Lightray (character)

For the fourth volume of New Gods created in 1995, Rachel Pollack and Tom Peyer discussed with Back Issue magazine how Lightray changed after Orion kills Darkseid in issue #2:

{{quote|The most telling effect of this event is that it drives many of the residents of New Genesis slightly insane, none more so than Lightray, who becomes extremely violent and seems to enjoy cruelty. In their first issue, the writing duo had emphasized Lightray's... lightness, if you will, making him a very jovial, happy character. As it turns out, this was not an accident. "To me, Lightray is not so much childish as innocent. He sees only the light", Pollack tells Back Issue. "That's why he was so easily corrupted". Tom Peyer agrees, feeling: "I think the main purpose Kirby gave Lightray was to make Orion seem grim and dark by comparison. So we probably played Lightray's notes loudly to make the contrast obvious".}}

Orion writer Walt Simonson said that his conception of Lightray and Orion was based on the relationship that Kirby established in New Gods volume 1. In 2018, Simonson said: "I saw Lightray as a strategist, whereas Orion is more a tactician. Jack actually had Orion refer to Lightray as a planner at the climax of the Deep Six story, "The Glory Boat!" (New Gods #6, Jan. 1972). I tried basing my notions of Lightray primarily on that story".

In Superheroes of the Round Table, Jason Tondro characterizes Lightray's place in Kirby's New Gods work: "We have characters like... the amazing Lightray, a denizen of New Genesis who embodies light with all of its creativity, bright humor, and intelligence... Lightray embodies illumination". Tondro says Lightray "and other characters, both good and evil, hint at the full dimensions of Kirby's epic pantheon".{{cite book |last1=Tondro |first1=Jason |title=Superheroes of the Round Table: Comics Connections to Medieval and Renaissance Literature |date=2011 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-0786460687 |page=77}}

File:Countdown48.jpg.]]

Lightray is the shining star of New Genesis and a high-spirited New God. He is a friend of Orion, whose grim personality contrasts with his own. Furthermore, Lightray briefly joins the Justice League before Superman disbands the group.Justice League America #42 (September 1990)Ibid #44Ibid #50 (May 1991)

In Final Crisis, Lightray is killed by Infinity-Man before being resurrected.

As a New God, Lightray is nigh-immortal and possesses superhuman physical abilities. He possesses the ability to fly at light speed and generate bursts of solar energy.

• Lightstray, an alternate universe funny animal variant of Lightray, appears in Captain Carrot and the Final Ark.
• An alternate universe variant of Lightray makes a cameo appearance in JLA: The Nail.
• Bald'r, a fusion of Lightray and Marvel Comics character Balder, appears in the Amalgam Comics one-shot Thorion of the New Asgods.

Jack Kirby's 1971 design for Lightray's costume influenced the look of artist Al Milgrom's creation of Firestorm in 1978. In an interview from 2019, Milgrom admitted: "The facemask on Firestorm, the way it comes around the chin, was probably inspired by Lightray more than anything... I liked the [Lightray] head-covering thing; I said, "I'm stealin' it!"{{cite journal |last1=Disharoon |first1=Cecil |title=The Firestorm Interviews |journal=Back Issue |date=May 2019 |issue=#112 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FqGWDwAAQBAJ&dq=lightray+dc+comics&pg=PA8 |access-date=27 March 2020}}

A July 1971 New Gods story featuring Lightray has been noted as an example of racial bias in 1970s superhero storytelling. In "Death and the Black Racer" (New Gods #3), Lightray — a blond white man — is running desperately to escape the Black Racer, portrayed as a person of color. José Alaniz and Scott T. Smith noted in Uncanny Bodies: Superhero Comics and Disability that the story "suggests a racial dichotomy... in which blackness presents as a threatening force".{{cite book |editor1-last=Alaniz |editor1-first=José |editor2-last=Smith |editor2-first=Scott T. |title=Uncanny Bodies: Superhero Comics and Disability |date=2019 |publisher=Penn State University Press |isbn=978-0271084756 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T-bEDwAAQBAJ&q=lightray |access-date=27 March 2020 |chapter=Introduction}}

• Lightray appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU):
• Lightray makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Legacy".
• Lightray appears in the Justice League two-part episode "Twilight", voiced by Rob Paulsen.{{cite web |title=Lightray Voices (Superman) |url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/characters/Superman/Lightray/ |access-date=December 5, 2023 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors}} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. Batman and Wonder Woman meet him after arriving on New Genesis, and he later accompanies them and Orion in meeting Highfather.
• Lightray makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Destroyer". Lex Luthor and the Secret Society encounter him after Darkseid destroys their base, subsequently stealing his Mother Box to return to Earth and stop Darkseid's invasion.
• Lightray was originally planned to appear in the Harley Quinn episode "Inner (Para) Demons", where Darkseid would have killed him for his incompetence, but DC Comics objected and his cameo was replaced by Forager.(2020). "Harley Quinn EPS Talk the Evolution of Harlivy and Plans for Season 3". SYFY. Retrieved 27 June 2020
• Lightray appears in Young Justice, voiced by Nolan North.{{Cite web |last=Matadeen |first=Renaldo |date=April 16, 2022 |title=Young Justice: Phantoms Revealed a New God's Cosmic Hulk Problem |url=https://www.cbr.com/young-justice-phantoms-orion-cosmic-hulk/ |access-date=July 30, 2024 |website=Comic Book Resources |language=en}}

An alternate universe variant of Lightray appears in Justice League: Gods and Monsters.

Lightray appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.{{Cite web |last=Eisen |first=Andrew |date=October 2, 2013 |title=DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/scribblenauts-unmasked/DC_Characters_and_Objects |access-date=July 30, 2024 |website=IGN |language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

{{New Gods}}

{{Justice League characters}}

{{Jack Kirby}}

Category:Characters created by Jack Kirby

Category:Comics characters introduced in 1971

Category:DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds

Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability

Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman strength

Category:DC Comics deities

Category:DC Comics superheroes

Category:Fictional characters who can manipulate light

Category:Fourth World (comics)