Story – The New Guardians

Review
Yeah I know I said earlier that I was not going to be able to get Blackest Night #6 but somehow found myself going to the comic shop after having a very busy morning. In any case I got this 6^th issue of DC’s big event and like the other five issues of this event Geoff Johns seriously disappoints with another issue. This issue more so than the last five issues relied heavily on Ivan Reis’s artwork to deliver the “WOW” moments.

I am going to be honest in saying that the last part of the issue where each one of the leaders of the 7 different Lantern Corps choose seven different heroes of Earth was entertaining more so for the fact it was something I was hoping would happen in Blackest Night than what it means to the story. Johns did a very good job giving the reader a reason why each character was chosen to be a member of their respective Lantern Corps. The only weird one I found was Wonder Woman as I have never seen her as the DC character who symbolizes love but that is more because I have never being a fan of the character and have never actually read her ongoing series.

The one thing I will praise Johns for is his characterization of the various characters he is handling. Each of the leaders of the Lantern Corps was all great. I especially liked how they acted when Ganthet revealed that all of the Lantern rings have the power to clone a ring and give the power of a Lantern to one person. Also I did like the scene with Barry going into the future by two seconds in order for the Black Lantern rings that were chasing him and Hal to stop.

The problem with what Johns wrote, however, is that there is absolutely no plot progression in the first half of the issue. The first half of the issue was just one giant recap of what the reader already knew and all the scenes we got where just recycled scenes from previous issues. And with us being in the latter part of this event and only three issues left in this event I should not feel like I read most of these scenes before. It is just unacceptable for Johns to continue to do this after we already got five issues of the same thing, not counting the Green Lantern tie-in issues.

Also because the first half of the issue felt like a recap what happened in the last issue with the resurrected heroes who were turned into Black Lanterns had absolutely no consequence in this issue. The roles Johns gives the various heroes turned Black Lanterns in this issue could have been taken by any of the Black Lanterns, even the ones without a connection to the heroes on the scene. We never see the Johns play up the emotions that Hal, Barry, Wonder Girl, the Titans, and the JLA that are on the scene actually react to what is happening. The heroes that where turned into Black Lanterns is yet another example of Johns employing flashy cliffhangers and spread pages that don’t add anything to following issues as he instead continues to waste page space on scenes we have seen in other Blackest Night issue and in Green Lantern.

Also though I liked the explanations that Johns gave for deputizing the various DC characters as temporary Lanterns I did think that was a waste of pages as well. I probably would not have felt that way if the first half of the issue did not feel like a bunch of recap BS. But after Johns dedicated half the issue of recapping what the reader already knew to waste another 7 pages on just choosing the characters felt like Johns was again wasting time.

Another good example of Johns providing us nothing but filler was the scenes with Atom and Mera in the Black Lantern ring fighting Jean and John Stewart heading to Earth. Those two scenes were just recycled material of what happened in Green Lantern #49, which came out last week. And though I can understand why the scene with John heading to Earth may have been needed the scene with Atom and Mera did not anything to move the story forward and was just felt like Johns was trying to fill the page count.

And honestly the only plot progression we actually got in this issue was Ganthet introducing the fact the leaders of the Lantern rings can clone their rings, which was about two pages, and the last page which gave us a two page splash page of the seven new Lanterns. That is a total of four pages of development if you count the splash page as two pages. That is unacceptable at this point in the event. And the reason that the last page got me excited for the next issue was more to do with Reis’s artwork than Johns writing.

The other problem with this issue is the other problem I have had with Blackest Night so far aside from the poor plotting. And that is that there is no sense of the epic scope of this event. Even though I was not a big fan of Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis the one thing I thought he did very well with the event was portray how big and devastating what Darkseid was doing had huge ramifications for the entire DC Universe and the Multiverse. For all of its faults at least in Final Crisis I understood why it was such a big event as it had huge ramifications for the DC Universe if the heroes were unable to stop Darkseid.

That is what Johns fails to do here as Blackest Night feels more like an event that only affects the Earth and not the entire DC Universe. Even with the involvement of the other leaders of the various Lantern Corps it feels like they are just there to save the Earth and not the entire universe. If anything Blackest Night feels like a Justice League story and not one deserving of a company-wide event. And what hurts Blackest Night the most is that even though this is supposed to be the main book Johns and Peter Tomasi have done a much better job making this event epic in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps than this main book.

Which makes for another case why this event should have stuck to being in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps and not its own mini-series event. But in the end Blackest Night has just turned into what Secret Invasion turned into over at Marvel last year with the main story being told in what are supposed to be side books while the main mini-series is nothing but popcorn for the brain.

And that brings me to my final point, what the hell happened to Nekron and Black Hand. They did not even appear in this issue. For the two characters that are supposed to be the end bosses of this event they have done very little to make them a true threat. Johns has done nothing with the characters to make them come across as deserving villains for our heroes to band together to fight them. Nekron himself continues to come of as nothing better than a B-List villain at best.

As has been the case with Blackest Night so far the one part that does not disappoint is Ivan Reis gorgeous pencils. Along with his inkers Oclair Albert and Joe Prado and colorist Alex Sinclair they turn in some stunning artwork. For all my complaints about the story what helps Johns snail-like paced story out is Reis’s artwork. Without Reis this event would have been even worse.

Reis is near perfect with all of the artwork and with all of the spread pages and action Johns gives him to draw Reis is able to make Blackest Night at least look like a big event. From Barry running two seconds into the future to the choosing of the various DC characters to become Lantern Corps members to the final spread page the issue looks absolutely fantastic.

The only complaint I had against the art of this issue is the uncreative look of Lex Luthor’s Orange Lantern costume. It just looked like Sinclair colored Lex’s kryptonite suite orange. But that is just a very minor complaint as Reis artwork looked incredible throughout the issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 5.2/10 – Again Johns provides very little in terms of plot progression even though now he only has two issues left in this event. Though I still will give Johns credit for some quality characterization even though it did not equate to making the story any better than the previous installments of this series.
Art: 9.6/10 – Outside of one character design Reis’s artwork was incredible yet again. Reis and his inking and colorist crew are really the one’s carrying this event. The artwork is just awesome.
Overall: 7.8/10 – Blackest Night #6 was another disappointing issue by Geoff Johns as he continues to stretch out the story to fit the eight issues of this series. The snail like pace that this event has been moving at is just unacceptable. Those who are waiting for the trade paperback of this event made the right choice as this event might read much better in one complete sitting than in single issues. Though because of all this recapping that Johns continues to makes me wonder about how it will read as a trade/hardcover.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Blackest Night #6 Review

Story – The New Guardians

Review
Yeah I know I said earlier that I was not going to be able to get Blackest Night #6 but somehow found myself going to the comic shop after having a very busy morning. In any case I got this 6^th issue of DC’s big event and like the other five issues of this event Geoff Johns seriously disappoints with another issue. This issue more so than the last five issues relied heavily on Ivan Reis’s artwork to deliver the “WOW” moments.

I am going to be honest in saying that the last part of the issue where each one of the leaders of the 7 different Lantern Corps choose seven different heroes of Earth was entertaining more so for the fact it was something I was hoping would happen in Blackest Night than what it means to the story. Johns did a very good job giving the reader a reason why each character was chosen to be a member of their respective Lantern Corps. The only weird one I found was Wonder Woman as I have never seen her as the DC character who symbolizes love but that is more because I have never being a fan of the character and have never actually read her ongoing series.

The one thing I will praise Johns for is his characterization of the various characters he is handling. Each of the leaders of the Lantern Corps was all great. I especially liked how they acted when Ganthet revealed that all of the Lantern rings have the power to clone a ring and give the power of a Lantern to one person. Also I did like the scene with Barry going into the future by two seconds in order for the Black Lantern rings that were chasing him and Hal to stop.

The problem with what Johns wrote, however, is that there is absolutely no plot progression in the first half of the issue. The first half of the issue was just one giant recap of what the reader already knew and all the scenes we got where just recycled scenes from previous issues. And with us being in the latter part of this event and only three issues left in this event I should not feel like I read most of these scenes before. It is just unacceptable for Johns to continue to do this after we already got five issues of the same thing, not counting the Green Lantern tie-in issues.

Also because the first half of the issue felt like a recap what happened in the last issue with the resurrected heroes who were turned into Black Lanterns had absolutely no consequence in this issue. The roles Johns gives the various heroes turned Black Lanterns in this issue could have been taken by any of the Black Lanterns, even the ones without a connection to the heroes on the scene. We never see the Johns play up the emotions that Hal, Barry, Wonder Girl, the Titans, and the JLA that are on the scene actually react to what is happening. The heroes that where turned into Black Lanterns is yet another example of Johns employing flashy cliffhangers and spread pages that don’t add anything to following issues as he instead continues to waste page space on scenes we have seen in other Blackest Night issue and in Green Lantern.

Also though I liked the explanations that Johns gave for deputizing the various DC characters as temporary Lanterns I did think that was a waste of pages as well. I probably would not have felt that way if the first half of the issue did not feel like a bunch of recap BS. But after Johns dedicated half the issue of recapping what the reader already knew to waste another 7 pages on just choosing the characters felt like Johns was again wasting time.

Another good example of Johns providing us nothing but filler was the scenes with Atom and Mera in the Black Lantern ring fighting Jean and John Stewart heading to Earth. Those two scenes were just recycled material of what happened in Green Lantern #49, which came out last week. And though I can understand why the scene with John heading to Earth may have been needed the scene with Atom and Mera did not anything to move the story forward and was just felt like Johns was trying to fill the page count.

And honestly the only plot progression we actually got in this issue was Ganthet introducing the fact the leaders of the Lantern rings can clone their rings, which was about two pages, and the last page which gave us a two page splash page of the seven new Lanterns. That is a total of four pages of development if you count the splash page as two pages. That is unacceptable at this point in the event. And the reason that the last page got me excited for the next issue was more to do with Reis’s artwork than Johns writing.

The other problem with this issue is the other problem I have had with Blackest Night so far aside from the poor plotting. And that is that there is no sense of the epic scope of this event. Even though I was not a big fan of Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis the one thing I thought he did very well with the event was portray how big and devastating what Darkseid was doing had huge ramifications for the entire DC Universe and the Multiverse. For all of its faults at least in Final Crisis I understood why it was such a big event as it had huge ramifications for the DC Universe if the heroes were unable to stop Darkseid.

That is what Johns fails to do here as Blackest Night feels more like an event that only affects the Earth and not the entire DC Universe. Even with the involvement of the other leaders of the various Lantern Corps it feels like they are just there to save the Earth and not the entire universe. If anything Blackest Night feels like a Justice League story and not one deserving of a company-wide event. And what hurts Blackest Night the most is that even though this is supposed to be the main book Johns and Peter Tomasi have done a much better job making this event epic in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps than this main book.

Which makes for another case why this event should have stuck to being in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps and not its own mini-series event. But in the end Blackest Night has just turned into what Secret Invasion turned into over at Marvel last year with the main story being told in what are supposed to be side books while the main mini-series is nothing but popcorn for the brain.

And that brings me to my final point, what the hell happened to Nekron and Black Hand. They did not even appear in this issue. For the two characters that are supposed to be the end bosses of this event they have done very little to make them a true threat. Johns has done nothing with the characters to make them come across as deserving villains for our heroes to band together to fight them. Nekron himself continues to come of as nothing better than a B-List villain at best.

As has been the case with Blackest Night so far the one part that does not disappoint is Ivan Reis gorgeous pencils. Along with his inkers Oclair Albert and Joe Prado and colorist Alex Sinclair they turn in some stunning artwork. For all my complaints about the story what helps Johns snail-like paced story out is Reis’s artwork. Without Reis this event would have been even worse.

Reis is near perfect with all of the artwork and with all of the spread pages and action Johns gives him to draw Reis is able to make Blackest Night at least look like a big event. From Barry running two seconds into the future to the choosing of the various DC characters to become Lantern Corps members to the final spread page the issue looks absolutely fantastic.

The only complaint I had against the art of this issue is the uncreative look of Lex Luthor’s Orange Lantern costume. It just looked like Sinclair colored Lex’s kryptonite suite orange. But that is just a very minor complaint as Reis artwork looked incredible throughout the issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 5.2/10 – Again Johns provides very little in terms of plot progression even though now he only has two issues left in this event. Though I still will give Johns credit for some quality characterization even though it did not equate to making the story any better than the previous installments of this series.
Art: 9.6/10 – Outside of one character design Reis’s artwork was incredible yet again. Reis and his inking and colorist crew are really the one’s carrying this event. The artwork is just awesome.
Overall: 7.8/10 – Blackest Night #6 was another disappointing issue by Geoff Johns as he continues to stretch out the story to fit the eight issues of this series. The snail like pace that this event has been moving at is just unacceptable. Those who are waiting for the trade paperback of this event made the right choice as this event might read much better in one complete sitting than in single issues. Though because of all this recapping that Johns continues to makes me wonder about how it will read as a trade/hardcover.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Blackest Night #6 Review

Story – Gathering

Review
After reading Green Lantern #46 a few weeks ago I really believed that Geoff Johns was ready to actually shift the story of Blackest Night from the neutral position it has been since the end of issue one into the next gear. But sadly after reading Blackest Night #4 it seems that all momentum that Johns built with that Green Lantern issue was thrown to the side a bit. Instead of moving the story forward this fourth issue of Blackest Night is more of the same that we have gotten in the first three issues: Slow, boring story with little to no plot progression.

And after reading Green Lantern #47 it is clear that Johns is falling into similar trappings that Brian Bendis fell under during Secret Invasion. In truth Blackest Night is nothing more than DC’s version of Secret Invasion. Almost everything that is important to this event, if not everything, is happening in the main tie-in books of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. Hell, even the Batman and Titans mini-series revealed more about this event than this main series has so far in its four issues.

This supposed main series actually reads more like a tie-in. It reads like it should have been re-titled to be called Blackest Night: Earth and cut down to four or five issues. This whole issue focuses on what is going on Earth. At no point do we see how the rest of the galaxy is handling the Black Lantern situation along with the War of Lights that is going on.

Other than knowing that the Earth is in danger there is no real sense that this event will contain the darkest days of the whole universe. This continues to be an event all about Earth with no true difference to other events that we have seen DC do were in the end Superman comes in and beats the big bad.

Now while I am complaining a lot about the story I will give Johns credit for his solid writing of all the characters involved. Johns has a great handle of Barry, Mera, and Atom as well as the other of Earth’s heroes he uses in this issue. Even Lex Luthor does get his own moment in this issue. It was all solid dialogue if this was a story and event that only affected the Earth.

But again this event is not taking place just on Earth. This is supposed to be an event that looks to shatter the whole universe in pieces. Even though Johns is providing solid dialogue with all of the characters there is just no clear plot progression. Even the ending felt like it was more of an ending for the second issue.

The real story of Blackest Night is actually being told in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. Green Lantern #47 had more plot progression in that one issue alone than these first four issues of Blackest Night. It is freaking amazing reading the clear discrepancy in the quality of storytelling between the two GL books and this series that is supposed to be able to stand alone without relying on other titles to help it.

I would even say that the Batman and Titans tie-in mini-series were much better told, and that we actually found out more about what the Black Lanterns are in those tie-ins. I was actually surprised that Batman (Dick Grayson) and Dove did not play a more important role in this issue as they both found out key information to helping the rest of the hero community on Earth.

Finally, the whole ending with Nekron showing himself to be the big bad to Barry at the end was just the ultimate ‘meh’ ending. Thanks to early spoilers on DC and Johns part the Nekron reveal wasn’t much of a reveal, as it was expected to be coming into these last two issues. Honestly while having Nekron be revealed as the supposed big bad of the series that controls the Black Lantern Corps may hold more weight with older DC fans for me, as a casual DC reader, this does nothing to excite me. When I got to the end of this comic and saw Nekron appear I couldn’t have cared less for a villain who, from what I’ve been told and read, is a D-list villain, at best.

I think what hurts this ending more is actually not that it was spoiled a few months ago or that I don’t care about Nekron. What really hurts this reveal is that after four issues the Black Lanterns are boring villains. Johns just continues to hit the same note with the Black Lanterns that have made them very dull villains, and because they have dominated these four issues along with the two GL books and tie mini-series that this event needs more. And that is where the War of Lights would have helped this title much more as then maybe the Black Lanterns would not have become so dull by the midway point of this event.

Now the saving grace of this issue, and this whole event, is Ivan Reis phenomenal artwork. Even with a dull and slow story involving the Black Lanterns he continues to shine with all of his artwork. And a lot of credit must also go to his inkers Oclair Albert and Joe Prado and colorist Alex Sinclair for making the art look so great. Even though I couldn’t have cared less about the Nekron reveal at the end Ivan Reis and his crew did a great job at least making him look like a bad ass at the end of the issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 3.7/10 – While Geoff Johns provides some solid dialogue he does a poor job creating a story that is interesting. So far this has been a perfect example of good dialogue does not equal good story. Johns is making each passing issue of this main book more boring than the last.
Art: 9.6/10 – Ivan Reis continues to be providing this event some great artwork. His great artwork, with the help of his inkers and colorist, is able to breathe some life into what has been a dull and slow story.
Overall: 6.65/10 – Blackest Night #4 was yet another disappointing chapter in DC’s big event. This event just continues to be one slow moving story with villains that have already become boring. Johns is going to need more than just the Nekron reveal in the last half of this event to make this a much more interesting story.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Blackest Night #4 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Bryan Q. Miller
Artist: Lee Garbett
Inkers: Trevor Scott and Sandra Hope
Colorist: Guy Major

Story – Batgirl Rising: Point of New Origin Part 3

Review
Batgirl #3 is more or less the same as the previous two issues. Bryan Q. Miller is doing a solid job on the writing but it is just not impressive. And most of that falls on Stephanie as a character and not the writing of this series. After three issues it just does not feel that Stephanie as the new Batgirl is enough to carry an ongoing title.

Even inserting Barbara into the title in the mentor role hasn’t helped. In many ways this series feels like a Birds of Prey re-launch but with just Batgirl in the group. But it just feels that Stephanie is not enough to keep this title from lasting more than a year since she feels like more of a supporting character than a star of her own book.

As a fan of these characters I think what this series needs is more of a supporting cast to make it more interesting as the Stephanie and Barbara dynamic isn’t enough to carry this book. I think this title needs characters like Huntress and Misfit to play recurring roles on this series to give it something extra and keep it from going stale.

Now I will say that Miller does do a solid job with creating a nice master and student dynamic with Barbara and Stephanie. In many ways Stephanie is like how Barbara was in her early days of Batgirl. Miller does a good job paralleling the two characters in this issue, while showing how Barbara has changed.

With her battle with Scarecrow in this issue it is clear Stephanie has a long ways to go before being capable as a solo hero and Barbara should help her become her own character than just being known as Tim’s girl. Though I think the whole candle ceremony thing was a bit much and should have just been Bruce and Dick’s thing as it was special to the dynamic between Batman and the first Robin.

Issue Rating
Story: 6.6/10 – Miller provides some solid dialogue as he shows he understands both Stephanie and Barbara as characters. But supporting character feel of the star, Stephanie, makes the story feel very average.
Art: 6.7/10 – Lee Garnett again provides some solid artwork but nothing to impressive.
Overall: 6.65/10 – Batgirl #3 was an average read. While I would like to continue to read this series to see if Miller can make this a better read but with things like Realm or Kings and Siege coming up I am dropping this title. Still if you are a fan of Stephanie and Barbara this is the title for you as Miller has done a solid job setting up this title to improve with later storylines.

Blackest Night: Batman #3

Creative Team
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: Adrian Syaf
Inker: Vicente Cifuentes
Colorist: Nei Ruffino

Story – Who Burns Who: Conclusion

Review
In what has so far been the best story of Blackest Night, Peter Tomasi does an excellent job finishing up Blackest Night: Batman with this final issue. The thing that has been killing Blackest Night is that the story has been very thin with every ones reaction to the Black Lanterns has been “Oh no it’s my dead friend. What do I do? They are about to kill us if we don’t do something.” That has been Blackest Night as a whole, save for Green Lantern #46, which has made the story a thin and boring read.

And while that theme is in this issue what really separates this issue and mini-series from Blackest Night is that we are actually seeing the emotional toll it takes on the characters, in this case Dick Grayson and Tim Drake. Tomasi perfectly nails how these characters would react to seeing their parents back alive. It is something that hasn’t been shown in Blackest Night as all the characters reactions so far to the Black Lanterns has been the statement I said before.

I like how in the beginning Tim thought seeing his father again was his second shot at saving them and Dick tried to be the voice of reason telling Tim that they weren’t his parents. Then when Dick looked into his father’s eyes he let himself go in the moment just like Tim and was the twelve year old kid who performed in the circus with his parents again. This paralleling of Dick and Tim is a good reminder how similar these two brothers are and how their history is similar to Bruce’s tragic history with his parents.

Then the scene were Dick and Tim come face to face to the ones responsible for the deaths of their parents was great as it is a very different way of having characters reach an emotional breaking point as Dick and Tim were filled with rage. It is much different to how other Blackest Night titles have used to make the characters reach their emotional breaking point.

Adrian Syaf helped make these scenes especially more powerful with his artwork. He showed a great range to illustrate emotion in the scenes with Dick and Tim seeing their parents. This is the first time I am exposed to his Syaf’s artwork and he impressed me very much. I hope I see his artwork on something like Batman again as he has a good style to fit with Batman.

It was cool seeing Etrigan involved in this issue as Dick had Deadman go get him for back-up. It was an effective plan and shows that Dick knew that the situation he and Tim were in was not something they could get out of alone. Also we got to learn that there are certain magical creatures that don’t register on the Black Lantern radars. Hopefully this means Etrigan plays an integral role in taking down Black Lanterns but he probably won’t from how Geoff Johns has been telling the Blackest Night story and the characters he is using.

Also it was good to see Dick take up more of an aggressive approach with Damian as he made Damian listen to him and not try to act on his own. It is a good way to show the master/student relationship the two are having with Dick finally taking the role of the master while trying to make the cocky student, Damian, listen to his instructions.

It was also interesting to see that the Black Lanterns can’t see people unless they have some emotion as they could not see Dick and Tim in front of them since they froze themselves. It adds another wrinkle to the Black Lanterns concept as works similarly to how infrared vision works as they need people to show some sort of feelings in order to see them or else they don’t see those people, even if they are in front of them. I hope that this means that Batman will play a bigger role in Blackest Night as it would be good to see how Dick as Batman handles the first big Crisis as Batman and stands side-by-side with Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash.

Issue Rating
Story: 9/10 – Tomasi again shows why he should be helming a Batman title as he writes the best version of Dick Grayson and the entire Batfamily. I am hopeful DC wakes up and sees how great a story he wrote here, and with his Nightwing work, and actually gives him a one of the Batman titles starring Dick Grayson as Batman to write.
Art: 8.5/10 – Adrian Syaf provided some great artwork in this mini-series. He did a great job with all the action and the wide range of emotion that the characters in this issue showed.
Overall: 8.75/10 – Blackest Night: Batman #3 was a great issue and ending to this mini-series. This mini-series has so far been the best story from Blackest Night and I hope that with what was learned of the Black Lanterns is used soon in the main series and it is not pushed to the side. If you are looking for a fun action packed story with some emotional depth than I recommend picking up Blackest Night: Batman as it is a solid three issue mini-series by Tomasi and Syaf.

Green Lantern Corps #41

Creative Team
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Inkers: Rebecca Buchman, Keith Champagne and Tom Nguyen
Colorists: Randy Mayor and Gabe Eltaeb

Story – Hungry Heart

Review
In another Tomasi written Blackest Night tie-in Green Lantern Corps #41 continues the current battle between the Green Lanterns and the Black Lanterns on Oa. For the most part Tomasi presents a very well told story. Still there seemed something off about this issue.

Before I get into that I will admit the thing that Tomasi effectively presents here is the chaos that the Black Lanterns appearance has on the War of Lights. In many ways Tomasi shows why the stars of Blackest Night should not be the heroes on Earth but the various Lantern Corps especially the characters we have gotten to know through GL and GLC titles like Kyle, Guy, Killowog, Arisa, and Soranik. Even if we have seen a lot of battles with the Black Lanterns already happen in Blackest Night it feels like the Black Lanterns pose much more of a threat when battling one of the members from one the Lantern Corps.

And similar to what he did in this week’s Blackest Night: Batman issue the thing he nailed in this issue is the emotional toll the dead rising from the grave as Black Lanterns. It was great how we were shown Guy, Killowag, and Arisa each overcoming their own battles with the Black Lanterns. It drives home why they are part of the Green Lantern Corps as they push through anything that is thrown at them and have the willpower to overcome even their dead loved ones.

What helped these battles out was Patrick Gleason’s great artwork. He continues to do a great job on this title and making each battle feel epic and bounce of the page. And the scene with the Black Lantern children was effectively creepy.

Also I am interested to see were Tomasi takes Kyle and Soranik’s relationship after their battle with Black Lantern Jade. It looks like Kyle may be in the dog house after Blackest Night is over.

Now the thing that keeps this issue from being great is that it suffers from the pitfall that has made Blackest Night into a boring read which is that the Black Lanterns are dull and uninteresting villains. This isn’t really the fault of Tomasi but more the execution in which the Black Lanterns are presented. Other than being different dead characters all the Black Lanterns are the same. There isn’t much of a difference from the dead heroes, villains, and characters loved ones coming back as Black Lanterns. They all have the same personality.

And this is very bad for Blackest Night as we haven’t even reached the midway point of the event and the main villains of the series are already becoming stale. It makes me question the choice of making the event eight issues long even more. With how Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps are proving to be important tie-ins to Blackest Night I think the main series should only have been issue long as there isn’t enough material to justify eight issues.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.4/10 – Tomasi continues to do a superior job in telling the Blackest Night story than what Johns has been doing over in the main Blackest Night book. With that said the story suffers from the main villains of the story, the Black Lanterns, being dull and uninteresting characters.
Art: 8.2/10 – Gleason along with his inking crew, Rebecca Buchman, Keith Champagne and Tom Nguyen, and colorists, Randy Mayor and Gabe Eltaeb, do a great job presenting the chaotic feel of the Black Lanterns presence in the War of Lights, which had already thrown the universe into chaos.
Overall: 7.8/10 – Green Lantern Corps #41 was a very good read though it suffers from the main villains of the event being very boring. It would have been better if we could have seen other Lantern Corps members involved in this issue other than just the Green and Black Lanterns.

The Marvels Project #3

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Steve Epting
Colorist: Dave Stewart

Story – Chapter 3

Review
In what has been the surprise of the year, Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting continue to tell a very enjoyable and intricate story of the origins of the Marvel Universe. The reason I choose to pick up this mini-series was only because of me being a big fan of Brubaker and Epting’s work, specifically Captain America. But I did not expect to enjoy reading the beginning of the hero age in the Marvel Universe as much as I have been.

The big factor that is making The Marvels Project such a wonderful read is that Brubaker and Epting aren’t telling a parody story of the early age of the universe that is now filled with super powered individuals. Most of the time that is where most writers do, they try too hard to imitate the way people spoke during that time period making it hard to take the story seriously making it feel like a parody of that time period.

But Brubaker and Epting aren’t necessarily trying to imitate the time period. Instead they are taking a serious look at the 1940s and how people acted in a time of uncertainty and fear due to the war and the first super powered individuals appearing out of nowhere. It is really an amazing look as Brubaker nails the tone of that era in our history making this story feel like an extension of the story that he was telling in Captain America.

Brubaker is able to show both the wonder and fear in the people’s eyes as they witness the first battle between super powered individuals in Namor and the first Human Torch. That is where Eptings fantastic artwork comes into play as his artwork perfectly captures the mood of the time period and also making the battle between Namor and Human Torch feel like an epic showdown. Even though we have seen similar and even bigger fights happen in both the Marvel and DC Universe this battle feels like it has more of an importance as it is the first recorded battle between two super powered individuals.

And the tone of the time period is not the only thing that Brubaker nails but also all the dialogue in the various scenes we get. Whether it be Human Torch, Namor, Angel, Nick and his crew or the people on the streets all of the dialogue has a natural flow to it. Nothing feels like it being forced in for dramatic effect. It is just great character with the development of the early stages of what shaped what we know now as the Marvel Universe.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.3/10 – Brubaker continues to do a great job building the origins of the Marvel Universe and making me care for characters I had very little knowledge of before this mini-series.
Art: 9/10 – Eptings artwork is continues to be incredible. His artwork for the Namor vs Human Torch scene was especially well done as the inking and coloring for the scene make it stand out from every other scene in the issue.
Overall: 9.15/10 – The Marvels Project #3 was another great read. This mini-series continues to be one of the best written comic book on the market. Brubaker and Epting continue to build a wonderful tale of the beginning of the Marvel Universe. I highly recommend picking up this mini-series when it comes out in trade paperback format as it will read even better in TPB form than in individual issues.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 10/14/09

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Inkers: Christian Alamy, Tom Nguyen and Doug Mahnke
Colorist: Randy Mayor and Gabe Eltaeb

Story – Feared

Review
This is what I am talking about. Even though I have probably been the biggest critic of Blackest Night it is not because I don’t want to like the event but that it is not up to the quality I expect from the event and of Johns. The story has been slow and pondering on the same position it has been since the first issue. But if this issue is an example of where the event is going it looks like the series will finally be moving forward for the first time instead of backwards.

So far the tie-ins to Blackest Night have been much better and more effective in telling a more compelling story than the main series itself and Green Lantern #46 was another example of this. I think the thing that is making these tie-ins to Blackest Night better than the main series is that the writers are free to focus on the story than trying to make the stars of the DCU stand out above others, specifically the Black Lanterns JLA. This issue is an example of this as he is able to focus not on only the Black Lanterns and the threat they present to the universe but also on other members of the various Lantern Corps than just Hal Jordan.

And as this issue also shows Hal is an interesting character when he is interacting with characters like Sinestro, Carol, and Indigo-1 who each have their own distinct personalities and not a similar like Barry has. Johns did a very good job balancing the dialogue between the four characters as each one plays of the other very well. The dialogue was what carried the first half of this issue and kept things moving at a great pace as we entered the main event of this issue.

What was interesting to see is how we already have four of the seven main characters of the Green, Violent, Yellow, and Indigo Lantern Corps members together very quickly. It was stated that one of the other Lantern Corps members is needed to mix their “light” with the Green Lantern “light” to destroy the Black Lanterns and it was fun seeing it being shown with Hal and Carol combining their powers. The next main Lantern Cops member that will probably join the group of Hal, Sinestro, Carol, and Indigo-1 will be Saint Walker. That is if Sinestro stays with the group. It will be interesting to see if Agent Orange and Attrocius will join the ranks since those are the two that will be hardest to convince that they must join forces to defeat the Black Lanterns.

The best thing about this issue was of course the last half of the issue that gave us the main event fight of Sinestro vs. Mongul. The fight was properly brutal and epic as it has been built up to be in Tomasi’s “Emerald Twilight” story arc that happened just before Blackest Night. Even though Mongul dominated most of the fight the fight really showed why Sinestro is a badass character. The way the fight ended was awesome and is another example of why Sinestro has become one of the best and most interesting characters in the DCU.

The only problem I had with this issue is how slow and little attention is being paid to John Stewarts sub-plot that has been running through Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. Each issue of GL and GLC for the past few months have only given us a page or two showing us what John is doing and it is getting very boring. Personally with how little attention Johns, Tomasi, and other writers have paid to John this past year he has become the least interesting of the four Earth Green Lanterns as I haven’t found a reason to care what happens to the character.

Doug Mahnke’s artwork was again spectacular. He gives this issue the big event feel that Ivan Reis is giving the main series. The fight between Sinestro and Mongul was the highlight of the issue and Mahnke perfectly captured how epic the fight between two titans was. The only problem I had with the art is the inkers by committee this issue had. There were a few panels that had some inconsistent art.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.4/10 – Johns does a great job with all the dialogue in this issue and I hope we get more quality dialogue and storytelling like we got in this issue in the main series that Johns just has not provided.
Art: 8.7/10 – A few minor inconsistencies aside Mahnke’s artwork was phenomenal. Mahnke’s artwork did a nice job helping Johns dialogue by carrying the last half of the issue with the big fight we were given.
Overall: 9.1/10 – Green Lantern #46 was a great read. This is how Blackest Night should be written. We got some great dialogue and artwork that moved the overall story forward more than the main series has so far. Hopefully Johns carries this quality storytelling ability to the main series.

Teen Titans #75

Creative Team
Writer: Felicia D. Henderson (main story); Sean McKeever (back-up)
Artist: Joe Bennett (main story); Yildiray Cinar (back-up)
Inker: Jack Jadson (main story); Julio Ferreira (back-up)
Colorist: Rod Reis

Story – Wyld Thing

Review
After a great arc by Bryan Q. Miller we get yet another writer change for Teen Titans. Even though McKeever was on this title for a while before Miller and now Felicia D. Henderson came onto this title, Teen Titans has had a problem with major inconsistencies with the stability of the team. And I think that was one of the best things about Miller’s story arc as it felt that we finally had a permanent Teen Titans team.

For her part Henderson did a nice job carrying what Miller started. This is Henderson’s first comic book writing job with having previously only written for TV shows Fringe, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters and other shows. While she does not blow me away with her writing in this issue she definitely showed potential for growth as she transitions to being a comic book writer.

Henderson did some nice writing with the team chemistry as we see Aquagirl and Bombshell’s antagonistic relationship, Blue Beetle and Static showing themselves to be the stand outs of the team, and what looks like Miss Martian having a new crush. There were moments where the dialogue wasn’t very good but overall Henderson has a nice handle of each member of the team. The best writing Henderson provided was for Blue Beetle and Static as both continue to grow as their own characters with Blue Beetle especially standing out in this issue with the lecture he gave to Beast Boy at the end of the main story.

The problem Henderson faced in this issue was with re-visiting the Raven being controlled by her father or some demon. This storyline is old and has been told before and it feels like every time Raven appears this is the way a writer introduces the character to a title. Though the one part of this story I did like was Joe Bennett’s artwork as he was able to flex his muscle with some crazy things to draw.

Also I did not like how Beast Boy was written. If Henderson is trying to convince the reader that he is the new leader of this team she needs to portray him as a much more confident individual, which he showed a few times in the issue. Beast Boy came off as an immature school girl with how he acted anytime someone said something about Raven.

The Ravager back-up for this issue was probably the best we have gotten so far. McKeever showed why Ravager is a badass character. While I am not sure what this will do for the overall character.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.2/10 – While Henderson did not blow me away with the dialogue it definitely showed potential. The only problem I had with her writing was how she wrote Beast Boy.
Art: 7.6/10 – Bennett provided some solid artwork with the best being the dinosaur, tiger, gorilla, bull, hawk, and wolf hybrid monster.
Overall: 7.4/10 – Teen Titans #75 was another solid issue with the new creative showing some potential on this title. The only problem this story arc faces is it feeling “been there, done that” with Raven being possessed for the hundredth time.

Wolverine: Weapon X #5

Creative Team
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Ron Garney
Colorist: Jason Keith

Story – The Adamantium Men Part 5 of 5

Review
After the last issue giving us one of the most entertaining Wolverine issues we have gotten in a long time it was hard to see how Aaron and Garney would top what they did. And the truth is that this issue doesn’t reach that level which is a bit disappointing.

Even though this has been an action centered story arc this issue disappointed as it felt like the Aaron tried too hard to finish the story quickly. I would have much rather preferred it if we saw more action with Wolverine and Maverick fighting the rest of the Adamantium Men. The way Wolverine took them out with a helicopter felt to quick and not up to the standard set before it.

What I did like about this issue is that Aaron continued some strong characterization of Wolverine and giving us a strong supporting cast for the character that aren’t just the X-Men. Wolverine does come off the badass he should always be and the one person you do not want to piss off. While I didn’t like that the story was ended to quickly after thinking about it I did like how Wolverine took the methodical approach to take out the people after him instead of risking certain death in a fight that he probably would have lost.

Also this approach he took was made better because Aaron took Wolverine’s healing factor back to basics. His healing factor has become ridiculous over the years with how fast it is as he has become almost invincible. And I like that with his fight in the last issue Aaron showed Wolverine’s healing factor does have a limit again. Hopefully this limit is used more as Wolverine gets involved in bigger fights in this series.

The ending was very good as it set-up future plotlines with Maverick and Wolverine going against Norman Osborn. Aaron wrote a great Norman Osborn and it would be interesting to see Wolverine go up against him and the Dark Avengers which we might get in the Dark Reign: The List –Wolverine which is also written by Aaron.

Issue Rating
Story: 8/10 – Though Aaron does not reach the level he did with the story from the last issue his characterization of Wolverine was again very strong which made up for the lack of action.
Art: 8/10 – Garney’s wasn’t given much action to draw in this issue but it was still some solid artwork. His artwork is a great fit for this title.
Overall: 8/10 – Wolverine: Weapon X #5 was another solid read. This title feels like the old school Wolverine stories we used to get. Aaron and Garney have brought back the character to being the awesome and less convoluted character he once was. I definitely recommend any Wolverine fan and fans of action oriented titles to pick up Wolverine: Weapon X.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Weekly Comic Book Review for 9/30/09

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Ivan Reis
Inkers: Oclair Albert and Joe Prado
Colorist: Alex Sinclair

Story – Blackest Night Chapter 3

Review
While I understand why some people may think I don’t want to like Blackest Night because of what I said in my review for the previous issue the truth is I really want to like this event. This is an event I have looked forward to since reading Sinestro Corps War, which was my first exposure to the Green Lantern franchise outside of the JLA. Geoff Johns did a very good job building up this event and making the Green Lantern mythos one of the most interesting parts of the DC Universe. But I think that is where the biggest problem Johns faces with this series.

Johns has been building up to this event not just for a few months or a year but since the start of Green Lantern: Rebirth which makes this event five years in the making. With such a long build up Johns has built such a great cast with not only the Green Lantern Corps but also all the Lantern Corps he has introduced in his run. But now that the event is finally here he is largely ignoring the great cast he has built up in favor of two of the blandest personalities in the DCU in Hal Jordan and Barry Allen.

Now I am not going to say that Hal and Barry are uninteresting characters but it is more that I am just tired of seeing these two together. Between the Flash: Rebirth, Blackest Night 1-3, and Green Lantern #44 these two continue to have the same conversation and I have become disinterested in their conversations since they all run the same lines of “Why am I back? There has to be a reason. Is this the reason?”

Yes there is more to their conversations but this is the bare bones of their conversations. Having these conversation and beating the reader over the head with it is just bad writing when you take into account this event does not affect only these two characters but the whole universe. When Hal was about to leave the battle field to save his ex-girlfriend that he has not been together with for years and we had Barry talk some sense into Hal I really did not care and just wanted to flip the page as it is just the same drawn out conversation we have heard before between the two.

The other problem with not just this issue but the series in general is that I still do not have a good sense by just reading this event that the Black Lantern threat truly has universal ramifications. Johns has purely focused on what is happening on Earth with a few panels dedicated to everywhere else in the universe. I would have understood this move if Johns made the focus of the Black Lanterns attack on Earth because it was going to become the planet for the Black Lanterns, since later issues say the Earth is evacuated, but that is not the case as we already saw the Black Lanterns have their own planet somewhere else in the universe. So really there is not much of a reason why Earth should dominate 99% of these three issues since there is not much reason for why Earth is more important than say Oa or one of the other Lantern Corps planets since they are needed to defeat the Black Lanterns.

The only interesting part of this issue is that the Indigo Lanterns finally made their appearance. The Indigo Lanterns appearance is really what save this issue as we finally get answers of who the Black Lanterns are and what is needed to defeat them. And just like many people thought, myself included, it is the White Light that is the combination of all the Lantern Corps power that is able to wipe out the Black Lanterns. Maybe that is to simple but when I heard that White Light explanation I could not help but think of this from my childhood. Still I hope that with the appearance of the Indigo Lanterns we will get to see more of the universal impact of the Black Lanterns appearance that just being told they are a big threat since this is a comic book after all and it is as much a visual form as it is the writing.

Also I did think it was cool to see that Ray (The Atom) felt compassion throughout the issue even when he was almost killed. It was a cool thing to add to the character and I kind of hope that we see him become an Indigo Lantern.

Now going back to the problem this issue faced I found myself again caring less and less about all the action of that was going on. As someone who is not familiar with Firestorm I can say I did not care about Jason’s scenes with his girlfriend as it was incredibly predictable that she was going to die since that is all Johns has done in these three issues (i.e. Hawkman and Hawkgirls death in issue #1 and Tempest death in issue #2).

And that was this issue in a nut shell since everything that happened in this issue is like we are just going around in circles in terms of story progression. I can honestly say that we have seen more story progression in the tie-ins to Blackest Night than we have in this series. And this reminds me of a series that just came out not to long ago. What was it called again? Oh yeah: Secret Invasion.

While I know some people may not see it that way but Blackest Night is turning out to be DC’s version of Secret Invasion. Almost nothing is happening in the main series and if a reader wants to get a good sense of what is going on and how big of a threat the Black Lanterns are Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps are doing a much better job at this.

I really wish Johns would stop focusing on characters that he seems to be forcing us to like such as Mera, Firestorm, and Barry Allen and let us see the characters that are truly interesting and will play a big role in stopping the Black Lanterns such as Sinestro, Carol Ferris, Attrocius, Saint Walker and so on. Now maybe I am underestimating Mera, Barry, and the other non-Lantern Corps members involved in the series but sadly other than them seeming to be Johns pet characters I don’t see them playing a huge role in stopping the Black Lanterns other than Hal since he seems to be the “chosen one.”

Now even though I have mostly complained about the story of this issue and series I will say the biggest positive for this series has been Ivan Reis gorgeous artwork. Reis artwork in this issue, like it has been in this series, is just incredible. Along with his inkers Oclair Albert and Joe Prado and colorist Alex Sinclair the artwork is really what is saving this series from being worse, which it could be. Reis artwork throughout the issue does a great job making the issue feels like there is some true suspense even though many of the things that happen in the issue were predictable.

Issue Rating
Story: 4/10 – The story for this issue was saved from being a complete loss because Johns finally introduced the Indigo Lanterns. Johns really needs to pick up things up and move on from taking a methodical approach to the series since this event has had five years of build up.
Art: 9.6/10 – Reis artwork was phenomenal. It is really what saved this issue from being a complete loss.
Overall: 6.8/10 – Blackest Night #3 was another disappoint read. While I can see why many fans are enjoying this event Johns story has yet to click with me. So far this is nothing more that Secret Invasion Power Ranger style with the different color Lanterns. I am still hopeful that Johns can turn things around with the next issue but I am starting to doubt he can.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Blackest Night #3 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Ivan Reis
Inkers: Oclair Albert and Julio Ferreira
Colorist: Alex Sinclair

Story – Blackest Night Chapter II

Review
Geoff Johns has some high expectations to live up to with Blackest Night. While the road to Blackest Night started right after Sinestro Corps ended Johns has really been building up to this event ever since he brought Hal back to life in Green Lantern: Rebirth. For that reason I gave Johns a pass in the first issue of Blackest Night since he not only had to take that build and start giving long time readers a payoff for the build-up but new reader friendly for those readers jumping on the Blackest Night bandwaggen.

But now Johns has written three issues of Blackest Night related material (Blackest Night #1 & #2 and Green Lantern #44) and there isn’t any reason why we should be stuck in the same position we were with the first issue. With how big this event is Johns has yet to progress the plot as this issue did nothing but hit the same notes as the first issue and Green Lantern #44.

The only real interesting plot point that Johns gave us in this issue was that the Black Lantern rings can’t bring back everyone that is dead. In this issue while the Black Lantern ring did bring back Hawk for some reason the ring could not enter Dove’s (Don Hall) grave and make him a member of the Black Lanterns. From the looks of things people who were pure of heart and did not any malice or regret during their lives cannot be brought by the Black Lantern rings. It’s an interesting little sub-plot that Johns introduced and it will be interesting how this will work into the rest of Blackest Night.

Even with learning that little fact about the Black Lantern rings that was really the only plot progression we got in this issue. One of the problems I had in the first issue was that Johns did not show us much of the War of Light that is currently going on in the universe. And that problem continues again in this issue and to make things worse there was not even a single page in the whole issue that was dedicated to the War of Light. Instead Johns opted to focus the whole issue on what is happening on Earth specifically his pet characters Hal, Barry, Hawkman, Atom, and Aquaman, more on that problem in a bit.

While I understand that Earth is a very important part of the DCU, since that is the location to most of the DCU heroes, but Blackest Night is not your typical DC Comics event. Johns has not built this event as your typical DCU event, like Infinite Crisis or Final Crisis, were it is about Earth and its heroes but as a GALAXY spanning event that encompasses all the heroes/villains, the Lantern Corps., that inhabit the universe. And instead of focusing on the war going on across the whole universe, not just one planet, Johns has opted to yet again focus on Earth and its heroes.

The only thing that Johns gave us in this issue was more senseless gore and death going on in Earth. While Johns tried to masks all of the gore and death by showing us heroes depressed over their fallen loved ones at no point did I feel like there is any consequences to that will affect the universe with what is going on in Earth. It just feels like another event that will be solved by Superman flying in and saving the day as he has done in all of DCU’s events. And Johns has way to many aspects and characters to explore Blackest Night that he and Tomasi have been building up and introduced in the road to Blackest Night that Johns can’t waste time exploring just one single planet where there is only one Green Lantern.

Before people start making the excuse that Johns has it planned out for the War of Light to take place in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. I do not want to hear it. I heard the same damn thing with the recent events by Grant Morrison and Brian Bendis were both writers used other ongoing and mini-series as crutches to tell their actual stories. So I’m really not up for hearing such an excuse by Johns. If anything it only gives more of a reason why this story should have only been told in the two Green Lantern titles. This may show me as a cynical fan but I have been screwed over by these events to many times and I am not willing to not call out the writers out on this type of BS anymore. Johns should take a look at what DnA did with the recently finished War of Kings as an example of how to tell a universe spanning event effectively.

As I mentioned before the thing that hurts Johns story even more is that instead of showing us the War of Lights he instead opts to give us a bunch of action scenes that are nothing but death and gore. None of the action is moving the plot along. Two issue in and I am starting to think that just like when he wrote Infinite Crisis that Johns has way to many characters to juggle and that he is cracking under the pressure of the expectations for this event.

Also the other big problem that this issue faced is that the whole issue reads like Johns is purely writing this event for his pet characters that have not gotten much attention for the past few years and writes them here. Instead of giving some page time to the seven different Lantern Corps and the interesting characters that each Corps has he has instead dedicated 1/3 of the issue #1 and #2 on Hawkman and Aquaman, respectively. I get that these two characters are among Johns favorite but his favoritism should not get in the way of his storytelling and plot progression.

And I am going to say this with the knowledge that these two characters have many fans and it may piss them off that I say this but I am going to be honest in saying that I really getting tired of reading about Hal and Barry. Not only have Johns dedicated the three issues of Blackest Night he has written to the two but also all the issues of Flash: Rebirth that have been released so far. And honestly Hal and Barry don’t have the most interesting personalities and they really need someone else to be involved in there scenes to interest me as I am just starting to roll my eyes and think “Oh great more scenes with just Hal and Barry. This should be dull and depressing.”

With so many interesting characters that Johns could focus on that are participating in the War of Light it would the story much more if really started focusing on all of these characters and just gets over his pet characters. Because I am not reading this event for just it being another event that focuses on Earth’s heroes but on the actual War of Light. But so far there are no signs of the war or the Lantern Corps members other than Hal Jordan.

The only saving grace for this issue is Ivan Reis spectacular art. Reis and Albert do a great job giving Blackest Night an epic feel. And even though the story is thin they make all the action look great. I especially like all the emotion they insert into all the characters involved. And the Black Lantern Corps members look both creepy and awesome as they look like characters straight out of a horror picture flick.

Issue Rating
Story: 3.2/10 – Johns tells a very thin story and has yet to introduce the reader to the real story of Blackest Night as he has opted to make this an action filled story that doesn’t look like it is going anywhere.
Art: 9.5/10 – Reis and Albert’s artwork is the only thing that saves this issue from being a complete horrible issue. They give Blackest Night the epic feel it should have even though the writing doesn’t feel that way.
Overall: 6.35/10 – Blackest Night #2 was a very disappointing read. John needs to stop letting his fanaticism get in the way and move the story out of Earth and start focusing on the War of Light because so far there has yet to be any real plot progression to the story.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Blackest Night #2 Review

Story – Blackest Night Prologue: Tale of the Black Lantern

Review
After going through two arcs were it felt as though Johns was phoning it in we finally get a good solid effort by Johns on Green Lantern. The biggest weakness of “Agent Orange” was that it felt as though Johns was stretching a story that was clearly made to be told two issues into a four part story. With all of Johns recent work on Green Lantern I was actually becoming worried that he was losing it and that the pressure of providing the epic story that fans have was getting to him. But issues like Green Lantern #43 made me remember just how good Johns is.

I like that it only took Johns one issue to gives us the back story of the leader of the Black Lanterns, Black Hand, and what dead characters we expect to see become Black Lanterns. Even though we got some of William Hand’s, Black Hand, origin story back in the “Secret Origins” arc I thought the expansion Johns made on his origin to be well done. There has already been a creepiness factor built into some of the Red and Orange Lanterns as they possess a horror picture character type feel to them but what Johns did with Black Hand in this issue put Black Hand and the Black Lanterns on a different level. All the scenes with Black Hand in this issue, especially his suicide, all had a creepy vibe to them which the final splash page of the issue just into a sick moment, as can be seen in this week’s Legen–wait for it–dary Highlights of the Week.

Doug Mahnke artwork on the issue made the whole story in this issue, especially the ending, even better. Mahnke provided the solid artwork that Green Lantern has been missing. Hopefully Mahnke can stay on schedule as his artwork is a great fit for this title.

Also, while none of the future Black Lanterns where surprising, as DC has spoiled who most of the members are going to be, it thought making Black Hand the Herald of the Black Lanterns, like Ion, Parallax and Predator, was a good move. This puts more of an emphasis on Black Hand and what makes him special within all the star power that the Black Lanterns will have.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.8/10 – Johns provided a solid origin story to Black Hand and the Black Lanterns as he shows he can still do a solid job with one issue stories.
Art: 9.7/10 – Mahke’s artwork throughout the issue was excellent. Hopefully he can keep to the schedule as he could do an excellent job with the tie-in issues Green Lantern is going to have with Blackest Night.
Overall: 8.75/10 – Green Lantern #43 was a very good issue that does a nice job setting up Blackest Night. While I have my reservations about the event I fully expect that Johns will be able to deliver with Blackest Night.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Green Lantern #43 Review