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hakimbriki's review
5.0
Amazing crossover. I loved every bit of it, with special mentions to the Blue Lantern Flash, to the Lex Luthor/Larfleeze rivalry, Geoff Johns's amazing storylines and exciting ending. Simply perfect.
Oh and that book... stunning. I feel very proud to own such a beautiful collection. One day I hope I can pass it down to someone who will enjoy it even more than I did.
Oh and that book... stunning. I feel very proud to own such a beautiful collection. One day I hope I can pass it down to someone who will enjoy it even more than I did.
nikshelby's review against another edition
4.0
>>>before this review...read mine for Blackest Night: Green Lantern....
Okay. Confession: I misunderstood the order of the graphic novels and read BN:GL first. Wrong! Don't do that! Like any series, reading it out of order messes it all up.
I read all the preludes and buildups first. And while I appreciated the grand setup for the large event coming...i've got to show my crankiness. Specific subtleties aside: every one had the same basic plot = new color in the spectrum revealed, Hal Jordan comes in contact, of course he is taken over by the new color, back to green. Every. Single. Time. Except for the Star Sapphires, they are all women. hmm...oh yes! Long time staccacto-girlfriend: Carol Ferris.
One more bit of crankiness: I stand by my opinion that these graphic novels needed a better editor. Like I said, I read these two out of order. However, there was several times that if I hadn't read the GL one first, I wouldn't have understood parts of Blackest Night. The scope of this story was the entire DC Universe. Every character was involved. Old and new. I may not understand the difficulties of putting together a cohesive main story...still, I can claim it should be better. Its so easy to be a sideline critic!
Complaints over. On to compliments.
There is no way that I could include every amazing aspect here...that would take a page-by-page "look at this!". and, I'm not kidding. You open it. That page is amazing. Turn. Amazing. Turn. Amazing. And, that's just the art! Anyone who claims that comic-art isn't REAL art...has never read one, and definitely has not looked at this one. The detail, textures, color, full-spreads, small-panels...every single penstroke and paintcolor was beautiful (even the black lanterns). I've seem some comics where the artist was good...but, the characters each had a similar feel. The women looked the same, in different outfits. The men all had the same face. Not here. Every single character was their own character - with very individual looks, costumes, mannerisms, implied movements. It was truly amazing. The black lantern designed-look of each was so cool. There were so many that I would proudly use as art on our walls. I can not express enough how impressive the art in this series was.
Now, the danger with this kind of story was that it could easily have devolved into a facile zombie/slasher/b-movie-esque type tale. That danger wasn't realized. Johns wrote a brilliant, interesting, emotional epic. Even if the art wasn't fantastic, if the story was superficial, this would've failed. It didn't though. It was carefully crafted, emotionally-involving, detail-oriented, GL-mythology-involving, expansive story. The larger view was enthralling, but, it was the characters who kept my addicted. I've said it before, and it bears repeating: some of the best modern writing is found in comic books. (I am TRYing to describe how great it was, without giving anything away!). And, I have to say, FLASH IS SO COOL. He stole the spotlight in every single scene. I jammed through this so fast, I couldn't get enough. Now, I need to read it again - taking my time to enjoy the myriad of details.
One more thing. As dark as this tale got, it was laced with lighter details: i'll just say "zombie sharks".
GJ Hal Jordan: "A poet once said "carpe diem quam minimum credula postero", which meant, "seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future." Most people only know the first part -- "carpe diem" -- probably because not trusting tomorrow is too damn cynical. It is to me, anyway. Sure you can't rely on tomorrow, we're not guaranteed we'll have it -- but we can't be afraid of it either."
Black Hand: "Why? Life was an accident. It has no meaning. It has no purpose."
Flash Barry Allen: "LIFE doesn't give US purpose, Black Hand. WE give LIFE purpose...I don't know why the earth or sky or people exist. And the fact is, i'll probably never know...We are the ones that give life purpose...We all live for different reasons, Hal. It's up to us to figure those out."
Okay. Confession: I misunderstood the order of the graphic novels and read BN:GL first. Wrong! Don't do that! Like any series, reading it out of order messes it all up.
I read all the preludes and buildups first. And while I appreciated the grand setup for the large event coming...i've got to show my crankiness. Specific subtleties aside: every one had the same basic plot = new color in the spectrum revealed, Hal Jordan comes in contact, of course he is taken over by the new color, back to green. Every. Single. Time. Except for the Star Sapphires, they are all women. hmm...oh yes! Long time staccacto-girlfriend: Carol Ferris.
One more bit of crankiness: I stand by my opinion that these graphic novels needed a better editor. Like I said, I read these two out of order. However, there was several times that if I hadn't read the GL one first, I wouldn't have understood parts of Blackest Night. The scope of this story was the entire DC Universe. Every character was involved. Old and new. I may not understand the difficulties of putting together a cohesive main story...still, I can claim it should be better. Its so easy to be a sideline critic!
Complaints over. On to compliments.
There is no way that I could include every amazing aspect here...that would take a page-by-page "look at this!". and, I'm not kidding. You open it. That page is amazing. Turn. Amazing. Turn. Amazing. And, that's just the art! Anyone who claims that comic-art isn't REAL art...has never read one, and definitely has not looked at this one. The detail, textures, color, full-spreads, small-panels...every single penstroke and paintcolor was beautiful (even the black lanterns). I've seem some comics where the artist was good...but, the characters each had a similar feel. The women looked the same, in different outfits. The men all had the same face. Not here. Every single character was their own character - with very individual looks, costumes, mannerisms, implied movements. It was truly amazing. The black lantern designed-look of each was so cool. There were so many that I would proudly use as art on our walls. I can not express enough how impressive the art in this series was.
Now, the danger with this kind of story was that it could easily have devolved into a facile zombie/slasher/b-movie-esque type tale. That danger wasn't realized. Johns wrote a brilliant, interesting, emotional epic. Even if the art wasn't fantastic, if the story was superficial, this would've failed. It didn't though. It was carefully crafted, emotionally-involving, detail-oriented, GL-mythology-involving, expansive story. The larger view was enthralling, but, it was the characters who kept my addicted. I've said it before, and it bears repeating: some of the best modern writing is found in comic books. (I am TRYing to describe how great it was, without giving anything away!). And, I have to say, FLASH IS SO COOL. He stole the spotlight in every single scene. I jammed through this so fast, I couldn't get enough. Now, I need to read it again - taking my time to enjoy the myriad of details.
One more thing. As dark as this tale got, it was laced with lighter details: i'll just say "zombie sharks".
GJ Hal Jordan: "A poet once said "carpe diem quam minimum credula postero", which meant, "seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future." Most people only know the first part -- "carpe diem" -- probably because not trusting tomorrow is too damn cynical. It is to me, anyway. Sure you can't rely on tomorrow, we're not guaranteed we'll have it -- but we can't be afraid of it either."
Black Hand: "Why? Life was an accident. It has no meaning. It has no purpose."
Flash Barry Allen: "LIFE doesn't give US purpose, Black Hand. WE give LIFE purpose...I don't know why the earth or sky or people exist. And the fact is, i'll probably never know...We are the ones that give life purpose...We all live for different reasons, Hal. It's up to us to figure those out."
lacewing's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
stormblessed4's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
asparkofc's review against another edition
5.0
Look I finally did it, I finally read this book. I’ll admit it, yes I loved it and should have read it earlier. Even though I probably would have understood a lot less back then.
Hal and Barry’s friendship? 100% love it
Hal and Barry’s friendship? 100% love it
lukedaloop's review against another edition
4.0
This collection was fantastic and went far beyond what I was expecting. It hit all it's narrative beats right on time, and didn't dawdle at all. While I was lost without some of the back story because of DC's penchant for super-confusing continuity, the story gave me just what I needed to understand what was going on. The writing is solid and makes for some great blockbuster moments without going over the top. The art is fantastic, and some of the vertical splash pages were absolutely astonishing and dramatic. Probably the only downside of this book is that it's binding prevents you from pulling the pages all the way apart without breaking, so a fairly noticeable strip is lost on every page. Most of the time this isn't a huge problem because of the panels, but it takes away from the gorgeous splash pages.
metalandteacups's review
4.0
I don't think I have the words to express how much I love this series. I believe it to be the ultimate crisis in the DC Universe.
I decided to re-read this as over the last couple of years I have expanded my comic collection quite significantly, which has added a hell of a lot more background to these events. The writing is quite impressive as they tie in events that occur back in the 80's. The artwork is extremely impressive and maybe the pinnacle in the comic industry.
Definitely a must read.
I decided to re-read this as over the last couple of years I have expanded my comic collection quite significantly, which has added a hell of a lot more background to these events. The writing is quite impressive as they tie in events that occur back in the 80's. The artwork is extremely impressive and maybe the pinnacle in the comic industry.
Definitely a must read.
mehitabels's review against another edition
1.0
Love Batman, Catwoman, Harley, and the Joker, but meh on most of the DC crew.
I keep trying though . . .
I keep trying though . . .