Review: Darkest Night, The Dead Shall Rise

[Marx]

Blackest Night #1

And here we go! We start this out with The Black Hand digging up Bruce’s body(which is by his parents and unmarked) and takes his skull..and licks it while a shizzette load of black rings explode from the black power battery in Sector 666.

We now go to Coast City. Where there’s a celebration going on. Apparently it was originally a day of mourning when Superman died but of course he came back so it’s now a day of remembering dead superheroes(Convenient, no?) This is narrated by Hal Jordan so I’ll sum it up. Coast City’s the shiz because they conquered fear after the city was exploded, everyone has people they miss and everyone envies Guy because he’s the only Earth Lantern who actually had a happy ending since Ice is alive again.

We then get flashes of others mourning loved ones. Conner and Clark with Jonathan, Jason and Gen with the original Firestorm, The Teen Titans with…all the other ones who’ve died, The Rogues + Owen with the original Captain Boomerang…and…okay there’s a bunch of heroes mourning a bunch of heroes. I could go on all day, but that’s the gist. When Alfred visits Bruce’s, he sees that the skull’s missing.

And you see Hal filling in Barry about whose died in dramatic fashion. There’s also apparently a morgue for the JLA’s dead enemies under the Watchtower. That won’t come back to bite them in the ass.

Anyway, The Atom calls Hawkman because he wants to visit Jean Loring’s grave and that pisses Hawkman off and he even goes as far to break the phone so Ray can’t come to try and convince him.

The Guardians look over all the corp fighting each other and see that they obviously didn’t stop the prophecy. And on Oa the swarm of black rings arrive. The Guardians want to call for help but they don’t get a chance to because Scar finally turns on them and starts kicking some ass and ripping out their hearts. Or at least she does that with one of them. Anyway, people of note who get the rings, J’onn, Katma Tui, Firestorm, Jade, Captain Boomerang, and Aquaman. There were others but I don’t know them by civilian name and my connection is being too retarded for me to look them up.

Oh, you know all those Green Lanterns that have died during the Sinestro War and countless other times? Yeah…Oa is officially Black Lantern Central. And as for Barry and Hal? They have to deal with Black Lantern Martian Manhunter. We go back to Hawkman and Hawkgirl having a tender moment, unaware that they’re being watched by something that sees Hawkman as Rage, and Hawkgirl as love. And here comes the funny part. Though it’s not actually supposed to be funny but it’s frickin’ hilarious. Hawkgirl doesn’t remember all the lives that she’s spent as Hawkman’s lover but apparently everytime they admit their love they die.

They continue to talk, Hawkgirl says she loves him and in the next panel gets speared. I laughed my bippy off at that. Turned out to be Sue and Ralph, who can stretch even though he hadn’t taken the stretch serum in ages when he died, but I’m assuming I’m not supposed to have known that. Anyway, Hawkman fights back as much as he can but both him and Hawkgirl are killed, hearts are stolen, each one raising the power levels of the ring by 0.01%, and two rings come out of Bruce’s skull and the last words of the comic are “Carter Hall of Earth. Kendra Saunders of Earth. Rise.”

Review

Ignoring the glaring convenience of having this all happen on a day where everyone’s mourning all the people who are about to be brought back, this was still a pretty entertaining introduction. Could have dealt without Black Mask licking Bruce’s skull but eh, it’s all good. I’m liking that they’re giving actual information about the people who died and everything so you actually know what’s going on if you’re not a savant at DC continuity. So already it’s better than Final Crisis! Woo!

As usual, the art’s good. But the art’s always good in crossover events. Though I will admit that some bits were rather funny that probably weren’t meant to be. Not just Kendra’s death but the way Barry reacted to all the people who died, just made me laugh, cuz there’s an insane amount of them. I also find it funny that the Guardians had to be trapped instead of fed on because there was no emotion in them. All in all though considering this is just DC’s version of Marvel Zombies, it’s a great start.

[mad-libbs]

Okay Marx I'm doing this for you. I'm busting out my signed copy of blackest night to help you out with the names of the zombie people. Yes, I'm gloating, just a little, cause Geoff Johns is actually an awesome man in person.

Dee Tyler is the Phantom Lady II
Ryan Kendall is the Black Condor
Roy Lincoln is the Human Bomb
Al Pratt is the original Atom
Rosco Dillon is The Top (c'mon, he's buried in Flash's Rogues graveyard, he's not gonna have a cool name)
Lisa Snart is the Golden Glider Captain Cold's sister
Digger Harkness is of course Owen's dad, the first Captain Boomerang

[Shinobi]

Didn't even realized that you'd put up a Blackest Night review Marx! I've actually enjoyed it so far. I can't remember if it was the Green Lantern tie in or the actual Blackest Night issue #1, but I thought the scenes where Hal and Barry were fighting Black Lantern Martian Manhunter were pretty cool. Particularly the part where he throws them into a fire station.

"We just need to find a lot of fire..."

"I don't think we're gonna find that here."

Heh. In any case, good stuff so far.

[kidflash3]

of course I thought this was AWSOME!!!!! This is probably the best crossover that I've ever read!!!

My mind is racing with ideas for my characters for Blackest night!!!

[Sirdar]

I have already begun my preliminary theories on these Black Lanterns... and as Raven would say, "That's more depressing than what I was going to say." I would rather hold off and save those details for an idea I had for a YJUTT-style Blackest Night...

[Shinobi]

Yeah, I've been discussing ideas with a few other players on the site and ideas do abound, though we might need to do a chat to make sure no ones ideas are stepping on any toes or interfering with anyone else's.

[Marx]

That's actually a pretty good idea. We'd have enough time to figure out a good point for everyone. Not to mention I'm kind of intrigued by what everyone's ideas are. Seems like everyone has plans lol.

[Shinobi]

Well, mostly I like seeing how the characters we have would affect the actual story going on so far, but it seems a lot of people want to play with the continuity and take it in their own directions, lol.

Either way this promises to be...interesting.

[Marx]

Blackest Night #2

We start this one with Ray Palmer trying call the now dead, but he doesn't know that yet, Hawkman to explain why he wants to visit Jean Loring and this time Hawkman tells him to come over. Then in Gotham there's a tender father-daughter moment between Babs and Commissioner Gordon, which is interrupted by Hal falling smack dab in the middle of the bat signal(and I mean right in the middle. If he was thrown that was a really good shot.)

Back to Tempest and Mera, she actually does lead him to where Arthur's buried. Or should I say...was buried as he's now a Black Lantern and ripped out someone's heart putting the power levels at 2.5% now. Back in Gotham, Boston Brand aka Deadman's in a fetal position, begging his body to stay dead, which doesn't work out all too well.

Now's when things get interesting. A black ring tries to revive the original Dove, but they're stopped with the message of "Don Hall of Earth at peace.", Hawk on the other hand is revived. Back to the aquas, Aquaman's joined by Dolphin(whose not actually a dolphin if you don't know) and Tula aka the original Aquagirl and considering they both dated Garth, they're brawling over him while Aquaman's trying to make Mera his queen.

And by Boston's grave, The Spectre, Blue Devil, Zatanna and the Phantom Stranger are trying to find out where Brand went, they get attacked by Black Lanterns. Specifically Black Hand resurrects *le gasp* Crispus Allen! And for those who don't know the significance of this then let me explain...the monkey flippin Spectre is now a Black Lantern! Meanwhile, surprisingly enough since he's just been reintroduced, Tula rips out Tempest's heart, effectively making him a Black Lantern, leaving Mera running for her life by herself.

Jordan and Barry, who've been fighting Martian Manhunter throughout the issue, make one Hell of an isolated inferno with J'onn in the middle. But the duo can't enjoy their victory because J'onn's been joined by Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Ralph and Sue with the tag of "The Black Lantern Justice League" for the next issue.

Review
Let's be honest and call this issue what it is. Setup with some flashy bits. All that really happens is more Black Lanterns are made with a few surprises. The plot isn't actually advanced any, except that we now know that if you died completely at peace then you can't be brought back as a Black Lantern which is pretty interesting, along with if The Spectre's damn near impossible to stop as a ghost, how the Hell will you stop him as a ghost-zombie? A ghombie if you will. Either way, this is still infinitely better than Final Crisis, and the next issue can't get here fast enough.

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Blackest Night: Batman #1

Alright, this one starts out with Batman and Robin looking at Thomas and Martha Wayne's graves, seeing that all the other ones are exploded open. And to make sure this doesn't happen with Bruce's parents, Dick wants them in the bunker under Wayne's Tower.

We then go back to Deadman trying to stop his body from resurrecting which we know he doesn't do. He tries to possess his body to stop it but that doesn't work because it was so painful. Meanwhile far above there's a transport taking some bodies to the JLA's storage place for them(convenient, no?) when they're hit with black rings, reviving Blockbuster, The Ventriloquist, The Beast, Magpie, King Snake, Deacon Blackfire, The Trigger Twins, and Abattoir.

Damian complains about not getting a chance to be in Bruce's life and Dick points out that he's in the manor and he's Robin to a Batman so basically stfu. Dick's then stopped as Deadman possesses him, thinking he's Bruce. After Damian realizes that Bats is possessed, he begins attacking him repeatedly even though Bats is currently driving...after they crash, Deadman possesses Damian instead so he can have an actual conversation.

But don't get it twisted. Superheroes and villains are not the only ones getting resurrected. Along with them are both Dick's and Tim's parents. But the bodies reviving is actually driving Deadman crazy and because of that he almost killed Damian until Dick finally made him exit the lovable psycho. They make it to the cemetery to see the empty graves and Dick gives an unintentionally funny call to Red Robin.

Bats: Tim, it's Dick.
RR: I told you to leave me alone.
Bats: You need to get back to Gotham. Now.
RR: I'm in the middle of-
Bats: Your parents. Their graves are empty, Tim, and I'm betting my folks are gone too.
RR: On my way.

I found that hilarious, anyway. Damian then points out that since there's now a zombified bat signal in the sky, they might need as much help as they can get.

Review
More setup. But hey, we found out something else about the Black Lanterns. The fact that Deadman's body has been revived while Deadman himself remains a ghost means that the Black Lanterns don't have souls. Or at least that's how I'm reading it. And for those curious. Yes, I had to Wikipedia every single one of those names to find out exactly who they were as I only recognized the Ventriloquist. That would probably be the only thing I have resembling a complain...I get a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of obscure dead people, but eh, long as I have Wiki, it's all good.

[mad-libbs]

Zomg Markle Sparkle! You missed one!!!



And it is my civic duty to do it for you!!! Mwhahahaha!

It starts out with Guy and Kyle flying toward Oa, both of them talking about love lives. Funny thing you find out about Kyle, he lied when he said the Star Sapphire showed him Soranik. It was...dun dun dun! Jade!!! Guy tells him to get over it, Soranik's the one with the beating heart, when they run into none other than, Soranik and Iolande also heading back to Oa. That's when the massive, buzzing swarm of black rings beat the crap out of them. Then we switch to Daxam where Arisia is helping put it back together after Mongol tried to take over. She's horrified by the way the Daxamites are just throwing Sinestro Corps members into a fire, even if they're still alive. When she pipes up about it, they basically tell her to get the hell out, cause they're freaking xenophobes. (ooh big word, means they don't like outsiders or new things). Before leaving Arisia reflects on Sodam and things she should have said to him. (he's their sun now, just so you know). Then we go to Kryb, or more notably, the children she left behind after the Star Sapphires nabbed her. We see her being freed from the Zamaron crystal by other Sinestro corps members. Then we find Mongul on Korugar. He wants to rename the Sinestro Corps to, of course, the Mongul Corps. and taking over Kurogar in the process, to make it his home base. Now back to Guy, Kyle, Soranik and that other chick flying ahead trying to head off the swarm of black lantern rings. And when their powers combine, they make......a flimsy shield that the lantern rings fly right through. They warn the rest of Oa and, of course everyone loves Kilowog shouting "Stand your ground Poozers!" But the black rings don't attack, of course. They head straight for the Lantern Crypt. And the list is (that they show us)
Katma Tui (uh duh)
Jack T. Chance (of Garnet!!!)
Tomar Re (yay birdbrain!)
Funny thing, looking in what I call Black Lantern vision (original I know), everyone who's fighting is bright green, except for Guy. Two guesses what color he is. Bright red and swearing up a storm. And Kyle finds out, all deceased black lanterns are now resurrected. All are now black lanterns. And as a final kick in the teeth, you see someone on top of Kyle saying "Hello, Kyle, my love." That's right! it's Jade!


-----------------------------------

Okay, another set up issue, but it was okay. It is, after all, the beginning. The whole finding out that the Star Sapphire showed Kyle Jade instead of Soranik, and then Jade becoming a black lantern who didn't see that coming? Honestly, forshadowing is not very good in comics, but that's okay. All in all I give it a 3 out of 5, because it takes a lot to get a 5 out of me and its just a set up issue.

[Marx]

Woo! Good review. I rather like the term "Black Lantern Vision", found the Guy thing pretty funny as well. Between doing Blackest Night, Blackest Night: Batman, Blackest Night: Superman, and Blackest Night: Titans, you are more than welcome to do any GL or GLC ones that I miss lol.

[mad-libbs]

I did find it interesting that right of the bat in Blackest night 2, they throw out the whole "It's a zombie take off it's head" thing when Mera blasts Dolphin and her head just grows back. Also, ZOMBIE SHARKS! Cause that was awesome.

[Marx]

Blackest Night: Superman #1

See? This issue just cuts right to the chase. First damn thing you see is Kal-L rising from the grave. We see Smallville all nice and boring but it won't be that way for long. And let's just put it this way. Within the space of the next couple pages, the BL Power levels go from 3.44% to 3.82%. Keep in mind, each death is .01%. This is also the first time that we see the Maddy named, Black Lantern Vision change since we saw two lovers as well...love and when they saw Kal-L it went to fear.

Superboy and Superman are having a family moment with Martha when they hear something in the graveyard. They go there and see none other than Black Lantern Kal(from now on Kal's Kal-L, can't be bothered to keep putting that dash). While he does fight Superman, Kal's main focus is obviously Conner. There's also a cool point where Kal takes to the air with Superboy and when Superman goes after him we see another first. Superman's actually flashing a rainbow of Rage, Will, Love, Fear, and Hope. Notice the lack of compassion? I did. There was no avarice either but that makes sense.

Back at the house, Krypto senses something and when he goes to investigate, he gets knocked the #$%^ out. By who you ask? Earth-2 Lois! Meanwhile Kal seems to have knocked Superboy unsconscious and the only reason his heart wasn't ripped out is because Supes got to them. Kal made a cheap shot at Jonathan and Supes started laying into him until he realized Superboy was falling(hm...I know that if he's unconscious his ttk wouldn't work but I'd have thought by now he'd have some actual invulnerability...guess Superman didn't want to take that chance).

And on New Krypton, Supergirl and her mother are visiting their father's grave and you'll never guess whose just been resurrected. Zor-El becoming a Black Lantern was about as obvious as Jade when you saw New Krypton. Back on Earth, Kal's gone and Superman and Superboy are just now seeing that Martha's gone. They go looking for her since they can still hear her heartbeat. As soon as Kal speaks, they turn to him and Supes is all Will and Superboy's all Rage. This is because Lois-2 has Martha hostage and her and Kal are threatening to ensure that Martha and Jonathan will soon be back in each other's arms.

Review
One word. Two syllables. Setup. But to be honest, as far as setup issues go this was definitely one of the more action packed ones. I was very pleasantly surprised. I figured this was just going to be Superman fighting Kal for 3 issues. The fact that it seems to involve the whole Superman family is a pleasant surprise. Hm...you know...Doomsday hasn't been resurrected yet from being killed by all those Kryptonians...Superman might be boned lol. But anyway, I'm kinda liking the writer's take on BL Vision. I always assumed it showed the prominent emotion overall, not the prominent one at the time. Though this is the only issue I've seen so far where not only does the emotion change but there's simultaneous ones. Could just be the writer's take on it.

[mad-libbs]

In thinking of what to do for Blackest Night, I've already made the assumption that The black lantern vision can show simultaneous feelings because emotions aren't just one thing or the other. Emotions are interconnected so it would make sense that you would seen a veritable rainbow on someone as emotionally charged as Supes.

[Marx]

Blackest Night: Titans #1

Mmmm sexy cover, right? Just tickles your inner necrophiliac. We start this off with a couple of shots of people dealing with their grief whether it's Slade killing people, Red Star drinking or Rose sleeping with people(might I say Rose has the sexiest pillow talk I've ever read). Then we go to the Titans, The Teen Titans, and Geoforce for obvious reasons in the Hall of Titans on Heroes Day. Gar's grieving for Terra and Cyborg and Starfire basically say, 'Stop grieving you idiot, the bitch was evil.' Not in those exact words but that was the gist of it.

You then see Hawk and Dove looking over their original predecessors, Hawk not so much grieving as saying she's a much better Hawk than the other guy. You then see another shot of the black rings trying to resurrect Don and not working because he's 'at peace'. We go back to Hawk and Dove in their civilian identities with Dove trying to convince Hawk to have a life outside of being Hawk so she doesn't end up going evil and crazy like the original. And that's when they find a dead hawk and a dead dove together. Pretty funny and witty message to send if I do say so myself. They transform and follow the trails of hawks and doves until they get to a building.

Now here's where another interesting tidbit happens. The Black Lantern vision sees Hawk of course as Rage but it doesn't know how to define Dove's emotion. She's just white and when it tried to define it all it got was static(interesting, no?). Anyway, they end up coming face to face with Black Lantern Hawk. Now back at the Tower, Gar's moping and he comes across Terra(not looking like a Black Lantern, mind you). They have a tender moment and kiss almost identically to the cover but without the necrophiliaticness.

Back to the Hawk and Dove vs. Hawk fight. Dove fairs much better against BL Hawk than Hawk does since apparently she has a very Ravager-like ability to see the future. Wonder why she didn't see that giant fireball damn near killing everyone in Titans East am I right? *puts up my hand for a high five* Am I right? Come on...don't leave me hanging... Well fine, be that way. So Hawk comes back and fights hard but it's obvious the BL Hawk is more powerful.

Back at the Tower, Cyborg and Starfire find Black Lantern Lilith whose the reason Gar was seeing Terra as normal. As soon as they started attacking Lilith the illusion faded. I genuinely felt a little bad for Gar after that. Really can you imagine making out with a lost love and when you pull back she's a zombie. That #$%& would mess up your mind. Well anyway, Donna wakes up to see a ghost crib and we might actually see..the first baby Black Lantern in the form of her lost child. That's either going to be incredibly awesome...or reeeeally frickin creepy. Time will tell!

Black Lantern Hawk basically pwns Hawk and Dove and rips out Hawk's heart. Okay we don't actually get to see him pull it out. But the issue ends with his hand in there and the tagline for the next issue is 'Black Lantern Hawks' so I think its fair to say she be dead.

Review
I give the cover to this issue a hard time but let's be honest, it's supposed to be creepy and it succeeds so job well done. I think focussing on Hawk and Dove for the first issue might not have been the best way to get people into it because...well...nothing's really happened with that version of Hawk and Dove yet so it's hard to really care about them. But I do find it interesting that in each one of these issues you learn something new, like the emotion that the Black Lantern Vision couldn't read. Me thinks there's going to be another ring for whatever emotion that was in the future.

I think it'll be more interesting when they get more into the more prominent Titans. Though I am curious if the Teen Titans will have anything to do with the story since they have small cameos in this issue. Either way it's enough to make me want to know more which is always good in a first issue.