Looking To The Stars 3.4.03: The Ultimate GL Guide Missing Content

Archive

Due to posting space limits that your humble editor was not even aware of until putting up Matt’s epic, the final part of the issue guide in Matt’s Ultimate Guide to Kyle Rayner got cut off, so here is what you missed:

GL #146
Plot: Kyle changes his costume and his name to Ion as he learns to use his new powers to the fullest.
Continuity: Among the increased abilities that Kyle has as Ion, he can control soundwaves to prevent people from hearing him speak, control the access he has to the different parts of the brain (becoming more creative at will, for instance) and being able to literally be in several places around the galaxy at once. Kyle even uses his new powers to play peacekeeper over the world torn apart by conflict in GL #138-139. Kyle gets a new hair cut, which assures Jenny that he is still human despite his new power. However, there are two side-effects to the power: Kyle cannot sleep and he cannot seem to focus himself on one place, being in several places at once even as he promises Jenny a night to themselves.

GL #147
Plot: John Stewart rises again, with the help of a psychiatrist and a little help from Kyle.
Continuity: Retells some of John’s past and how he was irresponsible as a teenager and had an accident with his Aunt’s car that turned him around. Though John has repressed the memory, hypnotherapy helps him remember that his carelessness killed his sister Rose. This clears up the psychological block that was keeping John from walking. By the end of the issue, he is standing unaided but still in need of extensive physical therapy.

GL #148
Plot: Jade takes on Sonar and has her natural powers returned by Kyle.
Famous Firsts: First appearance of David, Terry’s boyfriend.
Continuity: John is able to walk on braces. Kyle “fixes” Jenny, saying that her powers are still active inside her, but dormant. This restores her to her power level in GL #86.

GL #149
Plot: Kyle’s new powers reach levels that concern even Superman, who talks with Kyle about his role as a hero. Kyle has a similar talk with Alan Scott, and makes a big decision.

GL: Legacy, The Last Will And Testament of Hal Jordan
Plot: Tom “Pie” Kalmaku is made executor of Hal Jordan’s estate and left with only a child who is said to be Hal’s son and two words: “Fix It”.
Continuity: As a result of this story, the planet Oa is completely rebuilt with an inactive Central Power Battery.

GL #150
Plot: Kyle thinks about how to best use his increased powers for the good of the universe… and goes on a search for his long lost father.
Famous Firsts: First appearance of the toddler Guardians, as well as Kyle’s newest costume design.
Continuity: Kyle offers to use his power to stop Hal Jordan from becoming Parallax, but Hal refuses this, saying they cannot be sure of the consequences of trying to change time. Kyle tracks down his father, who he finds working as a painter in Austin. Using a weak telepathic ability, Kyle is able to lightly scan his father’s mind and determines the details of the story his father gives him about why he left his mother. (See the Nitpickers Guide for the full details). By the issue’s end, Kyle has given up the power of Ion to recharge the Central Battery on Oa, brought the race of Guardians back to life as toddlers and changed his costume once more. Additionally, Kyle altered the ring so that it had a permanent reserve charge but did require charging from the battery to give it a full tank of gas. He also altered the ring so that it cannot be taken by force and can always be summoned back to his hand.

Secret Files #3
Plot: Two short stories, one involving Kyle’s dealings with the DEO. The other has Jenny cleaning the apartment and finding a ring in a shelf… an engagement ring that she knows was not meant for her…
Continuity: Radu makes an all too rare (lately) appearance.

Recommended Reading: Winick has a good ear for dialogue and characterization, but a weak grasp of the history of the Marz run will ruin a lot of these stories for the old-time fans, even with Winick putting a greater focus on stories taking place in space and restoring the Guardians.

GL #151-152
Plot: Kyle jumps into action as an outbreak of telepathically induced madness hits New York. But not even the aid of The Sentinel and Jade can help him stand up to a newly sane “Brainwave”.
Continuity: Brainwave refers to “the drooling vegetable I was the last time we met” (GL/Sentinel: Heart of Darkness)

GL #153
Plot: Kyle and Jenny go visit Kyle’s mom, while on a visit to Kyle’s high school reunion.
Continuity: Jade and Kyle’s mom finally meet. Kyle’s mother looks different than in the pictures Kyle showed Jade. Kyle’s mom credits a tummy tuck and a diet for that. (She apparently straightened and dyed her hair as well… she’s gone from red curly to straight blonde). Kyle tells his mom that he knows the truth about his father and that he is alive and well.

GL #154
Plot: Kyle returns to New York after Terry becomes the victim of a hate crime.

GL #155
Plot: Kyle struggles with his thoughts on what else he can do about Terry and makes a big decision.
Continuity: It is revealed that Terry knows Kyle’s secret identity. Kyle, sickened by the apparent darkness of humanity, decides to journey into space to defend other worlds. Jenny agrees to go with him. Kyle gives his spare ring (the one Jenny used until recently) to John Stewart.

GL #156
Plot: A day in the life of John Stewart, as he readjusts himself to a life of heroism.
Continuity: John visits Fatality to thank her for using her power to see what was wrong with him. She says she only did it so that she could kill him as a true warrior and not as the crippled man she had faced before.

GL #157
Plot: Jade and Donna Troy team up to fight Killer Frost before discussing their personal issues.
Continuity: This story takes place before Jade had her powers restored in GL #148. Radu makes an appearance, his third in the title since Ron Marz left.

GL #158-159
Plot: Sent by Ganthet to investigate a series of attacks on a race of alien miners, Kyle and Jenny find more than they bargained for on a barren rocky planet…
Continuity: Kyle refers to GL #87, where he and J’onn J’onzz did terraform the surface of what was Mogo, not thinking the planet still alive.

Recommended Reading: Famous mostly for the Hate Crime story in #154, this marks a turning point in the series with an improved focus on past continuity balanced with the superior use of old characters. (Brainwave comes to mind along with the settling of the Donna/Jenny feud.)

He stands at the center of the universe, old as the stars and wise as infinity. And he can see the turning of the last page long before you’ve even started the book. He’s like rain and fog and the chilling touch of the grave. He is called many names in a thousand tongues on a million worlds. Heckler. The Smirking One. Riffer. The Lonely Magus. Wolf-Brother. The God of Snark. Mister Pirate. The Guy In The Rafters. Captain. The Voice In The Back. But here and now, in this place and in this time, he is called The Starman. And... he's wonderful.