Why is Kyle Rayner so SPECIAL?!

[MajorHoy]

Yes Earth Prime has four GLs Hal Jordan, Guy Gardener, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner. The OP is just asking why Kyle is about the only one of his generation of heroes that survived the whole Reboot pretty much unscathed While all the other legacy Superheroes are either missing or have been totally rebooted.

"Prime Earth" for the DCnU (as idiotic as that may sound).

Just like in "prime rib".

I don't know if Earth Prime had any Green Lanterns . . . it had very few heroes.
(Ultraa (with two "A"s), Superboy-Prime (before he went all psycho), and supposedly a Legion of Super-Heroes in the / a future (as per Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds).)

[Buried Alien]

"Prime Earth" for the DCnU (as idiotic as that may sound).

Just like in "prime rib".

Back by popular demand:



Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Schornforce]

I like Kyle and glad he's still around, but honestly, the whole 'New 52' just doesn't interest me. It just seems overly confusing while trying *so hard* not to be.

[Thor-Ul]

People have to recognize that Kyle was lucky. You could think than in the New52 reebot he must have been one of the first victims of the erasing wave, but curiously he escape. Also he was lucky after the return of Jordan and during Blackest Night, two times where his demise would have been caused.
And it must be reminded than was Kevin Dooley the one who came with the idea of replace Jordan in the 90's, mimicing the events of Superman Batman and Wonder Woman. Marz created Kyle, but Dooley hanged Hal.

[refrax5]

Yes, exactly.

The guy is a talented artist that's supposed to be just like one of us. Plus Kyle is still a young'ish character so there's room for growth as well.

See, I never entirely get that as a reason to like the character. I don't need to be a billionaire genius to like Iron Man. I don't need be be a Norse God to get Thor or anything like that. I don't need or want Captain America to be "just like the rest of us" to like him. Even Spider-Man isn't really an everyman. They guy is a genius who is way more altruistic and loving and decent than most regular people.

I think that there's more to relating to a character than a pandering "aw, shucks, I'm just a guy trying to pay the rent and get a girlfriend" cliche like Rayner was. Honestly, I always felt I had more in common with Hal or John than I did Kyle (well, until Hal became an obnoxious fray boy, but regardless). Because while Kyle may not have been a test pilot, he wasn't really anything like me, either. I always found him pretty boring. I don't begrudge his fans, but I do resent the idea that Kyle is somehow a better or more 3 dimensional character because he's an "everyman."

[dupersuper]

As annoyed as I am that Wally, Donna et al are still in reboot limbo, I admit the GLC concept makes it much more natural to have multiple GLs than, fo example, the Flash concept.

[The Emerald Knight]

Kyle is my favorite Lantern so i am happy that he survived the reboot. He was the GL when i started reading comics, so i might be biased.

[lalala]

I'm not sure why the other legacy characters of his generation have been dumped from the comics but i'm pretty sure Wally West hasn't been seen because he was originaly related to the Flash through his mariage with Iris West.

Now that DC seems to have some sort of editorial mandate that states that no popular hero can be in a long term relationship it would be more difficult to explain how he ever met the Flash or got his powers and so they took the lazy way out and pretended he never existed. At least that's what I assume happened.

[Kyer]

Kyle is so special imho because his constructs are fun. My first sight of him he was rescuing people from a sinking ship by creating a "Baywatch babe" which scooped them into her arms. I instantly recognized a character who had a sense of humor and became a Kyle fan.

Well, that's a simplistic explanation, but all I have time for. Kyle is

[DaronK]

To answer the OP's original question, Kyle's still around because the GL franchise had the softest reboot of the 52. However, it's not because they could keep him around as some people said, but rather, they had to keep him. Since the GL's weren't really rebooted that means Rebirth still happened, which means Hal died at some point, and was Parallax, and had wiped out the GL corps, which means Kyle was still the torchbearer. Kyle has to exist in the reboot for all the history to carry over...