Lanford Terill

55 years ago - Lanford Terrill is born.

40 years ago - 15-year-old Lanford is exposed to alien radiation. his body becomes capable of manipulating light. He becomes the Ray.

38 years ago - 17-year-old Lanford joins the All-Star Squadron.

30 years ago - 25-year-old Lanford begins working for S.H.A.D.E.

28 years ago - 27-year-old Lanford retires from superheroics when he is offered a permanent position with S.H.A.D.E., not realizing that it has gone rogue.

25 years ago - 30-year-old Lanford's son Ray Terrill is born, and genetically manipulated in utero to enhance his metapowers. S.H.A.D.E. places him in a foster home for observation.

8 years ago - 47-year-old Lanford Terrill's son Ray Terrill's foster father is killed in a car accident. He discovers his light manipulation powers, and the truth about his actual father. He takes up the name the Ray, confronting S.H.A.D.E. When Lanford learns the truth about them, he turns on them, sacrificing his life to save his son.

Traditionally, the original Ray is always depicted as part of the Freedom Fighters, a team of characters originally from Quality Comics retroactively placed in World War II. We've kept the Freedom Fighters in that era, but the Ray's involvement with the team is nowhere near as important as his role as the father of the modern Ray. To this end, we've moved him from the Freedom Fighters and into our re-imagined All-Star Squadron, a team we've deliberately designed to connect Golden Age heroes to their modern counterparts.

There is a definite aura of the sinister in the way Lanford manipulated his son, and we've decided to let that flourish, involving him with the perpetually sinister spy organization S.H.A.D.E. Letting this notion of a more disquieting purpose for the character gives him a far more unique presence. Ultimately, he earns his redemption, sacrificing himself for the life of the son he only barely knows. It's a life that is infused with tragedy, but thats often the case with heroes of a certain era.