Ion: Guardian of the Universe

Wow! I just noticed in looking at the cover of Ion #10, that it has the DC logo on the upper left-hand corner, and the Tangent Comics logo on the upper right-hand corner. Interesting!

So anyways, on with the review. I liked it. I'm not particularly familiar with the Tangent universe, although I HAVE heard of it, but I thought it was a clever idea, and something a bit different. And I really liked the art. Kyle looks young and is normal-sized which is always a bonus. I get so tired sometimes of all the gratuitous muscles. Not ALL superheroes are built like tanks.

So, Kyle has been sucked into the Green Lantern of the Tangent Green Lantern and is fairly confused about what is happening. He comes across the pair of kids who originally found the lantern...much to their relief. They manage to discuss what little they know, and I must admit that I found it amusing when Kyle conjured up a picture of the Tangent people, and the one smart-assed kid immediately made a grab of her. Little jerk better not try that on a real girl, or he'll be in for an unpleasant surprise. And yes, Kyle is TOTALLY a "superhero dude".

They decide to try and find their way home, and Kyle whips up a glowing green kiddie ride constuct, which the kids find really lame, so an increasingly frustrated
Kyle now makes a VERY awesome futuristic motorcycle...thingie. He's got those kids eating out of his hand.

Eventually, they come across some monster types. UGLY monsters. Kyle even tells the kids not to jump to conclusions...ugly doesn't always mean bad. However in this case...
"so...monsters. I can do monsters."

"Yeah. I went with the horrible-looking monsters are the bad guys assumption. Turns out that one's pretty safe most of the time. Sucks to be right"

Wait, an unfamiliar...but heroic person shows up...and he knows Green Lantern! Well dip me in honey, it's none other than Captain Atom, who apparently isn't dead at all. Turns out his suit kept him alive, but he's been bouncing around alternate "places", and hiding out from the Monitors. Kyle's not to happy to hear about the Monitors, considering one showed up in his apartment a little while ago. Capt. Atom agrees that he thinks they are up to something and tells Kyle that he's in the "Bleed" an "ocean. A river. A place between places". Fortunately he's able to help Kyle and the kids get back home.

Back on the beach, the Tangent heroes show up and start acting weird. In a rather cool scene, Kyle manifests, coming right out of her chest! The two boys come out of the other two Tangent characters as well. Needless to say, they are rather surprised. Kyle swipes the mystical lantern and sends them on their way back to their universe, and then sends the kids back home, safe and sound.

Kyle then zips on back to Oa, where we have a charming scene with he and Guy Gardner. Yeah! Kyle explains the whole thing to a slightly puzzled Guy, and asks him to take charge of the Tangent Lantern as well. Guy is certainly willing to take it, but asks Kyle why. Kyle's reply is that he trusts Guy, which makes me go Awwwwww!!. Kyle then realizes that he's got to go and check in with the Guardians, but Guy promises to check in on his Mom for him.

So... the Guardians have a task for our young Mr. Rayner, which is checking out a Rift in reality, located in sector 3388. They are being rather curt about all of this, which I find rather surprising. I've been under the impression that they all think that Kyle is the Bee's Knees, but they are being pretty snarky here. Kyle has been hanging out with Guy for too long, he's pretty sarcastic himself. He does ask them about the "Bleed", which they manage to completely ignore. There's no doubt about it, the Guardians are definitely up to something.

And finally, Kyle flies off to sector 3388, and discovers a bunch of dead Qwardians, which is probably not a good thing. He's investigating, when suddenly, who should show up but Donna Troy! The music swells, and we have a cliffhanger!

All in all, a pretty good issue, it bounced right along, with some nice cameos, intrigue and fun dialogue. The art was pleasant to look at, and little hints are being dropped all over the place. Definitely worthy of a read.