The Kyle Rayner problem

[Trey Strain]

It's hard to remember now, but the original concept for Kyle was that he was an everyman Gen Xer who got handed a power ring totally at random.

Fast forward to the present, when he's the most special of snowflakes.

And not selling worth a damn.

Isn't it time for DC to admit that the Kyle-is-so-special thing just isn't going to work? Or are they going to keep trying it and hoping for a different result every time?

Why can't he just be a Green Lantern? One with a distinctive and interesting personality? And one who isn't being constantly demoted indirectly by writers' proclamations that Hal is "the greatest?"

What's wrong with depicting him as a GL who's equal to the others?

Why in the world wouldn't you do that?

[SmokeMonster]

As someone who's never read any Kyle outside crossovers (nor have I ever felt compelled to after reading those New Guardians crossover issues, which I often found too bland to get through),...does Kyle have a "distinctive and interesting personality"? I think I'd prefer if they just kept him away doing his space jesus thing.

And on the topic of personalities, I also think they need to give something more distinctive to Baz and Cruz fast, because right now they're just blank slate token characters. Right now they have 'inexperienced' going for them, but that logically will diminish with every issue, so what then?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Kyle has had a distinctive personality since his creation, just as Hal, John, Guy, Simon & Jessica do. Now, whether or not that necessarily translates into a large readership depends on the creative team and various other factors that have nothing to do with any of the various Green Lanterns personalities (which are all interesting enough to support a series as headliners).

So, I am not really sure what your point is here aside from trolling Kyle fans. All of whom seem smart enough so far to not take the bait.

[Jabare]

Kyle is better than Hal Jordan because he doesn't mess up catastrophically on the regular or have relations with underage women

[Trey Strain]

Maybe it comes down to the recognition that you're probably not creative enough to invent a better job for him than being a Green Lantern. That should be an easy thing to recognize.

[InfamousBG]

Some one here brought up the idea of Kyle being the Guardian of the universe because of all his powers. I like that idea and think it could work well.

I have been a Kyle fan for years. He is a wonderful character.

[colonyofcells]

I prefer Kyle as a green lantern or one of the color lanterns. can give the white lantern role to a guardian maybe.

[Lee Stone]

From Comicvine:

Creation
Kyle Rayner was created by Ron Marz and Darryl Banks due to the unpopularity of DC's Green Lantern title. It was decided by DC editorial and Green Lantern editor Kevin Dooley to scrap everything, including Hal Jordan as a main character, and start fresh with a new Green Lantern lead. So Marz crafted Kyle to address what he thought was wrong with the square-jawed, serious character of Hal Jordan.

Rather than a stalwart hero from the jump, Kyle was a random guy with unrealized heroic potential that became the new Green Lantern by sheer chance. The unremarkable life he had lived up until that point would give him a sense of wonder and excitement over his new circumstances as the universe's sole Green Lantern. And as an artist, he would have an exceptional imagination and create vivid, complex constructs beyond previous Green Lanterns' use of a power ring.

Replacing a main character was nothing new, especially not with DC Comics. However, Kyle's introduction was made controversial due to Hal's villainous departure from the series as Parallax. This dishonorable discharge angered what fans the former Green Lantern had, and resentment over it became directed toward Kyle as his replacement. This vocal backlash would not prevent Kyle's introduction from being a success and from the character growing in popularity over the years.

Controversy
Due to slumping sales and after seeing the sales spikes with events such as the Death of Superman and the Breaking of Batman, DC decided it was time to reinvent Green Lantern. Ron Marz was hired to orchestrate Hal's downfall and insert Kyle as the sole Green Lantern. DC went so far as to remove the corps and anyone with a power ring (Alan Scott, Guy Gardner) as well. Many longtime fans were vocal with the manner in which Hal Jordan was "tossed aside". Sales did remain high on Green Lantern for quite some time and Wizard ran a fan poll to see which was the preferred Green Lantern (Hal or Kyle) with Kyle winning by 2 percent (51 Kyle, 49 Hal).

Basically, Kyle (much like Tim Drake) is a product of DC's 90s period that has been, by constant use and association, difficult for DC to sweep under the rug and send off to limbo with Ray, Damage, Black Condor, Azrael, Artemis, Gangbuster, Hitman, (Bisley) Lobo, Agent Liberty, Maxima, Darkstars, (sunglasses/jacket) Superboy, LEGION/REBELS and all the other characters of the time.

[Atlanta96]

I liked him best in Morrison's JLA when he still had his rookie persona. Making him super important never worked for me either. At least he's been treated better than John Stewart.

[ERON]

The problem with Kyle Rayner is that he was meant to be an Earth-based solo character, not a member of an interplanetary Corps. Once they brought Hal and the Corps back, they had two basic options: 1) make him just another Corps member, which would have him perpetually playing second fiddle to Hal like John and Guy, and also divorce him from his life and friends on Earth, thus alienating his fans and removing a large part of his appeal as a character, or 2) give him his own identity and separate him from the GL brand, which they attempted to do at first with "Ion" before shifting gears and going with the first option; maybe a Kyle series without the Green Lantern name would have succeeded or maybe it wouldn't have, but we'll never know now.

[Trey Strain]

Kyle has had a distinctive personality since his creation, just as Hal, John, Guy, Simon & Jessica do. Now, whether or not that necessarily translates into a large readership depends on the creative team and various other factors that have nothing to do with any of the various Green Lanterns personalities (which are all interesting enough to support a series as headliners).

So, I am not really sure what your point is here aside from trolling Kyle fans. All of whom seem smart enough so far to not take the bait.

That was a very strange post. No, I don't want Kyle to fail, as he just did disastrously in his last outing. I want him to stop failing. I want him to succeed.

[Trey Strain]

The problem with Kyle Rayner is that he was meant to be an Earth-based solo character, not a member of an interplanetary Corps. Once they brought Hal and the Corps back, they had two basic options: 1) make him just another Corps member, which would have him perpetually playing second fiddle to Hal like John and Guy, and also divorce him from his life and friends on Earth, thus alienating his fans and removing a large part of his appeal as a character, or 2) give him his own identity and separate him from the GL brand, which they attempted to do at first with "Ion" before shifting gears and going with the first option; maybe a Kyle series without the Green Lantern name would have succeeded or maybe it wouldn't have, but we'll never know now.

No, those weren't the only options. You could have kept him as a Green Lantern and depicted him in his own stories that had little or nothing nothing to do with Hal. That would have worked fine.

[GreenLanternRanger]

I've never seen Kyle as a problem, has he always been handled that well? Nope. But every character has his missteps. Honestly I like Kyle being a White Lantern. There is nothing at all wrong with making him unique, the only real problem is coming up with good stories for him.

Again i'll never understand the divisiveness is the GL fanbase. The corps as a whole are awesome! Sure Hal gets the biggest push, but hey, he was the first Earth Lantern so that makes sense.

But yea, as for Kyle, I look forward to seeing what they do with him in the future and hope he can get some stories that use him to his full potential.

[steeplejack2112]

I liked him best in Morrison's JLA when he still had his rookie persona. Making him super important never worked for me either. At least he's been treated better than John Stewart.

I really enjoyed him during that phase as well. I have always loved Kyle Rayner as a character. I think maybe he has evolved a little more, and perhaps fits better in a more advanced role in the GL universe. I really enjoyed him as the White Lantern.

[Buried Alien]

I've always liked Kyle, but when he was created, he served one purpose: to be the LAST Green Lantern in a DC Universe in which the Green Lantern Corps seemingly had been permanently and irrevocably destroyed. With the return of Hal Jordan and the rest of the GL Corps, though, Kyle's purpose has been uncertain.

The same fate, to some extent, befell Tim Drake after the debut of Damian Wayne, Wally West after the reemergence of Barry Allen, and Connor Hawke after the revival of Oliver Queen.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)