Kyle Rayner (), one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is depicted as being associated with the Green Lantern Corps, an extraterrestrial police force of which he has been a member.
Rayner has been adapted into various media outside comics, including animated series and video games. He has been voiced by Michael P. Greco, Will Friedle, Josh Keaton, and John Rubinow.
Publication history Created by writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks, and named after a character from James Cameron's film The Terminator, Kyle Rayner first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 3, #48 (1994), as part of the "Emerald Twilight" storyline, in which DC Comics replaced Green Lantern Hal Jordan with Rayner; he was the sole Green Lantern throughout the late 1990s and into the mid-2000s in a very successful run that rejuvenated the Green Lantern franchise. He served as a member of the JLA, where he was one of the brightest stars. During the later end of this period he was also briefly known as Ion.
Following Jordan's return to Green Lantern status in the 2004–2005 limited series Green Lantern: Rebirth, and the 2005 crossover storyline "Infinite Crisis", Kyle returned to his alias of Ion. After the events of the "Sinestro Corps War", Kyle returned to his original role as a Green Lantern officer, along with a promotion to Honor Guard Illustres of the Corps. Later on, he becomes a White Lantern following the mastery of all seven lantern rings. After DC Rebirth, Kyle again returns as Green Lantern, along with his original Corps uniform.
Fictional character biography The last Green Lantern
Before he acquired a Green Lantern power ring, Kyle Rayner was a struggling-but-gifted freelance comic book artist who was raised in North Hollywood and lived and worked in Los Angeles. Kyle was raised by his Irish mother as an only child; his father abandoned his mother when she was pregnant. It was later revealed that his father was a Mexican-American CIA agent named Gabriel Vasquez and that Aaron Rayner was merely an alias and that he had once met Hal Jordan shortly after the pilot became Green Lantern. Kyle and his mother lived a modest lifestyle until he reached adulthood. After Jordan, grief-stricken over the destruction of his home of Coast City by Mongul, went on a mad rampage killing various members of the Green Lantern Corps and Guardians of the Universe, Ganthet gave Kyle the last working Green Lantern power ring. His reasons for doing so have never been made completely apparent, aside from Kyle having been in the right place at the right time: prior to bequeathing the ring, Ganthet simply utters, "You will have to do." Ganthet later revealed that humans make great Green Lanterns (before Hal Jordan's mental breakdown he was the Corps' greatest Green Lantern, and John Stewart became the first mortal Guardian of the Universe). Several sources, however, imply that Ganthet was following a deeper reason: Kyle was not chosen because he was fearless but because he was able to feel and overcome fear,Green Lantern: Rebirth (December 2004 – May 2005)Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 (September 2011) thus making him, and all the future Lanterns, less susceptible to Parallax's influence. The New Guardians retelling goes so far as to replace the scowling "You will have to do" with a smiling "It would seem I chose well."
At first, Kyle took possession of the ring very lightly. His girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, encouraged him to be more responsible, create his own version of the Green Lantern uniform, and helped him train for his new role as a superhero, but she was later murdered and stuffed in a refrigerator by the supervillain Major Force.Green Lantern (vol. 3) #54 (August 1994) The guilt over this event drove Kyle to take his role more seriously, and as a result, he strove to be the best Green Lantern he could be in honor of Alex's memory. Kyle then moved to New York City, since Los Angeles reminded him of Alex and he needed a fresh start.
Kyle grew up enamored with Superman and Batman, though he had only a passing knowledge of Earth's various Green Lanterns. This soon changed, and he found that the Green Lantern ring was the ultimate expression of his fertile imagination. While in battle, he often used the ring's power to create constructs of just about anything his artistic mind could imagine: other superheroes, anime characters, mystical characters, mechas, futuristic weapons, and original characters from his comic books. While other members of the Green Lantern Corps questioned the practicality of those constructs, they often made Kyle an unpredictable and formidable opponent.
Justice League After relocating to New York City, Kyle joined the superhero group the Titans for a brief time, during which he dated Donna Troy, but eventually became a member of the Justice League (JLA).JLA #1 (January 1997) He initially clashed with the Flash (Wally West) early in his career. West had worked with Jordan since childhood and had reservations about Kyle as the new Green Lantern, but he eventually became one of Kyle's best friends and biggest supporters. Surprisingly, another of Kyle's biggest supporters amongst the League was Batman, who often treated him with more respect than he showed certain other League members (including his predecessors as Green Lantern—Jordan, Gardner, and Stewart), most likely due to the fact that Kyle was willing to learn from others where other Lanterns focused on their rings and pre-existing skills. Kyle also entered a romantic relationship with Jade and formed friendships with the Golden Age Green Lantern (Jade's father, Alan Scott), Green Arrow (Connor Hawke), Arsenal (Roy Harper), Warrior (Guy Gardner), and John Stewart (who at the time was a former Green Lantern).
During his superhero career, Kyle accumulated a rogues gallery that included characters from his predecessors' pasts such as Doctor Polaris and Doctor Light.
Oblivion
During the fifth-week event "Circle of Fire", it is discovered that a cosmic entity named Oblivion is coming to Earth after he attacked the planet Rann. This shocked Kyle because the villain is identical to the character of a story Kyle made when he was seven during his period of struggling with his fear and anger of growing up without a father. The Justice League tries to stop Oblivion, and during the battle, Kyle is sent back to Earth to get reinforcements, but the League is captured. On Earth, Kyle recruits Power Girl, Atom, Firestorm, Adam Strange, and the Circle of Fire — a group of Green Lanterns from alternate realities and different time periods. The Circle of Fire consists of Kyle's late girlfriend Alexandra DeWitt from an alternate timeline where she had received the power ring instead of Kyle; Hunter and Forest Rayner, cousins descended from Kyle who share one power ring; Ali Rayner-West, Green Lightning, a future descendant of Wally West and Kyle who possesses both the Flash and Green Lantern's powers but could only use one of those powers at a time; a reprogrammed Manhunter robot model G.L.7177.6; and Pel Tavin, the Emerald Knight, a Daxamite Green Lantern from the Middle Ages.
Finding himself in a role as a leader, Kyle split this group up to handle different crises caused by Oblivion, or in some cases to search for a way to defeat him. Eventually, in a confrontation, Oblivion reveals that he is a distillation of Kyle's doubts and darker impulses, made manifest through the power of the ring. The villain also reveals that Kyle has subconsciously created the Circle of Fire based on his positive aspects because he needed help; Alex is an embodiment of Kyle's capability for love, while Tavin represents his bravery, Ali represents hope, G.L.7177.6 represents logic, and Hunter and Forest represent his imagination. When they realize this, they decide that the created Green Lanterns should return to Kyle's mind. Doing so allows him to unlock more powers from the ring that had been previously unavailable to him and also discovers an inner strength he never knew he possesses after his positive aspects return to him. Facing up to this, Kyle is able to defeat Oblivion in New York City, imprison the entity within his own mind, and free the Justice League.
Ion
For a brief period, Kyle achieved godhood as Ion after absorbing the energy Hal Jordan had left in Earth's Sun during "The Final Night" storyline, which had merged and grown with energies released after Oblivion's defeat. With his new powers, Kyle could bend time, space, and reality, allowing himself, for a good example, to be in many places at once. The drawback of being one with everything was that Kyle could no longer sleep or separate himself from the overwhelming responsibilities these abilities imposed upon him. Rather than sacrifice his humanity, Kyle abandoned omnipotence, bleeding off the vast power, recharging the Central Power Battery on the Guardians' home planet and headquarters, Oa, and helping to create a new group of Guardians in the process.Green Lantern (vol. 3) #150 (July 2002) Before he purged all of the power, though, he modified his ring and conjured a new Corps uniform to reflect his new maturity. Once again limited only by his willpower and imagination, Kyle's ring could still affect yellow and would always harbor a lifeline of power without a time limit on its power, is keyed directly to him, and would always return to him, though it still required charging to reach full power.
After the brutal gay bashing of his young assistant and friend Terry Berg, Kyle went on a lengthy self-imposed exile into space. Before leaving, Kyle selected John Stewart to replace him in the Justice League. Upon his return, he discovered that Jade had begun seeing someone new and was doing so in his own apartment. He left New York and spent some time trying once again to find his place on Earth and ended up staying with his mother for a brief time.
Green Lantern: Rebirth
After being tricked into believing his mother had been murdered by Major Force, Kyle fights with the villain, eventually dealing with the immortal by decapitating him and shooting his head into space.Green Lantern (vol. 3) #181 (November 2004). This is the last issue of the 3rd series, in anticipation of the return of Hal Jordan to Green Lantern status. Feeling that he is a danger to those he cares for, Kyle once again leaves for the far reaches of space. During the events of the miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth, he returns with Jordan's corpse and the discovery of the true nature of Parallax, which is revealed to actually be an alien parasitic entity, the non-corporeal embodiment of fear, that possessed Jordan and committed crimes in his name. Subsequent to this, Kyle is given special status amongst the Guardians, who consider him the "Torchbearer", the Green Lantern who carried the legacy through the Corps' darkest period.Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #1 (August 2006)
Infinite Crisis and the return of Ion In Infinite Crisis, Alexander Luthor Jr. reveals that had the Multiverse continued to exist without Crisis on Infinite Earths occurring, Kyle would have been a native of Earth-Eight.Infinite Crisis #5 (April 2006) When Jade dies during the Rann–Thanagar War, she transfers her power to Kyle, catalyzing his transformation into Ion.Rann/Thanagar War: Infinite Crisis Special (April 2006)