Warning; Images and discussion of death ahead!
One of the most controversial moments in comic book history is undoubtedly the death of Green Lantern Kyle Rayner's girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, in which Rayner was later killed as payback. The shocking kickstarted an era of reflection on the trope of female characters being harmed or killed as a plot device in a male character's story. The series Injustice: Year Two seemingly kept Alex's death in mind when Kyle Rayner was murdered in an equally brutal fashion.
Alexandra DeWitt was created by Ron Marz and first appeared in Green Lantern Vol. 3 #48. She was murdered a mere six issues later when Major Force strangles her and stuffs her body in a refrigerator, leading to the infamous where Kyle discovers her body. The outrageous death lead to writer Gail Simone coining the phrase "Women in Refrigerators" to critique the numerous instances in comics when female characters are harmed in the name of advancing a male character's story.
In an ironic turn of events, Kyle Rayner would receive his own unceremonious death in Injustice: Year Two #2 by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, and Julien Hugonnard-Bert. It begins with the Green Lantern speeding through the universe after a year-long mission, unaware of the changes that have taken place in his home galaxy. However, just as he's in Earth's proximity, he's accosted by Thaal Sinestro and his Corps. The villain gets his underlings to secure the Lantern in place while Sinestro severs the finger bearing Kyle's Power Ring. The Corps rips Kyle limb from limb, leaving him, in the words of Sinestro, "Powerless, naked, cold and alone in the vacuum of space."
Readers familiar with Green Lantern may be aware that Sinestro holds a personal disdain for Kyle Rayner. Often calling him a "street rat," the Korugarian villain thought someone like Kyle was undeserving of the gift of a Power Ring and has resented him for decades. However, Injustice: Year Two is a different canon than the DC Universe, and while it can be assumed the two have a similar relationship, there's not much revealed about their history before Kyle is suddenly killed.
Rayner's death in the world of Injustice is violent, abrupt, and does absolutely nothing to advance his story. Sound familiar? The death of Alexandra DeWitt has hung over the Green Lantern mythos for decades, thanks in no small part to the attention brought by critics like Simone. Cheap deaths like Alexandra's often do nothing to serve the story other than adding a shock factor. Much like Alexandra, Kyle was quickly introduced and killed in an undignified manner, hopefully illustrating how unnecessary such an over-the-top death is.
Time has marched on since the days of Alexandra DeWitt, and creators with a critical eye have become cognizant of the "Women in Refrigerators" trope and moved past it. What happened with Green Lantern should be a reminder that all characters deserve better than gratuitous, shocking deaths.
