Why Blackest Night Is a Triumph

Comparing the Mega Events
Where others have failed, Blackest Night is a triumphant masterpiece

For the past 25 years, the biggest thing for either Marvel or DC has been to publish huge "mega events". These events always promise to create a new status quo for the publisher that usually turn out to be not to be that big of a deal or gets retconned out of history. Throughout this quarter of a century, Marvel has produced such events as Secret Wars, House of M, Civil War, and Secret Invasion among others. DC normally relies on titles that have "Crisis" in their title (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time, Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, and Final Crisis). All of these titles brought in several of the characters, if not all of them, into the story.

Blackest Night is not an exception to this. BN went from being an event specifically for the Green Lantern line of DC to being a DC Universe mega event. A lot of concern over editorial interference began to surface when that announcement was made. After Final Crisis was released to a "love it or hate it" kind of reception, fans were understandably worried. Now just a few issues in, I think it's safe to say the worries and concerns have gone away.

Back in 2003, Marvel made plans for an event that was going to primarily focus on the Avengers, but would touch nearly every other character in and around the Marvel Universe. Avengers Disassembled was built up to in several books, but ultimately, came to a head in the pages of The Avengers. Of course, like any other event, promised a status quo changing story. Boy, did it. Brian Michael Bendis completely tore apart the Avengers so he could give them a new beginning of sorts. Old time favorites, like Scarlet Witch and the Vision (two of my all-time favorite Avengers), were changed forever. Other characters, like Hawkeye, were killed only to be brought back again very soon after the event was done. Disassembled proved to make the Avengers Marvel's top selling book, but the aftershocks of the event, and subsequent popularity, has left sour tastes in some of the older fans (such as myself).

For Green Lantern, the rise to popularity has not been the result of status quo changing events. Instead, it was a very well thought out and carefully executed plan by one of the best writers in comics, Geoff Johns. From the moment Hal Jordan was brought back from the dead, Blackest Night was on its way. Here is a breakdown of why I think Blackest Night has done what has been so difficult for other huge events to do - crossover and be a universally accepted masterpiece.

1. Planning that gave weight for this story to happen
As mentioned above, Geoff Johns seemed to be putting the pieces into place for this entire event the moment he started writing Green Lantern. Allowing Hal Jordan to come back to life opened the door for the other lanterns to be created. A prophesized "War of Light" would soon kick off when the Green Lantern Corps faced off against the Sinestro Corps (who had the power of the yellow light of fear). The planning for the Blackest Night event is akin to the planning that went into the granddaddy of all comics mega-events, Crisis on Infinite Earths. The planning for COIE began nearly 5 years before that story started. Everything from the story structure to the characters who would be created or killed was carefully and thoughtfully planned out step by step. Neither BN or COIE happened immediately following a few months of revelation or storyline. These took years to come to fruition.

2. Execution
When dealing with years of planning, a story has the opportunity to boil and marinate. This allows the universe around it to prepare itself for a storyline that is nothing short of kinetic. Johns was even responsible for some of the universe being ready for this type of event. When he wrote Infinite Crisis, he was able to kill certain characters that could later come back to play a major roles in Blackest Night. Characters like Superboy, Earth-2 Superman, Psycho Pirate and all the Teen Titans that got murdered are all going to play major roles in BN and some of the affiliated mini-series. Along with the ability to set up the story through other means than just the Green Lantern titles...

3. Horror!
It's no secret that horror is hot right now in comics. We've got oodles of zombie books on the shelves right now. Marvel Zombies was the first to really put superheroes in the heart of a zombie horror fest. Marvel Zombies was a little more light-hearted and was a fun "alternate reality" type of tale. Blackest Night, on the other hand, has some legitimately creepy scenes of zombies tearing people's hearts out of their chest. Then, you've got this guy, Black Hand, that is literally in love with death. Each page of the issues in the main series and surrounding minis and crossover issues crackles with eerie energy that really sucks the reader into the story. The creepy Black Lanterns are always lurking behind a bush or around a corner or something. They are really playing up the whole "these guys are monsters" thing. Also, you know a Black Lantern is around because there will be two characters talking to one another and suddenly you're given a panel with "Black Lantern vision" where you can see the emotional aura of the characters talking. When you see that panel, the shit is about to hit the fan for those characters.

4. A whole new Mythos that doesn't take a big ol' steaming pile on what came before
The greatest thing about the brand new Green Lantern Mythos is that it wasn't promised by DC Comics when Green Lantern: Rebirth hit the stands. Almost every great story builds upon the greatness of what came before but also creates its own niche in the character's history. What's most important is that it doesn't crap all over what other writers have brought to the stories of the past. I'd like to point out one story in which this kinda happened... Final Crisis. In my opinion, it crapped all over everything everywhere - especially a lot of things that came immediately before it (lead up that had no clue what to do because editorial didn't give them any direction) and a lot of what Jack Kirby (one of the greatest comics people of all time) did in the past. All it was was Grant Morrison retelling ideas from his own history of writing like it was a 7-issue greatest hits of me type of f-u to the people buying the comics. Oh, don't get me wrong, some people LOVED it. I obviously didn't, but that's because the story and this whole idea of the mythos of the DC charcter and what it means to be a story that was kinda like watching a Stanley Kubrick movie done by Stanley Kubrick who is writing it while going down on himself.

5. Really interesting characters created and re-created
Forget about all the different characters that have popped up with different color rings. As fascinating as they are, they aren't anywhere near as interesting as the characters who have gotten face lifts by Geoff Johns. Most notably, Johns has given the Guardians of the Universe a lot more personality and Black Hand a whole new backstory that doesn't take a steaming dump on the history of the character. For the Black Hand, Johns took a very brief origin and expanded on it and made him eerily attracted to death and decay. This was a character that was originally kinda cheesy and silly. Not to mention he blew his own brains out after killing his entire family to become the first Black Lantern. That's pretty hardcore for a superhero book. But nothing can top the greatest of all Red Lanterns and reason #6 for Blackest Night being so damn awesome...

6. DEX-STAR THE RAGE KITTY!
I mean seriously. This guy is awesome and seriously pissed off. It also appears that Dex-Star has become something of a sensation all over the interwebs as well. There are people paying for commissions of little Dexy:
There are people drawing their own Dex-Stars:
So yeah... This guy's pretty awesome. The cat is also out of the bag (pun totally intended) about there being a big time fight in Blackest Night between Superman's dog Krypto and Dex-Star. Being a cat kind of guy, I hope Dex-Star messes up some Kryptonian canine ass!

I leave you now with Dex-Star's most endearing image - his first appearance. He's all like "look at me, I'm a cute and cuddly kitty cat!" And then, he's all like "blaaaagh... acidic blood in your face, bitches!"

Blackest Night All Up In Your Face!

Blackest Night exploded this week. I decided that I wouldn't just cover one of the issues, but all three stories that hit the stands this week.

First up, Blackest Night #2 (Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Ivan Reis)...

In this second issue, all sorts of hell is breaking loose as more crawl out from their graves to terrorize the living. Most notably, Aquaman and Pariah (from the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths story) rise to take on family and the magically inclined respectively. Even The Spectre isn't immune to the power of the black rings as the "Spirit of Vengeance" becomes a giant Black Lantern.

One mystery begins to surface in this second issue - some of the dead will not rise if they are in a state of peace. I suspect we will get more as to why that is in upcoming issues. The big payoff is the final page where we see a macabre Justice League comprised of the zombified Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Elongated Man and Sue Dibney. They are looking to increase their ranks by killing and resurrecting Hal Jordan and Barry Allen.

Next, in Green Lantern Corps #39, the resurrection of all the honored dead in the Lantern Crypt is fleshed out (sorry for the pun, it wasn't intended) from Blackest Night #1. This issue aslo gives us some samplings of other things taking place around the galaxy. This issue plays directly from other arcs in the GL Corps book. The biggest return in this issue is Jade - former lover of Kyle Rayner and daughter of the Golden Age Green Lanter, Alan Scott. If you remember my earlier review of Blackest Night #1, I mentioned that love seemed to be a big part of the story. If that is the case, then Jade's resurrection and confronting Kyle Rayner definitely plays into that idea.

In Blackest Night: Batman #1, Deadman teams up with the new Batman and Robin (Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne) after he was unable to keep his own corpse from rising from the grave. This issue more directly plays off the aftermath of Alfred finding Bruce Wayne's grave desecrated once Barry and Hal take the fight with Martian Manhunter into downtown Gotham in Blackest Night #1. Dick's parents and, former Robin, Tim Drake's parents are revealed as Black Lanterns.

All in all, the entire Blackest Night event has been everything DC promised and more. During a tough economic time for collectors and the very mixed reception of Final Crisis, comic fans have needed this type of action oriented story. I would dare say this story is truly the third of the Crisis series (following Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis). It's at least more of the type of Crisis we all hoped Final Crisis had as far of a story.

Big blockbusters from the comic industry need to be able to fulfill the promise of a great story with lots of chills, thrills and drama. It's very likely what makes this story so great is the buildup from all of what Geoff Johns has written since he took over the Green Lantern series.

I will rant later about the downfall of the big event stories in another blog entry. I definitely have to say that this mini-series seems to have serious ramifications with well thought out ideas and logical plotting. It may be hard to jump right in if you aren't up to speed with what's been going on with the Green Lantern series, but for those who are aware (even in general), this is a huge event that is paying big dividends for the reader.


Ratings: Blackest Night #1 - 5 Stars; Green Lantern Corps #39 - 4 1/2 Stars; Blackest Night: Batman - 4 1/2 Stars.

It Isn't Easy Being Green

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artists: Chris Samnee and Mike Mayhew
Publisher: DC Comics

Rating: 3 Stars

This companion series to the mega-event The Blackest Night was designed to give you some nice little vignettes about the other lantern groups that have popped up over the past couple years. Each of the first two issues had three stories, each focusing on one of the new colors of emotion.

Despite only giving you a short story about each of the main characters, the stories were interesting and fun. For those of us who have been curious about the "Indigo Tribe", we finally got to see them do something, even if we couldn't understand what they were saying. We also got to see a new Red Lantern who had a really cool, and sad backstory. And, perhaps my favorite story, a giant being that posed as a god going from planet to planet commanding the treasures of each civilization in exchange for their lives. This being finally meets a world whose most valuable possessions were their children. Deciding he had no need for the little ones, he leaves them behind and moves on. Unfortunately, he runs into Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern, and his story comes to an end after being absorbed by a power greater than his own.

Issue #3 brings us only two new stories: a story about fan-favorite Kilowog's early days and the rise of another popular character from Green Lantern Corps, Arisia Rrab. Kilowog's story delves into why he's such a tough-ass with the new recruits he trains. Turns out he was ridden hard by his drill sargent, Lantern "Ermy" (you guessed it, a guy who acts and looks like R. Lee Ermy from Full Metal Jacket). But behind all that tough exterior, Ermy does this because he wants his recruits to be able to live long enough to save innocents from death and destruction. Nothing else will do. From that, we learn why Kilowog is so tough on everyone else. If he isn't hard on them, the recruits couldn't hope to survive a day as a Green Lantern.

The story of Arisia is more about living every day to become a Lantern. Her father is a great Lantern and his father was as well. It's all about a family commitment to helping those who can't help themselves. It's very similar to why real people follow their fathers, mothers, grandparents into the military, firefighting or the police force. It's not about the risk, it's about the commitment and duty to protecting the innocent.

Both stories are nice, but not really something that couldn't be told in either GL series. The third part of this issue is a "director commentary" version of the Free Comic Book Day Blackest Night #0. For those who couldn't get their hands on the issue back in May, it's nice to now be able to see it, but for the people who did get the issue, we're paying for something we've already got. Okay, there are comments describing the thought or origin behind certain scenes, but not much more than anything seen before.

So, in conclusion, this was a bit disappointing after the first two issues. I kinda like how the cover has a Star Sapphire, Indigo and the main baddie in the Red Lantern Corps, and none of them appear in this issue - they are just the third part of the mural-esque cover art of the whole series.

Green Lantern fans will still like this book. I liked this book, but I was a little disappointed that the mini-series kinda came to a whimpering end after first two awesome issues.

Thank you for reading. I'll have my review of Fear Agent tomorrow and over the weekend, I'll put up my first "retro" review!

DC's Dead Rise to Mess With Some Lanterns

Blackest Night #1
Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Ivan Reis
Publisher: DC Comics

Rating: 5 Stars

Two years ago, we were given a brief glimpse of "The War of Light" and the Oan prophecy of "The Blackest Night" at the end of the extremely engrossing and exciting The Sinestro Corps War. Then, for months, Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi have been building the excitement around DC's new mega event in the pages of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. We've slowly been introduced to a whole galaxy of new Corps that all wield one of the colors of the emotional spectrum, and now, it's all come to a head. The Blackest Night has begun.

Now, for a quick recap... In the pages of Green Lantern #43, we were shown the tragic back story of William Hand. A man fascinated with death since he was a young boy. His father ran a funeral home and his brothers didn't understand him. He would grow up to be one of Green Lantern's villains, The Black Hand, after being given a device that absorbs the energy of a power ring and allows him to manipulate it in return.

After hearing a voice from beyond that tells him how "hungry" it is, he returns home and slaughters his family. He then turns his own weapon against himself and literally blows his brains out. Scar, a Guardian of the Universe (who has been acting a little funny ever since he/she/it was burned by the Anti-Monitor in the climax of The Sinestro Corps War), comes to the scene and presents the corpse with a black power ring. William Hand is resurrected as the first Black Lantern.

Blackest Night #1 opens with Hand in a graveyard in Gotham City. He has dug up Bruce Wayne's skull which he will carry with him like some sort of morbid trophy. After a recap of who has been killed over the years in the DC Universe, we move to two people who have recently escaped the clutches of death - Hal Jordan and Barry Allen.

Hal and Barry are old friends. Johns does an excellent job showing their long relationship without having to force it down our throats. In fact, their relationship, and the importance of the early scenes with the two of them working together, serve as a theme for this first issue. Emotions are running high and what better way to fuel that than love? The love of two old friends, of mother and son (Clark and Martha Kent), of queen and loyal subject (Mera and Tempest), of two reincarnated souls unable to bridge a gap they are destined to cross (Hawkman and Hawkgirl).

Love seems to be at the center of this first issue. Barry's reaction to Hal showing him all those who have died since Barry was killed in the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths is of deep sadness. These were his closest of friends and his partners in crime fighting. Ray Palmer desperately seeking someone to help him visit his ex-wife's grave to pay respects. Despite all Jean Loring did in Indentity Crisis, Ray still loves her and is terribly conflicted about his feelings.

Then, we have Carter and Kendra. Hawkman and Hawgirl have a way of dying, being reincarnated and finding each other. Their love is ages old. Unfortunately, things aren't working this time (not to mention they were apparently killed only not to be killed in the incredibly frustrating Final Crisis, but nevermind that right now). Carter is angry that they aren't together as they have have been. Many pages are spent on Carter trying to convince Kendra that they should be lovers. Ultimately, the Hawks are confronted by DC's greatest, and most tragic, lovers, Ralph and Sue Dibney. Ralph and Sue are Black Lanterns now and they plan to increase the army of the dead in a shocking conclusion to the first issue.

This is Geoff Johns as this best. He knows how to make us care about what's going on around the characters. He also knows how to make the characters interesting beyond anything they have been before. I remember when he wroked on my all-time favorite series, The Avengers. He made Jack of Hearts and the second Ant-Man, two nearly forgotten Marvel characters, relevant and interesting again. He's definitely put his stamp on The Flash's rogue gallery and he's done it again with Black Hand. This story is interesting and well-timed.

I think we're all in for big surprises with this event. I don't think anyone saw how much love would play a factor in the story as a whole. We haven't even seen the reaction Mera will have to the resurrected Aquaman or John Stewart's eventual showdown with his deceased love, Katma Tui, but I'm fairly certain the intensity will be driven by love. I really think most of us in comic fandom just thought, "We're going to see some dead people come back and there will be some tough scenes with the living people and some big fights will go down and it will be awesome." I don't think we were quite prepared for the awesome we've already gotten.

Speaking of awesome, check out issue #1's money shot...


I could stare at that shot for a long time and never get tired of it.

Thanks for reading. I'll be back soon with a review of Amazing Spider-Man #600!