Broken Frontier

Bedard and Kirkham combine a fan-favorite character with a new drive and focus, shining one of the brightest lights for the New 52.

When a great disaster befell the Green Lantern Corps, Kyle Rayner was chosen as the last recruit. Years later, the rainbow of Lanterns thrive in every spectrum and emotion. When rings escape their current possessors and fly to Kyle, so do their brethren. Kyle once saved one Lantern Corps from extinction… can he shepherd six more?

One of the books that didn't exactly have a predecessor, in this tale, Kyle Rayner has returned to a starring role. Beyond sharing Corps with John Stewart, he hasn't starred since the last miniseries where he returned to the role of Ion, Guardian of the Universe. The return to focus is much-welcomed one for a certain generation of fans, as Kyle was the lone Green Lantern for over a decade. A welcome change of pace from Hal Jordan's serious and cocky attitude, Kyle's much more laid back and fun, although almost prone to more tragedy.

Most interesting, and glossed over much, is that DC might have actually eliminated the beginning of the "women in refrigerators" trend that's happened. Kyle's origin is moved from the Los Angeles he and Alexandra DeWitt were dating in, and has skipped to the New York City that he moved to after she died. There's no mention of him dating anyone; in fact, his friends joke that a drawing he's working on is to try to pick up a girl. Enough minor modifications have been made that appear to ake the originator of women in refrigerators out of the equation. Likewise, the source of the original Lantern Corps destruction isn't clear; while it would likely be Hal Jordan's turn to Parallax to keep the entire Green Lantern mythos running uninterrupted, it isn't explicitly stated. In the crunching of the entire DC history to less than a decade of activity, this might end up being slightly modified.

If Kirkham does anything, it's a great job at bringing a cinematic force to the pages. Coupling with his great pencils and a setting primarily on Earth, there's a big-movie feel that the actual Green Lantern movie lacked. If Bedard does anything, he gets the character of Kyle down, but doesn't offer too much plot. Continuing the movie analogy, this would be almost the trailer for the book. Half of the book is dedicated to setting up Kyle's old origin, with the following half divided between half of the Lanterns losing their rings, and all forces converging on Kyle. There's a few great character bits, such as Kyle repeating himself, people arguing over which Lantern he is, and the continued proof that Kyle's more creative than the other Lanterns.

It's a great return to form for what was the only Lantern for a bit, but is a little slow to start. It's a quality beginning for a bright new day, and should even appeal to people who aren't explicit Green Lantern fans; Kyle's one of the biggest "everyman" heroes DC has to offer, giving Peter Parker a Power Ring and a creative instead of scientific nature. If some books were pleasant surprises in the New 52, this book is a reaffirming commitment to some of the best that DC didn't shut the lights off on.