The Blackest Night has begun…

We pick up right where we left off in the last issue.  There are black rings hunting down the resurrected heroes in an attempt to reclaim those who had been lost.  I really like this twist in the story as it gives the deaths of these heroes a little more weight.  They weren’t supposed to come back.  Dead is dead and Nekron intends to bring back the status quo.

Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and more have already fallen to the rings and Barry Allen and Hal need to team up to escape the clutches of the rings locked on them.  Thanks to a little time travel, two seconds, they manage to break free of the rings hunt and return to the battle at hand.

It turns out that things are looking worse than they thought.  Not only do they have to deal with the major heroes now in the grasp of the black rings plus the mass of folks that died in the destruction of Coast City but they also get word that every Black Lantern has been called to Earth and they are closing in fast.  I liked the reveal of this with a two-page spread showing John Stewart speeding through space with a dark mass of Black Lanterns screaming behind him.  He’s trying to call out a warning for the folks on Earth but they have enough on their hands at the moment.

The big thing about this issue is that the heroes have realized that they just don’t have the firepower needed to take on the might of Nekron.  Ganthet scores a Green Lantern ring for himself and uses his abilities to cause each of the other colored rings to spawn a duplicate ring to increase their fire power for at least the next twenty four hours.  The rings are sent out and they recruit others from the DCU to join the cause.  A couple of them are a surprise to say the least.

The rage filled Mera is chosen as a Red Lantern during her fight with the Black Lantern Wonder Woman.  With all the pain and hurt she has suffered over the years and even more recently in the pages of this series she is filled with a mournful rage that spills out in a powerful wave when she gets the ring.

The Blue Ring finds hope in the heart of Barry Allen and turns the Scarlet Speedster into a blue flame of hope for the heroes fighting in the darkness.  After dying to save the world and then getting a second chance with his loved ones he has nothing but hope for the future.

The Yellow ring travels all the way to Gotham to find the one man who is a master of fear.  The Scarecrow accepts the ring instantly and joins the fight, his obsession with fear now powering his every move.

The Atom is chosen by the Indigo Tribe to bear their mark, as his heart has nothing but compassion even for the woman who broke his heart.

The ring of Avarice finds its target in the form of Lex Luthor.  Lex has always wanted everything and everyone to bow before him in a greed that knew no bounds.  Now the orange light consumes and amplifies that greed.

Finally the Sapphire ring battles a Black ring for control of the powerful Wonder Woman and winds.  The Amazon Princess has returned to the battle with new purpose.

Together they join Ganthet and the battle has now become a two front effort on the side of the heroes.  The bleakness of their situation has grown a little brighter but you have to wonder how long that will last as the Blackest Night continues with no end in sight.

STORY: 5/5

I really liked the formation of the new All Corps Team.  I always been a fan of team ups between characters you wouldn’t normally see together and this one takes the cake with the inclusion of the Scarecrow and Lex Luthor.

ART: 5/5

The art has remained excellent through out the series and the major parts of the issue were done perfectly.  From the rings finding their targets to the massive scene with John Stewart I think the art hit all the pieces exactly as they needed to be.

COVERS:

Regular Edition: 5/5

I really dig the cover with all the main players of the Corps together and ready to battle it out with the undead.  It’s colorful.  It’s simple.  It’s pretty sweet.

Variant Cover: 5/5

An excellent cover.  I’m a guy who likes the simple images on covers and this one doesn’t mess around with flashy images.  It’s Nekron with a handful of colored rings.  And blood.  Gruesome and awesome.

ALL IN ALL:

The series has been going strong for a long time and it doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.  The only thing that is killing me is the amount of tie in and side issues this thing has.  This is one of the biggest company events that I’ve had to deal with in a long while and I’m starting to know what it feels like for the Marvel fans out there.  Plus they just started announcing the follow up books for when this all wraps up in a couple months.

The Blackest Night has begun…

The battle rages on as the various Lanterns gather to join forces for a short time.  Hal, Sinestro, Carol, Saint Walker, Larfleeze, Indigo 1, and Atrocitus come together and discover that the recently charged Black Lantern is now on Earth.

Finally seeing all the Corps come together is a pretty sweet sight to be welcomed with right off the bat.  They all charge up and head off to Earth.

On Earth we see that the heroes have finally come together as well to face Nekron, master of the Black Lanterns.  It’s an ominous sight as the Flashes deal with the seven million rising victims of the destruction of Coast city.  Seeing both Wally and Barry working together is a welcome one though and soon they are joined by the top guns of the DCU.

While that fight begins we get the entrance of the Color Corps and they manage to obliterate the infected Guardian who helped bring all this death upon us.  After that it’s time to attack the Black Battery by focusing their power to recreate the white light that began the birth of the universe.  That seems all well and good but it doesn’t work in the way they expected.  This is when the story gets going and the point I’m going to be focusing on for this review.

The attack on the battery doesn’t destroy the thing.  It sends more power to Nekron and also summons up another Black Ring that has a specific purpose.  This ring heads straight for the skull of Bruce Wayne the Black Hand has been toting around and causes the fallen hero to rise.  Black Lantern Batman is now on the scene.

BL Batman has a job to do and that is to vomit up a series of Black Rings that shoot out and locate all of the heroes that have died and returned since the death of Barry Allen a little over twenty years ago.  The rings latch on to the heroes and allow Nekron to call out his command to them.

DIE!

We watch as some of the mightiest heroes on the planet die once again only to be brought back immediately as Black Lanterns.  With his job done, Bruce once again returns to being a bleached skull and is no more.

Now the rest of the heroes are faced with Nekron and his league.  Superman, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Green Arrow, Kid Flash, Superboy, Animal Man, Ice…

Last week I said that things had just gotten real.  After this issue… we’re screwed.

It as simple issue as we have gotten into the main battle of the book that seems to be what we will be dealing with for the next three issues.  So far it’s not turning out as easy as we thought it was going to be at the start of the issue.  The plan of blasting the battery with the white light has backfired and now we are without some of the bug guns.  I’m not sure how this is going to play out but I am excited to see it unfold.

One thing I loved was the rise of Black Lantern Batman.  While we have been told that Bruce is still alive and kicking but just in the far past this shows that those are indeed his bones.  So it’s a big time travel thing where the live Bruce was sent packing while his eventual remains replaced him in this time.  Creepy.

The one thing I am worried about is the turning of the once dead heroes.  While it’s a cool story point it does show us that in the end there is hope for at least these guys.  They didn’t have their hearts ripped out.  But what about the other heroes who have been killed in the last few months?  Are they dead forever or is there a chance of returning to the living as well.  The whole thing has me worried that some of my favorite B listers have met their final end.

STORY: 5/5

I’m surprised that this story hasn’t gotten old for me.  I am digging every issue and that includes the tie ins as well.  I’m loving the writing and the big chances that are being taken to make this compelling and that they aren’t just playing it safe.

ART: 5/5

I know… big surprise.  There were way too many great visuals in the book not to give it a five.  From the coming together of the Corps to BL Batman to the first sight given of the turned heroes it was all excellent.

COVERS:

Regular Edition: 4/5

I dig it.  It’s a simple piece with a massive and powerful Nekron standing tall and the heroes he eventually takes back powerless to stop him.  The only thing that would have been a better visual would be the joined Corps.

Variant Edition: 5/5

An excellent cover showing the rise of BL Batman with Black Hand looking on… smiling.  It’s pretty awesome and Rodolfo Migliari did an amazing job.

ALL IN ALL -

I’m still blown away at how awesome this event is.  From the story to the art to the excellent promo rings that have been given out over the last couple weeks.  I love it.

The Blackest Night has begun…

Issue four is when the heroes of Earth start to get an idea of what they are up against as Flash gets the word out. Once again… this issue isn’t without its losses.

We begin with Flash, Mera, and the Atom trying not to die as the corpses of the villains stored in the Hall of Justice try to tear the their hearts from their chests. Literally.

Jason, the new Firestorm, manages to get control of his body for a short amount of time to let them know that a voice coming from the ring is calling out for Barry Allen. We have known that the heroes who have come back from the dead in recent years were going to be a target of whatever was controlling all this and now is when that starts. Atom does a sweet move to help them escape by having them piggyback through the phone connection to the local 911-dispatch office.

The next thing we see is the risen Azrael gutting folks in Gotham city and leaving Scarecrow behind alive due to his lack of emotion. While this was a quick scene that some might not think was important at all… I liked it. I’ve always liked Scarecrow as a villain and this scene cements that he’s just not all there in the head.

The next small scene is another on that I liked as we see Lex Luthor locking himself down inside a secret bunker. He knows what’s going on and the thought of all the people he has hurt or killed over the years coming back to get him has him in lock down mode. His conversation with the Calculator was a good one as well. We see that Luthor doesn’t see himself as a villain. He’s better than all those who would consider them his peer. That’s the Lex we all know and love. He’s not a team player.

After a quick pep talk from the Flash, Mera and Atom head out to find the one remaining Green Lantern on the Earth. Alan Scott of the Justice Society. A jump through another phone line leads them into the middle of a battle between a bunch of Black Lanterns and the Society.

Flash speeds about the Earth telling all the groups of heroes what’s going down and they all get ready to hold their ground until the Green Lantern Corps can fix all this mess from the main battle out in space.

Alan Scott attempts to take out the Black Lanterns but his power source isn’t working as well as the actual Green Lantern Corps rings can. With the help of the Atom, Damage is able to fight against the Black Lantern who s posing as his father and get pumped for the long fight ahead. A friendship is forged in the heat of battle. One that is all too brief. The Atom watches as his former wife and lover Jean Loring rips Damage’s heart out through his back.

Now, folks… You may not care that some B List hero from the massive roster of the Justice Society has just been killed in a gruesome manner but I do. Damage is a hero I followed when I first got serious into collecting comics. It was in junior high and at this point I was deep into collecting comics that had teen heroes. Robin was at the top and Superboy right under that. Along that same time I got into a small comic titled DAMAGE. It was about a boy who was thrown into the hero role suddenly when he discovered that his whole life had been fake and that he could potentially be one of the most powerful heroes on the planet.

His comic didn’t last long but he popped up here and there from time to time to serve on a version of the Titans and even helped defeat Parallax during the event known as Zero Hour. Most recently he was hurt badly in a battle and his face was scarred horribly. He has since been the ill tempered muscle of the Justice Society on a journey or redemption and self-forgiveness. That journey ended in this comic. I was saddened by this death and it makes me really hope that not all is lost for the heroes falling during this event.

The death of Damage also brings forth the full charge of the Black Lanterns power battery. This whole time we have been seeing each death bring us closer and closer to full charge and us wondering what that means. Now we know.

Barry Allen feels a pull towards Coast City, home of Hal Jordan. When he gets there he witnesses Black Hand welcoming the arrival of the Black Lantern power battery to Earth and the rise of the creature behind the whole Blackest Night. Nekron has risen and with him come the seven million that were killed in the destruction of Coast City at the hands of Cyborg Superman.

This just got real, folks.

STORY: 4/5

I dug the issue. I heard a few complaints about this one and was wondering if the story had finally run out of steam but I found that not to be the case. A lot of big things happened in this issue and I felt it was just as strong as what we had scene before.

ART: 5/5

I’m still digging the art behind this series. I don’t expect my mind to change anytime soon. The death of Damage was drawn perfectly and the splash pages were all really great.

COVERS:

Regular Edition: 3/5

The coming of the risen villains was a good idea for a cover on this issue but I would have liked to see more of them instead of a massive Copperhead face filling most of the cover.

Variant Edition: 5/5

The original Atom about to eat a bite sized Atom. It’s simple. It’s awesome.

ALL IN ALL-

I really enjoyed the issue and I’m excited to see the main villain finally revealed. Plus the fact that the main battle has been brought to the Earth raises the stakes even higher. This series has continued to be well written and planned out and I’m still pumped to see what happens next.

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So… from this point on it’s going to go like my reviews of Adventure Comics. I’ll hit the high points and the low points and you get to hear my thoughts on all of it. I hope this will make for a better review of the book for you, the readers.

So without further stalling…

The Blackest Night has begun…

The book begins in a dorm room. We see Jason and Gen, the current Firestorm pair, and they are discussing some pretty deep stuff. It turns out Gen likes Jason and Jason is unsure of a relationship with her and all of that is coming to a head and then… the JLA beeper goes off and ruins the whole moment.

Now, I know a little bit about Firestorm. Mostly from the Super Friends cartoon when I was a kid but still. Here’s how he works. It takes two people to be Firestorm. One is the body and the other is the brain. His power is the ability to transform anything into different elements. So for example, he could turn your car into water leaving you all wet and no way to get to where you’re going. But he needs to know what makes up water in order to do that and that’s where the other person comes in. The other person joins minds with the physical part of this partnership and helps with all that smarts stuff. Getting the picture? Good.

I went through all of that because Firestorm plays a big part in this issue and I wouldn’t want you to be lost. They do a good job connecting us to these characters though in the short amount of time we have.

So… after we get the scene of the JLA beeper ruining yet another moment in the life of our heroes we jump to a battle raging in Gotham City. It’s Hal Jordan and Barry Allen fighting the combined forces of a risen Elongated Man, Sue Dinby, original Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and the Martian Manhunter. It doesn’t look too good for our heroes.

It’s a massive fight that allows us to learn two things. One, the black rings are connected to their hosts like “roots of a plant”, as Barry says. Barry tries to rip one of the rings off the risen Firestorm and it causes pain to the zombie. It’s one of the first times we have seen one of the risen be hurt in this series.

Two, Ray Palmer has been hiding in the ring on Hawkman checking out what under the hood. He pops out during the fight and that’s when we finally get to see what happened to the Atom after he agreed to meet up with the freshly murdered Hawkman.

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice…

(I love saying that…)

Firestorm is trying to figure out who sent the signal to him. The place seems empty and the code that brought him here was used by the deceased Aquaman. At this point they check out the monitors and see that the crap is hitting the fan. The dead are rising and it seems the other heroes have their hands full just trying not to be killed in the process. It’s at this point we discover that Mera is the one who sent the signal and that she is just trying to find help.

The next bit of the book came a little fast and furious. We come back to the battle between the heroes and the risen and see that our heroes are getting their… um… tails handed to them. They are saved at the last second by the arrival of the Indigo Tribe. Where they came from I have no idea but they quickly take care of the risen and teleport away to the Hall of Justice.

The leader of the Indigo Tribe makes short work of Ralph and Sue, blasting them with concentrated power and turning them to dust. This is the first time we have seen one of the risen fall.

The next section is a lot of exposition. The Indigo Tribe explains what’s going on to the small band of heroes and in doing so she explains it to us. Go read the book to get all that info.

After a little spat between Flash and Green Lantern we get round two of the attack as the risen have collected themselves and returned to finish what they started.

We get to see one side of the battle. Firestorm versus Firestorm.

B.L. Firestorm manages to split the other Firestorm into the two separated beings. Jason and Gen are a little shook up by this and before they know what’s going on B.L. Firestorm has grabbed Gen and absorbed Jason. Jason becomes the mental side of B.L. Firestorm and has to watch as his friend and potential girlfriend is turned to salt before his very eyes.

This leads to B.L. Firestorm opening up the vault where the bodies of fallen villains are kept and letting black rings enter and raise a new chunk of folks to fight, including Alexander Luther of Earth 3.

Story: 4 / 5

While it’s still awesome and I really enjoyed the issue… it was half exposition. It was good exposition but still a little too much for my tastes. I did enjoy the Firestorm storyline. I thought they did a great job of making us care for characters we might not follow. This pays off big time when Gen dies. I didn’t know who this character was but I was torn up at the way she died.

Plus, it was a little weird to have the Indigo Tribe just show up out of nowhere with no explanation why.

Art: 5 / 5

It still looks good three issues in and I don’t expect any different. I point to the death of Gen as a prime example of great set up and delivery.

Covers:

Regular: 3 / 5

A little family portrait of the Black Lanterns. While there is nothing wrong with the cover I did think it was a little plain.

Variant: 4 / 5

This was better. I would have liked a version like we got with the Aquaman cover. A good shot of just Firestorm all evil and pissed would have been nice. We didn’t need the rest.

All in All:

It was a good solid issue. We get to see the Black Lanterns get hurt and we get to find out a little bit of the background of all that’s going on.

I still can’t wait to get to the next issue and for me that is the biggest praise I can give the book.

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The Blackest Night has begun…

Inside the Stonechat Museum located in St. Roch, a phone rings. Blood covers the floor and signs of a battle lay strewn about. On the other end of this phone call is Ray Palmer, The Atom.

Ray is trying to get through to Carter Hall, Hawkman, and tell him why he is still mourning the death of his wife even though in the end she was a murderer. When the call connects and he pleads to his friend to just listen for a few minutes he is answered by the voice of Carter asking him to come over. Ray accepts the invitation without knowing that his friend is dead and the voice he is hearing is that of Hawkman of the Black Lantern Corps.

The next scene is one I found very touching and also a good look into the world of the Gotham City police force. Gordon and Barbara are sitting on the roof drinking coffee and standing around the glow of the Bat Signal. Gordon is concerned about Batman and tells his daughter that he feels that something is wrong. He doesn’t know what it is but it’s the same feeling that he had when the first Batgirl stopped being seen. The police knew something had happened and that it wasn’t good.

Barbara comforts her father and lets him know that she will stay up on the roof with him until it’s time to turn the signal off.

The tender moment is over when Green Lantern smashes down onto the Bat Signal smashing it to bits.

Meanwhile, in Amnesty Bay…

Mera is taking Garth and a few Atlantean soldiers to the grave of Arthur Curry, Aquaman. She has finally allowed Garth to take the body of Aquaman to the burial place of their kings. While she is not happy about this she has allowed for the sake of her people.

They come to the resting place of their King and friend and find that the grave has been torn open and the body missing. As the two try and figure out which of Aquaman’s foes could have done this they are interrupted by a voice from behind.

Aquaman stands risen and takes out a few of the soldiers before anyone can react to his sudden appearance. As the blood begins to be spilt on the wet ground he attacks the two people he loved the most in the world.

Back in Gotham City we find another hero in the midst of peril. Boston Brand, Deadman, is under attack from the voice of the Black Lanterns. He can hear it calling for him to rise and he’s doing everything he can to stop it from happening.

A black ring digs into the dirt of his grave as he attempts to stop it but his actions prove useless.

A boney hand pushes through the earth and soon the whole corpse of Boston Brand is flying into the air and away from the spirit that once called the body home.

In Washington D.C. more rings seek out flesh and come across the resting places of the duo known as Hawk and Dove. While one ring is able to claim the corpse of Hawk the other ring attempts to claim Dove but is forced away with the proclamation that Don Hall of earth is at peace. Finally we are shown a weakness of the Black rings. This is the first time they have not been able to claim a body in the series so far.

I like this idea. I had thought that the rings could bring back whoever they wanted and to have Don Hall deemed “At Peace” makes me wonder why he is so special. What other heroes will not return due to finally resting in the peace they deserve?

We return to Aquaman tearing apart the people who had come to return their King home. The soldiers are torn apart and Mera has just plunged her trident into the chest of dead her husband. This does nothing to slow him down and instead he manages to get closer and able to attack.

Garth is fighting a new battle with the risen corpses of his former lovers, Dolphin and Aquagirl. As they attack his mind with accusations of loveless relationships they tear at his body as well.

More soldiers come to the aid of the heroes but before they can even leave the water they are consumed by sharks at the command of Aquaman.

Back at the grave of Boston Brand we see a gathering of some of earths mightiest heroes of the supernatural. With the grave ripped open as we have seen of the others they are trying to figure out what it all could mean. Before they can try and come up with a possible scenario they find themselves with a visitor. A once dead ENTER NAME HERE visits them and soon explodes in a rain of gore and Black Lantern rings.

Standing back hidden from sight is Black Hand. He smiles as one ring finds it’s way to Crispus Allen… currently the host of the Spectre. The power of the Black ring pins the Spectre inside and allows Allen to rise and join the ranks of the Black Lantern Corps.

Crispus Allen grows to tower over the grave yard and calls out for Hal Jordan. This is a massive splash page and it works to show the power of the Spectre. I’m thinking this isn’t a good thing for Hal Jordan to have to face while also dealing with the Blackest Night.

Coming back to Hal Jordan, we find Gordon helping him up from the smashed Bat Signal on top of police headquarters. While he tries to shake off the attack we see that Barry Allen, The Flash, is still battling Martian Manhunter. Hal asks if he can borrow a cop car and heads off to help his friend.

The battle continues as Mera and Garth fight against the undead versions of their former flames. Aquaman is attempting to rip Mera’s heart from her chest when she manages to use her power over the water around her to blast him away. Garth hits Dolphin with a blast to her face, which freezes her head. A blow from Mera with the trident causes her head to shatter. This is a momentary set back for the Black Lantern as her head grows back almost immediately.

While Mera struggles with Dolphin, the risen Aquagirl over powers Garth and his heart is torn from his body. As Mera screams out to her fallen friend he is sought out and taken by a Black ring. Mera escapes as the undead team now including Garth searches for her.

We return to the battle between Flash and the Martian Manhunter. As Barry manages to get J’onn in a pool of chemicals, Hal returns to the fight hauling a police cruiser along. He throws the car down which causes a massive explosion that consumes the undead Manhunter and lights up the Gotham City night.

While the two heroes discuss the possibility that J’onn might not be the only victim of the Black rings, the smoke clears and we find that Martian Manhunter is very much unfazed by the fire and that he now has back up in the form of Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Firestorm, and the Dinby’s.

The battle has only just begun.

STORY: 5/5

It’s still going strong, as this entire issue is nothing but battles between heroes and Black Lanterns. The chaos is unfolding and the heroes of the DCU have no idea what is going on.

Both of the major battles are done very well as we lose another hero to the Black Lanterns and we see two of the major players do their best and not even leave a scratch on their adversary.

The strength of the members of the Black Lantern Corps has been shown and it really seems like the heroes have meet a challenge that may not be defeated.

ART: 5/5

Still excellent. I remain convinced that Ivan Reis is the perfect choice for this main story. His ability to create a world for this story that is familiar yet darker than the DCU we know and love is perfect.

Like Commissioner Gordon says in the book, “The sky seems so much darker tonight.”

COVERS:

Regular Edition: 5/5

I really dig this cover. The lone Hal Jordan glowing green in the midst of the most powerful undead that has ever been is a striking image. The best part is… Hal doesn’t look scared at all.

Variant Edition: 5/5

It’s an undead Aquaman riding a giant zombie seahorse while commanding an army of skeletal fish and great white sharks. Need I say more?

ALL IN ALL –

I know it seems like I have nothing bad to say about this series… but I don’t. So far I have loved all that I’ve seen and I hope it keeps this momentum