#96 - Part one of three in a crossover with Green Arrow and Flash. Connor convinces the two other younger members of the JLA to join him on an Alaskan cruise. In the meantime three villains break into an Iraqi storage building and steal some super weapon. The three villains? Heat Wave (of Flash's Rogue Gallery), Hatchet (seen back in the GL/GA team-up in GL 76-77 and GA 110-111), and Sonar (we've seen him enough to know who he is). The three young heroes are a bit late (due to the fact that Kyle has a secret identity, unlike the other two) and miss the boat. Kyle checks quickly, sees that no one is around and takes the other two with him. They are greeted like stowaways, but prove that they do in fact belong on the boat, and Connor gets a date out of it too. After settling in, the boys go to the bar and have a few drinks, but are accosted by three very not nice looking gentlemen. Because they're playing it low-key, Wally, Kyle and Connor back off, but soon realize that the three men were in fact the three super-villains mentioned previously. The villains also figure out that the Green Lantern, the Flash and the Green Arrow are on board (good job Kyle, throw away your secret identity...). The villains intend to step up the time-table of whatever it is they're working on, but are interrupted by the three heroes, who go down a bit quickly. In the end the secret weapon is shown: Dr. Polaris. We still don't know what the plan is, but I'm guessing that the villains want to use the magnetic pole to strengthen Polaris (hey, it's been done before...). This story is continued in GA #130 and concluded in Flash #135(?).
#97 I gotta say, this was a fantastic issue. Two major plot lines cross as Kyle confides in Allison (his neighbor that got him in trouble with Donna way back in issue 70) about how Kyle is dealing with Donna being gone (for more on Donna, check out Wonder Woman 125 through 134), as well as later when Kyle confronts Lord Grayven once again. Kyle feels a lot better about his situation after talking to Allison, and then kicks major butt while fighting Grayven. Grayven admits defeat and teleports out, and in the wake of the transport, Kyle is sucked into the future and attacked by the bystanders. There is not much else to this issue, but it is a really good read, and worth picking up. The countdown to issue 100 is really killing me, anyone else?
#98 It turns out that the reason Kyle was attacked in the 30th century (where he ended up, it turns out) was because there was a new Green Lantern Corp, but it turns out that they are criminals (and have stolen a priceless and highly influential piece of art from the Louvre). It turns out that the new Green Lanterns do not have real power rings, but still manage to take out Kyle AND the Legion of Superheroes. Prior to this, Kyle is told that the Legion has now record of him ever being a Green Lantern. Kyle spends the rest of the issue moping about how he never made a mark and no one will ever remember him, etc. After he is taken down by the new Lanterns, his ring disappears from his hand and Ganthet is shown in another alley giving the ring to another bum (at least that is what she looks like, sleeping in an alley and all...). Kind of unoriginal, but interesting nonetheless. I can NOT wait until the next issue, and after that is #100!!!!!!!
#99 While Ganthet instructs the new wearer of the ring in it's uses, Kyle buys time for the rest of the Legion of Superheroes to show up and save everyone's butt. It turns out that this girl in the alley is a distant relative of Kyle and has enough of his genetic signature left to use the ring, and after some quick training by Ganthet, she shows up alongside the Legion and starts kicking butt. The fake Green Lanterns are disposed of and Kyle is sent back in time using highly illegal and somewhat unstable time travel equipment from Braniac V's lab. The art piece stolen in the last issue is revealed (after Kyle has left) to be a sculpture of Donna Troy done by Kyle sometime after he arrives back home. The final pages are quite the teaser, Kyle comes out of the time transport in the midst of a battle between Sinestro and Hal Jordan. This definitely piqued my interest and the countdown begins to issue 100.
#100 - It's here, it's here!!! In showing up in the battle between Sinestro and Hal, Kyle throws Hal off his game and he loses. Sinestro makes a bee-line to Oa in order to destroy the Guardians. Kyle and Hal rush off to the rescue and barely manage to defeat Sinestro. The yellow-power-ring-weilder rushes off to prepare his next attack on the Guardians while Kyle tries to explain who he is, why his ring isn't vulnerable to yellow, and all that. The Guardians insist that Kyle be sent back to his own time, but the Hal and Kyle plead that Kyle be able to stay to at least defeat Sinestro. The Guardians comply and plans are made up to stop the renegade GL. When Sinestro shows up again, Kyle attacks and, since he is going up against the BEST GL ever, he naturally gets his butt whooped. Then Hal shows up and completely whallops Sinestro when it is shown that Hal and Kyle switched rings (yes we've seen before that Hal can wear Kyle's ring as it used to be his anyway...). The Guardians imprison Sinestro and sentance him to solitary confinement as he orbits the universe (trust me that's the original punishment dealt out when this story [sans Kyle] first appeared waaaaaay back). They first send Kyle home and in the teleportation process, Sinestro taps the energy of his ring (it's been shown before that if one has the willpower, a GL can use his/her ring even when not wearing it) and forces Hal into the effect, thus sending him forward in time with Kyle. This issue kicks off a six part storyline that shows how Hal adjusts to the future, and finding out what his future holds...