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The Ray #1
The Ray: In a Blaze of Power
Graphic Novel
Paperback
First published July 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 11, 2016
The Ray: In a Blaze of Power was a nice surprise. I've been on a comic kick lately and this was one of the comics I missed the first time around.
Ray Terrill was the Night Boy, raised believing he was unable to handle sunlight. It turns out his father was The Ray, a superhero from the 1940's with various light oriented powers. In a Blaze of Power is the story of the older Ray guiding the younger Ray and grooming him to be a super hero.
It's a shame The Ray didn't last longer than it did. It's one of those rare gems, like James Robinson's Starman, in the comic wasteland that was the 1990's.
Ray Terrill was the Night Boy, raised believing he was unable to handle sunlight. It turns out his father was The Ray, a superhero from the 1940's with various light oriented powers. In a Blaze of Power is the story of the older Ray guiding the younger Ray and grooming him to be a super hero.
It's a shame The Ray didn't last longer than it did. It's one of those rare gems, like James Robinson's Starman, in the comic wasteland that was the 1990's.
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March 6, 2020¡Un héroe para los 90! reza el subtítulo y no, realmente no es así. The Ray entra más en la tradición de recuperar superhéroes clásicos (The Flash, Animal Man o, glups, Miracle Man) para una nueva generación, con todo el trabajo pesado que eso implica para la narrativa: presentar el mito a quien no lo conoce, establecer el vínculo con la nueva era y pasar el testigo además de convertirlo en un personaje con entidad propia.
La premisa con la idea de un chico que ha tenido una infancia bajo el influjo del Síndrome de Munchausen es lo más interesante del tebeo: de verse incapacitado a ser (casi) todopoderoso por aquello que pensaba que le iba a dañar hay un arco ahí con el que lidiar de formas muy interesantes.
Pero no lo hace, claro. Entra más en la línea de las historias post-Stan Lee, con su "angst" adolescente y su sobredosis de bocadillos de pensar o de colección de personajes secundarios listos para ponerse en peligro o traer más exposición. Entre medias, alguna pelea entre superhumanos. Nada, en definitiva, que parezca impulsar esta serie a una nueva década sino insistir en viejos tropos, tramas convulsas (personajes que desaparecen en medio de una explicación para dejarla para futuros números) y un final tan apresurado que ni siquiera queda claro como se ha resuelto.
La premisa con la idea de un chico que ha tenido una infancia bajo el influjo del Síndrome de Munchausen es lo más interesante del tebeo: de verse incapacitado a ser (casi) todopoderoso por aquello que pensaba que le iba a dañar hay un arco ahí con el que lidiar de formas muy interesantes.
Pero no lo hace, claro. Entra más en la línea de las historias post-Stan Lee, con su "angst" adolescente y su sobredosis de bocadillos de pensar o de colección de personajes secundarios listos para ponerse en peligro o traer más exposición. Entre medias, alguna pelea entre superhumanos. Nada, en definitiva, que parezca impulsar esta serie a una nueva década sino insistir en viejos tropos, tramas convulsas (personajes que desaparecen en medio de una explicación para dejarla para futuros números) y un final tan apresurado que ni siquiera queda claro como se ha resuelto.
March 1, 2020
The story is a bit undercooked, when the superpower is too over the top it becomes difficult to keep the story together, but Quesada did wonders with the artwork. As he became an executive later it is easy to forget what a great artist he was.
I like reading this old comics, it gives me perspective. Also as this is the era of my late childhood/early adolescence and when my obsession with comics really bloomed, I have a bias towards the work from these times :)
I like reading this old comics, it gives me perspective. Also as this is the era of my late childhood/early adolescence and when my obsession with comics really bloomed, I have a bias towards the work from these times :)
January 2, 2015
Reprints The Ray (Limited Series) #1-6 (February 1992-July 1992). Ray Terrill has just lost his father but discovers a secret. Ray was raised to believe he had a light allergy but his body actually acts as a giant battery for energy. Ray learns that his father was the Ray, but a man also calling himself the Ray has appeared to claim the title of Ray’s father. In addition to the return of the girl he loved, Ray learns that there is a threat to the world…and only he can stop it with the powers he still doesn’t understand.
Written by Jack C. Harris and illustrated by Joe Quesada and Art Nichols, The Ray: In A Blaze of Power reintroduces the Quality Comics character who was first introduced in Smash Comics #14 (September 1940). The limited series was received rather positively and ended up launching a continuing series which ran for twenty-nine issues from May 1994 to October 1996 plus an annual.
The Ray was one of those ’90s comics that took off when it was released. There was a lot of buzz around comics in 1992 when the comic premiered and with the Image wave coming, and DC and Marvel were out to create edgier Image-esque characters. I always felt the Ray was one of those characters that felt more “Image” than “DC” despite have a long history.
The story for the comic causes some problems. It is often hard to follow and incoherent. The basic story seems to follow a logical path but sequences with Dr. Polaris and the other supporting characters don’t read as very fleshed out or logical. It reads a lot like a Peter Milligan story but not as developed. The end of the miniseries seems to devolve into a mush that really doesn’t play out as I hoped.
The art for The Ray is also very much a product of the ’90s. The looks and style of the comic aren’t stylized enough to kitschy, but they are stylized enough to not be attempting realism. This is more of a reason that it does resemble Image instead of DC and I feel it was going for the “young hip crowd”…now it doesn’t really hold up.
When I initially read The Ray, it was a lot different than comics being written at the time. There was a sense of history to the comics and the story had layers. Rereading The Ray however, I see a lot of what kind of destroyed comics in the ’90s and substance was sometimes trumped by art. The Ray: In a Blaze of Power walks a fine line between this dangerous idea by having a story that is quite all over the place and hard to follow at points. It feels like what James Robinson’s Starman evolved into…just not fully cooked.
Written by Jack C. Harris and illustrated by Joe Quesada and Art Nichols, The Ray: In A Blaze of Power reintroduces the Quality Comics character who was first introduced in Smash Comics #14 (September 1940). The limited series was received rather positively and ended up launching a continuing series which ran for twenty-nine issues from May 1994 to October 1996 plus an annual.
The Ray was one of those ’90s comics that took off when it was released. There was a lot of buzz around comics in 1992 when the comic premiered and with the Image wave coming, and DC and Marvel were out to create edgier Image-esque characters. I always felt the Ray was one of those characters that felt more “Image” than “DC” despite have a long history.
The story for the comic causes some problems. It is often hard to follow and incoherent. The basic story seems to follow a logical path but sequences with Dr. Polaris and the other supporting characters don’t read as very fleshed out or logical. It reads a lot like a Peter Milligan story but not as developed. The end of the miniseries seems to devolve into a mush that really doesn’t play out as I hoped.
The art for The Ray is also very much a product of the ’90s. The looks and style of the comic aren’t stylized enough to kitschy, but they are stylized enough to not be attempting realism. This is more of a reason that it does resemble Image instead of DC and I feel it was going for the “young hip crowd”…now it doesn’t really hold up.
When I initially read The Ray, it was a lot different than comics being written at the time. There was a sense of history to the comics and the story had layers. Rereading The Ray however, I see a lot of what kind of destroyed comics in the ’90s and substance was sometimes trumped by art. The Ray: In a Blaze of Power walks a fine line between this dangerous idea by having a story that is quite all over the place and hard to follow at points. It feels like what James Robinson’s Starman evolved into…just not fully cooked.
April 25, 2020
Historia irregular, pero sumamente delirante y divertida. No por nada, en el prólogo del número 2, el editor de la serie James Owsley (ahora llamado Christopher Priest) nombra al guionista Jack C. Harris como un tipo "tan excéntrico". Los dibujos, a cargo de Joe Quesada, son estilizados y dinámicos, muy acordes para un superhéroe que emite rayos de luz.
June 15, 2024
Taco que retomaba la portada del número 3, no la mejor elección, aunque es una buena ilustración del prota.
July 16, 2024
No recuerdo cómo lo anunciaba el lomo pero era el OBRA COMPLETA de THE RAY, la miniserie que se reencuadernó en taco y tuvo un TP con Superman como continuación.
June 5, 2013
No sé cómo será leer The Ray: ¡un héroe para los '90! en 2013, pero cuando lo leí (entre los 90s y los 00s) me gustó bastante. Ahora que finalmente tengo los seis numeritos que componen la serie (que con gusto cambiaría por el taco), espero que le toque una relectura en algún momento.
June 18, 2016
The Ray has been fooled all his life that he would die is he ever was exposed to sunlight. That was a lie. The story is mostly about the Ray exploring his super powers. Not much superhero action...lots of strange things happening. Perhaps it makes sense in the end? Perhaps not.
November 18, 2007
One of my all-time favorite books, comic books, fiction, whatever. It's just a great story about finding out who you really are while trying to save the world at the same time.
April 15, 2010
A favorite from my high school days. Probably my favorite teen super hero from back then. Wish the character still had a series, but this is a beautiful edition.
Want to read
December 16, 2014Taco con la obra completa de The Ray, promocionada en su momento como ¡Un héroe para los '90!.
April 15, 2019
Serie limitada de seis episodios reencuadernada luego en un taco recopilatorio.
February 3, 2025
Libro de historietas recopiladas en formato taco. Probablemente se editó antes que en USA.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews