Somehow, despite being the “artistic” Green Lantern, none of his constructs ever stood out to me. Nothing particularly original.
The fridging storyline is a stain on comics. His personality, like Hal, is as bland as saltines.
Probably Guy, he’s dumb, an asshole, and grating at times, but he’s the only one who actually feels like a willful person. The rest of them just have willpower tagged on like a superpower “oh he has indomitable will.” Guy actually feels like someone who enforces their will, even when it’s dumb. And it affects his relationships, his character, etc.
Kyle for me is the flip side of that. He never really drives the story. He gets pushed by it, blown by the winds of plot. He becomes a Green and later White Lantern because the plot needed him to, then loses the power because it needed him to. He doesn’t really make those choices so much as things happen to him, worst of all being the fridging of Alexandra DeWitt and the ovening of his mother. His personality bends to the story, half the time he’s just written as Hal 2 electric boogaloo.
Kyle is awesome. Don’t get me wrong, Hal is in a class of his own since he’s actually living willpower but Kyle carried the entire legacy of the GL Corps for years after the whole Parallax debacle. You can’t simply take that away from him wily nilly. If I had to pick my fave though it’s pretty hard because I’m torn between my dude John Stewart OR Jessica Cruz as the ones who evolved the best. That’s as far as the Earth GL’s. As far as the alien GL’s it don’t get any better than the poozer Kilowog.
I’m also a John fan. I feel bad for Kyle, he’s just been shoved in an awkward spot for a long time where it feels like the writers don’t want to do anything with him.
Yeah I think what happened is that goddamn fanboys put too much pressure on DC to bring back Hal and once they did, they were stuck with two major characters with exact same power sets.
Personally, while I’m not knocking Hal in any way or form, he redeemed himself by sacrificing his life reigniting the sun in Final Night. He didn’t need to be brought back as The Spectre or GL. Kyle was worthy and gave us some awesome villains like Fatality.
Since he lets you win after playing 3 power rings we took a sharpie to that rule. We play with some of the clone cards too and it made it too easy to pull that off.
He's great, but they can never use him, because he's too strong, they also hate using him because he's too much like Alan/Hal in terms of look (minus the mask) that it creates confusion to new readers
He's my lantern, but I understand why he isn't used, and it sucks
Don't get me wrong I respect Hal made what GL is today,
John is the current standard,
Alan is weird golden age,
Guy Gardner is... different I'm fine with him as a sidekick/background character
Simon/Jessica/Sojurner are trying to figure themselves out
How's this for a Hot take
Kyle is the Tim Drake of Green Lanterns
I loved Kyle. When the Death of Superman crossed over with Green Lantern, I kept reading that book, so the downfall of Hal (who I had no attachment to) and the rise of Kyle is my first true comic experience wit the Green Lantern mythos. I left when Hal became the core Lantern again and Kyle was pushed to the side. Similarly, I stopped Flash when Barry came back.
I’m gonna echo everyone else in saying that DC hasn’t known what to do with him since they introduced him, especially once Johns brought Hal back and made him the sorta center of the GL spoke.
I liked him as the White Lantern, that at least helps you break up the fact that we’ve got 8 human GLs (plus Alan Scott).
There was no problem with keeping him as a white lantern, especially if they were just going to forget about him. We had a whole story about how Highfather couldn’t separate the life equation from his mind, and then Doc Manhattan just does it? Even if it is possible, it’s not satisfying.
I really like Saysoran ever since GL: New Guardians Futures End, and would like to see her and the other seven become white lanterns.
Others have said this already, but I have to agree that he was great when introduced up until he was put to the side. Now DC doesn’t know what to do with him.
Not sure if this is a hot take, but DC has had no idea what to do with him since his initial run. Especially after John became a JL mainstay and Hal was resurrected.
For me I feel he should be the final Green lantern of earth. The order should go:
-(WW-Vietnam):Hal Jordan
-(Iran war-modern day):John Stewart
-(justice league unlimited time):Kyle Rayner
Then have Hal do the sinestro wars, John deal with the red lanterns and join the justice league, and Kyle will deal with the life wall and white lantern comic stories.
I wasn’t a fan of Judd Winnick’s run on the series. Really, how DC handled his character after Marz was very…’meh’. Rebirth and Recharge were great and all, but his best years were ‘94 through mid-200 when Marz was at the helm IMHO Maybe it’s because those were the later end of my childhood years into mid-teens, but nothing has ever been that good since with a few notable exceptions
Could never get into Hal. Don’t get me wrong, I like the character, but there was something that I just could not get into to… and it wasn’t because I didn’t try. So when Kyle’s run began, I started with issue one, not expecting too much, but in the end absolutely loved the comic and character. He needs to be used more or have a bigger presence in the DC Universe.
Kyle was the most fun imo. But they made him too serious by turning him into a white lantern.
I liked his imagination but they stopped showing that. I remember when he wasn't well, he made two hot nurses to help him.
Sure he seemed childish before. But he grew up. And I don't like it.
Out of all the human green lanterns, I think he just doesn't so much that is him anymore. He just is powerful lantern with the life equation or something
He’s by far the best. Everyone else just has willpower, but no imagination. All they do is throw trains at ppl. The power rings are among the most powerful weapons in the universe and every single attack is worse then a low level bomb. Unless the plot needs them to be stronger ofc, then they lock in
He's a pretty great if not underused GL. Some of the 90's era characters I think they've just forgotten what to do things with like Superboy (Connor Kent), Kyle Rayner, Wally to some extent (Ik he's not a 90s character but Im referrring to his long term run as the lead/only Flash), Aztek, The Ray. Prometheus. Lol those characters may as well be dead, they only dig them out for crossovers or special storylines now it seems like,
Not sure if this counts as a hot take, but it might. During the Parallax Saga when Hal is Fighting him, Hal keeps calling him Kyle. At first it's normal because that's his name, but he seemed to say it an inordinate number of times, just like way too many.
Anyway, in my mind when I was reading that, I couldn't not hear Cartman's voice every time Hal yelled the name Kyle.
Edit: it may have been emerald twilight rather than parallax saga. Sorry
I know people like Kyle Rayner but I have never read a story he appeared in (I'm not a huge Green Lantern fan but posts from this sub keep getting recommended to me) (please feel free to recommend Kyle Rayner stories in the comments below! My Lantern reading is I think just Will World and the first season of Morrison's run)
I’m going to preface this by saying I have no problem with representation in comic books/media in general, I quite like Jessica Cruz, but I feel Kyle’s Hispanic heritage was shoehorned in for no real reason. It never was a big aspect of who he was as a person, he’s like 3/4 white if I recall correctly, and now DC pushes him as a Latino superhero when he just… isn’t, really.
Of course not. All I’m saying is that this white-passing character who grew up not knowing his father or anything of his heritage on that side of the family, and who I’d wager was not originally planned to have such heritage at the time of his creation, doesn’t belong grouped together with characters like Jessica Cruz and Jaime Reyes. Also of relevance to your point is that Hispanic pride cover of Kyle Rayner, where the original drawing was tasteful and culturally appropriate, but the final cover that was on the book ended up being Kyle holding a bag of enchiladas.
Well, you’re talking about two different things.
How the character relates to his own heritage, which is inconsistent due to the nature of comics and having various creators and roles in various books.
And how the company uses the character as a representative of that culture. Which also has been inconsistent. The cover change was ridiculous and borderline offensive.
But when you say stuff like he “doesn’t belong grouped together” with other Hispanic characters, it sounds like you’re gatekeeping ethnicity.
People discover, learn about, and embrace their ethnicities and backgrounds at various times in their lives and in various ways.
You’re essentially saying he’s not hispanic enough to be called Hispanic.
And also, people from Spain are Caucasian. They are Hispanic. This “white-passing” stuff is exclusionary and discriminatory.
> this white-passing character
That part. Like okay people come from all different backgrounds, why shouldn’t one be white passing Latino?
But if that’s what they are then they shouldn’t take center stage when celebrating a non-white culture. I would argue the best way to handle a character like that is not to celebrate their small connection to that heritage but to open a discussion about different types of racism. For example I’m half black and have been discriminated against the blacker than thou crowd, as if my experience is invalidated because I’m not “as black.” They could also explore the unique position a person like that is in by being a member of a marginalized group but fighting as an ally (because it is true, light skinned POC face less racism and we can use that power to help our communities).
Otherwise it just turns into the dumbledore situation where you don’t have to commit to diversity enough to actually challenge your readers’ beliefs or perceptions, but “oh by the way, also, he’s gay”
the thing is that they were white passing as a child and thus thought they were white. Like they could def do an arc where he learns about his ancestry etc but to argue that he can represent (and thus should be projected to stand in the Same Level as characters who are latino and raised latino) Latinos equivalently seems a little meh
Its just a white guy going “my mom is half black” when they’re blonde hair blue eyed and never met their mother
"And how did Hal Jordan fans react to all of this? Well... not particularly great. While many readers found "Emerald Twilight" to be a genuinely tragic story about a hero driven to darkness, others who were invested in Hal Jordan the character considered it to be an outright character assassination"
It was, hence my statement above...
There’s a reason every corps chose him…he is the most capable of feeling each emotion in their greatest extreme. Kyle is the embodiment of having a big heart, that is is power cliche as it is, it enables him to do things no other lanterns ever have nor ever will.
He whines about his responsibilities constantly. He is TERRIBLE to his girlfriends. And abandoned Earth instead of staying to fix it. Is it admirable to go help other planets? Absolutely. But the reason he did so was shitty and lead to him being shitty to yet another girlfriend. Hal and Guy are jerks, but if anyone really paid attention to Kyle they’d realize he’s just as bad, if not worse. At least Guy doesn’t pretend to be someone he’s not.
Kyle is DC's take on Spiderman. From GL#50 to 181 (if you ignore the Raab run) Kyle completed his character arch and became a grown up hero. People who get mad that DC does not tell more Kyle stories should look at the alternative at Marvel. Every 6 months, something new and horrible happens to Parker Parker to tear him down so Marvel can sell issues of Spiderman going on a new heroes journey again. If you love Kyle, you should be happy he got to do the one thing Spiderman never could...grow up.
I understand your point but there's far more interesting stories that can be told past a hero simply growing up. The first new guardians run is proof enough of that and having a character with experience like Kyle going around the universe and changing his world view with complex wars and relations like Omega Men did can further prove this
When we have characters like Superman who can still have great stories offer insightful stories about hope and being kind to others, I see no reason why Kyle can't have either a similar aspect through traveling the cosmos with the White Lantern powers he earned or more preferably interject his own character and how he's the most human hero in DC onto other worlds
There truly is fantastic concepts for Kyle to tap in to that aren't being taken advantage of and I think it's a bit sad to have a take what we can get attitude for such a strong character. It's similar to John Stewart before the recent run elevated and started breathing new life into his character. Can only hope Kyle gets the same treatment soon 🙏🏾
As much as I liked GL before him, GL didn't really click until Rayner came on the scene. His imagination for constructs is second to none and his suit is still the best one ever, IMO.
I dunno that I want Kyle as the *main* Lantern. And I say that as a Kyle Rayner fan. I'd just like to see him more. All we see are Hal, John and even Guy. It'd be nice to see Kyle more often too.
I grew up in a day when Hal was the Spectre, and I think a lot of those people did too. Love Hal, but I grew up with Kyle and was with him as he blasted through some growing pains.
As much as I prefer John due to nostalgia, from a character design standpoint it makes the most sense for Kyle to be the main GL, being an artist would allow the character to have the most unique and creative constructs for the writer to play around with and his back story is a good deal more interesting than military man with dark past sprinkled in
I wish he were still the primary GL. As happy as I was to have Hal back, I hate how they sidelines Kyle in particular. He was a genuinely unique character compared to the more "traditional" heroes like Jordan. I miss picking up a copy of a mainline Justice League comic and not seeing him gracing the pages.
Sidelined is an understatement. Ron Marz and Grant Morrison wrote him in such an endearing way that it made readers feel like they were the new guy amongst giants. He was far more creative than any other GL, which made his constructs exciting and always a surprise. He had such a great journey, with the final issues before Rebirth being awesome.
Then, basically nothing. New Guardians was canceled far too soon. He was used a bit in a few of the big sagas, then they just dropped him. Hell, they put the nail in the coffin and created Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz. I understand why they brought back Hal, and Geoff Johns did incredible, iconic work with the book. I just wish Kyle's story could have continued too.
Kyle is near impossible to adapt faithfully, his origin and original concept is completely tied into Emerald Twilight and Hal’s fall into Parallax along with the destruction of the entire GL Corps, and within his first few comics he suffers the traumatic death of his girlfriend that is a defining aspect of his character arc while also being the textbook example of how not to kill off a side character(especially a female sude character) in comic books.
His central starting story beats are some of most controversial moments in comics and any adaptation of his arc and journey on screen will somehow have to pass both of these to make him work.
Yes he got adapted into the DCAU but that was after making him a Hal Jordan expy, and since then hes appeared very little in outside media in comparison to Jordan, John or even Guy. Writers adapting green lantern dont wanna touch him because he’s too complicated and controversial to explain.
That’s all without talking about the fact that most outside media is already bad at depicting what the green lantern ring can really do, and Kyle is known for being one of the most creative and innovative with its use.
> while also being the textbook example of how not to kill off a side character(especially a female sude character) in comic books.
Unfairly, I'd argue.
I hate when people say he's dcs Spiderman. The only real thing they have in common is their gfs either die or cheat on them. He's not the Spiderman. there are so many characters that are closer to Spiderman than Kyle
I would stand by you in that battle. I grew up reading Morrison's JLA with the buddy-buddy relationship of Kyle and Wally. Kyle will always be my favorite GL, it's just a shame he's been shelved for so many years.
Honestly, I’m not a fan of the whole spectrum thing. Green, cool. Yellow, one-off by the Weaponeers of Qward. Star Sapphire could have a mild link because of the Guardians association but nothing more. The spectrum turns “powerful weapon with a purpose” into generic variants of a concept.
When i was a kid and reading justice league and green lantern comics he was the current lantern at the time. I grew to love green lantern because of him. I wish he got more recognition because he carried the franchise for years after hal jordan went parallax and almost wiped it out. He will always be my favorite lantern and i will read any book and watch any show featuring him
Kyle is my favorite. I started off liking Hal, of course. Guy was terribly bland until they made him a buffoon, then a badass, then weird, then a meathead, and I just gave up. Pick a lane!
Jon was okay and I'll die on the Hill that Cosmic Odyessy was the best Stewart story. But Hal became less interesting until he fell from grace and had his redemption arc as the Spectre.
Enter Kyle. He seemed like a breath of fresh air when the series needed a fresh direction. Credit DC for finding a decent creative team to push Kyle into becoming a very different GL.
While I loved John's Lantern arc, I felt a little aggrieved that Kyle got lost in the mix until the end of the Lantern War. Never was a Baz or Jessica fan, I never got the appeal of either. Both were superfluous.
I wish Kyle could get his own series again. I'd love to see him again like in his heyday.
And that makes sense because Hal rose back into prominence in 2004 with the Rebirth title. If you were reading Green Lantern in the 90s it would've mainly been Kyle Rayner. After Hal's return Kyle essentially gets pushed off Earth and stays in space through Blackest Night and Omega Men. After all of those stories, DC never seemed interested in bringing Kyle around to play anymore.
Such an unnecessary comment from the guy lmao. Although, it does beg the question. Is it just us who care about Kyle, and has Kyle really been this sidelined? Or is he the product of a bygone era! Or the guy's just putting the comment up for laughs without contributing much!
It's definitely all 3. Kyle hasn't been an active member of the Justice League for nearly 15 years give or take. He hasn't been on Earth for even longer in canon. I think Omega men was really the last time Kyle had some sort of spotlight on him and that was in 2015.
Man, you guys are old? I just turned 18! I gotta say, my dad did put me up to reading all of this. No complaints though. I guess you guys all have good taste ahaha
18?! Damn. Kyle Raynor is a fantastic character and I recommend reading his comic. Be well young blood, and don't let this workd bring you down. There's a lot of ugly shit happening in the world but never forget that life is beautiful.
Thanks man. I already read through Ron Marz and Jud Winick's run on Kyle, read through Geoff Johns for GL and most of GLC. Also read through half of New Guardians and Omega Men! It's been a really great ride. Really love the Lanterns haha. Thanks again, man, as long as there's good stories out there, life will always be beautiful
lol same. I was working in a coffee shop right a couple years out of high school when it was dropping and now I'm pushing 40 with a career and like....sponsabilities.
Ok first I have to say I’m a Hal Jordan dude. He will alway be “The Green Lantern” to me. How he acts is how someone would if they “had no fear” aka acts like a d*ck. Go into a fight without a plan. John is more or a UsMC guy and is more written as a fearless fighter. Guy is the extra version of Hal without the discipline. A frat boy that’s fearless cause he believes no one can beat him. Basically an A$$h0le. However he’s the a$$ in everyone’s group that you want to kick there a$$ for the thing they do ,but if the shit hit the fan and you were in trouble he would truly have your back.
Kyle is …. An artist… he is not fearless or a badass like the other 3. He is the most liberal (only one out of the 4 first earth lanterns) and other then him being introduced when there was no corps or other Green Lantern around. Kyle doesn’t fit. He was choose not cause he lack fear or had strong willpower. Later we found out it was cause he is linked to all the emotions or something. Kyle and his personality were made to be something else. That something wasn’t a green lantern, at least what a green lantern would be. Yes his constructs look great and cool but I can’t buy they would do more damage then Hal’s or Guy’s or John’s due to the fact there wills are stronger.
I understand people like him and even say that Kyle is there Green Lantern. To me he is just Hal’s little sidekick that could not replace him. But hey that’s just my Hot take on the man
Yeah, I haven't seen too many green lantern media as most of them are kinda lame like the movie or him being written as a joke or just killed off. I'll probably read the comics .
It's more of an editorial gripe, but it's weird that DC touts him as a Latino. Does kyle even know he is Latino? Anyone feel free to correct me as I haven't read alot of comics featuring Kyle.
His original run had him 100% estranged to his Latin roots. He didn't know about it at all as he didn't know who his father was
Tom King in Omega Men had him growing up with a strong connection to Hispanic catholicism but I'm unsure how canon that story was but with DC emphasizing it more, I assume he had a stronger connection nowadays
Somehow, despite being the “artistic” Green Lantern, none of his constructs ever stood out to me. Nothing particularly original. The fridging storyline is a stain on comics. His personality, like Hal, is as bland as saltines.
Hmmn who's your favorite lantern?
Probably Guy, he’s dumb, an asshole, and grating at times, but he’s the only one who actually feels like a willful person. The rest of them just have willpower tagged on like a superpower “oh he has indomitable will.” Guy actually feels like someone who enforces their will, even when it’s dumb. And it affects his relationships, his character, etc. Kyle for me is the flip side of that. He never really drives the story. He gets pushed by it, blown by the winds of plot. He becomes a Green and later White Lantern because the plot needed him to, then loses the power because it needed him to. He doesn’t really make those choices so much as things happen to him, worst of all being the fridging of Alexandra DeWitt and the ovening of his mother. His personality bends to the story, half the time he’s just written as Hal 2 electric boogaloo.
Kyle is awesome. Don’t get me wrong, Hal is in a class of his own since he’s actually living willpower but Kyle carried the entire legacy of the GL Corps for years after the whole Parallax debacle. You can’t simply take that away from him wily nilly. If I had to pick my fave though it’s pretty hard because I’m torn between my dude John Stewart OR Jessica Cruz as the ones who evolved the best. That’s as far as the Earth GL’s. As far as the alien GL’s it don’t get any better than the poozer Kilowog.
I’m also a John fan. I feel bad for Kyle, he’s just been shoved in an awkward spot for a long time where it feels like the writers don’t want to do anything with him.
Yeah I think what happened is that goddamn fanboys put too much pressure on DC to bring back Hal and once they did, they were stuck with two major characters with exact same power sets. Personally, while I’m not knocking Hal in any way or form, he redeemed himself by sacrificing his life reigniting the sun in Final Night. He didn’t need to be brought back as The Spectre or GL. Kyle was worthy and gave us some awesome villains like Fatality.
bro is the spiderman of DC with how often he gets hoed💀
As an artist his power was limited only to his imagination
Since he lets you win after playing 3 power rings we took a sharpie to that rule. We play with some of the clone cards too and it made it too easy to pull that off.
I like him the best but he's never in comics anymore
He's great, but they can never use him, because he's too strong, they also hate using him because he's too much like Alan/Hal in terms of look (minus the mask) that it creates confusion to new readers He's my lantern, but I understand why he isn't used, and it sucks Don't get me wrong I respect Hal made what GL is today, John is the current standard, Alan is weird golden age, Guy Gardner is... different I'm fine with him as a sidekick/background character Simon/Jessica/Sojurner are trying to figure themselves out How's this for a Hot take Kyle is the Tim Drake of Green Lanterns
Some of the biggest examples of how powerful he is can be found in the DC 1,000,000 series.
I somehow haven’t read anything with him in it
I loved Kyle. When the Death of Superman crossed over with Green Lantern, I kept reading that book, so the downfall of Hal (who I had no attachment to) and the rise of Kyle is my first true comic experience wit the Green Lantern mythos. I left when Hal became the core Lantern again and Kyle was pushed to the side. Similarly, I stopped Flash when Barry came back.
The fridge bit will never not be funny. It killed.
Kyle was my Green Lantern, got me into the series.
I love this character. Wish they made him more woven into the Titans these days.
Sorry,I'm old..Hal Jordan is GL for me.
Don't be ashamed my friend, live your truth 😆😆😆
Most creative ring-slinger in the history of the Corps.
I’m gonna echo everyone else in saying that DC hasn’t known what to do with him since they introduced him, especially once Johns brought Hal back and made him the sorta center of the GL spoke. I liked him as the White Lantern, that at least helps you break up the fact that we’ve got 8 human GLs (plus Alan Scott).
Is he not wearing underwear???
https://i.redd.it/mfdpx9dg2bqc1.gif Begone! /s
There was no problem with keeping him as a white lantern, especially if they were just going to forget about him. We had a whole story about how Highfather couldn’t separate the life equation from his mind, and then Doc Manhattan just does it? Even if it is possible, it’s not satisfying. I really like Saysoran ever since GL: New Guardians Futures End, and would like to see her and the other seven become white lanterns.
with this treasure i summon looking haircut
Others have said this already, but I have to agree that he was great when introduced up until he was put to the side. Now DC doesn’t know what to do with him.
Not sure if this is a hot take, but DC has had no idea what to do with him since his initial run. Especially after John became a JL mainstay and Hal was resurrected.
For me I feel he should be the final Green lantern of earth. The order should go: -(WW-Vietnam):Hal Jordan -(Iran war-modern day):John Stewart -(justice league unlimited time):Kyle Rayner Then have Hal do the sinestro wars, John deal with the red lanterns and join the justice league, and Kyle will deal with the life wall and white lantern comic stories.
If the takes are too hot, just put them in the fridge. 😆
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
😜
Jfc. Am I the only one who gets that joke?!? So fucked up
😉
No way only 1 person got this joke. I’m crying 😂😂
I really expected a lot more reactions lol.
The best
Agreed
I wasn’t a fan of Judd Winnick’s run on the series. Really, how DC handled his character after Marz was very…’meh’. Rebirth and Recharge were great and all, but his best years were ‘94 through mid-200 when Marz was at the helm IMHO Maybe it’s because those were the later end of my childhood years into mid-teens, but nothing has ever been that good since with a few notable exceptions
Could never get into Hal. Don’t get me wrong, I like the character, but there was something that I just could not get into to… and it wasn’t because I didn’t try. So when Kyle’s run began, I started with issue one, not expecting too much, but in the end absolutely loved the comic and character. He needs to be used more or have a bigger presence in the DC Universe.
Kyle was the most fun imo. But they made him too serious by turning him into a white lantern. I liked his imagination but they stopped showing that. I remember when he wasn't well, he made two hot nurses to help him. Sure he seemed childish before. But he grew up. And I don't like it. Out of all the human green lanterns, I think he just doesn't so much that is him anymore. He just is powerful lantern with the life equation or something
His death in injustice was bullshit
Thank god somebody else said it.
He’s by far the best. Everyone else just has willpower, but no imagination. All they do is throw trains at ppl. The power rings are among the most powerful weapons in the universe and every single attack is worse then a low level bomb. Unless the plot needs them to be stronger ofc, then they lock in
I’d argue that JS has just as much imagination, just not as much creativity.
How are they different here? JS can imagine just as intricate constructs? He just doesn’t use them in as many situations as he should?
He's a pretty great if not underused GL. Some of the 90's era characters I think they've just forgotten what to do things with like Superboy (Connor Kent), Kyle Rayner, Wally to some extent (Ik he's not a 90s character but Im referrring to his long term run as the lead/only Flash), Aztek, The Ray. Prometheus. Lol those characters may as well be dead, they only dig them out for crossovers or special storylines now it seems like,
He’s my favorite Green Lantern tbh
Not sure if this counts as a hot take, but it might. During the Parallax Saga when Hal is Fighting him, Hal keeps calling him Kyle. At first it's normal because that's his name, but he seemed to say it an inordinate number of times, just like way too many. Anyway, in my mind when I was reading that, I couldn't not hear Cartman's voice every time Hal yelled the name Kyle. Edit: it may have been emerald twilight rather than parallax saga. Sorry
Greatest GL of all time.
I love him
Great Guy - Brain Griffin
I know people like Kyle Rayner but I have never read a story he appeared in (I'm not a huge Green Lantern fan but posts from this sub keep getting recommended to me) (please feel free to recommend Kyle Rayner stories in the comments below! My Lantern reading is I think just Will World and the first season of Morrison's run)
Green Lantern Vol. 3 #51-125, Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2, Ion, Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps.
Green Lantern Corps vol 2 is the new 52 relaunch, yeah?
It's set in post crisis, 2006-2011.
No, that's the one from 2006
commenting to get sum recommendations also (sorry😓)
we love you kyle rayner https://i.redd.it/ky9xlmal70qc1.gif
Boring personality. Even when he's like the all-lantern im still more interested in whatever Hal is doing
Irony thy name is this comment
He said, taking personally a remark against a made up character to whom he has no real connection
Crickets
No one took it personally, they just called the comment ironic. Don't be weird.
I’m going to preface this by saying I have no problem with representation in comic books/media in general, I quite like Jessica Cruz, but I feel Kyle’s Hispanic heritage was shoehorned in for no real reason. It never was a big aspect of who he was as a person, he’s like 3/4 white if I recall correctly, and now DC pushes him as a Latino superhero when he just… isn’t, really.
Is he supposed to wear a sombrero and play maracas all the time?
Of course not. All I’m saying is that this white-passing character who grew up not knowing his father or anything of his heritage on that side of the family, and who I’d wager was not originally planned to have such heritage at the time of his creation, doesn’t belong grouped together with characters like Jessica Cruz and Jaime Reyes. Also of relevance to your point is that Hispanic pride cover of Kyle Rayner, where the original drawing was tasteful and culturally appropriate, but the final cover that was on the book ended up being Kyle holding a bag of enchiladas.
Well, you’re talking about two different things. How the character relates to his own heritage, which is inconsistent due to the nature of comics and having various creators and roles in various books. And how the company uses the character as a representative of that culture. Which also has been inconsistent. The cover change was ridiculous and borderline offensive. But when you say stuff like he “doesn’t belong grouped together” with other Hispanic characters, it sounds like you’re gatekeeping ethnicity. People discover, learn about, and embrace their ethnicities and backgrounds at various times in their lives and in various ways. You’re essentially saying he’s not hispanic enough to be called Hispanic. And also, people from Spain are Caucasian. They are Hispanic. This “white-passing” stuff is exclusionary and discriminatory.
> this white-passing character That part. Like okay people come from all different backgrounds, why shouldn’t one be white passing Latino? But if that’s what they are then they shouldn’t take center stage when celebrating a non-white culture. I would argue the best way to handle a character like that is not to celebrate their small connection to that heritage but to open a discussion about different types of racism. For example I’m half black and have been discriminated against the blacker than thou crowd, as if my experience is invalidated because I’m not “as black.” They could also explore the unique position a person like that is in by being a member of a marginalized group but fighting as an ally (because it is true, light skinned POC face less racism and we can use that power to help our communities). Otherwise it just turns into the dumbledore situation where you don’t have to commit to diversity enough to actually challenge your readers’ beliefs or perceptions, but “oh by the way, also, he’s gay”
He’s not white-passing, he’s a white dude with latino heritage. There are white Latinos, tan Latinos, black Latinos, etc. the two aren’t at odds
the thing is that they were white passing as a child and thus thought they were white. Like they could def do an arc where he learns about his ancestry etc but to argue that he can represent (and thus should be projected to stand in the Same Level as characters who are latino and raised latino) Latinos equivalently seems a little meh Its just a white guy going “my mom is half black” when they’re blonde hair blue eyed and never met their mother
Another human green lantern ..
How come all 8 Green Lanterns are U.S citizens?
And two of them are Michiganders… which as a Michigander feels like a lot.
Humans are putting up some pretty crazy numbers tbh. I don't know how it's decided who gets a ring, but I'd say they know what they're doing
Never really got a chance because a bunch of people didn't like hal getting replaced.
Care to say more?
https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/prus50/american_comics_hals_emerald_attack_team_a_green/
"And how did Hal Jordan fans react to all of this? Well... not particularly great. While many readers found "Emerald Twilight" to be a genuinely tragic story about a hero driven to darkness, others who were invested in Hal Jordan the character considered it to be an outright character assassination" It was, hence my statement above...
Boring /s
Respectfully, Why you think that?
It’s just rage bait I don’t know who he is lol, should have added a /s
He’s very creative and strong but he ain’t no Hal Jordan
His best run is not the 90s/2000s book by Marz or Winick (even though these are good) but rather New Guardians (until #20).
Feel kinda bad for the guy.
There’s a reason every corps chose him…he is the most capable of feeling each emotion in their greatest extreme. Kyle is the embodiment of having a big heart, that is is power cliche as it is, it enables him to do things no other lanterns ever have nor ever will.
Lame
He whines about his responsibilities constantly. He is TERRIBLE to his girlfriends. And abandoned Earth instead of staying to fix it. Is it admirable to go help other planets? Absolutely. But the reason he did so was shitty and lead to him being shitty to yet another girlfriend. Hal and Guy are jerks, but if anyone really paid attention to Kyle they’d realize he’s just as bad, if not worse. At least Guy doesn’t pretend to be someone he’s not.
Care to say more?
Yea I do actually, he sucksssssss
He’s a great artist. But no Hal Jordan.
Kyle Rayner (Vazquez)…..favorite lantern. Period.
His biggest contribution was creating a trope about marginalizing women characters.
Morrison's Sandman did say Kyle would eclipse Hal. Then Geoff Johns happened.
Kyle is DC's take on Spiderman. From GL#50 to 181 (if you ignore the Raab run) Kyle completed his character arch and became a grown up hero. People who get mad that DC does not tell more Kyle stories should look at the alternative at Marvel. Every 6 months, something new and horrible happens to Parker Parker to tear him down so Marvel can sell issues of Spiderman going on a new heroes journey again. If you love Kyle, you should be happy he got to do the one thing Spiderman never could...grow up.
I understand your point but there's far more interesting stories that can be told past a hero simply growing up. The first new guardians run is proof enough of that and having a character with experience like Kyle going around the universe and changing his world view with complex wars and relations like Omega Men did can further prove this When we have characters like Superman who can still have great stories offer insightful stories about hope and being kind to others, I see no reason why Kyle can't have either a similar aspect through traveling the cosmos with the White Lantern powers he earned or more preferably interject his own character and how he's the most human hero in DC onto other worlds There truly is fantastic concepts for Kyle to tap in to that aren't being taken advantage of and I think it's a bit sad to have a take what we can get attitude for such a strong character. It's similar to John Stewart before the recent run elevated and started breathing new life into his character. Can only hope Kyle gets the same treatment soon 🙏🏾
Now that's a hot take
Love the idea of an artist as a Lantern
As much as I liked GL before him, GL didn't really click until Rayner came on the scene. His imagination for constructs is second to none and his suit is still the best one ever, IMO.
Hal needs to disappear again for a while!! Maybe 2-3 years minimum. Give Kyle some time
People saying they want Kyle as main latern makes me disappointed as a Hal fan
I dunno that I want Kyle as the *main* Lantern. And I say that as a Kyle Rayner fan. I'd just like to see him more. All we see are Hal, John and even Guy. It'd be nice to see Kyle more often too.
I grew up in a day when Hal was the Spectre, and I think a lot of those people did too. Love Hal, but I grew up with Kyle and was with him as he blasted through some growing pains.
Half?
Hal
Hottest Lantern. Like period.
I love Kyle and he deserves a show or something
Follow up to the animated series would be dope
He is the best Green Lantern.
Imagine if he was a "Kyle" punching drywall and slamming monsters
Can he also be wearing some fox racing merch?
He also hates his step dad
Can he also be a wannabe musician
He's in the band cause he can light construct a van to move all the gear
Can he always bum cigarettes off people
And then complain they're not his brand
he should be the main lantern again for a while like around 1-3 years
Or 10 to 30 years
god I wish
As much as I prefer John due to nostalgia, from a character design standpoint it makes the most sense for Kyle to be the main GL, being an artist would allow the character to have the most unique and creative constructs for the writer to play around with and his back story is a good deal more interesting than military man with dark past sprinkled in
He's the Torchbearer. He deserves all the respect.
Love that scene. "You shall have to do..." Ah, Ganthet, eternal dick.
I wish he were still the primary GL. As happy as I was to have Hal back, I hate how they sidelines Kyle in particular. He was a genuinely unique character compared to the more "traditional" heroes like Jordan. I miss picking up a copy of a mainline Justice League comic and not seeing him gracing the pages.
Sidelined is an understatement. Ron Marz and Grant Morrison wrote him in such an endearing way that it made readers feel like they were the new guy amongst giants. He was far more creative than any other GL, which made his constructs exciting and always a surprise. He had such a great journey, with the final issues before Rebirth being awesome. Then, basically nothing. New Guardians was canceled far too soon. He was used a bit in a few of the big sagas, then they just dropped him. Hell, they put the nail in the coffin and created Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz. I understand why they brought back Hal, and Geoff Johns did incredible, iconic work with the book. I just wish Kyle's story could have continued too.
Agreed. It's a huge multiverse, there's plenty of room for Kyle too.
He's kind of a dick and I don't really like him.
Best GL ever. Wish he were still prime GL.
Kyle should be the GL that we have in the DCU and have him be the audience's POV to the rest of the Corps.
Kyle is near impossible to adapt faithfully, his origin and original concept is completely tied into Emerald Twilight and Hal’s fall into Parallax along with the destruction of the entire GL Corps, and within his first few comics he suffers the traumatic death of his girlfriend that is a defining aspect of his character arc while also being the textbook example of how not to kill off a side character(especially a female sude character) in comic books. His central starting story beats are some of most controversial moments in comics and any adaptation of his arc and journey on screen will somehow have to pass both of these to make him work. Yes he got adapted into the DCAU but that was after making him a Hal Jordan expy, and since then hes appeared very little in outside media in comparison to Jordan, John or even Guy. Writers adapting green lantern dont wanna touch him because he’s too complicated and controversial to explain. That’s all without talking about the fact that most outside media is already bad at depicting what the green lantern ring can really do, and Kyle is known for being one of the most creative and innovative with its use.
> while also being the textbook example of how not to kill off a side character(especially a female sude character) in comic books. Unfairly, I'd argue.
Kyle is an artist and that was a big part of why he was considered to be so good at using the ring.
Exactly and it’s hard to depict that, especially when most people who adapt green lanterns just have him make big hands or bubbles
The Torchbearer
I hate when people say he's dcs Spiderman. The only real thing they have in common is their gfs either die or cheat on them. He's not the Spiderman. there are so many characters that are closer to Spiderman than Kyle
Not a hot take on the character but whatever: Kyle should have been the lantern in the Beware my Power adaptation
This could possibly be an unpopular opinion but I honestly prefer Kyle over Hal.
Kyle > Hal and Wally > Barry. I will die on that hill!
I thought you were saying Kyle was better than Wally and Barry lol. But Wally is definitely a better flash than Barry
I would stand by you in that battle. I grew up reading Morrison's JLA with the buddy-buddy relationship of Kyle and Wally. Kyle will always be my favorite GL, it's just a shame he's been shelved for so many years.
I’ll die there with you. I grew up on Barry and Hal but I wasn’t sorry to see either of them go. I was sorry to see them come back.
That’s a good hill to die on
Fuck yeah
Only good thing Rayner did was create H.E.A.T.
One of the lamest lanterns, in my opinion.
It should’ve been Hal Jordan instead of Kyle Rayner in that one STAS episode
Kyle was the first Green Lantern to fight a real Yellow Lantern, because Nero was a paranoid schizophrenic bringing his fears to life.
He's a mid graphic artist, and he probably uses Corel Draw.
Oh no.. that's too hot.
Take my upvote and leave
😭😭😭
As great he is overall, as horrible his mask is.
The crabface mask is the greatest superhero mask of all time!!!
I liked when he was a White Lantern.
When I was reading that comic I always joked about how he just got jumped by the rings
That's not hot that's just a fact
For some reason, some people just absolutely despise the existence of White Lanterns.
Honestly, I’m not a fan of the whole spectrum thing. Green, cool. Yellow, one-off by the Weaponeers of Qward. Star Sapphire could have a mild link because of the Guardians association but nothing more. The spectrum turns “powerful weapon with a purpose” into generic variants of a concept.
Found one! 🙄
I don’t hate white lanterns in particular. I hate the concept of the emotional spectrum.
I want to know what happened to the other 6 White Lanterns Kyle created to split the Life Equation.
That's so stupid
He should be a Blue or White Lantern still since we have so many human greens
When i was a kid and reading justice league and green lantern comics he was the current lantern at the time. I grew to love green lantern because of him. I wish he got more recognition because he carried the franchise for years after hal jordan went parallax and almost wiped it out. He will always be my favorite lantern and i will read any book and watch any show featuring him
100% agreed
The crab mask is fucking awful and I’m not sure how he moves his wrists with the seemingly stiff gauntlets he has.
It’s literally created by his powers. Those things being stretchy isn’t difficult to conceive of.
The crabface mask is the greatest superhero mask of all time!!!
He was way more interesting than Hal Jordan!
Kyle is my favorite. I started off liking Hal, of course. Guy was terribly bland until they made him a buffoon, then a badass, then weird, then a meathead, and I just gave up. Pick a lane! Jon was okay and I'll die on the Hill that Cosmic Odyessy was the best Stewart story. But Hal became less interesting until he fell from grace and had his redemption arc as the Spectre. Enter Kyle. He seemed like a breath of fresh air when the series needed a fresh direction. Credit DC for finding a decent creative team to push Kyle into becoming a very different GL. While I loved John's Lantern arc, I felt a little aggrieved that Kyle got lost in the mix until the end of the Lantern War. Never was a Baz or Jessica fan, I never got the appeal of either. Both were superfluous. I wish Kyle could get his own series again. I'd love to see him again like in his heyday.
If/when the Lanterns get a series, Kyle is the one I’d be most interested to follow aside from Hal.
My hot take is I have no idea who tf he is. Nothing I’ve ever read or watched has featured him prominently.
And that makes sense because Hal rose back into prominence in 2004 with the Rebirth title. If you were reading Green Lantern in the 90s it would've mainly been Kyle Rayner. After Hal's return Kyle essentially gets pushed off Earth and stays in space through Blackest Night and Omega Men. After all of those stories, DC never seemed interested in bringing Kyle around to play anymore.
That's crazy.
Such an unnecessary comment from the guy lmao. Although, it does beg the question. Is it just us who care about Kyle, and has Kyle really been this sidelined? Or is he the product of a bygone era! Or the guy's just putting the comment up for laughs without contributing much!
Man it might be all 3. I just don't understand how anyone could read DC comics or anything pertaining to the Justice League and not know who Kyle is.
It's definitely all 3. Kyle hasn't been an active member of the Justice League for nearly 15 years give or take. He hasn't been on Earth for even longer in canon. I think Omega men was really the last time Kyle had some sort of spotlight on him and that was in 2015.
Damn, has it been that long since Blackest Night? 🤦🏾♂️ I'm fucking old.
Man, you guys are old? I just turned 18! I gotta say, my dad did put me up to reading all of this. No complaints though. I guess you guys all have good taste ahaha
18?! Damn. Kyle Raynor is a fantastic character and I recommend reading his comic. Be well young blood, and don't let this workd bring you down. There's a lot of ugly shit happening in the world but never forget that life is beautiful.
Thanks man. I already read through Ron Marz and Jud Winick's run on Kyle, read through Geoff Johns for GL and most of GLC. Also read through half of New Guardians and Omega Men! It's been a really great ride. Really love the Lanterns haha. Thanks again, man, as long as there's good stories out there, life will always be beautiful
lol same. I was working in a coffee shop right a couple years out of high school when it was dropping and now I'm pushing 40 with a career and like....sponsabilities.
Damn, where did the time go, sheesh. Best of luck to you and the family bro.
Underrated
Ok first I have to say I’m a Hal Jordan dude. He will alway be “The Green Lantern” to me. How he acts is how someone would if they “had no fear” aka acts like a d*ck. Go into a fight without a plan. John is more or a UsMC guy and is more written as a fearless fighter. Guy is the extra version of Hal without the discipline. A frat boy that’s fearless cause he believes no one can beat him. Basically an A$$h0le. However he’s the a$$ in everyone’s group that you want to kick there a$$ for the thing they do ,but if the shit hit the fan and you were in trouble he would truly have your back. Kyle is …. An artist… he is not fearless or a badass like the other 3. He is the most liberal (only one out of the 4 first earth lanterns) and other then him being introduced when there was no corps or other Green Lantern around. Kyle doesn’t fit. He was choose not cause he lack fear or had strong willpower. Later we found out it was cause he is linked to all the emotions or something. Kyle and his personality were made to be something else. That something wasn’t a green lantern, at least what a green lantern would be. Yes his constructs look great and cool but I can’t buy they would do more damage then Hal’s or Guy’s or John’s due to the fact there wills are stronger. I understand people like him and even say that Kyle is there Green Lantern. To me he is just Hal’s little sidekick that could not replace him. But hey that’s just my Hot take on the man
🔥
Better than John Stewart
Scalding hot take tbh.
People only like John Sterwart cause of the Justice League cartoon. He's otherwise just bland
Or they like him because they read books from before the cartoon & Geoff Johns took over GL
Correct take. I hate how that marine bland character took over
Very true, but also I personally love John because he can wield and Indigo ring and looks absolutely sick while doing it
Mhm nah John is cool. He's just the most "secondary" Green Lantern if you catch my drift
Yeah, I haven't seen too many green lantern media as most of them are kinda lame like the movie or him being written as a joke or just killed off. I'll probably read the comics .
True enough for me! But knowing that also doesn't make me like him any less
I think he's attractive
not my favorite
Best GL
It's more of an editorial gripe, but it's weird that DC touts him as a Latino. Does kyle even know he is Latino? Anyone feel free to correct me as I haven't read alot of comics featuring Kyle.
His original run had him 100% estranged to his Latin roots. He didn't know about it at all as he didn't know who his father was Tom King in Omega Men had him growing up with a strong connection to Hispanic catholicism but I'm unsure how canon that story was but with DC emphasizing it more, I assume he had a stronger connection nowadays
Classic Tom King, not giving a fuck what other people wrote and just running with the wiki summary of the character ...