From boy of night to Ray of light!
Creative Staff:
Story: Steve Orlando
Art: Stephen Byrne
Colors: Stephen Byrne
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
SPINNING OUT OF THE PAGES OF JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD! Locked indoors, raised in the dark and told his medical condition could be fatal to himself and anyone he meets, Ray Terrill is dangerous. A freak. Broken. Or is he…? Witness the amazing power of realizing your true self and stepping into the light in this moving rebirth of a long-lost hero for a new generation.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
One of the things that I’ve been enjoying about the Rebirth titles is that some of them have touched well on the past with things that have become either convoluted or forgotten about post-New 52 and the like. One of those titles from the 90’s that connected well for me was The Ray, a book that was kind of separate from the rest and had the time to explore the character and build up events well while not being constantly thrust into other events. Such books are hard to find these days. So having the character coming back and given a bit of an origin issue here from Steven Orlando with some great artwork from Stephen Byrne definitely helps. This isn’t the Ray Terrill that I remember, which is fine, but it’s one that if given the chance will have some interesting themes to explore.
This issue is a more traditional origin story in terms of feeling and execution than some of the others we’ve had in the lead up to Justice League of America. Focusing on Ray when he was a young boy, we see just how difficult his life was and how protective his mother was due to the way that exposure to light would cause him to essentially explode, giving off a lot of energy. With no idea what would happen to anyone who would be nearby, never mind Ray himself, she kept him isolated and with minimal TV time, his only real exposure to the world. Even on his birthday he doesn’t get candles because of how much it impacts him. It’s a hard life and we see how over something like ten years or so that he struggles with no friends, an overprotective mother, and a lack of a human connection while having the dreams and idealism of his dead father.
When Ray finally does lose it with his mother and storms out into the night we end up with a kind of chaotic and abbreviated aspect of his origin that moves us forward more. He has a bad encounter with some kids that are friendly with him as he’s still learning to control his power. He discovers he can turn invisible thanks to controlling said light powers, and he spends his time essentially hiding out in the open that way while trying to figure out what to do. The reconnect with humanity, and heroism, comes from a childhood friend that he was kept away from for many years that’s now actually running for mayor. Yes, Caden feels like a checklist of things rather than a person, but it has a kind of old school charm about it with the guy that attacks him and the whole discussion of others and the feeling that your normal is being challenged by someone else. Orlando has a decent idea to work with but nowhere near the time to make it work right, especially with the reliance on Ray’s internal narration in the form of letters to Caden that never get delivered.
In Summary:
Bringing The Ray back and giving him a prime issue to dig into his story a bit is definitely welcome. I’m working largely on nostalgia with my love of the character and am curious to see how this Ray Terrill plays out as there are certainly differences to be had. Steve Orlando gives us the basic but solid insights into his mindset that hopefully we’ll see more of in the ongoing JLA and a lot of the positives in this book are because of Stephen Byrne’s artwork and some great coloring to make the yellows pop as they need to while playing against the blacks of the costume. The character is very distinctive in design in a way that most others aren’t and I’m thrilled with what Byrne accomplishes here. It’s a very busy and packed issue with so much going on that it can feel a bit dense at times but Byrne keeps it flowing with ease and the work done here is definitely solid. It leaves me hopeful even more for the upcoming JLA book.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 18th, 2017
MSRP: $2.99
