Books : Green Lantern: The Power of Ion

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- The Wescalator
You know what? Kyle has been the Green Lantern for ten years now. TEN YEARS!! In all that time, I never liked him. He always seemed like just some juvenile who doesn't take his job seriously. Y'know the kind I mean, they're the ones who don't wear their safety gloves or hardhats or whatever on the job. In the back of your mind you're thinking "one day, they're gunna hurt themselves, and they're gunna deserve it." I think a lot of Hal's fans felt that way about Kyle because they always seemed so different from each other.
However, if there's one thing nearly every writer has seen in Kyle Rayner since his ascension to superherodom, it's potential. That same kid without the safety gloves is the kid you know with the right motivation could really do a number here. I think Winick's the first writer who capitalized on that-- the idea of growing up a bit. Hal fans didn't like it 'cuz they said Dc was trying to write Hal again. Kyle fans didn't like it because they though it was out of character.
I disagree with both. I think Winick's run has shown the evolution of the boy into manhood in a way that was sorely needed.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't wanna read Peter Parker, Green Lantern. This is DC. I want to read about a hero. For the past ten years, Kyle Rayner has been acting like a kid with a new toy.
No disrespect to Ron Marz, who I think is quite a talented writer, but Winick is the first one who showed the world that this book isn't just about some punk who was given the most powerful weapon in the universe. It's about the Green Lantern, the big-shot who should be up there with the likes of Batman and Superman.
Marz wrote the necessary child-like character people needed to get past the stale feeling Jordan was starting to leave in our mouths. Winick wrote the hero he was meant to become.

Rating:

- Adding new dimensions to Kyle Rayner
By far out of all the Green Lanterns Kyle's role is one of the most that is underplayed. People always hate the new guy; so he claims. But in this one he achieves far more greatly and his character shines through. He learns a new lesson about heroism and his powers. This one is about him becoming the power of the Ring. Oblivion has been siphoning his power from Parallax into Kyle, this is why Kyle has become more powerful (e.g. not having to recharge his ring). In this book he becomes the character Ion. He is omnipotent. That's all i'm going to tell you. This book is definitely a must read. So naturally i give it a 5.

page 1 of 1