Kyle Rayner

Kyle Rayner: 1992 - 2010
Meet Kyle Rayner, the son of single mother Maura Rayner. Kyle lived a happy life as a child and did well enough in school aside from the constant notes from teachers remarking how he lacked focus and discipline. Kyle was always a creative sort and at an early age, he harnessed that talent through the medium of visual art. By the time Kyle was in high school, his skill had grown considerably and he was given an opportunity to enroll in the Central Academy of the Arts in Central City. It was while attending this Academy that Kyle met Alexandra DeWitt, an aspiring artist with knack for photography. The two hit it off and a romance bloomed. Kyle was living a good, normal life and then it happened.

One night while rushing to finish a project he had been procrastinating to spend time with his new girlfriend, Kyle’s bedroom window shattered as it was struck by what it looked like a tiny meteorite. On closer inspection, Kyle saw it was a ring and then things got really weird as the ring hovered in the middle of the room, casting the area in an ominous green light, and then it spoke to Kyle. If it was me, I probably would have been diving out my newly opened window, but Kyle is a different sort… it’s why the ring chose him. Kyle reached out, grabbed the sing, and slipped it on his finger. In that very moment, Kyle was teleported to a special room of the Watchtower where he was met by John Stewart, the senior Lantern of Earth, Kyle’s a big herophile and I am told he had a very fanboy moment. Anyway, Kyle was told that the Corps was enlisting talent for a taskforce on Earth to deal with the metahuman problem and that he had been chosen by the ring. In fact, Kyle’s ring had spent nearly a year scouring the planet looking for a suitable fit and it chose Kyle. As programmed, the ring requested authorization, which John had overridden due to Kyle’s age; but the ring insisted that Kyle was the right choice, leaving John with little choice. Kyle was all about this and signed on with the Corps at once… thought he was devastated when John told him he had to break up with Alexa in order to go to Oa after graduation. But Kyle proved he had the will needed for the job, and did it.

Green Lantern Delta: 2010 - Present
During his year-long training in Oa, where he was joined by his future partner, Guy Gardner, Kyle received high marks for his creativity and natural talents at willing his rings constructs to existence and the creative uses of them he would apply. Kyle was routinely recognized over the other, more experienced human Lantern in training, but it is also said that Kyle has ore raw talent than any Lantern before him or since, at least in recent history, so Guy was never too offended being out performed by some freakish savant.

Upon his return to Earth, Kyle decided he was going to follow in Hal’s example adopting a mask. Paired off with Guy Gardner, the two Lanterns devolved a sort of sibling rivalry in their partnership, constantly bickering and teasing each other, but in a way that kept each other at their peak performance. No one to argue with their results, John Stewart has thus far decided to keep the two together, rarely breaking them apart to mentor the new Lanterns when he and Hal are too busy. On a personal side of Kyle’s life, he finished schooling and works as a freelance artist. He has illustrated a few books, done graphic design on a board game or two, but most of his work is commissions of pulp comic book heroes for the online community of the website AberrantDevelopments. Of course, as a struggling artist, Kyle also considers himself something of a sellout as he also opted in to receive a mediocre salary from ARGUS for his work as a Green Lantern. Meanwhile, Kyle’s romantic life has had its ups and downs. He hooked back up with Alex DeWitt after his return from Oa, but then foolishly broke up with her when he thought he had a decent shot of dating a recently returned from retirement Donna Troy. After Kyle got hit with a lesson in reality, he had a stint where he tried dating other Lanterns but cultural differences and incredibly long distances convinced him to go back to Earth girls. Though he has some interest in dating Jennifer-Lynn Hayden, I’ve heard it on the grapevine that he and Alex DeWitt may be getting back together.

Trivia and Notes

 * Kyle joined the Justice League in 2010 nominated by Martian Manhunter.
 * Kyle's address is a nod to his first comic book appearance: Green Lantern (Vol. 3) #48, by Ron Marz in 1994.
 * AberrantDevelopments is E27 version of DeviantArt, where Phil Cho does commissioned art.

Links and References

 * Appearances of Kyle Rayner
 * Character Gallery: Kyle Rayner