Maybe hope IS blue, after all
Green Lantern Corps #59 won't be out for another two days, and I won't get my copy for another nine days (our comics are shipped fortnightly). I'd be lying if I didn't admit I've been scouring the internet for early spoilers, hoping to get some indication of what's going on with Kyle Rayner. Tonight, right before I was planning to head for bed, I hit pay-dirt.
Remember all those covers DC released with its solicitations? It looks like they're place-holders. Every damn last one of them. You see, the real cover for issue #59 leaked a short time ago (thank you, 4chan, for being as useful as you are silly) and, well, it's a doozy.
Blue Lantern Kyle Rayner. Can't say I'm surprised. People have speculated a blue ring (powered by "hope" rather than "will") was bound for Kyle's finger ever since the concept first emerged. I've never looked into it myself but, after reading the Wikipedia entry, find myself fascinated by the idea. The blue power-set seems a perfect match for the dreamer's personality of Mr Rayner. And that line from Ganthet makes even more sense now, huh?
The final page of this month's Green Lantern issue is where it happens...
And then there's this...
... the cover of the next Emerald Warriors issue, suggesting the rainbow boys (heh) will have to face off with Mogo, the planet-sized GL. Funky! It's good, fanservice-y fun, very "summer comics", and looks to be a blast. If it wasn't for that blasted "there will be only three" prophecy, I could sit back and immerse myself in the silliness and just enjoy the event. This is why we can't have nice things, Geoff Johns! Gah!
Anyway... Kyle's blue (ba ba dee, ba ba dah). Permanent change? Nah. My guess is it's temporary, given the ring Kyle's wearing actually belongs to Saint Walker (the main ringbearers for each of the Corps have been captured). I'm starting to think DC is going to do the unexpected; that this crossover will end with Hal Jordan stripped of his ring and Sinestro reinstated as a Green Lantern ('cause the Guardians want to re-establish order or some such nonsense). Hal will rock the yellow ring for six to 12 months until it's time for another shift in the status-quo.
But if it's not Hal left unemployed, and it is Kyle, and he stays/goes back to the blue side of the spectrum... I can dig it. Soothing rage, stifling greed and negating fear all sounds, as stareyednight put it, "very Kyle". And I'd bet he'd not have his colleagues' problems accessing the awesome power of his new ring. Blue baubles can't be fully utilised without willpower, which Kyle has in spades (just as Guy's will over-rides the red rings).
I wonder if he'll not become the uber-Blue the way Hal is the uber-Green. Maybe (and here's some real speculation) his "destiny" has always been to lead the Blue Lantern Corps. Ganthet knew this because of some other prophecy (hell, why not?) and chose him as a GL for that reason: so he'd develop the willpower necessary to wield the blue light in unprecedented ways. There is that retro issue, set in the 1990s, coming up... be a good time to slip in a retcon, no?
Whatever happens, the blue deal would be a nice fit for Kyle, give him a new character arc, and have cool consequences for his relationships with John and Guy. That's story, folks, and that's what I like.
Somewhat appropriately, I have more hope now for this War of the Green Lanterns crossover than I've had in weeks.
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF
Remember all those covers DC released with its solicitations? It looks like they're place-holders. Every damn last one of them. You see, the real cover for issue #59 leaked a short time ago (thank you, 4chan, for being as useful as you are silly) and, well, it's a doozy.
Blue Lantern Kyle Rayner. Can't say I'm surprised. People have speculated a blue ring (powered by "hope" rather than "will") was bound for Kyle's finger ever since the concept first emerged. I've never looked into it myself but, after reading the Wikipedia entry, find myself fascinated by the idea. The blue power-set seems a perfect match for the dreamer's personality of Mr Rayner. And that line from Ganthet makes even more sense now, huh?
The final page of this month's Green Lantern issue is where it happens...
And then there's this...
... the cover of the next Emerald Warriors issue, suggesting the rainbow boys (heh) will have to face off with Mogo, the planet-sized GL. Funky! It's good, fanservice-y fun, very "summer comics", and looks to be a blast. If it wasn't for that blasted "there will be only three" prophecy, I could sit back and immerse myself in the silliness and just enjoy the event. This is why we can't have nice things, Geoff Johns! Gah!
Anyway... Kyle's blue (ba ba dee, ba ba dah). Permanent change? Nah. My guess is it's temporary, given the ring Kyle's wearing actually belongs to Saint Walker (the main ringbearers for each of the Corps have been captured). I'm starting to think DC is going to do the unexpected; that this crossover will end with Hal Jordan stripped of his ring and Sinestro reinstated as a Green Lantern ('cause the Guardians want to re-establish order or some such nonsense). Hal will rock the yellow ring for six to 12 months until it's time for another shift in the status-quo.
But if it's not Hal left unemployed, and it is Kyle, and he stays/goes back to the blue side of the spectrum... I can dig it. Soothing rage, stifling greed and negating fear all sounds, as stareyednight put it, "very Kyle". And I'd bet he'd not have his colleagues' problems accessing the awesome power of his new ring. Blue baubles can't be fully utilised without willpower, which Kyle has in spades (just as Guy's will over-rides the red rings).
I wonder if he'll not become the uber-Blue the way Hal is the uber-Green. Maybe (and here's some real speculation) his "destiny" has always been to lead the Blue Lantern Corps. Ganthet knew this because of some other prophecy (hell, why not?) and chose him as a GL for that reason: so he'd develop the willpower necessary to wield the blue light in unprecedented ways. There is that retro issue, set in the 1990s, coming up... be a good time to slip in a retcon, no?
Whatever happens, the blue deal would be a nice fit for Kyle, give him a new character arc, and have cool consequences for his relationships with John and Guy. That's story, folks, and that's what I like.
Somewhat appropriately, I have more hope now for this War of the Green Lanterns crossover than I've had in weeks.
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF