I only make fun of the name because it's so obviously bad. It's not bad, menacing even, but it's a little silly in an otherwise pretty hefty story. Still, rolls off the tongue well if you're saying, "Lord Neckron" or "Master Neckron" or even "Black Lantern Neckron."
Also, I should point out that things get a little dicey here regarding story. We open with the leaders of all the Lantern Corps standing together in Space Sector 666, where the Black Lantern was discovered at the end of the previous Green Lantern story, "Sinestro Corps War." One could make an argument that this isn't really confusing because the Indigo Tribe Leader took him there, but then it begs the question as to how all the other Lanterns are there and why they decided to stop fighting to listen to Hal Jordan, who pretty much everyone there hates, in particular Sinestro.
There were several prominent tie-in books going on and they're the ones that fill in the holes. However, I'm of the belief that event-comics should be self-contained so as to not confuse the reader. Sure, there are omnibuses that help fill the void, but those are often double the price and also include material that hardly relates to anything.
I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run, though, how they all got there, as they are all together and are looking for the Black Lantern Guardian, the one from Issue 1 that was eating people. They're with two other Guardians on the search and have found nothing, not even the Black Lantern Battery that we, the readers, know is on Earth. Come on, guys, don't you read your own event comic to know where things are?
Hal tells everyone to "shut up and light up" and they do so in the first of many awesome two-page spreads to come in the final few issues!
I mean, just look at this! You've got all the Lantern Corps leaders fully charging up their power, showing off all their might, and saying their respective oaths. Except for Larfleeze, but he's a punk and supposed to do that. It's what greed does.
This spread once again speaks to how great the color-work of this whole even comic is. No color is dominant on the page. Yes, Hal Jordan is in the front and is our focus, but we're also drawn to the myriad of other colors that are around the page. Note, too, that there is not a shred of darkness coming out them, that there is all light. It shows that even though these people have been at war and have been filled with hate, there is still the goodness of light flowing through them.
I got into this event comic because I wanted two things out of it: 1. A good story and 2. Color variation. The comics I'd been reading before this were all gritty and shaded with dark colors, boring my eyes and dulling me to it. This event, luckily, was exploding with color and great art that sucked me into every page. Even the ones where the Black Lanterns are prominent are still done well and help make spreads like the one above stand out more.
Once every gets all powered up, we cut back to Earth where Barry Allen, like a moron, tries to take on Black Hand but gets smashed. Luckily, Wally West shows up to save him and discuss with Barry what it is they're really up against: Neckron, Black Hand, the Justice League Undead, and the seven million killed in Coast City before. Luckily, we've got the DC Ghostbusters on our side:
DA JUSTICE LEAGUE/ TEEN TITANS
Dude, these spreads!
Anyway, yeah, they show up and start to buy the Flashes--now that it's Barry, Bart, and Wally--some time to figure out what they're supposed to do. They continue to use their strategy of using constant light to counteract the Black Lanterns, stalling them greatly. Bart brings Barry up to speed at what's been going down off-panel: Donna Troy's been bitten by a Black Lantern and is slowly dying.
The Flashes dodge Neckron and head up to take down the former Guardian of Oa, now a Black Lantern. However, he manages to subdue the Flashes and keeps his bitten Guardians under his protection until...
Another epic two-page spread occurs!
And we're just getting started people!
So yeah, the Lantern Corps show up to kick some butt and manage to take down the Black Lantern Guardian. they do the same attack on the Black Lantern battery to try and overload it with the white light that first battled the darkness but find their powers useless, and Black Hand finally reveals his plans for Bruce Wayne.
Zombie Batman!
So yeah, Batman's back. But he's dead. Sort of?
It's confusing in a lot of ways. First of all, though Batman was hit by Darkseid's Omega Rays in "Final Crisis," he (spoilers by the way) was merely sent back in time, and later returned to Gotham while Dick Grayson was doing his thing as Batman. So, for him to be resurrected is a little strange. The book points this out a few times, but, I'm not sure he could have been resurrected at all.
Second, how is he in costume? A nit-pick, sure, but it's a blaring question nonetheless. He was buried and his body was so deteriorated that his skull was already bare. Sure, the Black Lantern laced into his bones, but would it really give it a costume? And how did it know which costume to use, Batman's had so many? It's not something you really pick up the first time through, but when you stop to think about it, you do question how he got his costume on.
Sadly, Black Lantern Batman's inclusion in this story is limited to something that Black Hand or Neckron could have done easily, or for that matter any of the other Black Lantern super-heroes. Neckron and Black Hand resurrected Bruce Wayne/ Batman with the hopes of inciting some emotional tether to the now-gathered heroes, in order to have Black Lantern Batman spew out Black Lantern rings onto Wonder Woman, Superman, Superboy, Kid Flash, and Green Arrow. I don't see how the Martian Manhunter--who they constantly claim is the "heart and soul of the Justice League"--couldn't have had the same effect on them? Why'd it have to be Batman? So we could have him in the event?
Speaking of which, where the heck is Dick Grayson? Did Black Hand steal the suit off of him to give to Batman? Having Nightwing in this scene to fight against Bruce might have been one of the more impactful battles of the entire series. It wouldn't be the first time they'd fought, but with the way the Black Lanterns thought, the dialogue between the two would have been pretty intense and the fight even better. Though, I suppose if you read some of the spin-offs there are the scenes were Oliver fights Roy, Dinah, and Connor Hawke, his son.
Regardless, Black Lantern Batman vanishes once the members of the League have their rings, and their assault begins anew. Issue Five ends with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen being chased by the Black Lantern rings.
Issue Six picks up right where we left off, but Hal realizes that the Neckron didn't just target the dead, but the resurrected. Oh yeah, forgot to mention this: throughout all of the big deaths the DCU had experienced, apparently it was Neckron who allowed for all the revivals to slip by and keep happening. So yeah, I guess we can thank him, but, it also raises the question of why?
Why would he revive them? He says that the connection is still there because his power flows through them, keeping them alive, but, why not put more power into keeping them dead so you don't have to go through all the trouble of bringing them together and possibly foiling your plan? If Hal Jordan, Superman, Green Arrow, the Flash, and all the other heroes were already dead, there'd be hardly anyone left on Earth to stop them if they were raised back up as Black Lanterns. It didn't stop you from bringing back Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Ronnie Raymond Firestorm, and they did a whole lot of damage by themselves. Imagine if the big heroes of the Justice League would have been resurrected!
The book would be a lot different, sure, but it could also feature a story in which some of the lesser heroes or lovers of those characters have to step up. Connor Hawke, Mera, Wally West, Dick Grayson, Black Canary, Ms. Martian, all of the sort of "clones" of the JLA members could have resisted and formed an alliance with the warring Lantern Corps. It still makes for an interesting story, but not as interesting as this one.
Neckron's logic just seems at fault here. "Here, let me bring you back to life so I can kill you again." Wait, why? Why not just keep them dead? Apparently you have that Grim Reaper-like ability, so, why not have them at the ready? Now if he were resurrecting this heroes, like the aforementioned three, that'd be fine. But not reverting them, that's just silly.
Hal, Barry, Wally, and the Lantern leaders find themselves in all-out war against the Black Lanterns, but Hal tells Sinestro and Larfleeze not to kill any of them, refusing to believe they're actually dead. Sinestro gets moody when he realizes that his ring color is ineffective, and that they need the power of a Green Lantern.
That's what happens when you're a bad guy, Sinestro.
Barry and Green Lantern manage to get away, Barry bursting them forward two seconds in time to escape the Black Lantern rings speedily chasing them. Not sure how that works, though, should that mean they need to go back in time to communicate with everyone? I don't know, time is weird, especially in super-hero comics. While it is a bit of an illogical idea, I can't argue it since I'm not a quantum physicist and can't tell you what's really wrong with jumping ahead only two seconds. Maybe something like Daylight Savings Time will save them later on, I don't know.
We cut back to the Atom and Mera, who have been shrunk down into a Black Lantern Ring by Jean Loring, who is using Black Lantern speak against the Atom. Deadman arrives and tells them that a whole heck of a lot of Black Lanterns from around the universe are coming. You know, I don't really see why this Mera/ Ray Palmer subplot is all that important other than us to realize they're also alive. Reading it right now, it's just cutting into the tense plot of Hal and Barry trying to figure out how to fight the Black Lanterns. I don't mind the characters, it's just an odd interruption every time we see them. They're just kinda there.
Mera's question of how many there are is answered as we see Green Lantern Jon Stewart being chased to Earth by way too many to count. Ah, man, that sucks. We need a good ol' fight scene to get us back into things.
And, luckily, we do! Mera and Ray escape out of the connection all the Black Lantern Rings have, jumping out of Black Lantern Wonder Woman's ring no less. Ray escapes and Mera decides she wants to beat pulp out of Wonder Woman. Aw yeah. Sadly, we see none of that fight.
Ganthet, the Guardian who came with the Lanterns, decides to come out of retirement, and manages to replicate Hal Jordan's ring and make himself a Green Lantern. Then, he does the unthinkable in a really cool way: he replicates the rings of all the other Lantern Corps and distributes them to various characters previously featured. In a bullet list:
Ganthet--Green Lantern/ Willpower
Barry Allen--Blue Lantern/ Hope
Lex Luthor (yeah, he was in it for a second, he's back now after being promised power)--Orange Lantern/ Greed
Scarecrow (he had a cool moment last time, remember?)--Yellow Lantern/ Fear
Ray Palmer--Indigo Tribe/ Compassion
Mera--Red Lantern/ Rage
Wonder Woman (after Diana is able to break free after her exploding feels of love apparently overwhelm the dead)--Star Sapphire/ Love
And so Issue Six ends with our brand new Lantern Corps, while our other Lanterns still have their power, mind you, bursting onto the scene:
YEAH!
Man talk about a complete turnaround. One issue ends with everyone becoming a Black Lantern, and now people you never would have thought becoming Lanterns are members. Seriously, would you ever predict Scarecrow or Lex Luthor joining the Lantern Corps? I kind of wish that Bruce Wayne would have been alive to become a temporary Yellow Lantern, because of the fear that drives him, but we've got "Forever Evil" for that.
Hope you're hyped as all heck for next week, boys and girls, because the universe is colliding in Central City and next week we get the introduction of a brand new Lantern Corps as well as my all-time favorite double-page spread of the series. Out of all the already awesome ones, too, so you know it's gotta be out of this world!
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