Ion (DC Comics)

For other uses, see Ion (comics).

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.^[1] It was later revealed to be able to form mutualism with a host, bestowing its power to a host willingly. This followed a similar retcon as Parallax, originally the new supervillain alias of Hal Jordan, which was revealed to be a parasitic embodiment of fear in the 2004–2005 miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth.

Ion
Ion as depicted in Green Lantern (vol. 4) #52 (May 2010). Art by Doug Mahnke.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	As Kyle Rayner: Green Lantern (vol. 3) #145 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.

Fictional character biography

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

Ion is a whale-like entity and the embodiment of willpower who is the source of power for the Green Lantern Corps. It has been kept a secret for eons, and resides in the Central Battery on Oa to keep Parallax, the parasitic fear entity also imprisoned there, in check. After Hal Jordan, under the influences of Parallax and Sinestro, destroys the Battery, Ion and Parallax are freed, with the former bonding with Kyle Rayner.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4] Kyle divests himself of his new abilities soon afterward when he realizes he is losing touch with the people he was protecting.^[5]

Return of Ion

Sometime 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.^[6] 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 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 role in the Sinestro Corps War and the events of Countdown to Final Crisis.^[7]

Sinestro Corps War

Main article: Sinestro Corps War

The Ion entity, extracted by force from host Kyle Rayner by Sinestro in Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special (2007). Art by Ethan Van Sciver.

Sodam Yat as Ion, from Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #17. Art by Patrick Gleason.

The 2007 one-shot special Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps Special reveals that, like the retconned origin of Parallax, Ion is a non-corporeal symbiote, 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 possesses Kyle's body.^[8] The Ion entity is eventually freed by several members of the Green Lantern Corps, after which the Guardians choose Sodam Yat to become its host.^[9][10]

The birth of Ion.

Blackest Night

In the "Blackest Night" storyline, Sinestro bonds with the Life Entity and sees the beginning of existence and the origin of the emotional spectrum. Ion is revealed to be the first living being that ever willed itself to move.^[11]

The New 52

In The New 52 event Lights Out, Ion and the emotional entities sacrifice themselves by traveling into the Source to restore the emotional spectrum after Relic destroys it.^[12]