The Ray #1
The Ray #1 (February 1992) serves as the debut issue for Raymond Terrill, the second character to bear the Ray mantle, and marks a meaningful Post-Crisis effort by DC to bring a Quality Comics legacy property fully into its modern continuity. The issue plants the seeds for one of the era's more emotionally grounded superhero origin arcs: a young man raised in total darkness under a fabricated sunlight allergy learns at his father's deathbed that he is actually the son of a Golden Age hero, and that the sun doesn't threaten him — it powers him. It also stands as an early career landmark for Joe Quesada, who would go on to become Marvel's editor-in-chief; his dynamic pencil work here, among his first major DC assignments, already signals the kinetic style he would refine throughout the decade. The series successfully translated a decades-dormant Golden Age character into a compelling coming-of-age narrative, earning Ray Terrill a spot in the broader DC Universe that has persisted across multiple continuity reboots, animated series, and live-action television.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The miniseries was the product of writer Jack C. Harris — a longtime DC writer and editor — teaming with a then-relatively unknown Joe Quesada on pencils, with Art Nichols on inks and a cover by Mark Beachum. Quesada's only prior DC penciling credits were a handful of Spelljammer and The Question Quarterly issues, making The Ray one of his earliest substantial assignments; his profile rose considerably later that same year with Batman: Sword of Azrael. Editorial duties were handled by Jim Owsley, who later worked under the name Christopher Priest. DC's DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle explicitly frames the project as Harris reworking a dormant Golden Age character 'assisted by future superstar artist Joe Quesada,' situating it squarely within the early-1990s wave of DC limited series designed to modernize legacy properties in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Raymond 'Ray' Terrill (the second Ray) in comics; he is established as the son of the Golden Age Ray, Langford 'Happy' Terrill.
- Also features Happy Terrill (the original Golden Age Ray, first appearing in Quality Comics' Smash Comics #14, September 1940), who appears alive at the end of the issue despite Ray believing him dead.
- Written by Jack C. Harris, with interior art by Joe Quesada (pencils/layouts) and Art Nichols (finishes), and a cover by Mark Beachum.
- Edited by Jim Owsley (Christopher Priest), published February 1992 as the first issue of a six-issue limited series running through July 1992.
- Ray Terrill's origin hook: raised in total darkness by his uncle Thomas (posing as his father), told he would die if exposed to sunlight; at age 18 he learns the truth at his foster father's deathbed and discovers sunlight actually activates his inherited light-based powers.
- The issue introduces Ray's childhood friend Jennifer Jurden and his cousin Hank Terrill, both of whom play significant roles in his transition to superhero life across the miniseries.
- The six-issue miniseries was later collected in the trade paperback The Ray: In a Blaze of Power.
- Ray Terrill went on to appear in numerous DC properties including Justice League America, the Freedom Fighters, and was adapted for the CW Seed animated series Freedom Fighters: The Ray (voiced by Russell Tovey) and the live-action Arrowverse crossover 'Crisis on Earth-X.'
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Reprinted in The Ray: In a Blaze of Power #[nn] (1994)
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