Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
Ooooo look at all the pretty colors! The emotional spectrum is why I became interested in the Green Lantern series and it all comes together here. I don't really like crossovers or care about many of the characters in this collection so I can't give it more the three stars. The general plot was decent and the corps and lantern centric parts didn't disappoint. It did seem to end a bit quickly but that may be because I skipped some of the parts with other random DC characters.
This is, honestly, the corniest thing I've ever read in my life.
I must admit, it wasn't terrible. Just corny. The oaths of all the Corps; the way GL, Flash and Atom compliment one another; the references to the Rainbow Brigade or whatever. Pure cheese. That said, the first half was actually pretty solid. It's as close to compelling as I've ever found Barry Allen or Hal Jordan to be, and the pacing was very good. The back half of the story became a huge slog though, with repetitive attempts to rainbow beam Nekron to death. And creating extra rings and having back-ups (Luthor, Wonder Woman, Scarecrow, etc.) just reaked of creating extra action figures. Then more rainbow beaming. Then a White Lantern and more rainbow beaming.
I must admit, it wasn't terrible. Just corny. The oaths of all the Corps; the way GL, Flash and Atom compliment one another; the references to the Rainbow Brigade or whatever. Pure cheese. That said, the first half was actually pretty solid. It's as close to compelling as I've ever found Barry Allen or Hal Jordan to be, and the pacing was very good. The back half of the story became a huge slog though, with repetitive attempts to rainbow beam Nekron to death. And creating extra rings and having back-ups (Luthor, Wonder Woman, Scarecrow, etc.) just reaked of creating extra action figures. Then more rainbow beaming. Then a White Lantern and more rainbow beaming.
My first graphic novel. Very good, but I need to read some previous Green Lantern comics and other D.C. comics would help as well.
This was a gift for my birthday, and I read it on our three day weekend.
I almost hesitated to count this but then my buddy Brian told me to, so here we are. Once a collection reaches a certain page length (and considering I hadn't read any of the individual issues previously), I guess it counts. Blackest Night is the supposed culmination of a years long story where the Green Lanterns started to produce more lanterns of various colors. Each color of lantern (It feels wrong to say "colored lanterns" because it's already bad enough that the ultimate bad guys are the Black Lanterns and the ultimate good guys are that defeat the evil Black Lanterns are the, you guessed it, White Lanterns, but I'm getting ahead of myself.) represents a different part of the emotional spectrum. While green still stands for will, red covers rage and blue is all about hope. Each one, with the exception of the Sinestro Corps' yellow power source, is less interesting and less powerful than the Green Lanterns until the Black Lanterns roll up because they are dead zombie assholes.
See, the Black Lanterns represent death and the rings attach themselves to the dead. Of course, to really present a threat, Skar and Black Hand, the Black Lantern ringleaders (HA!), start taking over dead heroes or heroes who had previously died. This is comics and this is Geoff Johns, so there are a lot more dead heroes for the latter to work with than you'd think, especially the big guns like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and the recently thought-to-be-deceased-but-actually-trapped-in-the-past Batman.
Geoff Johns is this mixed bag as a writer because he has some interesting ideas but he also doesn't know when to hold back. He thinks that shock, awe, and gore are a suitable replacement for tension and drama. So when a bunch of the dead heroes that he's responsible for killing in the first place start tearing arms and heads in half, it stops feeling shocking because he's done it so many times before. The closest equivalent to Johns that I can think of is former WWE creative writer and current TNA wrestling head booker, Vince Russo, whose philosophy towards his craft is to throw as much at the wall as he can muster and sort through what sticks. Then he collects it all up and throws it again, not really paying attention to what worked or did not work in the past. The "he" in the previous sentence can apply to either guy, by the way.
Considering this was a company wide crossover that has at least three other similarly sized collections of tie-ins, it never feels like the main book, this one, tells the full story. Thumbing through the Green Lantern: Blackest Night collection confirms this and it makes it frustrating that DC doesn't collect everything in its proper order as opposed to the collection of the individual titles that they do collect.
I almost hesitated to count this but then my buddy Brian told me to, so here we are. Once a collection reaches a certain page length (and considering I hadn't read any of the individual issues previously), I guess it counts. Blackest Night is the supposed culmination of a years long story where the Green Lanterns started to produce more lanterns of various colors. Each color of lantern (It feels wrong to say "colored lanterns" because it's already bad enough that the ultimate bad guys are the Black Lanterns and the ultimate good guys are that defeat the evil Black Lanterns are the, you guessed it, White Lanterns, but I'm getting ahead of myself.) represents a different part of the emotional spectrum. While green still stands for will, red covers rage and blue is all about hope. Each one, with the exception of the Sinestro Corps' yellow power source, is less interesting and less powerful than the Green Lanterns until the Black Lanterns roll up because they are dead zombie assholes.
See, the Black Lanterns represent death and the rings attach themselves to the dead. Of course, to really present a threat, Skar and Black Hand, the Black Lantern ringleaders (HA!), start taking over dead heroes or heroes who had previously died. This is comics and this is Geoff Johns, so there are a lot more dead heroes for the latter to work with than you'd think, especially the big guns like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and the recently thought-to-be-deceased-but-actually-trapped-in-the-past Batman.
Geoff Johns is this mixed bag as a writer because he has some interesting ideas but he also doesn't know when to hold back. He thinks that shock, awe, and gore are a suitable replacement for tension and drama. So when a bunch of the dead heroes that he's responsible for killing in the first place start tearing arms and heads in half, it stops feeling shocking because he's done it so many times before. The closest equivalent to Johns that I can think of is former WWE creative writer and current TNA wrestling head booker, Vince Russo, whose philosophy towards his craft is to throw as much at the wall as he can muster and sort through what sticks. Then he collects it all up and throws it again, not really paying attention to what worked or did not work in the past. The "he" in the previous sentence can apply to either guy, by the way.
Considering this was a company wide crossover that has at least three other similarly sized collections of tie-ins, it never feels like the main book, this one, tells the full story. Thumbing through the Green Lantern: Blackest Night collection confirms this and it makes it frustrating that DC doesn't collect everything in its proper order as opposed to the collection of the individual titles that they do collect.
This title follows the main plot line of defeating Black Hand and Nekron. It includes the most important sections of the Black Ring Zombie invasion. I guess you could read just this if you want the bare bones plot, but it really won't mean much without the other 2/3 of the story.
I really enjoyed Blackest Night, silliness and all. I highly recommend that this be read with the main [b:Blackest Night: Green Lantern|7331572|Blackest Night Green Lantern|Geoff Johns|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1342897036s/7331572.jpg|8976285] Series and [b:Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps|7345903|Blackest Night Green Lantern Corps|Peter J. Tomasi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320547636s/7345903.jpg|9082225] using an order like this:
http://new.dcuwiki.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4269
The other tie-in books are optional with the possible exception of [b:Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps|7312683|Blackest Night Tales of the Corps|Geoff Johns|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320547638s/7312683.jpg|8808074] which gives backstory on some of the lesser known Lanterns. All these enrich the story and really make it the epic it deserves.
I really enjoyed Blackest Night, silliness and all. I highly recommend that this be read with the main [b:Blackest Night: Green Lantern|7331572|Blackest Night Green Lantern|Geoff Johns|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1342897036s/7331572.jpg|8976285] Series and [b:Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps|7345903|Blackest Night Green Lantern Corps|Peter J. Tomasi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320547636s/7345903.jpg|9082225] using an order like this:
http://new.dcuwiki.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4269
The other tie-in books are optional with the possible exception of [b:Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps|7312683|Blackest Night Tales of the Corps|Geoff Johns|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320547638s/7312683.jpg|8808074] which gives backstory on some of the lesser known Lanterns. All these enrich the story and really make it the epic it deserves.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Cannibalism, War
Moderate: Child death, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Murder
A solid and entertaining read. The reimagining of the Green Lantern mythology as seven different corps representing a spectrum of emotion and power is both intriguing and more than a little silly. But it was fun.
Although I've never really been into the Green Lantern Corps, I picked this up on the strength of Johns' work on Flash and Infinite Crisis. An obscure villain called Black Hand has somehow become an emissary of death and black lantern rings are resurrecting dead heroes and villains in terrifying form. Lots of heroes fighting lots of super-zombies ensues. Many people die, though few of these scenes are actually affecting. There are parts I enjoyed, mainly the quiet scenes with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen just talking. The writing elsewhere is sometimes embarrassing. The art is technically good but very busy; every inch of each panel is filled with so much detail that you don't know where to look. That's just not how comic art works. There are too many "magical" explanations for events (or no explanation at all), and ultimately the color-coded emotions idea is rather silly. An average effort at best from a writer who has done much better.
adventurous