Barry Kitson's Legion Alphabet - R for Rond Vidar, Green Lantern

When it came to picking an "R" Legionnaire, many commentors mentioned Reflex and Reflecto, along with Rokk Krinn (Cosmic Boy) or Garth and Ayla Ranzz (Lightning Lad and Lass). Someone even mentioned Radius Lad, who I'm pretty sure was only ever a concept drawing by Legion artist Ryan Sook. But you know who wasn't mentioned at all? One Rond Vidar, scholar of the time institute and inheritor of his father's Green Lantern ring. Rond was never officially a member of the Legion, only a part of their extensive supporting cast, but Barry made the very good point that "R" can also stand for "ring", so here we are!

And can I just say, WHAT a space background we have here. As is becoming a pattern with these alphabet pieces, I had no intentions of claiming whatever R piece Barry did, but once again he just up and made a masterpiece of a painting, so I had to cave! To no one's surprise, I loooooove the background on this one. The darker blue and the pop of neon yellow-green complement Rond's colour palette really well. I love how Barry left out some of the ring's details and lightened the values around it to create the impression that it's glowing. Rond's face, expression, and physique are just peak Kitson, but I love that even though Rond and Cosmic Boy have very similar descriptions - male hero with short dark hair and blue eyes - Barry didn't just slap a Green Lantern costume and ring on his version of Cosmic Boy - Rond is a different, unique design.

It's worth noting that this is my first unpublished/commission-style piece featuring a Green Lantern! I love when the Legion crosses over with other DC concepts so I can broaden the types of characters in my collection. On top of that, it's not very common to find comic art of Rond for sale, and I hadn't even thought of getting a commission of him, so I was more than happy to pick this one up!