GREEN LANTERN #154

By: Tony Whitt
Review Date: Tuesday, September 17, 2002

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

My first reaction to the news that Judd Winick would be doing a story addressing the gay bashing of Kyle Rayner's friend Terry was that it would be a must-read issue. Granted, much of my enthusiasm might have come from the fact that I'm gay myself, but it still struck me as an important moment. So - I've read the issue, and it is an important one. But why do I feel so discomfited by it?

When Terry and his boyfriend David leave a gay club one night, they're stalked by a group of three teenagers. David escapes, but Terry isn't so lucky - he's got several broken bones, he's got a skull fracture, and he's in a coma. Kyle's response is an understandable one: outright rage. When he discovers that one of the assailants has been caught and taken to Riker's Island, he visits him as Green Lantern to...well, persuade him to give up the location of his two buddies. Then he goes to find them, also in costume, and then...it's payback time.

Perhaps that's why I'm so uncomfortable with this issue, even after having read it now at least six times. I should be cheering when Kyle lays the smackdown on a couple of homophobic punks that beat an innocent kid nearly to death, even after he was already down. I should be happy to see Green Lantern threatening some homophobe in a jail cell in order to get information out of him and then carrying through with the threats when mere words don't work. I really should be - but I'm not.

Perhaps I'm meant to be uncomfortable to see a "metahuman" giving in to his all-too-human rage in response to a horrible act committed against one of his dearest friends. Certainly the message here is "violence does not solve violence," a message that Kyle gets while looking into the terrified and bloodied face of one of the attackers as he begs for mercy. Luckily, Kyle hears the message loud and clear - but I have a horrible feeling that he's heard it just a bit too late. I can't get over that initial discomfort enough to be relieved that Kyle's realized that violence isn't the answer - especially when he's already broken both the wrists of the first attacker and then beaten the second two to bloody pulps, much the same way they did to his friend. I can't get over the fact that he's done this in costume. It would be disturbing enough to see someone like the Batman doing this, even though one gets the impression that Bruce's demons lead him to do this sort of thing on a regular basis. With Kyle, it's far more disturbing.


Perhaps - and this is the real problem - I'm most disturbed by the feeling that, were I given the power of the Green Lantern, I'd probably have done exactly the same thing, and I'm not sure I would have had the presence of mind to stop when Kyle does. Put into that situation, how many of us would? How many of us, after the brutal murder of Matthew Shepherd four years ago, wouldn't have tracked his killers down, given the power and the necessary rage to do so? But is that then the message that Judd Winick is trying to convey: that the qualities that make Kyle a hero are what keep him from taking this situation to the logical conclusion, that those qualities are what make him finally stop? And does that moment of realization forgive what has come before?

If you hadn't already gathered, this is a horribly uncomfortable issue, especially the artwork. It's all deeply moving, from the cover image showing Terry's ruined face - amazingly, still emblazoned with the seal of the Comics Code Authority - to the terrifying chase through the darkened deserted streets, and finally, to the most scary image of all: Kyle in silhouette in a jail cell, the only light coming from his ring and his chest. Eaglesham and Ramos create some of the most unforgettable images this series has ever seen to accompany one of its most unforgettable stories - and possibly its most disturbing one. Whether it damages Kyle's credibility as a hero or not remains to be seen, though there's no denying this was a story that needed to be told - and one which everyone, straight or gay, should read.

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