Created by writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks, and named after a character from James Cameron's film The Terminator, Kyle Rayner first appeared in Green Lantern vol.

Before he acquired a Green Lantern power ring, Kyle Rayner was a struggling-but-gifted freelance comic book artist who was raised in North Hollywood and lived and worked in Los Angeles.

It was later revealed that his father was a Mexican-American CIA agent named Gabriel Vasquez and that Aaron Rayner was merely an alias and that he had once met Hal Jordan shortly after the pilot became Green Lantern.

[1] His reasons for doing so have never been made completely apparent, aside from Rayner having been in the right place at the right time: prior to bequeathing the ring, Ganthet simply utters, "You will have to do."

Several sources, however, imply that Ganthet was following a deeper reason: Kyle Rayner was not chosen because he was fearless but because he was able to feel and overcome fear,[2][3] thus making him, and all the future Lanterns, less susceptible to Parallax's influence.

His girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, encouraged him to be more responsible, create his own version of the Green Lantern uniform, and helped him train for his new role as a superhero, but she was later murdered and stuffed in a refrigerator by the supervillain Major Force.

[citation needed] After relocating to New York City, Rayner joined the superhero group the Titans for a brief time, during which he dated Donna Troy, but eventually became a member of the Justice League (JLA).

During the Fifth-week event "Circle of Fire", it is discovered that a cosmic entity named Oblivion is coming to Earth after he attacked the planet Rann.

On Earth, Kyle recruits Power Girl, the Atom, Firestorm, Adam Strange, and the Circle of Fire — a group of Green Lanterns from alternate realities and different time periods.

After being tricked into believing his mother had been murdered by Major Force, Rayner fights with the villain, eventually dealing with the immortal by decapitating him and shooting his head into space.

Subsequent to this, Rayner is given special status amongst the Guardians, who consider him the "Torch-Bearer", the Green Lantern who carried the legacy through the Corps' darkest period.

Later, Jordan finds Ion destroying a planet but discovers that this is in fact Alexander Nero, who claims that his connection with Kyle and new powers are the result of a third party's interference.

They also reveal that some unforeseen enemy manipulated Nero, who unleashes a massive amount of energy that Kyle dissipates into what is presumed to be a pocket universe.

After being attacked by the Tangent Comics version of the Atom and the Flash, and being transported to the interdimensional realm known as the "Bleed", where he encounters Captain Atom, he returns home to attempt to reanimate his now-dead mother's corpse with newly acquired powers, but after a tearful farewell, she declines resurrection, asking Rayner to allow her to die, a request that the grief-stricken Rayner grants.

At the Sinestro Corps' base on Qward, he reveals to Kyle that he was responsible for his mother's death and infected her with the sentient virus Despotellis to kill her in a plot to break Rayner's will so that he could serve as Parallax's new host.

Sinestro also reveals that Ion is actually a benevolent energy entity, similar to Parallax, that thrives on willpower and that Rayner was unknowingly its current host.

As Kyle watches Parallax battle Hal Jordan and the Lost Lanterns a manifestation of the fear entity comes to pay him a visit.

Sneering, Parallax mocks Kyle's helplessness and turns to depart, but the enraged artist grabs a pencil and stabs the creature in the eye with it.

Jordan, the beacon of green light that had come to Kyle inside his mind, assists Rayner in fighting Parallax exhaustively until they finally break free from the fear embodiment's grip.

After the Green Lantern Corps defeat the Cyborg Superman, the Manhunters immediately deactivate, with Hal able to take one of the robots' skulls to absorb Sinestro's power.

With the help of Earth-51's Monitor, Nix Uotan, the group manages to leave before Superboy-Prime tears open Monarch's armor, obliterating that entire universe.

[28][29] He had been involved in the lead-up to "The Blackest Night", being one of the first to deal with a new Star Sapphires member, and fought on Oa after the Guardian Scar caused a mass prison break of Sinestro Corpsmen.

[40] When the rogue Guardian Krona attacks Oa, he places Parallax back inside the Central Power Battery, enabling him to control the Green Lanterns through fear.

[43] While Hal and Guy go to remove Parallax from the Central Power Battery, Kyle and John attempt to free Mogo from Krona's control.

[44] In the fallout, the two regroup with Hal, Guy, and Ganthet, using the full power of the emotional spectrum to crack open the Battery and release Parallax.

[53] Although he fails to reach the Blue Lanterns in time to save them from the invading Reach,[54] Kyle is able to lead the New Guardians to fight Larfleeze[55] and Invictus, subsequently learning that Sayd was responsible for turning him into a "ring magnet" in the hope that he would be able to bring the seven Corps together to save Ganthet, as both the only person who loved Ganthet as much as her and the only person able to wield all the powers of the emotional spectrum.

However, various other ring-wielders, including Carol and the repowered Saint Walker, band together and convince him to have hope, resulting in Kyle working with the Templar Guardians into defeating Oblivion.

[78] As a Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner is semi-invulnerable, capable of projecting hard-light constructions, flight, and utilizing various other abilities through his power ring which are only limited by his imagination and willpower.

[79] Eventually, he is able to utilize his skill as an artist to manipulate the pigments and dimensions within his constructs, making them appear so realistic that even Alan Scott was amazed at what Kyle could do with his ring's creations.

As a result, Kyle divided the Life Equation by creating seven additional White Lantern power rings and gave them to the most worthy candidates.