in every issue that DC comics published for that time.

The main story was that a Sun Eater was on its way to earth to devour the Sun, forming a team of heroes to combat the threat,SupermanandBatmandid their best to restore order on earth, even though with the sun goneSuperman’s powers were fading fast.

At the end of the storyline, Kyle had left earth to seek assistance from someone he knew could help,Hal Jordan. Bringing Hal back to earth for a final push at the Sun Eater was earths only chance for survival.

Pausing time so he could do what must be done, Hal stepped into the Sun and began his final steps as a characters in the DCU. Reciting the Green Lantern Oath he began to fight the Sun Eater on two fronts, shining a light to push the ‘Darkness’ away in one hand, and drawing the ‘Darkness’ into himself on the other. It was a dangerous play, but one that eventually succeeded.

At the cost of his own life, Hal had saved Earth. Hal’s funeral was attended by most of the characters in the DCU, the entire Justice League made appearances with speeches by Kyle,Superman,Wonder Womanand more. Other faces in the crowd wereGreen Arrow,John Constantine,Zatanna,Swamp ThingandDonna Troy.

JLA

Kyle was unofficially inducted into theJustice League Of Americawhen he unwittingly joined a version of the classic team in the Justice League: Midsummer's Nightmare mini-series. Kyle was relatively inexperienced even compared to the team's other younger member,Wally West, though the two were developing a love/hate friendship.

Kyle was to remain with the team when Grant Morrison began a new Justice League series, JLA, throughout which his creativity, power, and courage were frequently demonstrated. One story featuring the Vertigo character Dream features a scene where that character tells Kyle that he will surpass his predecessorHal Jordanbecause he knows fear.

Emerald Knights

Emerald Knights

Emerald Knights was a storyline that ran from issues 100 to 106 of Green Lantern, and promised the team up you never thought you’d see, Kyle Rayner andHal Jordan.

To be honest, when I first started reading this I thought it was going to be a poor storyline, bringing the old and the new together to boost sales for the comic, how wrong I was. This series finally put to rest the idea that Kyle was just ‘babysitting’ the ring until Hal came back, Kyle was now a Green Lantern in his own right.

The storyline started in the far future, when Kyle was sent into the 30th century byGrayven, son ofDarkseid. He was finally sent back with the aid of Braniac and the Legion of Superheroes to “when there were supposed to be Green Lanterns’, though he overshot a bit and ended up 10 years before his time and found himself fighting Sinestro with the help ofHal Jordanand the rest of theGreen Lantern Corps.

Kyle’s ring however turned out to be a major asset against Sinestro, without the Yellow weakness that the rest of the Corps had, he found himself easily beating Sinestro in a fight, and was finally sent back to his own time by The Guardians, but when he found himself back in his own time, he wasn’t alone. At the last second, Sinestro had used his yellow ring to push Hal into Kyle, sending him to the future with him.

Finding himself in the future, Kyle had no choice but to explain to Hal what had happened to him. His explained how Hal had lost his mind after Coast City was destroyed, how he had fought, and killed the entireGreen Lantern Corps. He explained Hal’s atrocities during Zero Hour and finally explained how he had come back in a blaze of honour during earths Final Night and sacrificed his life for earth.

The storyline got more confusing however when Hal showed signs of going back to his ways as Parallax, in fact Hal, or one of the Hal’s, was found out to be Parallax from Zero Hour who had spotted Hal from the past in the wrong time and had come to fix the mistake.In a frantic battle between Hal as Green Lantern and Hal as Parallax they fought to a standstill, only finally separated by Kyle. Sending Hal and Parallax back to their own timelines Kyle was left with more questions about his own future than he had before, because now he was left with a spare ring from Hal, one that could replicate itself, something Kyle’s ring could never do.

Could he now rebuild theGreen Lantern Corps?

Circle of Fire

Circle of Fire

Kyle had finally come to peace with himself and being a Green Lantern, he was finally making a name for himself and not living under Hal’s shadow anymore and had a good relationship withJadewhenOblivioncame.

This was no normal adversary for the Justice league, when theJustice League Of Americafirst battleOblivionthey were defeated utterly. Hearing about the Justice Leagues defeat, Kyle subconsciously sent out a distress call to any other Green Lanterns in the area, when the ring found no other Green Lanterns in the current time period it started looking elsewhere for them.

Arriving from Pocket Dimensions and other Time frames came six Green Lanterns.

Coming from the year 1256 was Pel Tavin, a Green Lantern Daxamite who protected earth and sector 2814. This Green Lantern wore the clothes of a knight from medieval times and fought with the same approach to life.

Coming from an unknown point in the future was Ali Rayner-West, a descendant of Kyle’s had married one of the “West Clan”, so Ali not only had the powers of a Green Lantern, but those of a speedster as well.

From another unknown point in the future came Hunter and Forest, members of the ‘Teen Lantern Corps’. In a future where the grownups had disappeared, the remaining children of Kyle’s descendants decided to share the ring and the responsibilities that go with it.

From several eons in the past came G.L.7177.B. A manhunter android from when theGreen Lantern Corpswas just being founded by the Guardians. Reprogrammed by The Guardians, 7177.B was programmed to “Assist the innocent and eradicate all evil.”

Coming from a pocket universe was Alexandra DeWitt, Kyle’s old girlfriend. In her reality Kyle had been murdered byMajor Forcewhen Alex had been given the ring, all events that had happened to Kyle had happened to Alex in her universe.

Finally fightingOblivion, Kyle found out the horrible truth. He was responsible forOblivion.Oblivionwas created by Kyle after the death of Alex, unable to deal with the emotions of his girlfriend’s murder, Kyle subconsciously sent all the negative emotions he had into the ring and them forced them out of his body and into space. Originally just energy, it eventually gained consciousness and then control over the energy.

FightingOblivionon a purely metaphysical plane of existence was the hardest thing Kyle ever had to do,Oblivionfirst took the form of Kyle’s father then Kyle himself, it wasn’t until later that Kyle found out the second secret... Alex, Ali, Pel and the other Green Lanterns who had come to assist him weren’t Green Lantern’s at all, but constructs he had made himself that represented his hopes, dreams and his best emotions to fightOblivion.

This was a major step for Kyle, this showed not only that he was gaining power and control over the ring, but he could not, if only subconsciously for the moment, create constructs that were as lifelike in personality as they were in colour, nothing any Green Lantern had been able to do before.

DefeatingOblivion, Kyle left the remains ofOblivionin the sun, deciding that it was actually time to grow up and face his emotions. Taking the final step Kyle offered to resign from theJustice League Of Americafor his part in creatingOblivion. His resignation was however refused withWonder WomanandBatmansaying they now both trusted Kyle as a Green Lantern and he was an essential part of the team now.

Ion, Part 1

I am The Ion!

Finding himself growing in power, Kyle first noticed the small things, like not having to charge his ring any more or being able to create constructs that were greater in power than anything he had been able to do before. While Kyle was fighting Fatality the Quardians chose another bearer for their Yellow Power Ring, AlexNero.

Nerowas an artist like Kyle, but was severely mentally imbalanced and was being treated in a psychiatric ward for his psychosis when the Quardians found him and offered him their gift.

FacingNeroat first withAlan Scottand later the entireJustice League Of America, Kyle confessed his worry toSupermanandBatmanthat they might have to killNero.

“Did you know I can split atoms with this? It would take a lot of energy, just a lot of effort. The problem would be containing an atomic blast, but if you aren’t interested in containing the blast in any way...”

It seemed like theJustice League Of Americawas finally figuring out how powerful Kyle was with the ring, if anyone with a power ring could split atoms and cause an atomic blast with just a thought... maybe they would be forced to use drastic measures to stopNerobefore he figured it out as well.

DefeatingNeroin issue 136, Kyle took the break in his life to do what he had always wanted to do, he askedJadeto marry him.

Using the spare ringHal Jordanhad left him at the end of the Emerald Knights saga, Kyle finally found happiness withJadein the engagement. The peace didn’t last though, in issue 143 Kyle’s power increase finally became more apparent than ever.

“For the past year Kyle Rayner has been aware of a great change. The most obvious aspect being that his ring has not needed to be recharged. Less apparent at first was the increase in his power. But as time went on, he noticed it. He felt it. It seemed limitless. It frightened him.”

WhenGrayventhreatened to destroy New York with a nuclear bomb augmented with Apocalypse technology Kyle unconsciously becomes one with the power he felt growing inside him. When Parallax had died in “Final Night” he had left his power in Kyle, something that was now becoming apparent.

Now Kyle had found the rest of the “Emerald Power” inside him and had joined with it, there was only one step left to take, the powerOblivionhad left in the sun was calling to him to join with it, it was noticed by everyone on earth, including AlexNero

Meeting withJade,Alan ScottandJohn Stewart, Kyle sought to explain what had been happening to him, the growth in power and how he felt drawn to this new source of power, like he was supposed to claim it. His explanation was interrupted however when they found out thatNerowas after the same power, with that sort of power underNero’s control, nothing on earth could stand in his way. Kyle had to get there first and claim the power for himself, or all would be lost.

DefeatingNero, Kyle stood outside of space and time, looking in at his past and his future. With Hal asThe Spectreshowing him around, Kyle finally understood what he was supposed to do.

“I am Green Lantern no more. I am notOblivion. I am Not Parallax. I am more, because I am less. I am a part of it all. I am the whole and I am the individual. I am everywhere at once. Green Lantern is no more, the power is mine... and I am The Ion.”

As Ion, Kyle was omnipotent, he was everywhere and everywhen at once. During this time he made some drastic changes to the DCU including healingJohn Stewarts back so he could walk again and givingJadeher natural powers back.

Kyle at first found himself using his powers naturally as he had done as a Green Lantern, but as time passed he found himself doing greater and greater things with the power. In issue 146 he decided to go back to a planet that he andJadehad visited before, in the previous visit they had been unable to stop a world war that had ravaged the world for decades, as Ion he knew he could change this.

Going back to the planet he brought the peace talks together again, and when they failed he stepped in and explained that the war was over, not because they were agreeing or disagreeing on something, but because he was stopping it.

He was going to watch over the planet forever, guns wouldn’t fire, bombs wouldn’t explode. If someone hurled a rock he would be there with his foot on the attackers back. He tried to explain this toJadebut she couldn’t comprehend it. He was there, but he was also here and on earth doing hundreds of things at the same time,Jadeagain compared him to God.

In Issue 150 Kyle’s power was finally at its peak, evenThe Spectre, the right hand of god was afraid of this power. Kyle could navigate the time stream with ease, making changes as he saw fit but never loosing the thread of the present, something not even Parallax had been able to do.

Finally realising that this power shouldn’t belong to any one man he made the sacrifice, reigniting the central power battery on OA and bringing back TheGuardians Of The Universe, he stepped down from his mantle as Ion and became a regular Green Lantern again, though he had made a few changes to the Ring before he ‘re-forged’ it.

Will you marry me?

Now it could never be taken away from him, it would always return, and it would never run out of power again. Finally at peace with himself and knowing that The Guardians would be able to re-forge TheGreen Lantern Corps, he set out to find his own future withJade, now they could finally move on with their engagement.

Enough is enough...

Endings

During his time on earth Kyle had witnessed some good things and some awful things, he finally saw the worst side of humanity when his assistant, Terry, was brutally attacked by a homophobic gang.

Finally seeing the worst of humanity, Kyle became lost, without hope for the future he left earth withJadeto find their future in space. He said one day he would return, but for now he didn’t feel that earth was his home anymore.

Returning to earth for a brief period he fought withMajor Forceagain, finally putting to rest the fears he had about his Mother and the feelings he still felt about Alex. After a brutal fight withMajor Force, Kyle managed to seal his living energy inside an emerald ball and send it drifting out into the universe; Finally putting things right for Alex.

During his time away from earthJadehad moved on however, splitting up with Kyle and moving on with her life to find her own future. Finally realizing that earth had nothing left to offer him, Kyle decided to move on with his own life and find something more for himself, something he could call his own.

Saying a final farewell to earth, Kyle flew off into space looking for his own future.

Rebirth

The universe always could do with a little more light

In a final Retcon that split Green Lantern fans down the middle DC brought backHal Jordanas Green Lantern and changed Parallax so it wasn’t Hal who had gone crazy with grief after the destruction of Coast City, but rather he had been under the influence of an alien symbiote by the name of Parallax who was the cause of the yellow impurity in the rings.

This retcon wasn’t well received by fan’s, who were on one side happy to haveHal Jordanback as a Green Lantern, but were appalled by DC for taking away the most human side of his character.

Bringing Hal’s body back to earth to join with his spirit, who was now a host forThe Spectre, Kyle fought Parallax, who had takenGanthetfor a host, with theJohn Stewart, Kilawog,Hal JordanandGuy Gardner. Finally defeating Parallax and imprisoning him again, it finally looked like theGreen Lantern Corpswere back in business.

Infinite Crisis

During infinite Crisis, Kyle was once again transformed into Ion. With the death ofJadeshe passed on her powers of the Starheart to him. Now Kyle goes by the name of Ion and is known to the entireGreen Lantern Corpsas the “Torchbarer”.

He now has the ability to control not only the power of a Green Lantern, but has the power of the Starheart as well, augmenting his power far beyond that of a normal Green Lantern, but not up to the power level he was previously as ION.

ION, Part 2