"Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion" on sale now

On sale today, the solicitation for DC Comics' "Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion" tells you all that you need to know: "This book sets the stage for Kyle Rayner for years to come."

So who better to be setting that stage than Kyle Raynor's creator, writer Ron Marz?

Raynor first appeared in 1994's "Green Lantern," Vol. 3, #48, as part of the controversial "Emerald Twilight" storyline. In essence, Kyle arrived to replace Hal Jordan, who became the supervillain Parallax, as Earth's most prominent Green Lantern.

As "The Sinestro Corps War" storyline comes to an this week with the release of "Green Lantern" #25 by Geoff Johns, "Green Lantern Corps" #19 by Peter Tomasi, "Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion" writer Ron Marz told CBR News he was pleased to be one guiding Kyle at this crucial time in Green Lantern lore.

"It's always fun for me to write Kyle," Marz said. "I'm a little like Michael Corleone, I guess. Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in. That said, I'm really just a carpetbagger here. 'Green Lantern,' and especially the 'Sinestro Corps' storyline, is definitely Geoff Johns' baby. I'm just babysitting for a couple of chapters."

Marz wrote "Green Lantern" from 1994 to 2000, and penned a 12-issue "Ion: Guardian of the Universe" miniseries in 2007.

Never wanting to spoil his own tale, Marz offered, "I think the best way to experience any story is to go into it without knowing what's coming. That's really how the writer and artist intend for you to come into the story. So, I can say 'Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion' wraps up a couple of loose ends from the 'Sinestro Corps War,' and really sets the stage for where Kyle is headed, and where Ion is headed. But beyond that, hopefully people will read it for themselves."

Marz also confirmed the second GL on the book's solicited cover is the symbiotic Ion's current host. "Well, that first cover was just an image for solicitation. There's a new cover by Ed Benes, though it does feature the same characters. I think most people have figured out the second figure on the cover is Sodam Yat."

Marz has thoroughly enjoyed the "Sinestro Corps War" storyline as both a creator and a fan, and wrote one of its earlier chapters, "Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Parallax." "I've been involved since everything got started, seeing the scripts and the black-and-white copies before the books hit the stands," explained Marz. "I think the best thing about the 'Sinestro Corps War' is that it's an epic that actually feels like an epic. Geoff set out to do a pretty far-reaching story, and the readership has obviously responded. I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of crossover storylines as a reader or a writer, so it's nice to see one that really pays off."

Marz says he is comfortable handing his creation over to another writer, and as a veteran in the game, he always knew that day would come. "Kyle's going to be one of the main characters in the 'Green Lantern Corps' book that Peter Tomasi is very ably writing," confirmed Marz. "Kyle's future is determined by the creative team on the book and the editorial team overseeing them. Creating a character doesn't give you any special input into what ultimately happens to that character. That's just the nature of the beast with any company-owned character, and you know that going in."

And while he is not shepherding Kyle along post-"Sinestro Corps War," he does have a few thoughts on his future. "I hope it's something interesting, anything interesting. I think a lot of fans get so attached to a character that they never want anything bad to happen to that character, they never want any adversity for the character," said Marz. "But that's really antithetical to telling interesting stories. You need to put characters through the wringer, put them through hardships so they find a way to triumph over them. I'm looking forward to what Peter does in 'Green Lantern Corps,' especially Kyle's interaction with Guy Gardner. That's a fun relationship to write."

Asked to weigh in on the Greatest Green Lantern of All-Time Debate, Marz stayed close to home when choosing between Kyle, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner and Alan Scott. "Obviously Kyle is going to be my favorite, because I helped put him together. I'm very comfortable with him as a character. But it's all just personal opinion. That's all any of it is. The endless Hal versus Kyle debates just make me roll my eyes," said Marz. "It's like saying vanilla is better than chocolate, or strawberry, or chocolate chip cookie dough. No, it's not. It just happens to be what you like. If the next guy likes something different, it doesn't mean you're right and he's wrong, it just means you have different tastes, and that's fine.

"I like all of the Green Lanterns, and all for different reasons, because they're very different characters. They allow you to tell different kinds of stories. If you took each of the five characters and placed them in the same scenario, the resulting stories would be very different because they're diverse characters."

Any while Marz doesn't know of any plans for an Ion and/or Kyle ongoing, he wouldn't dismiss the notion of ever returning to the character. Remarked Marz, "It looks like 'Green Lantern Corps' will be Kyle's home for a while, which seems like a good fit; Kyle and Guy in 'Corps,' Hal and John in the 'GL' book. I've got more than enough to keep my busy for the foreseeable future, but who knows what might happen down the road. Like I said, its' always fun for me to write Kyle."

What's keeping Marz busy, predominantly, happens to be a little book by Top Cow Productions called, "Witchblade." "I'm continuing on 'Witchblade' for the long term," he said. "Stjepan Sejic, the artist on 'First Born,' will join me on the book early next year with issue #116, and we're looking to go straight through together to issue #150, which would be in 2010.

"I've also got some other projects in the mix at Top Cow, including a painted Magdalena series. My creator-owned books at Dark Horse, 'Samurai: Heaven and Earth' and 'Pantheon City,' will both have miniseries in 2008. I'm also writing a series of backups in DC's Tangent project for next year, as well as continuing to edit Virgin's Shakti line.

"And, because everybody says it," laughed Marz, "a few things I can't talk about yet."

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