DC Direct JLA Kyle Rayner

I've been reading a lot of Green Lantern lately, including the New 52 Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Green Lantern New Guardians, the last of which features Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. I've also been picking up issues of Green Lantern Corps: War of The Green Lanterns and Green Lantern Corps: Brightest Day from 2010-2011 as I find them. All these titles feature Earth Lantern Kyle Rayner.

I kick myself for not picking up the Mattel DCUC Kyle Rayner at K-Mart when I had the chance last year, but I stumbled upon this unusual DC Direct Kyle from the 2003 JLA Series. For awhile, Kyle was the only Green Lantern, appointed by Ganthet after Hal went crazy while hosting Parallax, killing all the other Green Lanterns in the universe. He briefly weilded the god-like powers of Ion during the "Final Night" & "Ion: Guardian of the Universe" series, and suffered a stint as host to Parallax during the Sinestro Corps War, but I believe this is Kyle's second GL outfit, the only version without his trademark, beveled facemask.

I relate with Kyle Rayner in that he's an artist and dreamer- his free-flowing imagination fuel his unusual constructs, making him a formidable opponent. Here he is sporting this outfit in Green Lantern: Rebirth (DC Comics Oct. 2004- May 2005) which I read last year...

DC Direct has come a long way since they released this 2003 version of Kyle, though as a pre-DCUC action figure, he had decent articulation and a somewhat premium sculpt & paint for the time. Measuring 6 3/8" tall, he's somewhat shorter than later DC Direct figures, and has a relatively slender build.

While this figure's cut neck joint and lack of wrist/forearm articulation limit his expressive possibility, I love how he looks. Yes, the sculpt is very stylized & "cartoony", the incised lantern symbols in his chest & shoulders are cool, and the light green paint is iridescent, unlike the regular Green Lantern series from DC Direct in the same year.  Additionally, the straps on his boots & ridges up the legs & arms have a glossy black finish that stands apart from his otherwise flat black bodysuit. He's pretty snazzy!

Kyle's lantern is sculpted like the one specific to his character in the comics, and has a clear lens inside. The JLA base he came with is a little too big, but it does help him with posing...

Here's Kyle with the DCUC Blue Lantern Flash I got recently:

I scored him for about $8.50 loose on Ebay, but have seen him go for thirty to forty bucks- too much in my opinion. I'd have paid a little more if he came mint on card, but not much. Don't misunderstand: I was thrilled to find him, but he's not as artful as some of DC Direct's more recent Green Lantern figures. Kyle seems to be an in-demand fan favorite, action figures of him going for more than usual on the secondary market. And while Hal Jordan is the Green Lantern of my generation, I've enjoyed reading about Kyle Rayner lately.

*See the DC Direct Action Figure Archive!

More Later- Make It FUN!