Profile: Alexandra deWitt

Alexandra deWitt
First appearance: Green Lantern #50, vol.3, 1994
Creators: Ron Marz, Darryl Banks (although it could be argued both she and Kyle Rayner were committee creations, and it wouldn't be surprising if they indeed were)

History: Now here's a subject that perhaps I should've considered writing up a topic for in previous years, but only now did I finally think could be worth it, if only because of some interesting recent developments. But anyway, Alex, as she was perhaps called more often, was the original girlfriend of the 3rd Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, the forced replacement for Hal Jordan, who'd been turned into a dishrag for the sake of one of the worst crossovers DC ever put out, Zero Hour. And she knew Kyle was the new GL immediately, because he was written revealing this to her shortly after the encounter with the then last Guardian.

Was subjected to the following act of discrimination: in one of the most repugnant death scenes from the time, Alex was graphically murdered by Major Force, who first choked her to death, then stuffed her into the notorious refridgerator. Though the scene was toned down from what was originally intended, according to interviews from the time, it was still strongly implied Force had dismembered Alex, and certainly squashed her body into the shelves behind the door.

What's wrong with how this was done? It was built upon the now repulsive notion that a hero must find dedication and drive for what's ahead by having a loved one turned into a sacrificial lamb, but what really made this repellent was the way Alex was put to death: through graphically violent circumstances. Which stems from another serious problem: the whole notion a villain must "pose a credible threat" to the heroes, or, more precisely, to those around him. Even Morlun, the bizarre vampire-like villain in J. Michael Straczynski's overrated Spider-Man run, was built closely on something like that. And that's exactly the problem: instead of posing a formidable challenge to the heroes in combat, they're written instead as a threat to the heroes' civilian co-stars.

Also worth considering is that regardless of whether the premise is tastless, Kyle never had any meaningful characterization during the near-decade he was shoehorned into the GL role. He was otherwise just a cypher, and wasn't always depicted as very talented in battle. And for replacement girlfriends, the editors would only allow established superheroine figures like Donna Troy and Jade. That's hardly allowing creative freedom in building up a new character, and actually diminishes their personal agency.

Was there anything good - or any improvement - to come since? Here's the amazing and miraculous thing: just recently, in what's described as the 600th GL issue (or 33rd, according to the cover data), written by Jeremy Adams, there was a storyline in GL that appears to retcon away what originally happened, and replaces it with a storyline where Alex simply breaks up with Kyle because she feels he hasn't done enough to prove himself worthy of her affections. If it's an accurate description of what the issue discusses, then while I've long avoided DC and Marvel's modern output, I will say in fairness that it's justice that could've been delivered much sooner, and at least that's a very fortunate turn of events.

It won't change the fact that under Dan DiDio and his current successor, editor Marie Javins, DC has long gone downhill. But at least this retcon in itself is relieving, and should make clear that the original premise from 1994 was entirely uncalled for and went way overboard. It's a repugnant premise that comicdom has to move away from.