Looking To The Stars: One Ring To Confuse Them All: 2005.5 Edition

With Green Lantern: Rebirth concluded, a new Green Lantern series begun and with a lot of changes to the Green Lantern Mythos made, it seems that it is time for me to once again update one of the most popular features I’ve ever written: a guide to the little differences in the various Green Lantern rings. Particularly since it now seems the rings are not as different as we thought.

For the purposes of simplicity, the “different” rings shall be discussed using these four qualifying terms: Alpha Ring, Beta Ring and Omega Ring. A new section, describing the state of the ring now, Delta Ring, has been added to explain how the rings function in the wake of Green Lantern: Rebirth. Definitions follow.

Alpha Ring – Standard GL Corps. Ring

Description: The ring created by the Guardians of the Universe to serve as a weapon and tool for their Green Lantern Corps.

Power Source: The Central Power Battery on the Guardian’s home planet of Oa.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is yellow or beings with yellow skin pigmentation. This weakness was reportedly programmed into the Central Power Battery itself, but the Guardians were not completely honest about the nature of the impurity. For more details upon this, see the Q&A following the ring definitions.

Powers of the Ring: The ring nominally allows the bearer to do anything, given sufficient willpower to accomplish it. The ring has a number or programmed safeguards that keep it from being used for certain tasks (such as killing) but these can be overridden by a Green Lantern with exceptional willpower or a mind that does not function in a normal way. Classified examples of standard ring uses are…

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Limited Healing
* Protective Shields
* Space Travel (Produces whatever gases and temperature the bearer needs to breathe and live)
* Universal Translator
* Invisibility
* Astral Projection (through an energy double of the bearer)
* Mind Tampering
* Communication Device (with standard transmission devices or other Green Lantern rings)
* Remote Control of Ring
* Ring Duplication
* Ring AI/Database – Ring allows bearer to access information from the Central Power Battery on Oa, similar to a series of networked computers and a file server.
* Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support – An energy reserve in the ring allows it to protect its’ bearer from surprise attacks. Additionally, this charge can be used to sustain a Green Lantern if knocked unconscious in the void of space until help can be summoned. This charge has proven strong enough in the past as to prevent a Green Lantern from dying for many years.

Beta Ring – Alan Scott’s Ring

Description: Fashioned from the lantern of deceased Green Lantern Yalan Gur and bonded to the chaotic magical energy of the colossal gem known as The Starheart, train engineer Alan Scott survived a fatal wreck thanks to the magic of the lantern, Carving a ring from it, Alan used its’ magic to fight evil as The Green Lantern during WWII and into the present day.

While its’ powers and origin have changed slightly over the years, Alan Scott’s ring has always been treated as a magical artifact while the other GL rings have been products of science and advanced alien technology. A link to the original Green Lanterns was forged in Green Lantern #19 (2nd series), when it was revealed that rather than being forged from a piece of the magical Starheart itself, Alan Scott’s lantern was an old GL Lantern, lain dormant after the death of its’ owner, Yalan Gur.

Yalan Gur was the subject of an experiment by the Guardians to see if their best and brightest could handle the strain of omnipotence. It was revealed in this story that the yellow weakness of the Green Lantern rings was a programmed flaw, which was meant to push the Corps to greater versatility as well as insuring the Guardians had a way to deal with those who rebelled.

Gur, however, fell to the temptation of limitless power and became a despot in Ancient China. He was defeated after the Guardians programmed a new weakness into his battery, which made him vulnerable to the wooden weapons of the peasants he was ruling.

This dead battery was later charged and taken over by the Starheart; a gigantic gem made up of all the wild chaotic magic from the beginning of the universe, which the Guardians gathered up as part of their efforts to make the universe more organized.

Of course this story may be out of continuity now. It did occur before Zero Hour (which could have effectively removed this story from continuity) and recent events suggest that the idea of the yellow weakness being programmed by the Guardians is totally inaccurate.

Power Source: The Starheart; a gem made of pure chaos magic, created by The Guardians.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is made of wood.

Powers of the Ring: Like the Alpha Ring, Alan Scott could use his ring to do anything he willed. However, since his ring was not “programmed” by the Guardians, it lacked some of the powers and the limits of the Alpha Ring. There was nothing, for example, to stop Alan Scott from killing aside from his own moral code. Alan Scott lamented this fact and spoke in one story about how he had the power to wish for every person in the world to become a decent human being, but how denying people the choice for good and evil would be more evil than the crimes he sought to stop. Regardless, aside from his time as The Sentinel when Alan Scott seemed to be a magician on par with Dr. Fate, Scott had shown the following abilities as a Green Lantern:

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Healing
* Protective Shields
* Space Travel
* Universal Translator
* Invisibility
* Astral Projection
* Mind Tampering – Alan has never said how he knows the ring can do this, but he has referred to avoiding using said power.

Omega Ring -Kyle Rayner’s Ring, Pre-Rebirth

Description: Forged from the broken remains of the ring of rogue Green Lantern Hal Jordan, all but one of the Guardians gave their life force to create a new Green Lantern ring. The last Guardian, Ganthet, went to Earth to try and convince the former Green Lantern Guy Gardner to use this ring and to stand against Hal, who was now wielding all the energy of the Central Power Battery. Gardner refused, saying he did not want to bail out the Guardians now that they realized he was the better man. With not much time left, Ganthet was forced to give the ring to an untested youth and unlikely hero- an artist named Kyle Rayner, in the hopes that his strong imagination would prove able to weave around Jordan’s strong will.

Power Source: Lacking a connection to The Central Power Battery, Kyle’s battery originally drew power directly from “The Source”; a cosmic energy field responsible for creating The New Gods and empowering certain other energy fields throughout he universe.

With the Central Power Battery reforged and repowered as of Green Lantern #150 and the “Legacy: The Last Will And Testament of Hal Jordan” graphic novel, it appeared from that time afterward that Kyle’s battery as well as that of John Stewart, were drawing their power from the new Central Power Battery.

Weaknesses: Unlike the Alpha Rings, the Omega Ring was not originally connected to the Central Power Battery of Oa. As such, it lacked access to the information databases the Alpha Ring drew upon and was unable to communicate with the other, now dormant, Green Lantern rings across the universe. Still, the Omega Ring made up for these flaws in two important respects.

First, it lacked the yellow weakness of the Alpha Rings. The exact reasons for this would be explained in Green Lantern: Rebirth but for years it was assumed that without the Central Power Battery, there was nothing to impose limits on the direct source of the Green Lantern power.

Second, unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring did not need to be recharged on a daily basis. The Omega Ring functioned as a normal power tool; being able to lie unused for days, slowly draining its’ supply until recharged.

Powers of the Ring: At first appearance, the Omega Ring lacked many of the powers of the Alpha Ring. While Kyle Rayner would later gain some of the powers as he became more experienced in using the ring, he started out very limited in terms of ability, though unhindered by the yellow weakness and 24 hour time time-limit of previous Lanterns. Indeed, Kyle only displayed three powers in his first outing as Green Lantern…

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Protective Shields

Despite this shaky start, Kyle did wind up developing nearly ALL of the powers of the Alpha Ring. This suggests that Kyle’s low power levels were more the result of ignorance and a lack of training than any limit within the ring itself. Consider the list of Alpha Ring powers and how many of them Kyle later used…

Limited Healing – In JLA #17, Kyle says he can use his ring to heal a bullet wound after being shot. In Green Lantern: Rebirth #2, his internal dialogue explains how he could use the ring to make stitches to sew together a cut. Also, having this power would explain his quick recovery from other various injuries he picked up in the line of fire that would have required explanation to those not aware of his secret identity.

Space Travel/ Life Support – Too many examples to count them all, but the first time was in the wake of the destruction of the Planet Oa in GL #0

Universal Translator – Very likely the first time he did this was in Green Lantern #56, when Kyle makes his first contact with an alien world. There have been countless examples since then, unless Kyle has been very lucky about finding aliens who either knew English or had their own translation devices.

Invisibility – Kyle used the ring to mask his presence in GL #154, as he confronted the man responsible for beating his friend Terry Berg in prison.

Astral Projection – JLA #15, where an energy projection of Kyle’s face was able to deliver a warning to Superman from some distance away. Also, in last GL #174, Kyle communicated with the rest of his Corps with an energy projection of his thoughts.

Mind Tampering – Used by Hal sparingly to erase memories in Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II, Kyle has never used this ability despite experimenting with telepathic abilities during his time as Ion.

Communication Device – See countless JLA issues where Kyle stays in touch with the team without an apparent separate communicator.

Remote Control of Ring – GL #124. Kyle summons his ring to his hand as he is being chased by the Controllers’ Effigy squad. He has since then programmed his ring so that it will always return to his hand if it is forcibly taken from him.

Ring Duplication – This power has never been demonstrated and, apparently, is impossible with an Omega Ring. Kyle used the Alpha Ring given to him by a young Hal Jordan after the events of “Emerald Knights” (Green Lantern 100-106) to create rings for the new GL Corps that he was creating in The New Corps (2-part special miniseries) and had to take one spare Alpha Ring Copy as a master in edition to his own Omega Ring. Ring Duplication is apparently impossible, as we can assume that Kyle would have at least tried to make a copy of his own ring just for the sake of trying after the events of Emerald Knights. Or can we? Kyle may have just assumed his ring was too different to have ever tried it.

Ring AI/Database – Never demonstrated, but with the lack of the Central Battery “Hub”, this makes sense.

Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support – This emergency power supply is apparently missing from the Omega Ring, as great play was made of this in GL #100, where Kyle and a young Hal Jordan switch rings when fighting Sinestro, so as to catch the villain off-guard. Considering how many times Kyle has been fatally wounded and nearly killed (his being sniped by an assassin in GL #120, to give one example), it would seem likely he doesn’t have this power.

Going through this list, we see only two powers that Kyle has not demonstrated directly in some capacity before Green Lantern: Rebirth; a ring AI and an Emergency Power supply. Kyle created an Emergency Power Supply of sorts for the ring in GL #150. As of Green Lantern Secret Files 2005, Kyle’s ring has developed an AI.

This suggests that Kyle’s ring has been changed to become a Standard Alpha Ring, further suggesting that the only true difference between Kyle’s Omega Ring and the Alpha Rings was the lack of two features, caused by the lack of the Central Power Battery. This means that only three things now separate the Omega Ring from the Alpha Ring, assuming these features have not been removed following the Guardians reprogramming of Kyle’s ring.

1. DNA Lock – The Omega ring only works for Kyle Rayner, a member of his family (one of Kyle’s descendants used the ring in the future) and, because it was his ring for many years and it still holds a “memory” of him, Hal Jordan. Reportedly, Kyle can will the ring to function for other people as well.

2. Emergency Energy Supply – In GL #150, Kyle programmed his ring so that it would always have a small reserve of energy. The ring would still need to be recharged to be at full power, but the ring could never really run out of energy. This could be tied into the reconstruction of the Central Power Battery and be considered a substitute for the Protection From Mortal Harm energy reserve.

3. Boomerang Effect – Kyle programmed his ring in GL #150 so that it can never be taken from him by force. While a bit redundant when he can just pull the ring back to his hand at will, this makes the process automatic and would protect Kyle from having his ring stolen by a mind-controlling enemy.

Delta Ring – All Green Lantern Rings, Post-Rebirth

Description: As of Green Lantern #1, it seems that all GL Rings have reverted back to their original Alpha Ring state in most respects. It has yet to be seen if some of the features of the Omega Ring (DNA lock, etc) have been added into all of the rings or if they have been removed outright.

Power Source: All Green Lantern rings now draw energy from the new Central Power Battery on the planet Oa. It has been revealed that rather than drawing off “The Source” itself, the Guardians actually harvest the collected willpower of every being in the universe as a power source. The Central Power Battery collects and harnesses this power and turns it into a tangible energy that manifests itself on the emotional prism as green light.

Weaknesses: It was revealed in Rebirth that the reason for the Green Lantern’s famed weakness against yellow was due to another purpose for the Central Power Battery. In addition to collecting the willpower of all intelligent life in the universe, it also acted as a prison for a being called Parallax. Parallax was a monster made up of pure fear, who fed off the fears of other beings. The Guardians imprisoned Parallax during their early efforts at organizing the universe and found that their battery made an effective prison. Nearly perfect in fact, save that Parallax was still able to influence the energy holding him, making it ineffective against the color of fear- yellow.

With Parallax imprisoned again in the new power battery, it appears that the Green Lanterns once again have a weakness to yellow. However, it also seems that this weakness can be overcome by Green Lanterns of sufficient experience and willpower. In Green Lantern #1, Hal Jordan and John Stewart are able to slice through a spaceship of yellow-metal by allowing themselves to feel fear and then overcoming it.

The Delta rings also appear to function as per the Omega ring in regards to recharging. The new rings are able to give an estimated amount of how much charge remains inside them (as of Green Lantern #1), suggesting that they now act like a standard power tool rather than as a limitless abyss of power for a limited time.

Powers of the Ring: Thus far, the Delta Rings appear to have all the same powers as the Alpha Ring.

Questions and Answers

Q: How many Green Lanterns are there now and where did their rings come from?

A: Ignoring Alan Scott (who is not officially part of the Green Lantern Corps) there are five active Green Lanterns with active rings. The rings came from the following sources…

Hal Jordan: Delta Ring; copy of his original ring, given to best friend Oliver Queen.

John Stewart: Delta Ring; given to Kyle Rayner by Batman. Presumed by some scholars to be retrieved from Anarky, who stole the ring from Jade, who got it from Kyle Rayner, who got it from a time-displaced Hal Jordan.

Guy Garder: Delta Ring; copied from Hal Jordan’s current ring.

Kyle Rayner: Delta Ring; his original Omega ring modified to function as a standard Alpha Ring, possibly with some added features.

Kilowog: Delta Ring, forged new by The Guardians.

Q: How exactly did the Yellow Impurity work and what does it have to do with Parallax?

A: As mentioned earlier, Parallax was a being made up of pure fear who lived off the fears of others. The Guardians imprisoned Parallax inside The Central Power Battery on Oa, hoping that the Battery, which collected the willpower of every being in the universe would be strong enough to contain Parallax.

While the prison was strong enough to hold Parallax’s physical form in check, Parallax was still able to make his presence felt through the energy released from the battery. The Rings the Guardians had fashioned to channel this energy proved inefficient against yellow- the color on the emotional spectrum that Parallax drew energy from. In order to counteract the risk that Parallax might influence their agents, The Guardians required all members of their Green Lantern Corps to be completely fearless.

This would nearly prove to the the Corps downfall, as Parallax was eventually able to find a way to influence the Lanterns through their rings without praying on their fears. Their total fearlessness left them unable to feel Parallax’s subtle influence and gave him free reign over their minds and bodies. Only Kyle Rayner, who had become a Green Lantern without being tested for fearlessness, felt another presence trying to influence his mind. It was he who discovered Parallax’s long-forgotten origins and determined that Parallax could be overcome by recognizing the feeling of fear and then working past them.

All of Hal Jordan’s acts as “Parallax” during Zero Hour and up until Final Night, are colored by Parallax’s influence, having fully taken over Hal’s mind during the moment of great stress brought about by the destruction of his hometown.

Q: Does this mean Hal has been totally absolved of his actions?

A: Far from it. Hal still blames himself for falling prey to Parallax, though the rest of the Corps. seems to have been quick to forgive him as have most of his old friends in the superhero community. Some, like Batman, are still unconvinced that Hal was being influenced and are watching him carefully.

Q: How well does the “Hal as Parallax” possessed story stand up to past stories?

A: Pretty well, actually.

In Zero Hour, Hal/Parallax was working toward a goal of using the Guardians’ power to reboot time and rebuild the universe. While Hal stated he wanted to make a universe free of pain, Parallax could have used the opportunity to create a universe where fear ruled supreme.

Most of the stories between Zero Hour and Final Night showed that Hal was regaining some small measure of his sanity back and was more concerned with righting wrongs than in continuing his big master plan. Even his actions in Final Night, sacrificing himself to save the world, suggest that Hal was resisting Parallax’s influence except when under great stress, such as in the heat of battle.

Q: What’s all this about Kyle’s role in Rebirth being pre-ordained?

A: In JLA #23, Kyle was told by Dream of the Endless that he would one day surpass Hal Jordan because of the one thing he knew that Hal did not: fear. This came to pass in Rebirth, as Kyle was the only Green Lantern to feel Parallax’s influence through the ring, by the simple fact that Kyle knew what it was to be afraid and resist fear.

Q: What is the status of Hal’s secret identity?

A: In Green Lantern #1, it is suggested that Hal has been presumed dead for the few years since Coast City. Ditto the Green Lantern who used to watch over Coast City. As such, it seems that Hal’s secret identity is still a secret.

Q: I thought Hal had been outed to the world at large as a killer and a murderer?

A: This point is a bit unclear and might be glossed over were all the references to this point not a part of some key Green Lantern stories.

In the Parallax special during The Final Night, Hal spoke with his old mechanic and sidekick Tom Kalmaku, who was working on a book about Hal’s life and that it would remind everyone of the hero he really was. Tom made reference to not believing a word that was said about what he had done.

Later, in Legacy: The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan it was suggested that he couldn’t find a buyer for the book because everyone he showed it to wanted a trashy tell-all about a fallen hero and not a story of true heroism Tom had written.

One way around this might be to suggest that Tom, who was drunk during the time of his ranting about the book, had not actually submitted the book to any publishers but was more upset about how one of his closest friends and a man he had admired had turned out to be everything that everyone said he is and he was worried more about what would be asked of him in telling his story. As for “what he heard”, it is more than likely some of the superhero community would have contacted Tom after “Zero Hour”, warning him to contact them should Hal ever come back to talk to him.

Q: Is this kind of thing par for the course for DC Comics resurrections?

A: Well, Carter Hall came back from the dead without ever having really died. Superman is a big question mark. And Oliver Queen is quite nicely managing a secret identity now despite having been a federally hunted fugitive, operating several years in Seattle without a real secret identity and having his name and picture splashed across the cover of the Daily Planet as a hero for giving his life to save Metropolis. So… yes.

Any more questions? You know how to e-mail me. And I’m sure there’s a few questions about Green Lantern I have yet to answer…

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt Website.

Looking To The Stars: One Ring To Confuse Them All - 2005 Ediition

With Green Lantern: Rebirth drawing a lot of attention as it clarifies and redefines the Green Lantern mythos, it seems that it is time for me to update one of the most popular features I've ever written: a guide to the little differences in the various Green Lantern rings.

For the purposes of simplicity, the rings shall be discussed using these three qualifying terms: Alpha Ring, Beta Ring and Omega Ring. Definitions follow.

Alpha Ring - Standard GL Corps. Ring

Description: The ring created by the Guardians of the Universe to serve as a weapon and tool for their Green Lantern Corps.

Power Source: The Central Power Battery on the Guardian’s home planet of Oa.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is yellow or beings with yellow skin pigmentation. This weakness was, we found out recently, programmed into the Central Power Battery itself. The yellow weakness is apparently no longer an issue, as the new Central Power Battery does not have this weakness, according to John Stewart in Green Lantern: Rebirth #2.

Powers of the Ring: The ring nominally allows the bearer to do anything, given sufficient willpower to accomplish it. The ring has a number or programmed safeguards that keep it from being used for certain tasks (such as killing) but these can be overridden by Green Lantern with exceptional willpower or a mind that does not function in a normal way. Classified examples of standard ring uses are.

• Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
• Flight
• Limited Healing
• Protective Shields
• Space Travel (Produces whatever gases and temperature the bearer needs to breathe and live)
• Universal Translator
• Invisibility
• Astral Projection (through an energy double of the bearer)
• Mind Tampering
• Communication Device (with standard transmission devices or other Green Lantern rings)
• Remote Control of Ring
• Ring Duplication
• Ring AI/Database - " Ring allows bearer to access information from the Central Power Battery on Oa, similar to a series of networked computers and a file server.
• Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support - " An energy reserve in the ring allows it to protect its’ bearer from surprise attacks. Additionally, this charge can be used to sustain a Green Lantern if knocked unconscious in the void of space until help can be summoned.


Beta Ring - Alan Scott’s Ring

Description: Fashioned from the lantern of deceased Green Lantern Yalan Gur and bonded to the chaotic magical energy of the colossal gem known as The Starheart, train engineer Alan Scott survived a fatal wreck thanks to the magic of the lantern, Carving a ring from it, Alan used its magic to fight evil as The Green Lantern during WWII and into the present day.

While its’ powers and origin have changed slightly over the years, Alan Scott’s ring has always been treated as a magical artifact while the other GL rings have been products of science and advanced alien technology. A link to the original Green Lanterns was forged in Green Lantern #19 (current series), when it was revealed that rather than being forged from a piece of the magical Starheart itself, his lantern was an old GL Lantern, lain dormant after the death of its’ owner, Yalan Gur.

Yalan Gur was the subject of an experiment by the Guardians to see if their best and brightest could handle the strain of omnipotence. It was revealed in this issue that the yellow weakness of the Green Lantern rings was a programmed flaw, which was meant to push the Corps to greater versatility as well as insuring the Guardians had a way to deal with those who rebelled. Gur, however, fell to the temptation of limitless power and became a despot in Ancient China. He was defeated after the Guardians programmed a new weakness into his battery, which made him vulnerable to the wooden weapons of the peasants he was ruling. This battery was later taken over by the Starheart; a gem made up of all the wild chaotic magic from the beginning of the universe, which the Guardians gathered up as part of their efforts to make the universe more organized.

Power Source: The Starheart; a gem made of pure chaos magic, created by The Guardians.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is made of wood.

Powers of the Ring: Like the Alpha Ring, Alan Scott could use his ring to do anything he willed. However, since his ring was not “programmed” by the Guardians, it lacked some of the powers and the limits of the Alpha Ring. There was nothing, for example, to stop Alan Scott from killing aside from his own moral code. Alan Scott lamented this fact and spoke in one story about how he had the power to wish for every person in the world to become a decent human being, but how denying people the choice for good and evil would be more evil than the crimes he sought to stop. Regardless, aside from his time as Sentinel when Alan Scott seemed to be a magician on par with Dr. Fate, Scott has shown the following abilities as a Green Lantern:


• Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
• Flight
• Healing
• Protective Shields
• Space Travel
• Universal Translator
• Invisibility
• Astral Projection
• Mind Tampering - Alan has never said how he knows the ring can do this, but he has referred to avoiding using said power.

Omega Ring - Kyle Rayner’s Ring

Description: Forged from the broken remains of the ring of rogue Green Lantern Hal Jordan, all but one of the Guardians gave their life force to create a new Green Lantern ring. The last Guardian, Ganthet, went to Earth to try and convince the former GL Guy Gardner to use this ring and to stand against Hal, who was now wielding all the energy of the Central Power Battery.. Gardner refused, saying he did not want to bail out the Guardians now that they realized he was the better man. With not much time left, Ganthet was forced to give the ring to the untested and unlikely artist Kyle Rayner in the hopes that his strong imagination would prove able to weave around Jordan’s strong will.

Power Source: Lacking a connection to The Central Power Battery, Kyle’s battery originally drew power directly from “The Source”; a cosmic energy field responsible for creating The New Gods and empowering certain other energy fields throughout he universe.

With the Central Power Battery reforged and repowered as of Green Lantern #150 and the "Legacy: The Last Will And Testament of Hal Jordan" graphic novel, it appears that Kyle's battery as well as those of the other Green Lanterns, are drawing their power from the new Central Power Battery..

Weaknesses: Unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring was not connected to the Central Power Battery of Oa. As such, it lacked access to the information databases the Alpha Ring drew upon and was unable to communicate with the other, now dormant, Green Lantern rings. Still, the Omega Ring made up for these flaws in two important respects.

First, it lacked the yellow weakness of the Alpha Ring, confirming that the weakness is indeed a programmable event in the rings; a point of contention among many GL fans for years.

Second, unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring did not need to be recharged on a daily basis. The Omega Ring functioned as a normal power tool; being able to lie unused for days, slowly draining its’ supply until recharged.

Powers of the Ring: At first appearance, the Omega Ring lacked many of the powers of the Alpha Ring. While Kyle Rayner would later gain some of the powers as he became more experienced in using the ring, he started out very limited in terms of ability though unhindered by the yellow weakness and 24 hour time time-limit of previous Lanterns. Indeed, Kyle only displayed three powers in his first outing as Green Lantern…

• Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
• Flight
• Protective Shields

Despite this shaky start, Kyle did wind up developing nearly ALL of the powers of the Alpha Ring. This suggests that Kyle's low power levels were more the result of ignorance and a lack of training than any limit within the ring itself. Consider the list of Alpha Ring powers and how many of them Kyle later used...

Limited Healing - In JLA #17, Kyle says he can use his ring to heal a bullet wound after being shot. In Green Lantern: Rebirth #2, he internal dialogue explains how he could use the ring to make stitches to sew together a cut. Also, having this power would explain his quick recovery from other various injuries he picked up in the line of fire that would have required explaining to friends and neighbors.

Space Travel/ Life Support - Too many examples to count, but the first time was probably in the wake of the destruction of the Planet Oa in GL #0

Universal Translator - Very likely the first time he did this was in Green Lantern #56, when Kyle makes his first contact with an alien world. Countless examples since then.

Invisibility - Kyle used the ring to mask his presence in GL #154, as he confronted the man responsible for beating his friend Terry Berg in prison.

Astral Projection - JLA #15, where an energy projection of Kyle's face was able to deliver a warning to Superman from some distance away. Also, in last GL #174, Kyle communicated with the rest of his Corps with an energy projection of his thoughts.

Mind Tampering - Used by Hal sparingly to erase memories in Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II, Kyle has never used this ability despite experimenting with telepathic abilities during his time as Ion.

Communication Device - See countless JLA issues where Kyle stays in touch with the team without an apparent separate communicator.

Remote Control of Ring - GL #124. Kyle summons his ring to his hand as he is being chased by the Controller's Effigy squad. He has since then programmed his ring so that it will always return to his hand if it is forcibly taken from him.

Ring Duplication - This power has never been demonstrated and, apparently, is impossible with an Omega Ring. Kyle used the Alpha Ring given to him by a young Hal Jordan after the events of "Emerald Knights" to create rings for the new GL Corps that he was creating in "The New Corps" and had to take one spare Alpha Ring Copy as a master in edition to his own Omega Ring.

Ring AI/Database - Never demonstrated, but with the lack of the Central Battery "Hub", this makes sense.

Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support - This emergency power supply is apparently missing from the Omega Ring, as great play was made of this in GL #100, where Kyle and a young Hal Jordan switch rings when fighting Sinestro, so as to catch the villain off-guard. Considering how many times Kyle has been wounded and nearly killed (his being sniped by an assassin in GL #120, to give one example), it would seem likely he doesn't have this power.

Going through this list, we see only four powers that Kyle has not demonstrated directly in some capacity. The lack of a Ring AI is explained by the lack of a Central Power Battery to act as a database. Mind Tampering may not be impossible, but would likely be distasteful to a free-spirit like Kyle who would avoid such options even if he knew they were possible.

Ring Duplication is apparently impossible, as we can assume that Kyle would have at least tried to make a copy of his own ring just for the sake of trying after the events of Emerald Knights. Or can we? Kyle may have just assumed his ring was too different to have ever tried it.

As for the emergency power supply, no logical answers can be determined from the text. Perhaps it was, like the Ring AI, tied to the Central Power Battery whose network had the capability to monitor every individual Green Lantern at once and determine if they needed assistance?

Regardless, looking at this list the differences between the Omega Ring and Alpha Ring are not very great. In fact, were it not for the ability to copy itself and the emergency power supply they might well be the same ring but with a few features added ( the DNA lock that allows only Kyle or a family member to use the ring) or taken away ( the yellow weakness, and 24 hour time limit)

Indeed, in the wake of the reforging of the Central Power Battery, it seems that the Yellow Weakness is no longer a concern for ANY Green Lantern, regardless of whether or what ring they use. In Green Lantern: Rebirth #2, John Stewart confirmed that the yellow weakness hadn't been an issue since the destruction of the old Central Power Battery. This confirms that the Yellow Weakness was a programmed flaw and that the new battery does not impose such limits on Green Lanterns.

This means that only three things now separate the Omega Ring from the Alpha Ring.

1. DNA Lock " The Omega ring only works for Kyle Rayner, a member of his family (one of Kyle's descendants used the ring in the future) and, because it was his ring for many years and it still holds a "memory" of him, Hal Jordan. Reportedly, Kyle can will the ring to function for other people as well.
2. Emergency Energy Supply - " In GL #150, Kyle programmed his ring so that it would always have a small reserve of energy. The ring would still need to be recharged to be at full power, but the ring could never really run out of energy. This could be tied into the reconstruction of the Central Power Battery and be a substitute for the Protection From Mortal Harm energy reserve
3. Boomerang Effect - " Kyle programmed his ring in GL #150 so that it can never be taken from him by force. While a bit redundant when he can just pull the ring back to his hand at will, this makes the process automatic and would protect Kyle from having his ring stolen by a mind-controlling enemy.


Currently, the number of ring bearers as of Green Lantern: Rebirth #2 and where they got their ring from is as follows.

John Stewart: Alpha Ring. His ring is an emergency spare that was given to him by Kyle Rayner, who originally got it from a young Hal Jordan.

Oliver Queen: Alpha Ring. Hal Jordan's best friend, he was given a "for emergency only" ring by Hal Jordan.

Guy Gardner: Alpha Ring. Former Green Lantern, he recently got a new ring after a copy inexplicably split off of Oliver Queen's ring and flew onto his hand.

Killowog: Alpha Ring. Formerly dead Green Lantern, restored to life by Kyle Rayner. When last we saw him he was ringless, helping Kyle along with other former Lanterns in his effort to bring down the intergalactic Black Circle crime syndicate from the inside. As of GL: Rebirth #2, he is back in uniform with an active ring, presumably provided by Ganthet, the last Guardian.

Alan Scott: Beta Ring.

Kyle Rayner: Omega Ring.

Any questions? You know how to e-mail me.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt Website.

Looking To The Stars: One Ring To Confuse Them All - Part Two

When last we left off our discussion of Ring Lore, we discussed the differences between the three various recorded types of Green Lantern rings and Kyle Rayner's development as a ring bearer.

* Alpha - The Standard Corps Ring
* Beta - The Alan Scott Ring
* Omega - The Kyle Rayner Ring

While we're on the subject, one error from last week I should note: due to a production error, the list of powers for the Beta ring was not printed. However, since the list was going to be exactly the same as the Alpha Ring plus a note that "Aside from being vulnerable to Wood, Alan has shown no limits at all". So there.

Getting back to the topic at hand, the Alpha Ring, as we discussed last week, had a wide variety of powers that the Omega Ring seemingly lacked.

Alpha Ring Powers

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Limited Healing
* Protective Shields
* Space Travel (Produces whatever gases and temperature the bearer needs to breathe and live)
* Universal Translator
* Invisibility
* Astral Projection (through an energy double of the bearer)
* Mind Tampering
* Communication Device (with standard transmissions or other Green Lantern rings)
* Remote Control of Ring
* Ring Duplication
* Ring AI/Database - Ring allows bearer to access information from the Central Power
* Battery on Oa, similar to a series of networked computers and a file server.
* Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support - An energy reserve in the ring allows it to protect its' bearer from surprise attacks. Additionally, this charge can be used to sustain a Green Lantern if knocked unconscious in the void of space until help can be summoned.

Omega Ring Powers (that Kyle showed in his first appearance)

* Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
* Flight
* Protective Shields

This makes Kyle look severely underpowered. However, lacking the advanced training that a Corps Member usually received, Kyle was forced to learn some of the power and abilities he had on the fly. Indeed, it didn't occur to him to use the ring to fly until his girlfriend Alex recognized his costume as that of a Green Lantern and told Kyle that the ring he was given should let him fly. He figured out how to make simple shields and energy objects shortly after that.

Going down the list of Alpha Ring Powers and consulting the handy Guide To Kyle Rayner as well as my own collection of all things Green Lantern related in the last few years, we can make a reference list of when Kyle used his ring to replicate certain powers.

* Limited Healing - In JLA #17, Kyle says he can use his ring to heal a bullet wound after being shot. Also, it would explain his quick recovery from other various cuts and scrapes that would have required explaining.

* Space Travel/ Life Support - Too many examples to count, but the first time was probably in the wake of the destruction of the Planet Oa in GL #0

* Universal Translator - Very likely the first time he did this was in Green Lantern #56, when Kyle makes his first contact with an alien world. Countless examples since then.

* Invisibility - Kyle used the ring to mask his presence in GL #154, as he confronted the man responsible for beating Terry, in prison.

* Astral Projection - JLA #15, where an energy projection of Kyle's face warned Superman not to destroy the Philosopher's Stone. Also, in last week's GL #174, where Kyle communicated with the rest of his Corps with an energy projection of his thoughts.

* Mind Tampering - Used by Hal sparingly to erase memories in Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II, Kyle has never used this ability despite experimenting with telepathic abilities during his time as Ion.

* Communication Device - See countless JLA issues where Kyle stays in touch with the team without an apparent separate communicator.

* Remote Control of Ring - GL #124. Kyle summons his ring to his hand as he is being chased by the Controller's Effigy squad.

* Ring Duplication - This power has never been demonstrated and, apparently, is impossible with an Omega Ring. Kyle used the Alpha Ring given to him by Hal Jordan after the events of "Emerald Knights" to create rings for the new GL Corps that he was creating in "The New Corps" and had to take one spare Alpha Ring Copy as a master in edition to his own Omega Ring.

* Ring AI/Database - Never demonstrated, but with the lack of the Central Battery "Hub", this makes sense.

* Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support - This emergency power supply is apparently missing from the Omega Ring, as great play was made of this in GL #100. Also, considering how many times Kyle has been fatally wounded and nearly killed (his being sniped by an assassin in GL #120, to give one example), it would seem likely he doesn't have this power.


Going through this list, we see only four powers that Kyle has not demonstrated in some capacity. The lack of a Ring AI is explained by the lack of a Central Power Battery to act as a database. Mind Tampering may not be impossible, but would likely be distasteful to a free-spirit like Kyle who would avoid such options even if he knew they were possible. Ring Duplication is apparently impossible, as we can assume that Kyle would have at least tried to make a copy of his own ring just for the sake of trying after the events of Emerald Knights.

As for the emergency power supply, no logical answers can be determined from the text. Perhaps this is tied into the removable yellow impurity (see GL #19, where the yellow weakness is confirmed as being removable) or perhaps it was, like the Ring AI, tied to the Central Power Battery, whose network could have had the capability to monitor every individual Green Lantern and determine if they needed assistance?

Regardless, looking at this list the differences between the Omega Ring and Alpha Ring are not very great. In fact, were it not for the ability to copy itself and the emergency power supply they might well be the same ring but with a few features added ( the DNA lock that allows only Kyle or a family member to use the ring) or taken away ( the yellow weakness, and 24 hour time limit)

However, things changed again in the wake of Green Lantern #150 and "Legacy: The Last Will And Testament Of Hal Jordan". The latter of these stories restored the planet Oa and its' Central Power Battery in physical form, though the Battery itself lay dormant. Kyle Rayner recharged the Battery and restored the Guardians to life, giving up the power he had gained as Ion, after absorbing the power that Hal Jordan had taken to become Parallax. At the end of the same issue, Kyle revealed a new costume and two changes that he made to his ring before giving up the Ion power...

"This bad boy can't get away from me anymore. Anyone takes it off, it comes right back."

A seemingly needless addition if Kyle can simply will the ring back to his hand at will already. Though ill-defined here, perhaps he has simply made the process automatic, so he can focus all his will on using the ring from a distance while the ring itself comes home.

"It also doesn't need to be recharged. I do have to charge it to get it to full power, but it always has a reserve amount. More than enough to get me out of almost anything."

Ill-defined and, to put it in the terms of a gamer, "twinkish", this power as given eliminates one of the weaknesses of a Green Lantern. Indeed, the only one Kyle had left - the fact that his power was limited. Then again, taken in another tact, might this mean that Kyle restored the Emergency Power Supply that powered the ring's Protection From Mortal Harm and Life Support features as well as allowing himself the ability to tap into this reserve in an emergency?

The restoration of the Central Power Battery raises another question; with Ganthet once again on Oa and the battery operational (Kyle did recharge his ring from it GL #169), is it possible for the Ring AI/Database to be restored? Presumably if the ring is "smart" enough for Kyle to program it to return to him automatically, it can still support the feature and the Central Power Battery, as far as we know, is no different than it was before.

And here is another question; even if Kyle IS unable to copy his ring now, there is one Alpha Ring that should be able to copy itself that is still active and on the hand of John Stewart. What then, is to stop Kyle from mass producing the rings again and giving them out to new recruits… such as the old GL's recruited at the beginning of Ben Raab's run? If nothing else, Ganthet is there and can probably make some new rings when he isn't busy watching the Guardian children. Kids have to sleep sometime, right?

In conclusion, it appears that we are upon the verge of having a new Green Lantern Corps just as it was ten years ago, before Hal Jordan's madness. The capabilities are there, even if the writing team has yet to achieve them. Still, it cannot be denied that while we GL fans may lack the Corps we have long wanted, Judd Winick and Ben Raab have done much to take things in that direction. But will the Corps fly again sometime soon with new rings, free of the Yellow weakness and unburdened by the need to recharge their rings completely? Only time will tell.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

Looking To The Stars: One Ring To Confuse Them All - Part One

A few weeks back, Mathan Erhardt wrote a review of Green Lantern #173 , in which he talked about some of the continuity problems in the book since Ron Marz’s departure from the series. While most of his complaints centered upon characterization, there was one comment that got my attention…

“I was (also) under the impression that one of the things Kyle changed about his ring post-Ion was the need to charge.”

This is, I admit, a bit obtuse a statement to any who isn’t familiar with the last 30 issues of so of Green Lantern and the changes that Kyle Rayner (one of the two current Ring Bearers) made to his in Green Lantern #150. Perhaps the most impressive weapon in all of comics-literature, The Green Lantern Power Ring has gone through a lot of evolution since the days when Alan Scott protected the streets of Gotham with a ring that could manipulate metals.

Over the next few weeks, we shall examine how the limits and capabilities of the Ring (and indeed, the individual Green Lanterns) has changed dramatically within the last few years of the book. Before we can do that, however, we have to define the three types of Green Lantern rings and how they have appeared standardly.

The three rings shall henceforth be defined as Alpha Ring (Standard GL Corps Ring), Beta Ring (Alan Scott’s Ring) and Omega Ring (Kyle Rayner’s Ring).

Alpha Ring – Standard GL Corps. Ring

Description: The ring created by the Guardians of the Universe to serve as a weapon and tool for their Green Lantern Corps, in order to protect the universe.

Power Source: The Central Power Battery on the Guardian’s home planet of Oa.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is yellow or beings with yellow skin pigmentation.

Powers of the Ring: The ring nominally allows the bearer to do anything, given sufficient willpower to accomplish it. The ring has a number or programmed safeguards that keep it from being used for certain tasks (such as killing) but these can be overridden by Green Lantern with exceptional willpower or a mind that does not function in a normal way. Classified examples of standard ring uses are.

· Energy Object Creation and Manipulation

· Flight

· Limited Healing

· Protective Shields

· Space Travel (Produces whatever gases and temperature the bearer needs to breathe and live)

· Universal Translator

· Invisibility

· Astral Projection (through an energy double of the bearer)

· Mind Tampering

· Communication Device (with standard transmissions or other Green Lantern rings)

· Remote Control of Ring

· Ring Duplication

· Ring AI/Database – Ring allows bearer to access information from the Central Power Battery on Oa, similar to a series of networked computers and a file server.

· Protection from Mortal Harm/ Life Support – An energy reserve in the ring allows it to protect its’ bearer from surprise attacks. Additionally, this charge can be used to sustain a Green Lantern if knocked unconscious in the void of space until help can be summoned.

Beta Ring – Alan Scott’s Ring

Description: Fashioned from the lantern of deceased Green Lantern Yalan Gur and bonded to the chaotic magical energy of the colossal gem known as The Starheart, train engineer Alan Scott survived a fatal wreck thanks to the magic of the lantern, Carving a ring from it, Alan used its magic to fight evil as The Green Lantern during WWII and into the present day.

While its’ powers and origin have changed slightly over the years, Alan Scott’s ring has always been treated as a magical artifact while the other GL rings have been products of science and advanced alien technology. A link to the original Green Lanterns was forged in Green Lantern #19 (current series), when it was revealed that rather than being forged from a piece of the magical Starheart, his lantern was an old GL Lantern, lain dormant after the death of its’ owner, Yalan Gur.

Yalan Gur was the subject of an experiment by the Guardians to see if their best and brightest could handle the strain of omnipotence. It was revealed in this issue that the yellow weakness of the Green Lantern rings was a programmed flaw, which was meant to push the Corps to greater versatility as well as insuring the Guardians had a way to deal with those who rebelled. Gur, however, fell to the temptation of limitless power and became a despot in Ancient China. He was defeated after the Guardians programmed a new weakness into his battery, which made him vulnerable to the wooden weapons of the peasants he was ruling. This batter was later taken over by the Starheart; a gem made up of all the wild chaotic magic from the beginning of the universe, which the Guardians gathered up in order to make the universe more organized.

Power Source: The Starheart; a gem made of chaos magic, created by The Guardians.

Weaknesses: The ring must be recharged every 24 hours. Also, the ring is unable to affect any object that is made of wood. Also, the ring lacks many of the Alpha Ring powers that are dependent upon the Guardian’s programming and the link to the Central Power Battery.

Powers of the Ring: Like the Alpha Ring, Alan Scott could use his ring to do anything he willed. However, since his ring was not “programmed” by the Guardians, it lacked some of the powers and the limits of the Alpha Ring. Alan Scott lamented this fact, and often talked about how he could wish for every person in the world to become a decent human being, but how denying people the choice for good and evil would be more evil than the crimes he sought to stop. Regardless, Scott has shown the following abilities.

• Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
• Flight
• Healing
• Protective Shields
• Space Travel
• Universal Translator
• Invisibility
• Astral Projection
• Mind Tampering - Alan has never said how he knows the ring can do this, but he has referred to avoiding using said power.

Omega Ring –Kyle Rayner’s Ring

Description: Forged from the broken remains of the ring of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, the last Guardian Ganthet went to Earth to try and convince the former GL Guy Gardner (a rival to Jordan)to use it to stand against the rogue lantern, now armed with the power of the Central Power Battery of Oa. Gardner refused, saying he did not want to bail out the Guardians now that they realized he was the better man. With not much time left, Ganthet was forced to give the ring to the untested and unlikely artist Kyle Rayner in the hopes that his strong imagination would prove able to weave around Jordan’s strong will.

Power Source: Lacking a connection to The Central Power Battery, Kyle’s battery draws power directly from “The Source”; a cosmic energy field responsible for creating The New Gods and empowering certain other energies throughout he universe.

Weaknesses: Unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring is not connected to the Central Power Battery of Oa. As such, it lacks access to the information databases of the Alpha Ring and is unable to communicate with the other, now dormant, Green Lantern rings.

Still, for what it lacks in the versatility of the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring does make up in two important respects

First, it lacks the yellow weakness of the Alpha Ring, confirming that the weakness is indeed a programmable event in the rings; a point of contention among many GL fans for years. Also, unlike the Alpha Ring, the Omega Ring does not need to be charged on a daily basis. The Omega Ring functions as a normal power tool; being able to lie unused for days, slowly draining its’ supply until recharged.

Powers of the Ring: At first appearance, the Omega Ring lacked many of the powers of the Alpha Ring. While Kyle Rayner would later gain some of the powers as he became more experienced (which we will discuss in Part Two of this series), he started out very limited in terms of ability, though unhindered by the yellow weakness and 24 hour time limit.

· Energy Object Creation and Manipulation

· Flight

· Limited Healing

· Protective Shields

· Space Travel

· Universal Translator

· Communication Device

As we can see, the rings were all enhanced and limited in varying respects and indeed, had different power sources. Still, what is equally amazing is that each of the three ring bearers has shown the ability to use their powers without the ring through one bond or another.

· Perhaps most troublingly, Alan Scott would switch back and forth between needing the ring for his powers and not needing it, having a weakness to wood or not, calling himself Green Lantern or Sentinel and changing his apparent age several times throughout the course of the late 90’s / early 00’s.

· Hal Jordan, perhaps the best known example of this, was able to draw the entirety of the Central Power Battery into his being and renamed himself Parallax.

· Years later, Kyle Rayner would take this energy, released at Hal Jordan’s death along with energy he had drained away during “Circle of Fire”, and absorb it into himself to become the nigh-powerful Ion.

Still, the lack of the ring did little to change the powers. Alan Scott remained the same magical man, no matter how old he looked, what his name was or whether or not a wooden stake could kill him where bullet’s failed. Likewise, Jordan had much the same powers as a Green Lantern as Parallax; he just had access to much more energy and no qualms about doing potentially dangerous things such as altering the flow of time.

The exception to this is Kyle Rayner, who experienced some rather drastic changes after his bout with omnipotence and not needing a ring. However, this and his development of new abilities using the ring is very complicated and is a whole column unto itself.

How very fortunate that I have another one planned then, isn’t it?

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

A Treatise Upon Kyle Rayner's Ring

It has long been believed that the ring of Earth’s newest Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner is the first of a new model. After careful study, it is my conclusion that this is not strictly true. It is my intent to prove in this treatise that Kyle’s ring is closer to the standard model issued to the Green Lantern Corps in the past than has been previously believed. First, let us examine some of the differences between the GL Corps rings (hereafter-called Ring Alpha) and Kyle Rayner’s ring (hereafter-called Ring Beta).

I. The Beta Ring has no Yellow Weakness.

The most obvious difference between the two is that Ring Beta lacks the most famous of the Green Lantern’s weaknesses: that is, the ring cannot effect things that are yellow in color. There are two ways to explain how this is possible.

A. The Weakness is Removable

The first, and I think most likely explanation is that Ganthet reprogrammed the ring so that it no longer had the yellow weakness. Some fans might remember that the yellow impurity of the ring was often described as being “necessary” for the powering of the ring. That is to say, the Guardians could not remove the yellow flaw without the ring ceasing to function.

However, I could not find any discussions of the yellow flaw being described as “necessary” that occurred After the Crisis on Infinite Earths. As such, this fact may or may not still be valid in the Post-Crisis continuity. (Lord Knows most other things about the Green Lantern continuity have been changed Post-Crisis.)

For the purposes of this Treatise, we shall presume that the yellow impurity to the ring is a programmed flaw and not in any way “necessary” to the ring’s proper functioning. This can be determined by two examples.

It is well within the powers of a Guardian (Post-Crisis, anyway) to remove the Yellow Impurity.. In Green Lantern #19 (3rd Series), the tale was told of Yalan Gur; then Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814 (the sector Earth is in). Yalan was widely considered to be the greatest of the Green Lantern Corps at that time. There was an occasion where he was nearly killed by a yellow beast of some kind. This incident left the Guardians wondering if it was wise to take the chance of loosing their best and brightest to a manufactured weakness.

They removed the yellow weakness from Yalan’s ring. Sadly, the virtual omnipotence eventually drove him mad with power and the Guardians were forced to add a new weakness: one to wood. Yalan was later beaten to death by a number of peasants wielding wooden weapons. In his death throes, his spirit fused with his lantern and the lantern fused with the Starheart. This lantern later became the lantern of Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern. This story clearly illustrates the possibility of a Guardian being able to remove the yellow vulnerability from a ring.

B. The Weakness is Psychological in Nature

The second explanation is based upon an idea long used in literature and comic books. This idea has been used so many times in fact, I cannot pinpoint exactly from whence it first came. For the sake of this treatise, it will be referred to as “The Phantom Tollbooth Law of Ignorance.”

At the end of the book, the hero Milo is told that the quest he just completed was impossible. When he asks why nobody told him that before, it is pointed out to him that if he had known his quest was impossible, he would never have been able to finish it.

This is how Kyle’s ring seems to have worked within regards to the Yellow Weakness. In GL 53, Kyle fought Mongul, whose skin pigmentation is yellow and who was using a yellow-beamed energy weapon with no apparent problems. As Kyle held off Mongul’s blasts, the following exchange happened between Superman and Kyle.

Superman: “How are you shielding yourself? There’s a weakness against yellow in all Green Lantern’s rings.”

Kyle: “Well, that’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

Superman: “For that matter, Mongul’s pigmentation is yellow. You shouldn’t be able to affect him either.”

Kyle: “All of which is news to me…”

It has speculated before amongst Green Lantern fans on the Internet that the Yellow Weakness may be entirely psychological in effect. The ring is powered by the mind of the bearer. It has been shown in the past (with Kyle Rayner as well as Hal Jordan) that the ring can project objects based upon the bearer’s subconscious if they are not careful. With that as fact, it is not too far a stretch to think that a perceived weakness would affect the functioning of the ring.

Consider this: One of the first things that a Green Lantern is taught upon receiving a ring is that the ring cannot affect anything that is yellow. As they go through training, they are taught ways to deal with objects that are yellow in indirect manners. Throwing a boulder at a yellow spaceship with a large green catapult, for example. By the time a Lantern is fully qualified to monitor their sector or world unaided, the idea that yellow can hurt them is deeply entrenched in their minds.

Kyle Rayner did not receive any of this special training nor was he told of the ring’s weakness. True, Ganthet could have removed the weakness altogether. But there is also a strong case for the Yellow Weakness being at least partly psychological in nature. Kyle Rayner’s fighting Mongul is a good example of this. By the time Superman had found Kyle, he had already fought two supervillians including Mongul and had no problems with the color yellow. When Superman tells Kyle that what he is doing should be impossible with the ring, Kyle basically shrugs him off, noting his ignorance to the weakness and that apparently it isn’t really a problem for him. Kyle’s lack of formal training will play heavily in our next section.

II. The Beta Ring Lacks Many of the Alpha Ring Features

The Beta Ring is severely limited in the number of powers it provides compared to the Alpha Ring. Here is a short list, starting with the Beta Ring.

BETA RING

Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
Flight
Limited Healing
Protective Shields
Space Travel
Universal Translator
Creation of an Energy Twin
Remote Control of Ring

ALPHA RING

Energy Object Creation and Manipulation
Flight
Limited Healing
Protective Shields
Space Travel
Protection from Mortal Harm
Universal Translator
Invisibility
Creation of an Energy Twin
Mind Tampering
Remote Control of Ring
Ring Duplication
Ring AI/Database

Again, there are two explanations as to why this is so.

A. The Yellow Weakness Also Adds Powers to The Ring.

Given that the Guardians were easily able to remove the Yellow Weakness from the ring of Yalan Gur with no fear of depowering him, this possibility can be safely ignored.

B. The Powers are There. Kyle is Just Ignorant As To How To Use Them.

This seems highly likely, considering several incidents.

1. The Man-Child Who Could Fly

In GL #51, Kyle never thought to try and use the ring to fly until it was suggested as being possible by his girlfriend, Alex. She told Kyle that the strange ring he had that put an odd costume on him made him look like a Green Lantern. The shock-stricken Kyle (well, how lucid would you be after a blue midget in a red dress gave you a green ring outside a nightclub?) then remembered the superhero Green Lantern, thought about flying and promptly began levitating off the ground.

2. Energy Double

While it has never been implicitly identified as a true energy double (IE: a green energy shell used to hold a person’s life force) Kyle has used structures that might be energy doubles in the past.

In JLA #15, a ring projection shaped like Kyle’s head appeared, warning Superman and Batman not to destroy the copy of the Philosopher’s Stone that Lex Luthor possessed since doing so would trigger a chain of events that would end with Darksied’s conquering the Earth.

In Green Arrow #126, Kyle used an energy double (albeit a very stretchy, Plastic-Man styled double) to question a jailed suspect. The double quickly changed into an Alien (as in James Cameron’s Alien) but still maintained Kyle’s voice.

3. Remote Control of Ring (or “Use the Force, Kyle”)

Until recently, Kyle showed no ability to control his ring from a remote distance as an old Corps member could. That changed in GL #124 when Kyle, captured by the Controllers and stripped of his ring, reached out with his mind and tried to will the ring to come to him before he was found by the Controllers flame-powered enforcers. This marks the first time that Kyle has use a power that has been limited before to the old Corps rings that could not be replicated by another power (as energy doubles could).

4. Protection From Mortal Harm

Kyle has been snuck up on and assaulted, near fatally wounded and just plain shot more times than someone with a ring that is supposed to prevent sneak attacks should. The most recent of these occurred in GL #120, when Kyle was shot in the back by an assassin. However, if we consider the effects of the Phantom Tollbooth Rule, the ring may not have this function because Kyle was never told that the ring would stop him from being seriously wounded.

5. AI / Ring Database

The ring has also shown no signs of having the sophisticated AI that the old Corps rings had nor of the database that a Green Lantern could access for information. However, this is quite easily explained. Imagine that the AI for each ring was a computer on a network, with the Central Power Battery of Oa acting as the main computer of the network. With the Main Battery’s destruction, the database should have been rendered in inoperable.

6. Other Powers

As for other powers Kyle has shown no inkling of being able to use, these are easily explained by the “Phantom Tollbooth” rule. For example, Kyle has never had any occasion where he could believe that his ring could be used to alter another person’s mind. Nor has he ever thought of using the ring to become invisible. That leaves only the ability to create duplicate rings from his ring, which is not all that unusual. The ability to create copies of a ring was limited to very experienced Green Lantern’s who had large amounts of willpower. It was several years before Hal Jordan was able to copy his ring unaided. I think we can all agree that Kyle lacks that will at this time.

III. Charging Differences.

The Alpha Ring provides unlimited power for 24 hours, after which point it must be recharged.

The Beta Ring functions more like a rechargeable power tool battery (like the battery for a cordless drill, for example). Once it is fully charged, it can be be used as much or as little as is needed until the ring needs to be recharged again. It can take days before it needs to be recharged, or hours depending on the amount of energy expended by the wielder.

It should be noted, as Desaad observed in GL #91, that the Beta Ring Battery appears to be wired directly into The Source (the energy field from which all metahuman power comes) as opposed to the Alpha Ring Batteries, which were indirectly wired into the Source through the Central Power Battery on Oa. The Beta Rings appear then to run on Direct Current, while the Alpha run on Alternating Current.

IV. Conclusion

Taking the Phantom Tollbooth Rule into account, there is no logical reason to assume that Kyle Rayner’s ring is any different from those of the classic Green Lantern Corps, save that his Battery is plugged directly into The Source and that his yellow weakness has been removed.

A Special Thanks Must Be Made to The Green Lantern Corps Website. Their website was of invaluable help in compiling a complete list of Green Lantern powers and in research some key issues. Give them a look see!