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Kyle Rayner Reading Order (Green Lantern)

Following the 1993’s Reign of Supermen saga, Hal Jordan–the main Green Lantern of that era–is pushed on a downward spiral during the famous Emerald Twilight storyline that will have grave consequences for everybody. Hal lost his mind and destroyed what was the heart of the Green Lantern, killing most of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the process, before going away for a time. During his absence, one surviving Guardian, Ganthet, visited Earth to find a replacement Lantern. He found Kyle Rayner.

Editor Kevin Dooley was faced with dropping sales and decided to let go of Hal Jordan, now considered a hero from a bygone era but a lot of readers, and introduced a new Green Lantern for the 1990s. As it was the era of the Death of Superman and backbreaking Batman, the trend was destruction and Hal (and Coast City) had to be destroyed to let an All-New Green Lantern take his place.

In Green Lantern (vol. 3) #48, writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks introduced Kyle Rayner, a freelance comic book artist working in Los Angeles. Unlike Hal Jordan, Kyle was not a fearless and somewhat perfect hero. In fact, he had his problems and knew fear, but it was his capacity to overcome it that led Ganthet to give him what was at the time the last working Green Lantern power ring.

Without the Green Lantern Corps to help him, Kyle had to learn the hard way how his ring works. When his girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, was murdered by the supervillain Major Force (who infamously stuffed her body in a refrigerator), Kyle was forced to confront the seriousness of his new job as a Lantern. He moved to New York and decided to become the best Lantern he could be–this storyline was the origin of controversy, but the Green Lantern series survived and thrived with his new hero.

Since then, Kyle Rayner joined the Justice League, achieved godhood, helped create a new group of Guardians of the Galaxy, helped carry on the legacy of the Corps, and fought Parallax and a lot of powerful enemies.

Kyle Rayner Comics Reading Order

Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern of the 1990s

For Kyle Rayner, everything began when things ended with Hal Jordan, during the Emerald Twilight crossover event that began in Green Lantern #48.

Those issues were previously collected in Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner vol. 1 and Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner vol. 2.

This Compendium is a new book. What comes after has yet to be collected in new editions and there can be holes. Nevertheless, all the issues from that era are available in digital format.

After GL #67, Kyle appeared in a New Titans storyline, “Meltdown” in New Titans #126-130 (not collected yet)

Kyle Rayner became the official Green Lantern member of the Justice League.

We arrived at the moment when Kyle became known as “Ion”.

Green Lantern Reborn

Hal Jordan made a comeback as Geoff Johns became the new writer. Kyle Rayner was demoted from main Lantern to occasional guest star for a time. Guy Gardner and Jon Stewart also became more important than Rayner in the team book Green Lantern Corps. You can follow the reading order for this era or just read some of the books featuring Kyle Rayner as follows:

After Infinite Crisis, Kyle Rayner is once again ION and got his own series: Ion: Guardian of the Universe.

After that, Kyle played a part in The Sinestro War Corps event.

Once Countdown concluded, Kyle Rayner became part of the Green Lantern Corps series.

Kyler Rayner: The New 52 Era

The transition to the New 52 era had little effect on the Green Lantern part of the DC Universe. But things changed for Green Lantern Kyle Rayner as he found himself leading a team with members from all the different Corps, including Bleez, Arkillo, Munk from the Indigo Tribe, Fatality, Saint Walker, and possibly Larfleeze. Those stories are told in Green Lantern: New Guardians.

Kyle Rayner is dead! And the Omega Men killed him. But not really. To discover what really happened and why, DC gave us a 12-issue series:

Kyler Rayner: The Rebirth Era

Kyle Rayner is still the White Lantern (just don’t ask about the White Lantern Corps), but he doesn’t star in his own series anymore. But he became a recurring character in the Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps series.

Once the Rebirth era concluded, the DC Universe entered the Infinite Frontier era, then the Dawn of DC. During that time, Kyle Rayner didn’t have a major story, mostly cameos. John Stewart and Sojourner Mullein became the main focus of the Green Lantern series, Hal Jordan made a comeback too. Kyle recently resurfaced, but it’s not yet collected. Stay tuned for more.

Did we forget an important issue? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments!

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