Shenanigans & Tomfoolery

We’ve reached the halfway mark in Blackest Night with issue #4 this week and I feel compelled to write about my general thoughts on the series thus far. I’ve only been actively following Blackest Night itself, Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps so I can’t comment on the tie-ins though I hear they are rather good.

A breakdown of how these 3 series are faring after the break.

Blackest Night:

The series has met my lofty expectations so far. Issue #1 was a lot of set-up but the very last scene in it with the Hawks vs. Black Lanterns Ralph and Sue Dibny was amazing and definitely one of the highlights of the series so far. Issue #2 expanded on the Black Lanterns and their M.O. and, just when I worried the series might devolve into nothing but a bunch of Black Lanterns killing our heroes, in issue #3 we get a few revelations, meet the Indigo Tribe and witness a scene that matches the finale of issue #1 in its intensity. So far, so good.

Issue #4 does little to advance the story aside from revealing the big bad guy in it (which we already knew from solicitations anyway) and, after yet another two-page spread of mummified DC characters, I almost felt like the concept was wearing thin. A Barry Allen rallying speech made the little kid inside me smile and the book did have a number of good lines (“This will be twice I’ve turned your little world inside out.”) but issue #4 is still probably the weakest of the bunch. In CBR’s review of the book it was said that this issue almost felt like a tie-in as opposed to the main title and, with the lack of plot advancement and star Hal Jordan out of the picture, I feel exactly the same way. Why the hell was freakin’ Copperhead out of all people highlighted on the cover anyway?

And Ivan Reis is just ridiculously amazing. There’s nothing else I can say about him really. The guy is just out of this world and, according to an interview with him I read recently, he doesn’t reference which just makes him even more amazing.

Green Lantern:

This title has become required reading for Blackest Night as it focuses on Hal Jordan (who is out of the picture in the main title as of now) as he tries to get together the leaders of the 7 Corps to recreate the White Light of creation. A lot of these guys hate each other but, in true comic book fashion, they will be forced to play nice to fight a greater evil. This is interesting on various levels, the most obvious one of which is the fact that well, you put Atrocitus and Sinestro in one room and you’re bound to see sparks fly. This potential for character interaction is one of the things I’m most excited about in this event and, as of two issues now, Green Lantern has been perhaps even more enjoyable than Blackest Night itself. Sinestro gets an amazing character moment in issue #46, Hal Jordan takes the wheel, Larfleeze runs from a Black Lantern version of his own Corps and artist Doug Mahnke is firing on all cylinders.

Great stuff.

Green Lantern Corps:

GLC is an interesting book because the threads and subplots from previous issues continue almost uninterrupted during Blackest Night. I was really disappointed to see that the Mongul subplot was resolved in Green Lantern instead of here (the Sinestro moment I mentioned before) but aside from that, the book has been consistent in quality much like it has in the past. It doesn’t have those big “wow” moments that Geoff Johns is so good at but Pete Tomasi’s characterization more than makes up for it. How can anyone not love his Guy Gardner? If there’s one problem with the book is that it’s still in the “Black Lanterns wreak havoc” phase and I don’t know if there is a larger purpose to this book other than showing what the situation is like on Oa.

I met Pat Gleason at the New York Comic Con this year and he was a really awesome guy but even if he weren’t, it would be impossible for me to complain about his pencils in this book. His artwork is some of the most energetic and inventive stuff I’ve seen in recent years. His layouts and poses and crazy constructs are a joy to look at and he doesn’t get nearly as much credit as he deserves for his work in this book. His style is perhaps more cartoony than your average DC book but he’s a huge asset to the Green Lantern art team nonetheless.

That’s it for now.

This has been “Blackest Night” Report #1.

I don’t know when or if they’ll ever be a #2

Related posts:

1. “Blackest Night” Report #2
2. Computer woes and Blackest Night.
3. Absolute Green Lantern: Rebirth next year.
4. Supreme Guardians

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