Ion (comics)

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Ion
The Ion entity, extracted by force from host Kyle Rayner. Art by Ethan Van Sciver.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	As Kyle Rayner: Green Lantern vol. 3, #142 Revealed as Creature: Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1
Created by	Original Concept: Judd Winick Dale Eaglesham Ion Creature: Geoff Johns Ethan Van Sciver
In story information
Team affiliations	Green Lantern Corps Guardians of the Universe
Abilities	First version: The sum total of all the energies contained by the Guardians of the Universe and the Central Power Battery which granted the possessor nigh-omnipotent control over time, space and reality. Second version: Bestows its host with flight, energy manipulation, and other powers similar to a Green Lantern Corps Power Ring and (when fused with Jade) the Starheart.

Ion is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero. Created by writer Judd Winick and artist Dale Eaglesham for Green Lantern (vol. 3) #142, Ion was devised as the new superhero identity for Green Lantern protagonist Kyle Rayner. It was later revealed to be a benevolent symbiote, bestowing its power to a host willingly. This followed a similar retcon as Parallax, originally the new supervillain alias of Hal Jordan, was revealed to be a parasitic embodiment of fear in the 2004-2005 miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth.

[edit] Fictional character biography

Kyle Rayner as Ion, the Torchbearer of the Guardians of the Universe.

[edit] Power of Ion

Kyle first assumes the Ion identity after a prolonged series of events stemming from the death of his girlfriend Alex. First, he unconsciously expels all his feelings of rage from himself, which takes physical form as one of Kyle's childhood nightmares and calls itself Oblivion. Kyle defeats Oblivion in the Circle of Fire storyline, and his powers are boosted as a result. Over time his powers begin to grow even stronger until Kyle realized he is tapping into the Green Lantern energy left in the sun after Hal Jordan died. After a battle over control of the power with the villain Nero, Kyle absorbs all the powers of the Green Lantern Corps, resulting in Kyle taking the name Ion.

Kyle uses his newly expanded abilities to recreate the Guardians of the Universe on the planet Oa, whom he places in the care of Ganthet and orders him to teach them humility, and then recharges the Central Power Battery on Oa. Kyle divests himself of his new abilities soon afterwards when he realizes he is losing touch with the people he was protecting.^[1]

[edit] Return of Ion

Some time after resuming the Green Lantern identity, Kyle becomes Ion once again when Jade transfers all of her abilities to Kyle after her death during the events of the Rann-Thanagar War.^[2] This is then followed by a twelve part Ion miniseries. The series follows Kyle as he accepts his new role as "The Torchbearer" for the Guardians and the Corps. While doing so, he is confronted with the most challenging adversaries from his past as Green Lantern and the sudden illness of his mother. The events of the series are revealed to be a conspiracy against him and serve to launch Kyle towards his roles in the Sinestro Corps War and the events of Countdown to Final Crisis.^[3]

Sodam Yat as ION
Art by Patrick Gleason

[edit] Sinestro Corps War

Main article: Sinestro Corps War

The first issue of "The Sinestro Corps" reveals that, like the retcon origin of Parallax, the Ion symbiote is a separate being, forcefully extracted from Kyle and imprisoned on Qward by the Sinestro Corps. Upon expelling Ion from Rayner, Sinestro forces Kyle to bond with Parallax, who invades Kyle and takes control of his body.^[4] The Ion entity is eventually freed by several members of the Green Lantern Corps after being experimented on by the Anti-Monitor.^[5]

The Guardians, who now feel that Kyle has been tainted by Parallax, have recently chosen a new host for Ion, the Daxamite Sodam Yat.

Witnessing the creation of the new Ion, Superman-Prime confronts him and they fight in the skies above New York. The pair are matched in terms of power until the fight moves into a nuclear power plant where Sodam Yat's Daxamite physiology causes him to be severely weakened by the lead present in the reactor. As he tries to escape the power plant, Ion is impaled with a uranium rod by Prime. His powers diminished by lead poisoning, Sodam Yat is beaten nearly to death by Superman-Prime.

In Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, following the events of the war, The Guardians request Kyle Rayner assist Sodam in adjusting to his new role. While speaking about Sodam's history and attitude as a Lantern, it is revealed that Sodam must now permanently wear a Power Ring (despite his possession of the Ion powers) to prevent the lead in his body from killing him. They are then attacked by Nero, who had been freed during the initial assault on Oa but had not participated in the overall Sinestro Corps story. Kyle fights to less than his abilities to encourage Sodam to embrace his status as Ion. Sodam eventually defeats Nero by taking control of his own constructs --something Kyle states that he had never attempted.

[edit] References