Blackest Night

[capt.steel]

I'd decided that I'd forever given up on major comic book events & crossovers after the utter disgrace of DC's poorly conceived and horribly executed "Final Crisis", but this week I picked up "Blackest Night" and my faith was suddenly restored.

Unlike Final Crisis, I was not left confused (and angry as if I'd missed a few decades worth of lost continuity) after reading B. Night.

In fact, the book resembles an almost coherent DC universe that refers back to many events that occurred in Identity Crisis (when the DC universe was not so undecipherable).

(Whatever happened to the newly instituted idea, based on the old Silver Age, "Pre-Crisis" model, that there are a bunch of alternate earths that characters will jump back & forth between? Has it just been downplayed because they've realized that it's an idea that creates confusion as a substitute for good story-telling, or has the concept been eliminated?)

Geoff Johns usually keeps his writing fairly simple and Ivan Reis is a great choice as artist - he's one of my current favorites. He seems to combine the realism of Neal Adams with the fluidity of Alan Davis.

The plot may be cliched with all the zombie-mania of the last few years, but it's simple: dead characters vs. live ones.

I'm hoping that it will ultimately restore the DC Universe to a more simple, coherent, interesting & exciting place along with many of the characters who belong there.

[jordanscott]

I enjoyed the first issue as well.

In reality it's a 7 issue mini as the first issue has wisely given to intro the story and the players.

I've been looking forward to this for a couple yrs now thru all the slow hints and previews and the like. My only point of trepidation is that DiDio took this and forced it into a DCU event to fix FC and Batman rather than leave it as the GLU event it was originally conceived to be. But with Johns at the helm, I have confidence this can still be a great story.

Also, I've enjoyed using my new Black Lantern ring to wreak terror on my unsuspecting cats.

[capt.steel]

That's cool, Jordan... because I'm using my Black Lantern ring to resurrect dead cats (and turn them into my unwilling army of nocturnal feline flesh eaters!)

[jordanscott]

I've already got my cats trained to be a tiny army of cute evil.

:)

[marvelguy]

I got BN 1 just for kicks today. I gotta admit, it is a fun one to read, what with the ending. One of the good stories to read without being a DC nut.

[jordanscott]

Johns did an excellent job of laying out what is, what was and what could be in this issue.

I have high hopes for the rest of the series.

[jaydeebee]

I got BN 1 just for kicks today. I gotta admit, it is a fun one to read, what with the ending. One of the good stories to read without being a DC nut.

You don't have to be particularly well-versed in DC lore to enjoy it, Johns provides the exposition via the script, a little something they call "writing", something that is sorely lacking in a lot of new comics unfortunately. :o

[toz1960]

You don't have to be particularly well-versed in DC lore to enjoy it, Johns provides the exposition via the script, a little something they call "writing", something that is sorely lacking in a lot of new comics unfortunately. :o

Writing? In a comic book? What a novel concept.It truly sounds interesting.

Has Marvel heard about this yet?

[jaydeebee]

Writing? In a comic book? What a novel concept.It truly sounds interesting.

Has Marvel heard about this yet?

They might try it, if they can figure out how to incorporate gold-holographic foil into it! :roll:

[capt.steel]

LOL! Good one!

Can anyone come up with any dead DC characters that they missed in BN #1? And how will all this effect Dead Man?

P.S. Can you edit a thread title on this site? For some reason I could only capitalize the first letter when typing the title of this thread - I capped the "N" in "night", but for some odd reason it reverted to lower case. :confused:

[jaydeebee]

LOL! Good one!

Can anyone come up with any dead DC characters that they missed in BN #1? And how will all this effect Dead Man?

P.S. Can you edit a thread title on this site? For some reason I could only capitalize the first letter when typing the title of this thread - I capped the "N" in "night", but for some odd reason it reverted to lower case. :confused:

Yes, I can fix your "N", and in fact just did! :D Theoretically, the only things I can't do here is make a rock too heavy for me to lift or stop Chinese spammers from signing up for bogus accounts. :neutral:

[capt.steel]

Thanks, Buddy!

(but can we lowly posters edit a title?)

Back on topic: there was a book last year (I think) called "Titans East" or something like that and at the end all the characters were killed - I don't think any of them, except maybe the female Hawk, was shown in B.N.

[marvelguy]

I'm planning to stick with BN if it stays good. I'm going to avoid the tie-ins as well. Last year, I read Final Crisis 1 & 2 but couldn't read any more due to lack of interest. Is it a requirement to keep reading Green Lantern with Blackest Night? Just asking since New Avengers is a requirement with Secret Invasion.

[jordanscott]

I'm planning to stick with BN if it stays good. I'm going to avoid the tie-ins as well. Last year, I read Final Crisis 1 & 2 but couldn't read any more due to lack of interest. Is it a requirement to keep reading Green Lantern with Blackest Night? Just asking since New Avengers is a requirement with Secret Invasion.

They've introduced some of the main players of the other colours in GL/GLC but I don't think they're required reading for the BN mini.

If you're feeling you need a bit of extra background, there is BN:tales of the corps. 3 issues that are coming out this month that are a bit of background on all the colours. Nothing critical to the story, just info on the motivation behind the colour and some of the main players in that colour.

Of course, I'd encourage you to get GL/GLC trades going right back to the Sinestro Corps War and Secret Origins just because they're great stories with great writing and a coherent direction. But again, they're not needed at this time.

[jaydeebee]

Thanks, Buddy!

(but can we lowly posters edit a title?)




I'm not certain, but I expect that editing a title would be beyond the average poster's ability to do, to be honest, when I was a non-moderator, I don't remember ever trying to do this.

Unless you can see a drop-down button in the toolbar that reads "Thread Tools" and in that menu an option which reads "Edit Thread", then you can't edit the title. But you can always ask one of us mods or admins to do it for you! #superman#

[marvelguy]

SPOILERS INFO & ANSWERS NEEDED

Ok, I've read Blackest Night and I've been out of the loop since Batman died until Batman & Robin #1, in which there is a new dynamic duo. My question is, when did Bats go back to the Stone Age? What issue did that happened in? There's some reference about the body of "Bruce Wayne" that isn't what it seems.

I think the Black Hand knows what he has in his hands (the skull, knowing it's not B.W.).

[jordanscott]

SPOILERS INFO & ANSWERS NEEDED

Ok, I've read Blackest Night and I've been out of the loop since Batman died until Batman & Robin #1, in which there is a new dynamic duo. My question is, when did Bats go back to the Stone Age? What issue did that happened in? There's some reference about the body of "Bruce Wayne" that isn't what it seems.

I think the Black Hand knows what he has in his hands (the skull, knowing it's not B.W.).

Batman 'died' again in the final issue of Final Crisis. Morrison had Darkseid 'kill' him using the Omega Sanction but in the final frames he is shown alive back in time which is not how the Omega Sanction is previously described as working.

[capt.steel]

That's because the entirety of Final Crisis can't be described as "working" on any level!

[pasnat54]

My LCS guy was somewhat surprised I didn't want this book. It was almost sold out. But now I'm curious, though I don't think I'll buy it.

Questions: I've read a couple references to "different colors" in the GL universe. What does that mean? Does GL still take his marching orders from the Guardians of Oa? Are they part of a larger, near-omnipotent faction of the DC universe?

I haven't read GL since the 1980s, and I learned that he had died, come back as Parallelogram, then become GL again entirely through reading funny book boards.

[stupidman]

My LCS guy was somewhat surprised I didn't want this book. It was almost sold out. But now I'm curious, though I don't think I'll buy it.

Questions: I've read a couple references to "different colors" in the GL universe. What does that mean? Does GL still take his marching orders from the Guardians of Oa? Are they part of a larger, near-omnipotent faction of the DC universe?

I haven't read GL since the 1980s, and I learned that he had died, come back as Parallelogram, then become GL again entirely through reading funny book boards.

I think what Johns has done with the GL universe is brilliant - reminds me a lot of Alan Moore's "Anatomy Lesson" and the way he revamped Swamp Thing.

Johns is using the light spectrum ("different colors") in conjunction with the emotional "spectrum" and is creating a new mythology and new GLs for the GL universe. And he's doing it without trashing what has come before but rather building upon it, by using minimal ret-con. He did retell Hal's origin with minor changes, like introducing Atrocius, but really it just expanded the relationship between Hall and Sinestro, which I see as more "untold" than ret-con. And the new Laws that were added to the Book of OA made sense within the storylines they progressed out of - nothing like Marvel saying "it's Magic" or making a deal with the Devil.

But his storylines expand and propel forward the GL saga by adding to their history, without rehashing some old plotlines. And it just makes so much sense, since we've always had green and yellow rings, that there might be other colored rings. The Guardians still run the Corps, but they are reaping what they sowed by foregoing emotion and trying to rid the universe of it - pride comes before the fall.

BN # 1 was pretty good, I'm just worried about DC zombies, as this fad is out of control and could be very cliched very quick. I'm just glad the Black Lanterns aren't trying to eat the heroes' brains.

[capt.steel]

The good thing is B.N. isn't being played for laughs, is in-continuity, and has an actual, much deeper story behind it - the fact that the dead are rising seems to be only a by-product of what's happening in the GL story with the black rings & all.

If they don't get too corny on the zombie front, as you pointed out stupidman, then we may see some really cool ideas explored that invlove questions of life & death.

In a way, the book is self-reflective on the comic industry and the complaints from long-suffering fans on the issue of never-ending deaths & resurrections in the comic realm. Johns seems to be hinting that that issue, and why it keeps occuring in comics, (outside of the real-world economic reality that drives it) may be addressed in this series.

[stupidman]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too - Johns is going to explain how life and death really work in the DC Universe, and maybe give us a reasonable explanation why some can come back from the dead. I thought maybe it was be some non-specific "the universe (God, or whoever The Spectre works for) works in mysterious ways" explanation, but in BN # 1 it says that people come back from the dead "because someone allows it". I hope this reveal won't be a disappointing one.

[stupidman]

And The Phantom Stranger and Spectre better show up at some point. Did anyone notice if the new Spectre's human identity was mentioned in the List of the Dead? I saw Boston Brand mentioned - I wonder how this will affect them, since their bodies are dead and yet they "live". I wonder if characters like this are a clue to how death works. Could Deadman inhabit the body of a Boston Brand Black Lantern?

[jordanscott]

I didn't see Crispus Allan listed on any of the vault names.

Would be cool to see Spectre or PS involved but I don't know that either of them would fit well into the story.

[marvelguy]

Do they have to have 100 "hearts" to gain 100% power for the Black corps, as it were?

[jordanscott]

Do they have to have 100 "hearts" to gain 100% power for the Black corps, as it were?

I took that to be the meaning of the gradual build up but there has been no definitive explanation of the Black Lantern and it's power and function beyond that it is powered, somehow, by the remains of the Anti-Monitor.

[jordanscott]

And if they're only powering up .01% for each heart, they're going to need 10k bodies to reach full power.

[marvelguy]

And if they're only powering up .01% for each heart, they're going to need 10k bodies to reach full power.

Yeah, with each bodies, they also become another Black Lantern.

Man, this is one storyline that I can't see how the heroes will get out of it. I'm feeling some bad things to come. Great stuff!

Hmm.....White Lantern, anyone?

[fastballspecial]

Yeah, with each bodies, they also become another Black Lantern.

Man, this is one storyline that I can't see how the heroes will get out of it. I'm feeling some bad things to come. Great stuff!

Hmm.....White Lantern, anyone?


Check out GL 17 I think and you will see all the rings at once.

[fastballspecial]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too - Johns is going to explain how life and death really work in the DC Universe, and maybe give us a reasonable explanation why some can come back from the dead. I thought maybe it was be some non-specific "the universe (God, or whoever The Spectre works for) works in mysterious ways" explanation, but in BN # 1 it says that people come back from the dead "because someone allows it". I hope this reveal won't be a disappointing one.


Whooahh lets come back to reality here. This is the same DC that killed Flash and other numerous times right? Johns is good, but you guys are kidding yourself if you think they will let him write something on that level.
You guys have wayyy too much faith in DC. Reminds me about when I thought Johns was going to bring the Avengers back..... yeah that worked

[fastballspecial]

I too agree with Stu as they are hopping on the Zombie wagon to some extent here.

The art is really good as well. Its nice to see a well written well drawn book that is a big event. It doesnt happen much.

[camper49]

I'm enjoying this Blackest Night event as well.
I'll be most happy when Bruce Wayne returns just in time for BATMAN #700 as a result of the Blackest Night ending.

[jordanscott]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too - Johns is going to explain how life and death really work in the DC Universe, and maybe give us a reasonable explanation why some can come back from the dead. I thought maybe it was be some non-specific "the universe (God, or whoever The Spectre works for) works in mysterious ways" explanation, but in BN # 1 it says that people come back from the dead "because someone allows it". I hope this reveal won't be a disappointing one.

They kinda addressed that when they brought Green Arrow back to life.

As I recall there is a scene where Hal Jordan, still the Spectre, is trying to convince Ollie to return to life.

There was, a good chunk of an issue where Kevin Smith indicates that both the Spectre and Phantom Stranger are explained to be aspects of God's will or something along those lines. (rather than just being a Spirit of Vengence and whatever PS is supposed to be.) Spectre is shown to have the ability to revive/return people to life.

He could fall back to that stance.

[stupidman]

The Phantom Stranger is just my personal pick to show up, but The Spectre is a much more important and current/popular character. I mean, if someone starts re-animating the dead, I think God would get pissed! And then send The Spectre to fix it. And Hal Jordan was The Spectre for a while.

And I hope Johns proves FBS to be wrong. And he's right, I do expect more from DC in the stroy writing area. They are much more adventurous and daring when it comes to this. Marvel would never do a COIE. Marvel would never try to explain death in their universes. Using the cop-out "it's magic" is so much easier.

As for White Lanterns - will the color stand for purity, or will it be the combination of all the colors of the rings? White light isn't the absence of color, white light is the effect of combining the visible colors of light in equal proportions. Is sunlight white? Not if you send a ray of it through a prism.

And does anyone know if this storyline ties into Final Night at all?

[marvelguy]

Just read GL 44. I'm having fun reading it so far. Just sticking with BN and GL for now as far as tie-ins go.

[MAXAMILLION]

Sorry it took me so long to read Blackest Night. I must say at the outset that I have not followed Dc comics for, forever. Capt. said - I was not left confused (and angry as if I'd missed a few decades worth of lost continuity) after reading B. Night.

In fact, the book resembles an almost coherent DC universe that refers back to many events that occurred in Identity Crisis (when the DC universe was not so undecipherable)
WHAT???
I read it twice and still don't know what happened. True, my taste is for Daredevil, which I have read every book since the series began and the modern Romeo is Dead and Warlord. Blackest Night , however left me confused and regretting the fact that I wasted $3.99

[capt.steel]

I guess your post begs the question, Maxamillion, how long has it been since you've been familiar with the DC universe?
If it's been forever as you say, then of course there would be much in Blackest Night that would be unfamiliar as there might be with any current DC series if you haven't followed their books in a long time.

I was originally comparing Blackest Night to the Final Crisis series which left many readers who DO follow DC currently & regularly feeling like they hadn't picked up a DC comic since forever.

The difference is F.C. made REGULAR DC followers feel lost while B.N. doesn't feel like it's some out-of-left-field, drug-induced free-association that has absolutely nothing to do with what's been going on in the DC universe of late.

So far, the story is pretty simple (albeit cliched) -
there exists a black power battery (kind of an opposite of the green one that gives Green Lanterns' rings there power). This black battery has the power to restore life to the dead and it's fallen under the control of a death-obsessed villain named Black Hand. He's raising all the dead characters in the DC Universe who are trying to kill all the living - thereby expanding their army of the unliving.

[kenmacny]

He's raising all the dead characters in the DC Universe who are trying to kill all the living - thereby expanding their army of the unliving.

Hey, thats sounds like zombies. You know what would be cool? Comocs about zombies.Man someone is probably going to steal my idea...

[capt.steel]

Your idea's safe with me, Ken. As long as you don't steal mine about people from another planet who find they have super powers on our planet! Wouldn't THAT be cool! Or what if we had super powers on another planet? Like, what if we could jump as high as Michael Jordan's head on some other planet like the Moon???

[kenmacny]

Deal. Although I must say your idea sounds ridiculous.

[MAXAMILLION]

Ok, Capt., I feel chastised and properly so.

[jordanscott]

Ok, Capt., I feel chastised and properly so.

http://www.darksecretvideo.com/CUCKOLD14/CUCK-14-37-chastised-husband.jpg

[The Resurrection]

Green Lantern is the reason I read DC. I got hooked with "Rebirth", and have followed many titles since (on and off). I can see how some people are "lost", but I cant blame them. The story really isnt self contained and so many other stories have become somewhat relevant. But I still would say that if you read GL from the Sinestro Corps War forward you will be pretty caught up, and it is ALL worth the read.

Blackest Night is shaping up to be a HUGE event, and I am excited!! The only downer is I still havent gotten my next shipment of comics, so I am behind again somewhat.

[capt.steel]

It wasn't my intention to make anyone feel chastised.
I was just explaining my earlier point - why I felt B.N. was, so far, a much clearer & simpler storyline in a DC crossover mini-series compared to that in the the ill-conceived Final Crisis.

[stupidman]

The Phantom Stranger is just my personal pick to show up, but The Spectre is a much more important and current/popular character.

And there they both are, in BN # 2 :) And look at The Spectre now, whoa!
Another great issue. The "Flash Fact" made me laugh and we found out that at least one dead character can resist the black rings. Wonder if that's foreshadowing part of the final solution, which would involve the Blue Lanterns, I assume.

[jordanscott]

And there they both are, in BN # 2 :) And look at The Spectre now, whoa!
Another great issue. The "Flash Fact" made me laugh and we found out that at least one dead character can resist the black rings. Wonder if that's foreshadowing part of the final solution, which would involve the Blue Lanterns, I assume.

Yah, that was great issue.

They say the BL power is waning so it seems likely rebuilding hope in the universe will be part of the downfall of the BLs.

I have 2 character questions now and I'd like to see how/if Johns addresses them.

Firestorm is a binary being. Ronny and the Professor. Well they dug up Ronnie, but no mention of the Prof, so at best, wouldn't he just be an undead football player?

Spectre. Cool to see him but doesn't the ring just take the body? As with Firestorm, shouldn't he just an undead Gotham cop? The Spectre is a spirit that inhabits Crispus Allen, unlike the original Spectre which was the spirit of Jim Corrigan.

I suspect these will not be answered properly and so the overall story will lose a few marks.

[stupidman]

Yah, that was great issue.

They say the BL power is waning so it seems likely rebuilding hope in the universe will be part of the downfall of the BLs.

I have 2 character questions now and I'd like to see how/if Johns addresses them.

Firestorm is a binary being. Ronny and the Professor. Well they dug up Ronnie, but no mention of the Prof, so at best, wouldn't he just be an undead football player?

Spectre. Cool to see him but doesn't the ring just take the body? As with Firestorm, shouldn't he just an undead Gotham cop? The Spectre is a spirit that inhabits Crispus Allen, unlike the original Spectre which was the spirit of Jim Corrigan.

I suspect these will not be answered properly and so the overall story will lose a few marks.

I thought the same thing with Firestorm. And I'm not familiar with the Crispus Allen Spectre storyline, and they left us on a "giant" cliffhanger.His facial features did change though. How about Deadman too? Shouldn't it just be a Boston Brand as a BL? But when he rises, he had his Deadman costume on. (This might be explained if Boston was buried with his circus costume on, but I have no idea).
I dunno. Johns is smart and seems to have his bases covered so far. I figure if we're asking these questions, Johns would have asked himself the same things. I hope he explains some of these, or at least addresses them.

[jordanscott]

Yah, I forgot about Deadman/BB because it was so amusing.

Seeing Deadman in the fetal position crying about not wanting to come back to life was great!

[marvelguy]

Has anyone checked out the other mini that comes with it? They are BN : Superman and BN : Batman.

The reviews on the net are good on both first issues. Just wondering if it's worth spending more on these.

[jordanscott]

Has anyone checked out the other mini that comes with it? They are BN : Superman and BN : Batman.

The reviews on the net are good on both first issues. Just wondering if it's worth spending more on these.

I've heard good things about both but I've no interest in picking up the issues.

Might check out the trades later but I'm told these are not required for the core story.

[capt.steel]

Well, any questions about the logistics of a Deadman zombie are addressed in "Batman: Blackest Night #1".

[jordanscott]

Well, any questions about the logistics of a Deadman zombie are addressed in "Batman: Blackest Night #1".

Damn you!

I was resisting the tie-ins!

[capt.steel]

Sorry. I picked it up and found that Deadman is pretty much the main character - with some back up by Batman and Robin (who are apparently Dick Grayson and Damien Al Ghul Wayne now!)

Let me get this straight - Bruce Wayne is dead (but maybe living in a cave somewhere) and Tim Drake is suddenly now an adult wearing the Red Robin outfit from Kingdom Come (does this mean that the Red Robin we saw in Kingdom come WAS Tim Drake, or will Dick Grayson someday don that suit) and Jason Todd is alive again (also now an adult) as the Red Hood?

The part that bothers me is that all the former Robins are now all around the same age.

[jordanscott]

I wonder if they're going to bring back the dead, girl Robin...

[capt.steel]

Is she the one from the future Dark Knight Returns story?

If she was an X-Man she could just travel back in time from her alternate future and team up with the X-Men to warn them about a future that can never happen because she'll never be born because her mother (a space entity) was actually killed before she was born in the current time-stream, and since she's dead she could be a dead, resurrected, unborn, time-travelling, evil-version, alternate-future Black Lantern zombie! Hey, maybe she could get her own Ultimate version book!

[marvelguy]

Isn't the Dark Knight Returns world part of the 52 earths?

[capt.steel]

You're thinking of ULTIMATE Dark Knight Returns -
ya know, the one where the girl Robin is a gay Chinese cannibal who was abused by her father when she and her brother attended his school for geniuses, and secretly works as an enemy spy & assasin for the Russians?

[stupidman]

Can't be worse than Marvel bringing back the female Bucky from the Heroes Reborn universe. But that's actually happening!

[capt.steel]

I guess once you bring one Bucky back, you have to bring the all back!

It's sad that we live in a time when we have to use terms like "all" to describe what were once unique, one-of-a-kind characters!

[marvelguy]

Anyone checked out the Titans mini as well?

[capt.steel]

Yep. (Guess I've been sucked in by Blackest Night, eh?)

The Titans special seemed to read in about 5 minutes for some reason and Benes artwork wasn't up to par (although he did come through with at least one gorgeous Firestar butt shot!)

Short story short: Terra & Hawk come back as zombies and attack... that's about it.

Spoiler: apparently Lilith is back as a zombie as well and makes Beast Boy think Terra looks normal and has returned to him alive, whole and hale... and ready for love!
They have one of those old time horror scenes where boy kisses girl and then when he opens his eyes she's a maggot covered walking dead! This was the book's big SHOCK scene (even though it's kinda shown on the cover).

(and now... doing my best Count Floyd...) Oooooh! Veddy scary, boys and girls!

[capt.steel]

Batman Blackest Night #2:

I'm still trying to figure out how Barbra Gordon, being a parapeligic, was able to propel herself away from the zombified Trigger Twins, grab her father in what looked in the panel like she was running, carry him over to a ledge and thrust both of them off the side of the building without the use of her lower body and legs?

Now I know she was possessed by Deadman, but even he acknowledged a few seconds later that she's paralyzed from the waste down and then had to be carried by her father on his back!

I know Deadman's an acrobat, but could he cause the back-thrusted punches of Barbara's arms to the Trigger Twins' faces cause enough kinetic force to propel her and Jim Gordon several feet forward while the full and useless weight of her lower body simply "flew" through the air???

I've got fairly strong arms so I'm going to try it at home... let's see, I'm going to use a wall which will provide much more stability than faces... Let's see if I can propel myself say even 6 feet through the air without grabbing and picking up my father on the way... uhhh!
Okay, I pushed off the wall with my fists and completely relaxed my hips and legs as if they were paralyzed. I did indeed go forward until my arms were outstretched behind me at which point they disconnected from the wall. I immediately collapsed to the floor, falling forward with great force landing mostly on my sternum and face which caused a bloody nose and knocked out two teeth, I bruised both knees and snapped one side of my pelvis! I'd call this comic myth busted!

P.S. Can anyone identify the rest of the zombies in the book? There were a couple I couldn't identify.

[nocutename]

Just go with it. Also, your wounds won't at an accelerated rate either :p

These are the ones I saw.

KGBeast
Deacon Blackfire
Abattoir
King Snake
Magpie
Ventriloquist and Scarface
Blockbuster

[jordanscott]

Batman Blackest Night #2:

I'm still trying to figure out how Barbra Gordon, being a parapeligic,

It's all about the upper body strength!

She's got pipes, you know. All that keyboarding and talking on the headset keeps her in peak physical condition.

[capt.steel]

Any thoughts on issue #3?

SPOILERS: I guess the crucial point made in #3 was that 'the dead aren't wearing the rings, but the rings are wearing the dead.'

I don't know much about these new Firestorm characters, but poor Gen!
So, when it's all over, what characters are they going to bring back to life (perhaps all the one killed during the series?)
And finally... are we to take it that Bruce Wayne is indeed alive since he hasn't shown up as a zombie yet?

P.S. I never paid much attention to the character of Mera, but when Ivan Reis draws her? Wow! She's got some assets!

[jaydeebee]

Mera is a way cool character who has been greatly underused over the years.

Bruce Wayne is living back in the stone-age with Fred and Barney.

The new Firestorm is now in the matrix with the old dead Firestorm....that can't smell good.

I'm completely in the dark about where Blackest Night is leading, can't imagine that they would kill off a bunch of characters just to bring them back to life at the end of the series...I mean, they'd wait at least a year wouldn't they?

[capt.steel]

I can see a whole bunch of new books coming out of the concept you mentioned, Jay...

Bedrock Batman
The Dark Rock Returns
Gravel Nights
The Royal Order of Water Buffalo vs. Batman & the Outsiders
The Killing Stone
Fred & Barney meet Antrho
The Brave and the Bedrock
Ivy, Harley, Wilma & Betty
The Great Gazoo Corps War
Dino Boy
Crisis on Mr. Slate!

[jaydeebee]

I'm Batosaurus-Man! #batman#

[jordanscott]

Well they laid out a simple yet solid method for destroying the zombies.

Now they just have to get all the Corps on board which I'm sure will take thru issue 6.

I like that the zombies are not indestructible and I do like that 'the rings are wearing the dead'.

I would hope that the dead dead and the newly dead all stay dead at the end of issue 8 or it will smack too much of Secret Invasion. What's the point of telling the story if you hit the reset switch as part of the resolution?

I never followed the Jason Rusch Firestorm but his recent appearances in JLA and this little bit in BN has intrigued me. I might investigate his series if he's still around after BN wraps.

[fastballspecial]

I must say I was wrong about this series so far. The art is fantastic and the story just gets more fun with each issue. Love seeing all the old characters come back.

When will Nekron play a larger part? Any thoughts on that yet?

[jordanscott]

I'm sure he'll make an appearance in #5 in order to galvanize all the different colours into action against a common foe.

And for some good exposition about what he's been doing since the late 80s.

[stupidman]

I must say I was wrong about this series so far. The art is fantastic and the story just gets more fun with each issue. Love seeing all the old characters come back.

When will Nekron play a larger part? Any thoughts on that yet?

Do you have this month's Previews? I threw mine away, but Nekron is on the cover. I'm sure there's a bit more info inside, it's a solicit for BN # 5.

http://www.diamondcomics.com/ads/1920.jpg

[jordanscott]

Do you have this month's Previews? I threw mine away, but Nekron is on the cover. I'm sure there's a bit more info inside, it's a solicit for BN # 5.

http://www.diamondcomics.com/ads/1920.jpg


I almost knuckled under to geekmania and ordered the extra books I needed to get all the extra rings they're putting out in November.

But I didn't. I'm sure I'll be able to get them free somewhere.

DCBS was trying to get orders on all the related BN titles for the month by giving away a specific colour ring with each title.

[jordanscott]

and in the category of 'evil, money grubbing, pointless even crossovers':

Source (http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2009/10/12/some-blackest-night-news-on-a-monday-night/)


That’s right, this January, the BLACKEST NIGHT mini series skips a month to make room for a very special Blackest night event. Eight classic titles from DC’s past will return from the dead for one month only to celebrate this mega-crossover throughout the DC Universe doh!

[stupidman]

and in the category of 'evil, money grubbing, pointless even crossovers':

Source (http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2009/10/12/some-blackest-night-news-on-a-monday-night/)

doh!

Oh man, BN just jumped the shark :-(

[nocutename]

Jordan, I saw that too yesterday when I read Batman 691. Of course, I went to the store yesterday at 2:30 and they were already out of the final Batman Blackest Night issue. :mad:

Have I ever mentioned that I hate this new store! I bet that they did not put them out yet. I hope they get stuck with them in overstock. The same thing happened with Gotham City Sirens 3 and they told me they sold out. Next week there were 2 copies and they are still on the shelf. I had to go to another store to get the issue.

Sorry for the misdirected rant, I will probably get SS only because it is about Deadshot otherwise I would skip them all.

[jordanscott]

Just read #4 and thought it was great.

Love Nekron's new look and the panels tween Azreal and Scarecrow were great!

[capt.steel]

I tried to read it last night, but I just had foot surgery so I was trying to get through it between bouts of searing pain and narcotic induced episodes of feeling like I was made of flowers!

I kept dosing off & dropping the book. At one point it fell between the bed and the wall - so there I am, all drugged and in pain with my bandaged foot hanging off the edge, trying to slide my bed away from the wall (while lying on it and using my stomach and my good foot to push... or pull? - somehow it made a weird kind of sense at the time!) trying to retrieve my Blackest Night #4.

Finally I somehow moved the bed enough to get at it (but now it had a cover dimple! There goes the re-sale value!)
Needless to say, after all that, I have little recollection of what happened between the covers despite the fact that I did complete the reading of it over the course of 2 to 3 hours.

I kind of remember Reis' art being cool (as always).

Well, that's my official review of Blackest Night #4.

I think I may try reading it again tonight... after I take some more pills!

[jordanscott]

hey dude, hope the foot is doing well and the drugs are treating you well.

[jordanscott]

http://webpages.charter.net/jsteinhf/0824091131.jpg

Guy Gardner - Red Lantern. Hopefully the finished product will look better and not make me want to gouge my eyes out.

The Source (http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2009/11/10/what-happens-when-a-green-lantern-goes-red-adam-schlagman-knows/)

[jordanscott]

The Black Lantern that not even the most die hard JLA fan was asking for...

http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/files/2009/11/jla_39_dylux-4-copy.jpg

[marvelguy]

Vibe....I remember reading those JLA books. I thought I'd seen the last of him.

It's a dark night indeed!

[jordanscott]

I'd have to break out the books but as I recall it wasn't even a very heroic death...

Something wrapped up in the 'Legends' even from the mid 80s...

That was a horrible event as I recall.

[fastballspecial]

You know this is fun brining these characters back again. Its part of the reason I think Night is recieved so well. You know Johns is having the time of his life with this stuff. Who is next? Gypsy?

[jaydeebee]

Gypsy isn't dead...unfortunately.

[jordanscott]

Yah, she was in Justice League Task Force recently.

Also she has a fairly playable heroclix fig.

[capt.steel]

"Justice League Task Force" was printed recently?

[jordanscott]

"Justice League Task Force" was printed recently?

In geological terms, yes...

[marvelguy]

I'm enjoying BN and GL so far. Very fun!

[fastballspecial]

Gypsy isn't dead...unfortunately.


I thought she died with Steel and Vibe way back in JLA. My brother and I read it up till then. Was there another one that died too cant rem?

Fill me on what happen there Steel and Vibe still dead?

[jordanscott]

Well Vibe is going to be undead next month it seems but yes, Steel is still dead so far.

He got killed defeating Prof Ivo near the end of the JLA V1 run but it was later revealed that his body had been kept in stasis (for whatever reason) at the JLA headquarters and was then later totally destroyed by Despero.

The 'Steel' name is now used by Citizen Steel in the JSA but he's a bit of a whiner.

[jordanscott]

So I think Geoff Johns reads Jim Butcher.

:)

Just about half way thru the Dresden book 'Summer Knight' and there is this passage:

'Emotions welled up like a riotous rainbow. Scarlet rage, indigo fear, pale blue sadness, aching yellow loneliness, putrid green guilt.'

Not quite the same emotions as described in the GL/BN books but the same colours...

A fun coincidence.

[marvelguy]

Ain't the cover cool or what?!?

#7

http://www.comicbookresources.com/assets/images/articles/1262827441.jpg

[toz1960]

There's a joke in that cover somewhere but for the life of me I just can't figure it out.

[marvelguy]

Ahhh! I see what you mean. Clever!

[jordanscott]

Flash is apparently having impure thoughts about Mera and WW.

I gotta say I prefer the alt cover.

The cover above just seems to make everything Earth-centric in the resolution of the Universal problem. None of those people have a lot to do with the standard GLU. Certainly not Luthor and Scarecrow.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/assets/images/articles/1262827481.jpg

[toz1960]

I saw that but I was thinking more along the lines of,

"A super-hero walks into the bar with a little man on his shoulder.The bartender says,".......

But I can't think up a good punch line.

[marvelguy]

There's something about that pose WW makes in the cover Jordan posted....

[capt.steel]

Come on now! That's simply the gaping, opened-mouthed hole all zombies make when they're seeking brains.

[marvelguy]

You gotta admit, sex sells...

[jordanscott]

There's something about that pose WW makes in the cover Jordan posted....

she comes with 3 lifelike openings...

ok...that was too far.

i know it.

i apologize now.

[marvelguy]

she comes with 3 lifelike openings...

ok...that was too far.

i know it.

i apologize now.

Don't be sorry, wondered why she's WONDER Woman.....

[jordanscott]

http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/files/2010/01/greenarrow30m1.jpg

Blackest Night tie in cover for Green Arrow 30.

Love the GL76 role reversal.

[Grico]

That is a cool cover. I've skipped most of the Blackest Night related stuff so far though.

[capt.steel]

Just finished reading the conclusion (SPOILERS AHEAD...) and, as usual, I'm disappointed.

Once again, no real explanations, just a bunch of color-coded, New Age mumbo-jumbo.
So they defeat the bad guy who's somehow controlling life & death, and certain characters are resurrected while others remain dead.
Why? Well, that's not for us to know - it's all part of some "bigger picture" according to Barry Allan & Hal Jordan.
(BOR-ING! I thought the whole point of this series was to finally explain why everybody gets resurrected in comic books instead of giving us the usual "man was not meant to know" crap. THAT was their standard explanation BEFORE this story. Jeez! They might as well have just said "it was all a dream"!)

There wasn't even a FULL accounting of who's still dead and who's alive again.
As usual they started out with a decent mini-series and didn't know how to end it (or knew how to end it, but with the typical anti-climactic load of inconclusive obfuscation).
The series even got off track of it's one interesting aspect - the live heroes fighting the dead ones - and turned to a study of the emotional color spectrum which wasn't a bad concept as a plot element, but was never really explained as to what it has to do with creating, fighting & defeating heart-eating zombies or bringing dead people back to life. It just seemed so pointless (kind of like Blackhand's outlook on life).

In retrospect, Blackest Night now makes the garish & low brow "Marvel Zombies" seem like the more entertaining and more fun series!
B.N. tried to be overly philosophical and then felt rushed & contrived at the end while losing sight of what makes comics & superheroes fun.

I would've made it more of a major reboot (and maybe had it make a little more sense) - instead of saying that some characters mysteriously remain dead while others who were legitimately killed return to life, they should've resurrected everybody!
Okay, they couldn't literally resurrect EVERYBODY who's ever died of course, but they could've brought back everyone who's been killed in the DC Universe SINCE Nekron's resurrections began.
That way people in the past like George Washington or Bruce Wayne's parents would remain dead while characters killed more recently (like Capt. Boomerang) would be reborn. Then DC could start over and kill off whatever "also-rans" they chose as they proceed forward which could've given them a variety of new story scenarios.

What say you?

[jordanscott]

I rather liked the ending.

I admit that the ending wasn't a big, bangzoom ending but I never expected it to, esp not after the apology Johns wrote for the end of BN 0, essentially saying DiDio forced him to take what he wanted as a GL-centric story and turn it into a DCU event story.

I like that the final clue came from Deadman and that, in the end, it was more the various Corps rather than the JLA that saved the day.

I do agree with you though that there could have been more exposition about the colour spectrum. Whether it was in the BN book or the core GL books, it would have been nice but I think it was bumped by the mandate to make it a DCU event. Only so many panels in 8 issues and you've got to fit all those pointless DCU characters in there!

Pros:
-No redemption for Sinestro.
-Nekron - good use of a fairly obscure character.
-Batman - Johns did a great job of addressing the fiasco of Morrison's various Batman stories prior to FC.
-Legion of Substitute Guardians - ok, i actually think the deputies were a pretty silly idea, thanks DC editorial mandate, but they looked cool and they're also going to make great Heroclix, that I like to play.
-No immediate dissolution of the various colour Corps. I look forward to seeing Johns and hopefully other build on these groups.

Cons:
-Shouldn't have been forced to become a DCU event.
-Not enough on the avatars of the various colour Corps and what little there was, was forced around Sinestro going white.
-Black Hand - an interesting progression for the character but then, when he's supposed to be the uber critical part of Nekron's plans, he had a ridiculously small part in any of the BN/GL books. Should have had more face time.
-Anti-Monitor - So much time was spent hinting at his role in the GL/GLC books but then he was almost forgotten in the BN story and then, when he actually breaks out, the ULTIMATE UNIVERSE DESTROYING EVIL is smacked around like a pussy, again. DC has been over-using and under treating the AM for a few years now.
Kyle Rayner still alive.

I enjoyed the story in the GL/GLC/BN books. It was fairly well contained in those 3 books. I didn't bother with the tie-ins and I don't feel that I missed anything important because of that, unlike with FC.

One thing it did do was put me off Brightest Day, though. That pointless centerfold (why?) with the reveal of all the returned heroes really put me off BD. I've got very little interest in any of them. Only thing I'm vaguely interested in is how they handle Firestorm now that Ronnie is back. It doesn't interest me enough, though, to sit thru 26 weeks of more 52/Countdown type ramblings.

[capt.steel]

I agree with many of your points, jordan.
Especially things like the Anti-Monitor. He's supposed to be like DC's Galactus (but worse - instead of just eating planets, he destroys whole universes). I forgot he was even part of this story until the last issue and then he's brushed off within a few panels. Stuff like that made the ending feel rushed.

I also agree with you about the fold out panel - it was a surprise, but pretty pointless. If they had gone with my idea of resurrecting everyone who's been killed since Nekron has had his re-animation power (say maybe since Zero Hour - they never really made clear how long the dead have been returning to life under the whole Nekron thing), then they could've had the fold out be a great Perez-style visual overload of every dead character now back to life.