Aw, No Glomulus
Kyle Rayner is back in a starring role in Green Lantern: New Guardians, and it succeeds in injecting some new excitement that had been missing from the relaunched Green Lantern franchise so far. Tony Bedard is working with a unique idea here and obviously has great affinity for Kyle as a character.
Right away, Green Lantern: New Guardians surprises me by being the only Green Lantern title that genuinely feels like it cares about welcoming new readers because it starts with a nice retelling of Kyle's origin as a Green Lantern. Now, it doesn't explain everything like how the Green Lantern Corps fell and came back, but this is at least far more than either Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps did for new readers.
After the retelling of Kyle's origin, the story features these mysterious instances where power rings from each of the other Lantern Corps suddenly ditch their bearers, leaving them in less than ideal situations. As far as I know, none of these are previously established characters, so some of their fates aren't really bothersome. Bedard also holds back on showing us every time this happens, keeping it to just a few to give us the idea without becoming repetitive about it.
This is definitely another one of those "written for trade" first issues, where it only goes so far as to set up the story. The rings find their way to Kyle in New York along with members of each corps in pursuit, and we basically end there. That isn't to say the book isn't entertaining enough on its way to that point, because it really is. As I said, Bedard clearly enjoys writing Kyle Rayner and has a good feel for the character. We get some time seeing Kyle do his thing in New York before his status quo is shaken by the arrival of all these mysterious rings, and it is a well handled scene when that happens.
Tyler Kirkham are is pretty appealing, though he really is one of those artists who is a little too crazy about drawing musclebound men. There's being in shape, and there's being a bodybuilder. As far as Kirkham is concerned, there is only being a bodybuilder. Kyle is much huger than he really should be. Aside from that, the art is good, and I even like Fatality's redesign, even though I never had a real problem with the skimpy Star Sapphire designs in the first place. However, it is a real shame that DC did not take this opportunity to redesign Kyle. Hey, I love Ivan Reis' work, but Reis really did saddle Kyle with a bland and lazy design back in the Sinestro Corps War. Bedard even takes a slight shot at it in this issue. The costume really does not suit Kyle's character even though it does sport his iconic mask and off-center badge. The rest of it is just so lifeless and boring, though. Leaving it alone is a huge missed opportunity.
Not that I expected it to, but this issue doesn't really address the continuity problems that the revamp has caused for Kyle. Yes, the Green Lantern franchise has been left alone, but it does not exist in a vacuum. Some of the changes made in other books indirectly affect Kyle. Specifically, do Donna Troy and Jade exist anymore? Big chunks of Kyle's history and his time as the solo Green Lantern kind of revolved around his relationship with two women who may no longer exist. In fact, his current friction with Soranik Natu hinges on Jade. I'll be interest to see if and how Bedard tries to sort through this in later issues.
Green Lantern: New Guardians is an exciting new addition to the Green Lantern franchise that really puts Kyle Rayner back into the spotlight and gives the franchise something actually new for the big relaunch. Bedard seems to have a really good handle on Kyle's character, and the central premise of this book doesn't feel redundant or like it is struggling to find a purpose. This is a legit new series in the franchise and gives every indication that it is going to be a good one.
