Green Lantern Vol.3 #51

 

Ron Marz, Darryl Banks, Romeo Tanghal

Changing the Guard

The issue opens with Kyle getting his ass whooped by a villain named Ohm. As a punch is about to land on Kyle, we go back to the previous night where Kyle goes to show Alex the new ring he has. They talk and decide they are going to move to New York together where Kyle will be a superhero and Alex will be the one to take pictures of him for the New York Times. The next morning, Alex tells Kyle about a villain causing havoc in the city and that’s how we got to the opening scene.

Once the fight is over, we see Kyle and Alex on the beach talking about the costume he is wearing. Alex says Kyle needs his own identity and that it isn’t his costume so Kyle creates a brand new one.

The issue ends with Mongul escaping a new prison called “The Slab”, saying he will kill Superman and Green Lantern.

I thought this was a great issue and gave us a look at Kyle’s motivation. It seems he has the heart, but right now he doesn’t fully understand the responsibility he bears. He still wants to get away like in his first appearance and to him, the ring is his ticket to doing this.

Kyle states multiple times how he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he doesn’t let the fear hold him back like a true Green Lantern. He rushes into battle, maybe a bit too impulsively, and takes control. In the panel above you can see he is very confident in his abilities even with being a newbie.

We also see the type of hero Kyle is. He isn’t totally selfish or in it for the glory and fame. He has a bit of an ego but he’s still a freshman hero who has a lot to learn. It’s also worth noting he doesn’t take credit as a new Green Lantern but it currently keeping up the appearance that he is Hal Jordan. 

This new Green Lantern suit is my favorite suit for Kyle, and even for Green Lanterns overall (although new 52 Hal suit cuts close). The art on it screams 90s with the bulky gloves and boots. I especially love the new mask that we have never seen before on any other hero. We haven’t seen much of Kyle’s creative side with constructs yet like he is renowned for as right now he is still using basic ones.