That’ll Do, Kyle. That’ll Do.
Written By:
Robert Vendetti
Artist:
Ethan Van Sciver
Colorist:
Jason Wright
Letterer:
Dave Sharpe
Cover: Van
Sciver & Wright
Cover Price:
$2.99
On Sale Date: March 22, 2017
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**
I’ve talked about it on the Cosmic Treadmill podcast (plug, plug) with Chris before: legacy
superheroes work. I am from the tail end of a generation that dealt with pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity,
and when Wally West took over the mantle from Barry Allen, I thought it would
never work. When most of the Justice
Society of America was eliminated during Zero Hour, I was really dubious about the new Starman and other
composite characters that spun from it. But you know what? A newer generation
did embrace them, and the proof is in my co-host Chris, for whom Wally is “his”
Flash. Truth be told, he’s not a lot younger than me, and he would be more on
the early side of that post-Crisis
generation, (and sort of got into DC Comics toward the end of the 1990s
besides) but the fact still holds. To me, Kyle Rayner is more of a cipher, a
character I’ve never connected with like the initial three Green Lanterns. But
I know that when Chris sees this cover, with Kyle back in the GL togs, he’s
going to get chills. Is there more to the issue than Chris chills? Read my
review and find out!
Explain
It!
Looks like the plans of John Stewart and Soranik Natu
to enlist compliant Sinestro Corps members into their combined team and jail
offensive wielders of the yellow ring in Sciencells is going okay. At least,
the second part is going well. It’s still up in the air as to whether space
cops appointed under duress will be effective, from a justice standpoint. Plus,
super evil Sinestro Corps killer Romat-Ru is still beaking around outer space.
And probably killing people, to boot. Let’s not bother with these larger
concerns, because Ganthet and Sayd have another task for Kyle Rayner and his
White Lantern mojo: resurrect the rest of the Guardians!
After Hal butters up his ego a bit, Kyle heads to
some floaty platform ringed with dildos that contain the essences of the dead
Guardians, I’m guessing, and deploys a Care Bear Stare with the aid of Saint
Walker’s Blue ring, which seems to draw some of the life essence from Walker. Ganthet
and Sayd tell Kyle he’s their favorite son, and so, so capable…but he’s not.
Eventually, he expends all of his White Lantern energy and sheds various
aspects of the energy that he cannot control, I think. Whatever is happening,
Atrocitus, the Flash, and Mr. Oz catch wind of it from their various points in
the galaxy. The White Lantern ring vaporizes and burps up a ring for each color
in the spectrum, and each of them take off to find folks to wear them—except for
one, the Green Lantern ring! This returns to Kyle and outfits him in his
classic Green Lantern uniform, restoring him to an original state that is
really more of a demotion, if you think about it.
The best part of this issue was the heart-to-heart
Guy had with a recuperating Arkillo, he seems to have come to a place with
Arkillo that only two dudes that have fought each other will understand. This
issue was sort of a pause in the action, with Kyle’s return to form being the
hook, and I’m not mad at it. Kyle Rayner isn’t “my” Green Lantern, per se,
though I’ve likened to him over the years. But I do understand that he is “the”
Green Lantern for a generation of comics readers, and I imagine this
development is meaningful to them. Plus, some story threads seeded for future
issues and more astounding artwork from Ethan Van Sciver. That’s comic book
satisfaction.
Bits and
Pieces:
This issue serves as a bit of a break in the action, which may have been needed. It's a pretty good place for new readers to hop on, if they're so inclined. The big development, revealed on the cover, is a bit of fan-service to a certain segment of readers, but I don't mind. I'm a fan, and sometimes I like a little service.
8/10
This sounds like horse shit kyle wasnt the only white lantern but they said forget that the templar Guardians are out and now kyle is a green lantern agian this isnt the 90s while i have liked rebirth this old school character regression is dumb
ReplyDeleteSince going back to green, Kyle is now one of 6 earth green lanterns that are all from the United States. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteDc doesn't know how to build on there characters. Dick goes from Batman back to Nightwing, progressed to agent 37, back to Nightwing, Oracle changes back to batgirl,superman story finally evolved with identity is known only to regress back this week, and now Kyle is essentially no different than the other 5 earth lanterns.
ReplyDeleteDc in my opinion is scared of telling new stories.
At the beginning of rebirth i felt like they were paying respect to pre52 fans and i liked it now its like they are shiting on N52 with the back to basic changes
DeleteGanthet and Sayd weren't trying to resurrect the Guardians, they were trying to resurrect the Blue Lanterns.
ReplyDeleteAs for Kyle's "demotion", every time they want to try to make Kyle stand out they give him more power, and invariably the result is that he's too powerful to be usable. Setting him back to a Green Lantern makes him more usable, gives him friends and allies to work with, and makes for better storytelling.
If you disagree, please show me a beloved character anywhere whose most appealing attribute is the amount of raw power they possess. For extra credit, show me a beloved character that doesn't have a collection of friends and allies they regularly interact with.
Superman and Batman. Have characters around them and I don't like them any less than superman or Batman, even supes and Bats are more powerful or more skilled. Besides that, there's no reason for this many Earth lanterns when we don't get enough time with Guy or John. Kyle was doing his own thing, being important, and now he'll no longer stand out and be unique.
DeleteI like Kyle as a Green Lantern, but there are too many Earth Lanterns now and just because I want to name a character. Captain Atom.
Delete