What was the point of “Ion?”

If I’m going to spend thirty-six dollars on a twelve-part mini-series, I sure would like to feel like I’ve been told a decent story by the end of it all. The last thing I would want is for the final issue to end without any sense of real closure and a “To be continued” logo slapped at the bottom of the last page, promising more story in the future, in some other mini-series that I’ll probably be stupid enough to shell out another thirty-six bucks or more on.

This is the problem with Ion. After the events of Infinite Crisis, Kyle Rayner was given extraordinary powers once again, leading to him taking the name of Ion and becoming the most powerful of the Green Lanterns–hell, he doesn’t even need a ring anymore. With a decent enough set-up, it wouldn’t take much to tell a twelve-part mini-series that could weave an interesting tale, show us where Kyle Rayner fits into the universe, and entertain the fans along the way with some fun and adventure. Too bad none of that happened.

You want to know what happened in Ion? My guess is that you probably didn’t read it. I mean, seriously, I think I’m the only Kyle Rayner fan still alive. But, in case you didn’t read it, or stopped reading it after the first few boring issues, here’s what happens: Kyle meets Captain Atom in the Bleed, Kyle meets some members of the Tangent Universe, Kyle is bullied by an unseen force that doesn’t reveal itself to the reader until the last page of the last issue (remember that “To be continued” thing?), and Kyle’s mom dies. All in all, not much. Especially considering the fact that it was spread out over twelve issues. Seriously, after all of that, the last thing I wanted to be told was, “Oh, sorry, you won’t know how this ends or what all of this meant unless you pick up the Sinestro Corps Special.” Oh, and by the way, when does that special come out, you may ask?

Frickin’ June. Three months after Ion #12 hit stands.

This brings me back to my original question. What was the point of Ion? Why have this mini-series? Nothing of any importance is going to happen with Kyle until the Sinestro Corps Special (or maybe Countdown), so why do this? I guess it’s so that when things actually start happening, and somebody asks, “Hey, where’s Kyle Rayner been?” we can all answer, “Funny you should ask, he had his own mini-series for the past year. That’s where.” And then somebody will say, “Really? What happened in that?” And nobody will know, because nobody read it, and the ones who did will still say they don’t know because nothing actually did.