Green Lantern: Circle of Fire

Green Lantern (1990) (Single Issues) #129-136

by Judd Winick, Brian K. Vaughan, Jay Faerber

A new era begins for Green Lantern Kyle Rayner! It begins as Nero escapes a mental institution and finds himself in possession of a yellow power ring, thanks to the Qwardians. Now with the power to materialize the inner workings of his mind, the madman looks to destroy the planet. And as the Justice League attempts to fight his hordes of minions, Kyle must find a way to defeat a ring-bearer more powerful than he is! Then, when Rann is attacked by the entity known as Oblivion, Green Lantern enlists other heroes to join the “Circle of Fire,” as Power Girl, Firestorm, Adam Strange, and the Atom answer the call.

Collects Green Lantern #129-136, Green Lantern/Firestorm #1, Green Lantern/Adam Strange #1, Green Lantern/Atom #1, Green Lantern/Green Lantern #1, Green Lantern/Power Girl #1, and Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1 and 2.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 9, 2021

About the author

Judd Winick is an American cartoonist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and former reality television personality known for his diverse contributions to storytelling across multiple media. He first entered the public eye in 1994 as a cast member on The Real World: San Francisco, where he formed a close friendship with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora, an experience that deeply influenced his later work. Winick memorialized their bond in Pedro and Me, a critically acclaimed autobiographical graphic novel that earned several literary awards and became a staple in school curricula.

Winick's career in comics took off with The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius and continued with major runs at DC Comics, including Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Batman. His stories often explored socially relevant themes, such as HIV, homophobia, and identity. He was recognized for introducing gay characters and tackling difficult subjects with empathy and clarity. His work on Batman notably included resurrecting the character Jason Todd as the Red Hood, a storyline later adapted into the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, for which Winick wrote the screenplay.

Beyond comics, he created The Life and Times of Juniper Lee for Cartoon Network and served as head writer for Hulu's The Awesomes. In 2015, he launched the Hilo series, an all-ages sci-fi adventure inspired by his own children. The bestselling series has been widely praised and is expected to reach its eleventh volume in 2025.

Winick lives in San Francisco with his wife, Pam Ling, also a Real World alum, and their two children. He continues to create heartfelt and imaginative stories for audiences of all ages.

Reviews

[Chad]

The first half of this collection is the Circle of Fire 5th week event DC did back in 2000 by Brian K. Vaughan. A cosmic villain named Oblivion threatens existence and he's somehow tied to Kyle Rayner's childhood. It's just OK. The middle issues feel very gimmicky as everyone pairs off for their own adventures that are nothing more than filler.

The other half of the book is the first 8 issues of Judd Winick's run on GL. Kyle fights the Manhunters and Fatality before a mentally disturbed individual, Nero, gets a yellow power ring. Winick's run is pretty good especially the Nero issues. I like the inventiveness of his constructs.

[Molly™☺]

Made up of several pretty good individual components, Kyle and the supporting cast are great, but the stories are rather inconsistent when it comes to quality. There's a lot of creativity behind Winick's entry, which, despite not being the titular name, is the highlight of the collection. If Kyle is your favourite GL, or if I want to get to know the character better, this is a good one to pick up.

actual rating: 3.5 stars

[Nicholas Knudson]

I find I enjoy this particular Green Lantern arc even more as an adult. Life experience and maturity make them a bit more relatable than when I was a teenager
I remember reading each of these issues, with the curtains drawn, back in intermediate and middle school, during an era when openly reading comic books made you an outcast.

[AviChaim Snyder]

I enjoyed this volume overall. It is not perfect, and it took me a bit to adjust to the writing style, but once I did, I found myself having a good time with it. The Brian K. Vaughan section felt much more cohesive and engaging than the Winick portion. BKV’s chapters, which focus on the Circle of Fire storyline, were easily the highlight of the book. Exploring the depths of Kyle’s mind and seeing just how far his imagination could stretch was creative, fun, and genuinely interesting.
This volume is definitely a product of its time, and that shows in a few ways. The JLA using a fax machine, the gossip magazine Kyle works for, and the overall fashion and technology all feel very dated. That said, none of that took away from my enjoyment. I liked seeing an inexperienced yet incredibly powerful Kyle Rayner take center stage, especially without the usual focus on Hal Jordan, whom I am more accustomed to seeing.
Despite its dated elements, I had a lot of fun with this volume and would recommend it to Green Lantern fans who are curious about this era of the character.
Grade: B

[John Parungao]

Kyle Rayner is my Green Lantern, my favorite because I was there from his first issue and have enjoyed every adventure. This collection features Kyle facing some major threats, threats so big that he'll need help from the JLA and heroes like Firestorm, Power Girl, the Atom and Adam Strange.
Kyle gets to face his darker side in the form of Oblivion a dangerous splinter created from Kyle's subconscious as well as some new ring bearers in the form of an old enemy known as Fatality and a new enemy Nero; a psychologically unstable mind with a vivid imagination. Nero is perfect for the yellow ring, a disturbed mind capable of creating constructs as powerful and dangerous as anything Kyle could create.

Out of all of the villains in this collection of stories Nero is the standout. Someone who is as creative and talented as Kyle Rayner, but without any of the control or restraint or morality of a hero like Green Lantern.

[James Bowman]

This deluxe-sized volume contains two major storylines:
- Circle of Fire: See previous review; assessment didn't really change on a re-read.
- The second storyline introduces a new member of Kyle's supporting cast - Terry Berg - as well as a new nemesis, Nero. Nero has a lot of potential, but despite the clearly intended grand stakes, this feels more like an introduction. (B)

[Shannon McShortall]

Pretty good couple of stories from a long bygone age of DC. They deal with some heavier topics like existentialism, morality and moving on. While it has a bit of “you have to know this particular thing for this to make sense”, I think it does a good job of bringing you in the loop. Definitely a good one to really get a bearing on the most under appreciated Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner

[Neal]

3.5 ⭐️

[Alexander]

This is essentially two stories. The first one is not very great. I hate the antagonist and the climax to resolve the conflict.

That being said, the second is awesome and I really enjoy the way they progress Kyle's story. He really has great moments in his DC history and I think this should be considered one of them. I think that for a mostly standalone Green Lantern story, this is great and you should read.