Ion: Guardian of the Universe, Vol. 1: The Torchbearer

Ion: Guardian of the Universe

by Ron Marz, Greg Tocchini, Tom Grindberg

Once Kyle Rayner was the last Green Lantern, bearing the torch for a glorious tradition until the Guardians of the Universe and the Green Lantern Corps were born anew. Now, one year after the events of Infinite Crisis, a distraught Kyle Rayner has emerged, transformed with abilities that may surpass those of any Green Lantern ... and he may not use his newfound power for good.

Collecting ION #1-6.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2007

About the author

Marz is well known for his work on Silver Surfer and Green Lantern, as well as the Marvel vs DC crossover and Batman/Aliens. He also worked on the CrossGen Comics series Scion, Mystic, Sojourn, and The Path. At Dark Horse Comics he created Samurai: Heaven and Earth and various Star Wars comics. He has also done work for Devil’s Due Publishing’s Aftermath line, namely Blade of Kumori. In 1995, he had a brief run on XO-Manowar, for Valiant Comics.

Marz’s more recent works includes a number of Top Cow books including Witchblade and a Cyberforce relaunch. For DC Comics, he has written Ion, a 12 part comic book miniseries that followed the Kyle Rayner character after the One Year Later event, and Tales of the Sinistro Corps Presents: Parallax and Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, two one-shot tie-ins to the Green Lantern crossover, The Sinestro Corps War.

His current creator owned projects include “Dragon Prince” (Top Cow) and “Samurai : Heaven and Earth” (Dark Horse).

Photo by Luigi Novi.

Reviews

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was slightly "meh".
During my Johns' Green Lantern omnibus read-a-thon I had to back track a little bit and catch up with Kyle Rayner and the rest of the Corps.
This series is simply an establishing piece for where Kyle is right now in the run up to Sinestro Corps War, and it's a decent service to the story.
But unfortunately it adds little else. At least these first six issues anyway.

I really like Kyle Rayner and compared to the All-American Air Force poster boy, Hal Jordan, I find him fat more compelling a character. But this series has yet to go very deep into his psyche.

I may have to venture back to the 90s material. But I'm still new to all of this GL stuff, so onwards we go!

[Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a hole in my heart now that I’ve finished this volume

[Ramón S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring character with boring adventures and lame art. A waste of time

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ron Marz is back to write Kyle Rayner's latest adventures as the ultra-powerful Ion. While attending an artists' retreat, Kyle is plagued by self-doubt and blackouts. An attack by a bounty-hunting Thanagarian sends him back into space to discover the truth behind his new powers, as well as to uncover why the universe sees him as a criminal. Subtly assisted by Green Lanterns Kilowog and Hal Jordan, Kyle discovers that his old foe Nero has been leeching off his powers - and wearing his face - while slaughtering hundreds. Confronting his adversary and accepting his new abilities, Kyle heads back to Earth with a clearer head and purpose. Due to Hal's return as the primary GL, Kyle was bumped from A-list Leaguer to B-list extra. This volume attempts to put Kyle back in the spotlight by giving him new abilities and a slight shift away from the Green Lantern police policies. The Ion idea was one that had its ups and down, and it showed with this rocky start to the title. Thankfully, Kyle now harness the White Lantern abilities, finally allowing him to step out of Jordan's shadow. Check out the Torchbearer in this volume to see Kyle's evolution, and know that brighter things are headed his way.

[Seth Abernethy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strictly for the Kyle Rayner fans, Ion: Guardian of the Universe is meant to help answer a few questions readers might be left with after certain events involving Kyle during the Infinite Crisis. However, reading through this might leave the reader with even more questions and a disappointing lack of answers. As a Green Lantern comic with a spotlight on Mr. Rayner, it's a good read. Fun action, great art, and decent dialogue. But Ion is meant to imply something that it just simply doesn't do. We learn that Kyle is now imbued with new, better powers, and that he is some kind of prodigal son to the Guardians. But we don't really see any proof of this apart from Kyle no longer needing a ring to do the same thing he always did, and there's no further explanation of what being Ion actually means. The mystery of Kyle being framed for a barbaric attack would be better if it weren't for several other concurrent Green Lantern series using the same plot for different characters (Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, and "Green Man" just for a few examples). Overall, completionists won't be upset over having to read this run, as the good tends to outweigh its bad. But if you're just looking to casually read this era of Green Lantern, Ion can be passed over without too many consequences.

[Nerdy Werewolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I'm still a Green Lantern, but I'm something else, too. Still getting used to not having a ring. To not needing a ring."

I heart Kyle. He likes to paint, I like to paint...we're like, twinsies! Okay, so I can't use my willpower to mercilessly combat alien evildoers, but pat-ay-to, pat-ah-to, right? Right??

This was...interesting. As I said, Kyle's a great character and very different from previous Earth Lanterns. A little mystery, a little self-discovery, a new role. It was cool, but I wasn't so much digging the art style. I'll remember pieces of it in the future, but I probably wouldn't read it again.

[Will Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I missed this somehow when researching the reading order for the Geoff Johns era Green Lantern books. It’s an odd book that requires a LOT of knowledge about Kyle’s history and the events of Infinite Crisis and the story does very little to get you up to speed. Perhaps if I had read Marz’s Green Lantern stories or recently read Infinite Crisis recently I could appreciate everything going on here, but I felt pretty lost the whole time and found the “mystery” pretty uninteresting. I’ll read the next volume for completion it’s sale, but I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone other than die hard fans.

[Reg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well. I liked the art. The art was good.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

So if you've been following my recent reviews of the trade paperbacks of The Green Lantern Corps you would probably have noticed that I complained that Kyle Rayner did not appear in the book, even though he had been in the Recharge limited series that re-introduced the Corps to the DC Universe, eventually setting up the spectrum war. My friend Andy pointed out that this was likely because Rayner was running around as Ion, until that changed during The Sinestro Corps War where it was revealed that Ion was actually an entity much like the Parallax entity (the embodiment of fear that lead to Hal Jordan's fall and to Kyle getting the Green Lantern ring in the first place) that is forcibly separated from Kyle and imprisoned, leading to Parallax bonding with Kyle instead. However, since none of the stuff that I just put between the spoiler tags had been conceived of when this limited series was published, I am taking a look at it through a different lens.

I think Ion serves as a last engagement between Kyle Rayner and the man who created him, Ron Marz, who was the regular writer on Green Lantern when Jordan went bad. One of the recurring themes for the Rayner Green Lantern was that even though he seemed unready to handle the mantle of being the Green Lantern (and for a time, being the only Green Lantern), he was actually destined for greatness (something that is also a major part of Grant Morrison's JLA run.) By becoming Ion, a hero who embodies the Green Lantern power, without the ring, I think Marz was attempting to have Rayner fulfill his "destiny" as it had been laid out by Marz and Morrison. But then the stuff between the spoiler tags went down, and Geoff Johns was able to undo all of this stuff with a clever retcon that works in the context of Johns run on Green Lantern. I prefer what Johns did, and as such, this book suffers a bit, because Marz likely wasn't thinking about what would happen to Ion in the future.

Rayner is still my favorite Green Lantern, but this story is average, and some of it doesn't make sense (the main villain is problematic for me, just because he presents as something and it's never really explained how that happens.) I think Marz was trying to make a final statement about his creation here, but of course other creative teams are going to muck it up when needs must, and in the context of where Johns went with all of this, it just falls flat.

What I'm saying is, for maximum enjoyment, you'll want to read this right after Recharge and before The Sinestro Corps War.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kyle Rainer is very few peoples' favorite Green Lantern. This isn't a character fault, he's much more interesting and well-written than Guy Gardener, he was just the main character of a series during a time when the least amount of attention was being paid to promoting The Green Lantern.

Here, we see what happens when people believe he's using his new powers (as bestowed by the pesky Guardians) for destruction instead of salvation. And, of course, the Guardians won't let any lanterns help him, so it's up to Hal Jordan to sneak in and try and suss out the problem.

It's not the greatest Green Lantern story, but it takes place during a turbulent Lantern era where Geoff Johns was writing some of the best every lore, as a lead in to Blackest Night, while Dave Gibbons and Howard Chaykin where taking big messy dumps over the lesser known characters. This falls somewhere between those extremes.

The second volume is a better read than this one, but this is worth your time if you're investing in reading a ton of lantern books surrounding Blackest Night.

[Chuck Ventura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kyle Rayner co-creator Ron Marz is back to give Kyle a new status quo, now that he's been powered up to God-like levels.

It's got the classic internal monologue with Kyle in his feelings, as the GL Corps claims he's been flying around and destroying planets and hurting people. Kyle's dealing with his newfound abilities and trying to solve this mystery of mistaken identity.

There's almost a horror-feel, and you can see it in the art as well. It's cool to see Marz take Kyle to new territories, without losing the classic voice.

[Russell Pearce of Sector 2814 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the story. I'm a fan of Ron Marz, being the one who invented Kyle rayner he gets him more than pretty much anyone. I do this this story wouldn't benefitted slightly from the presence of a better big bad but that's not a huge deal. Another small criticism is that it can get a little confusing dialog wise at points but all in all its a good transitional story for one of my favorite characters.

[Erik J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started rough and I wasn't really a fan. But the last 2.5 issues were amazing! The art was rocky and I didn't like it but as I got used to it, it really was well done.

But then, I REALLY like Kyle Rayner ... he's definitely my favourite GL.

Overall - 4/5

[Rylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was fine i liked a lot of the elements of the story with the ion power, it reminded me a bit of phoenix. i think the writing could have been a little stronger i wish it leaned more into some cosmic horror and existentialism that comes with someone gaining these powers.

[Jonathan C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story focusing on Kyle even if it doesn’t always do too much different with each issue. Really great art that was a refreshing change of pace. I’ll look back fondly on these issues.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff. Kyle is probably my second favorite Lantern after Hal, so any story where he's the coolest thing around is fine with me. Love the art here.

[José Luis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un buen cómic de Green Lantern y entre lo fanboy que soy de los Corps y de Greg Tochini, esto no podía fallar.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this.
Tocchini's art abd colours were really good too. This almost confirmed Kyle as my favourite GL however for some of this it wasn't Kyle.

[Andres Halden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very weird, very good Green Lantern spin-off that is more an epilogue for 90s Green Lantern than a spin-off of the modern era.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ion: The Torchbearer takes places between Infinite Crisis and The Sinestro Corps War. During the events of Infinite Crisis, Kyle Rayner's girlfriend, Jade, dies and bestows her power to him. The Guardians of the Universe acknowledge him, again, as the "torchbearer" of the Green Lanterns. With his new power and the renewed faith of the Guardians, Kyle dubs himself Ion. In addition to a new suit (which is either see-through in parts or has a bad-ass galactic/stars theme) Kyle no longer needs his power ring, as he carries this new power inside him. Vol. 1 plays much like the pilot for a new super-hero TV show; we are reintroduced to Kyle and he spends the next hundred-something pages figuring out what he is capable of and how to control his new powers. Kyle is getting headaches and is apparently running around reeking havoc through the galaxy, although he has no recollection of this. The story is interesting enough that I was happy to ride along, but the pacing is off and not too much happens. This series only ran for 12 issues, which translates to this volume plus one more. If you've read up to Sinestro Corps War, you know what happens, but I won't go into that. My concern is that after the close of this volume, we are halfway done with no apparent direction for the second half. I am still interested to see where this goes, however. The art work is fine, but I wish the could decide whether Hal Jordan is in his 50's or 20's because everyone seems to draw him so different. Again, we just don't get too much action, certainly not enough to validate giving Ion his own series (even a limited one) instead of just sticking him in as a side-plot to one of the other Lantern series. Both volumes have become harder to find and I'd encourage any Green Lanterns fans who come across it to pick it up, but I just don't feel that it is important (or good) enough to spend too much time searching for nor too much money to secure. Ion is a good story, but I don't feel that it is in anyway essential, unless you are like me and just like to have the "whole" story.

[Ithlilian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Torchbearer was my first real introduction to Kyle Rayner since I decied to skip Volume 3 of the Green Lantern Universe and get right into the good stuff with Volume 4. He comes off a bit unlikable, but I understand why he is brooding in a monestary somewhere, since his last three girlfriends were killed due to their association with him. Shocking, that would never happen in a comic book...

Anyway, supposedly Kyle Rayner is the most special powerful Green Lantern in the universe, with powers that no other Green Lantern has. He gets to learn how to use them in this collection, and of course has to go through a somewhat traumatic learning experience to be fully functional with them. Sigh. How super original! I just didn't really care about Kyle being sad, or why he doesn't want to use his powers. I also didn't like the guardians in this collection, but I believe the authors are leaning towards us not liking them. They pretty much do whatever they want and don't trust anyone. They think their way is right and that's that. They are the chosen super logic beings after all, who can possibly stand up to that? I wish Hal Jordan would just punch one of them in the face. Still, the bad guy in this appears to be interesting, and I want to know more about who or what is controlling him, but as far as reading about how powerful Kyle Rayner is...eh. I'm sure the next one will be him learning more about his new power, but as Hal Jordan said, it's not the amount or type of power, it's the willpower behind it, and Kyle may be lacking somewhat in that department. Never fear, I'm sure some dead girlfriend will come to him and make it all better in the next issue...

[Francisco Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

El caso de Kyle Rayner es distinto al de sus compañeros del Corps (Green Lantern Corps, Vol. 1: To Be a Lantern ) y es que al ser Ion un ser en extremo poderoso no está sujeto a las carencias de recursos que puedan sufrir sus comparsas , no obstante, la larga carrera del mismo que lo ha visto perder a cuanto ser querido lo rodeaba (particularmente novias) ha inclinado su actitud hacia la mesura. Sabiéndose el restaurador de Oa y al mismo tiempo quién la salvaguarda en caso de su caída, el sentir de Kyle es tal vez uno de los más complejos junto a Hal Jordan. Una dicotomia entre omnipotencia y vulnerabilidad a la vez.

Sobretodo en esta pasada en que alguien se hace pasar por él al momento de devastar mundos y flotas.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read this in years, but it's amazing how much of it stuck with me.
Ah the pre-Geoff Johns GL lore, how different you became when Johns took over. At this point the Ion powers were still a fusion of the Starheart and Central Power Battery energy, not a giant space whale who is the living embodiment of willpower. Despite how much was retconned away, this is still a great read for fans of Kyle Rayner

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate comics about heroes trying to "find" themselves or where you spend half your time reading them going back and forth trying to understand what the heck is going on. This one starts off pretty bleh, but once all the bs is straightened out and the action starts, it really picks up. Lets hope the 2nd volume works more on action and less on identity.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

(This review covers Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.)

A fairly interesting series of Kyle Rayner tales by his original creator, set between Infinite Crisis and the Sinestro Corps War. With lots of references to Kyle's time as the only Green Lantern, Ion probably appeals most to people who were fans of the character during that period.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art was really superb here and that's definitely a huge plus. While I might be reading bits and pieces of Rayner's history because a lot is out of print, this was still interesting and I'll be tracking down Vol. 2 for sure.

[Arnaud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story about Kyle Rayner. Prologue to the sinestro war, last summer GL crossover.

[Chris S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a reason I hesitate when I ask myself who's my favorite lantern. Kyle Reaner is definitly one of my favorite super-heroes of all time.

[goldberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[James Fichera · Rating 4 out of 5]

These Ron Marz Ion books feel a little lost to time, but they’re good! It’s a fun side story for Kyle while the build up to blackest night is getting going.