Green Lantern (1990 Series) #177

May 22, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Homecoming? Part Two

Kyle Rayner talks with Jade, while someone sends Fatality out to find him…

Writer: Ron Marz
Pencils: Luke Ross
Inks: Rodney Ramos
Colors: Moose Baumann
Letters: Jared Fletcher
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: Brandon Peterson
Publisher: DC Comics

Ron Marz was the writer who ushered in Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern, who transformed him from a raw rookie to a strong, confident hero, and who proved that wearing the ring wasn’t an exclusive right of Hal Jordan, and it seems only fitting that he write the story that will evidently be the swan song of the title.

Kyle starts the issue taking out one of the few official “rogues” a Green Lantern has, the villain called Sonar, but the issue is really about him and his girlfriend Jade, and Kyle trying to reconcile the fact that the woman whose love kept him warm alone in outer space found another man while he was gone. This can’t have been an easy scene to write – Marz finds a very thin line between allowing us to feel Kyle’s grief and not making us hate Jade outright, but he pulls it off. As so often in breakups, it’s the wronged party that carries the agony in this scene, and anyone who’s ever been through a tough breakup for any reason can relate to this bit.

Meanwhile, a much nastier old foe, the Green Lantern –hunter named Fatality, has been sprung from prison for one reason: kill Kyle Rayner. Who got her out? Why does he hate Kyle? No telling, but we’ll certainly find out in the next four issues.

Luke Ross is a great superhero artist. The fight scene with Sonar is well-choreographed, the ring constructs are clever and inventive, and he draws a much more realistic (read: less buxom) rendition of Jade than Brandon Peterson does on the cover.

Although I’m sure Geoff Johns will do a fine job in whatever form the Green Lantern franchise takes this fall, I will miss this incarnation. Kyle has earned his place in the comic book pantheon and when written properly, like Ron Marz does, he’s still got a lot of stories left in him.

Rating: 8/10