Part of that was because Green Lantern always had so much stuff going on with characters whose names I simply could not comprehend. It was all very alien to me compared to the rest of DC Comics (get it, ha. It's funny). I just couldn't really get into it.
Until one fateful day, I found the "Blackest Night" paperback trade at Barnes and Noble for a mere twenty bones, and I figured, "What the heck?" It seemed cool, for sure.
I love this trade. It catches you up to speed with everything you need to know in order to get it's implications and then when it gets started in Part One, it really gets started. While it is a Green Lantern story in truth, if you buy it solely from the trade and read issues 0-8, you still get a greatly satisfying experience. Yes, there is a part where the Green Lanterns just vanish and there is some context missing, but at that point you can sort of piece together what'd been happening. And if you are that curious, there are Blackest Night trades for the Black Lantern Corps, Green Lantern himself, and for the rest of the Lantern Corps.
For my own purposes, I'll only be reviewing "Blackest Night" straight out of the trade. Which means fewer pictures, because there's more to cover, and no discussions of the covers, since there technically isn't one. Also, I'm only reading from this trade, and will try to keep it contained as much as possible to just this so you can understand the implications of reading this without current context clues. That said, there are some things you need to know before reading it, but like I said, it's still told to you eventually.
We open in the "Prologue" where Green Lantern Hal Jordan is expositing over the beginnings of the universe, and how darkness and light have been at war with each other, and giving hints about the true nature of the main color spectrum (R.O.Y.G.B.I.V.). He then explains, with the help of some panel flashbacks, that Bruce Wayne was murdered and Batman has fallen. He is quickly joined by speedster the Flash, Barry Allen, at the grave of Bruce Wayne, who is placed next to his parents.
The two reflect for several pages on what's happened recently regarding the deaths and resurrections of heroes, lamenting how in their line of work, only (some) of the supers get to come back, notably Superman, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, and Oliver Queen. However, the two are still very bogged down by the losses of other heroes, such as the recent Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Aquaman, and Batman. Here we also learn that Dick Grayson has taken over as Batman and Tim Drake has assumed the role of Robin.
The two leave, Barry saying there is trouble in Gotham, but as he does, a figure approaches from the shadows. Our main villain, or vessel as we shall come to discover, appears at the grave and we see shots of various other graves, namely Ronnie Raymond, and Ralph and Sue Dibny, who had a bunch of controvery swelling around her, and still does. He removes the skull from a grave and uses his Black Lantern ring to infect it, claiming the dead shall rise, ending the "Prologue."
Don't worry, they shove the motif of death down your throat over the next two issues. It gets a little grating.
Issue 1 opens back with Black Hand and a mysterious voiceover. I always get tripped up here because I can't tell if this is his master talking or if this is Black Hand's inner monologue, even though he's the one talking. Regardless, the point we get from all this is that Black Hand has a bunch of power and has scattered rings all over the galaxy because he hears them crying for it, or whatever, and then licks the skull. Ew.
Back in Coast City, we find that the day Superman died has become a national day of remembrance for all those heroes who died and even those who died and have come back to life. There's a pretty cool turn-on-the-side two-page spread of the four active Green Lanterns of Earth--Hal, John, Kyle, and Guy--as they fly over Coast City.
There's some more exposition on the following pages about how they've all had to overcome horrifying deaths of loved ones and even makes jokes about Guy Gardner. Because why not?
We pan around to several other famous DC characters at various grave sites, such as Jonathan Kent, Ronnie Raymond, the Teen Titans memorial, Ted Kord, and even the Flash's Rogues Gallery has its own graveyard apparently, separate from all the others. The two biggest sites, though, are at the grave site of Arthur Curry, where his wife, Mera, and Garth--Aquaman's sidekick, Aqualad, are having an argument over where Arthur should be rightfully buried--on the shore or in the ocean. Back at Bruce's site, Alfred stumbles across a grave that has been mutilated.
Going back to Flash and Green Lantern Hal Jordan, we are caught up yet again on how many villains have gone down since Barry first died and was brought back. Hal shows him just how many more people have died, too, and tells him about the Rogues' graveyard.
We then go over to Hawkman and Hawkgirl, the former having just got off the phone with Ray Palmer, who is still grieving over the events that transpired with Jean Loring and Sue Dibny in "Identity Crisis." Because bad things happened there. The two have a discussion about how Hawkgirl, Kendra if you're wondering, doesn't love Hawkman though supposes she needs to, and tries to relate that to the Atom's situation.
Hal and the Flash try to cope with what Jean did as well, but before readers can get into this controversy anymore, Alfred calls up to tell them about the grave. Then, we cut over to some serious matters, as the Guardians--basically the dudes who run everything in the DCU--say that they have failed and the war of light has erupted across the universe, as the Lantern Corps are all at war.
Kyle Reiner and Guy Gardner, though, notice some odd Black Lantern Rings flying their way and are breaking through all their defenses like nothing. On Oa, a certain Guardian remarks that there cannot be a distress call, because the Guardians will be too dead to make it, and begins to slaughter them pretty brutally. The Guardians are no match for this mysterious killer, and the Black Lantern Rings begin to find bodies of the dead. It gets somewhat confusing here because almost everywhere there is a Black Lantern ring, something, or someone, is saying, "Flesh." Again, could be the mysterious ring leader to all this, but, it's never really shown certainly who it is doing this.
That hardly matters, though, as Hal, the Flash, and the two Thangarians are attacked by Black Lanterns: Martian Manhunter, then Ralph and Sue Dibny. Hal and Flash's fate are left hanging for the next issue, but we see that the Thangarians are caught completely off guard and can put up no fight. killed very brutally very instantly and are assumed to have transformed into Black Lanterns themselves. Kendra does admit her love for Carter before she dies, and the Black Lanterns try to turn Carter against himself only to have him die. Black Hand also shows up. Neat.
Issue 2 begins with Ray Palmer getting that much expected call from Hawkman, but Hawkman is a Black Lantern now and is looking to kill Ray, tricking him into going over. In Gotham (yes, the jumping around isn't nearly over yet, we've got a lot more characters to kill, I mean, reanimate), Commissioner Gordon and Oracle are talking when Green Lantern rudely crashes down from the sky into the Bat-Signal. Come on, bro, don't you know to crash at better spots? We were finally getting over the events of "The Killing Joke" too!
Mera agrees to hand Arthur's body over to Garth but Black Hand said, "nah" last issue and now Aquaman is a Black Lantern, attacking his wife and friend. Interestingly enough, we find out that the way the Black Lanterns see is through the other colors of the spectrum, as we step into Aquaman's shoes for a moment to see Mera and Garth in solely yellow colors, to represent the color of fear, for the Yellow Lantern Corps.
Dolphin and Tula--two other Aquaman characters, both former lovers of the two--also arrive and attack Garth, bringing up old memories. Basically, all the Black Lanterns do is attack and remind the characters of the bad times. It's really kind of a drag.
Deadman, aka Boston Brand, also has a body missing from its grave, so Zatanna, the Spectre, Blue Devil, and some guy I don't know are all there. However, Deadman shows up, but allows the Black Lantern rings in him to explode out and latch onto the lifeless soul that is the Spectre, raising him from the dead.
Which raises the question: are Black Lanterns dead? Because if they are, then, shouldn't the Spectre have been able to overpower that, since he's not dead or alive, and can kinda cross time and space? Unless they were raising the body of his vessel, which shouldn't be possible, since the Spectre is in full control.
Zombies, bro, I don't know.
Well, luckily, we've got the living to deal with too this time around, as Green Lantern begins to talk with Gordon and Oracle. The Flash is dealing with the Manhunter and Oracle starts sending info to the rest of the league. Back with Mera, she tries fending off Aquaman but is finding it difficult, as is Garth with his opponents. Sadly, though, Garth gets apprehended, killed, and thus transforms into a Black Lantern, with Mera standing all alone against the wrath of some of the strongest Atlanteans.
Hal and Barry manage to defeat the Manhunter through Barry's quick mixing of chemicals with his super speed and Hal throwing Commissioner Gordon's car at it. What a jerk! First he destroys the Bat-Signal, then he destroys Gordon's car. What could possibly be worse for this guy?
It's not like Martian Manhunter, the Thangarians, Firestorm, or the Dibnys are going to show up as Black Lanterns....
Wait....
Uh...
Oh boy.
The first three issues of "Blackest Night" definitely set the tone for how things are going to go for the series, showing several big, and dead, heroes coming back to fight against their best friends in a very hateful way. It's not quite action-packed yet, instead most of the violence coming in the form of how the base Black Lanterns are formed.
Still, though, as an introduction to the series, this is very good, and makes you grasping for more. I mean, how the heck are Hal and the Flash supposed to deal with all these guys with the Spectre still out there as well as Black Hand who, don't forget, has done something to Bruce Wayne's grave. What's gonna go down?
Well tune in next week as I give my thoughts on "Blackest Night" #3 and #4 as the Black Lantern Corps grows and our heroes find ourselves in a war to die for...
If you want to stay up to date on when I post, go ahead and follow me on Twitter @seaonvan13 and Instagram @seanovan10. Thanks for reading!
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