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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
I don’t read many comic books. The ones I do read are almost never of the superhero variety. This book is a perfect example of my reasons for that.
If you haven’t read every single comic book ever then you have no idea what is going on. When I was little I could go into a comic store (I did this rarely even then) and buy a comic book. It didn’t matter if I picked Superman or Batman or Green Lantern or Fantastic Four or Spiderman or Ironman, the comic would be exciting and fun to read and I would usually read it until the book fell apart and I threw it away.
The world of comics has changed. The learning curve here is beyond the ability of people who work and have lives to accommodate.
Blackest Night is a prime example. It starts out interesting. There is a character that is going around reanimating deceased superheroes as some kind of zombie hunters that feed off of emotions, any emotions, good or bad. These zombie superheroes are hideous and creepy in a number of ways.
That’s when everything explodes into huge epic thousands-of-comics-have-come-before-this grandeur that completely wipes a normal brain (like mine) into stupefaction. There is one two-page spread that shows all the heroes who have died and been brought back as zombies. There are more than 55 of them on the page. That’s just the dead ones. It all goes downhill from there.
Green Lantern and the Flash discover, somehow, that the zombies are being created by a new Black Lantern – representing Death. (Let’s ignore the fact that Death would not be bringing things back to life for now. Also, yes, the skull of batman -- in the picture -- does have bat ears for no reason in particular and his reanimated corpse has some kind of magical abilities that none of the other superheroes had -- no reason for this either) They are intent on destroying the universe because what comic would be complete if the entire universe weren’t at stake. In answer Green Lantern sets out to recruit all the other Lanterns in the spectrum so that they can shine bright lights on the bad guys and kill them. Apparently there is a whole rainbow of Lanterns out there – other than the Green Lantern Corps – and they don’t always get along. Meanwhile the Flash runs around and gathers up all the living heroes to help fight the zombies until Green Lantern comes back. Heroes come and go, fight, die and become zombies without any way of distinguishing who they are, (in fact many of them are different incarnations of the same hero – at one point there are three different Flashes on the page) especially because the other heroes always just call them by their first names.
I think even the writer realized how silly it all looked at one point when one of the characters refers to the collected Lanterns as the “Lite Brite Brigade.” Alas, that doesn’t stop them from having ever more ridiculous things happen that nobody knew was possible until suddenly they were. Nothing works until the last chapter when Green Lantern suddenly turns everybody into White Lanterns – no explanation of how – and resurrects some of the dead heroes, but not others.
The art by Ivan Reiss is simply amazing. The detail of the drawings is astonishing and looks like every frame is a piece of fine art. The writing is at times poetic and at times just as sill as the story is.
It will probably be a long time before I pick up another superhero comic book. I’ll stick with the ones that stand on their own.
If you haven’t read every single comic book ever then you have no idea what is going on. When I was little I could go into a comic store (I did this rarely even then) and buy a comic book. It didn’t matter if I picked Superman or Batman or Green Lantern or Fantastic Four or Spiderman or Ironman, the comic would be exciting and fun to read and I would usually read it until the book fell apart and I threw it away.
The world of comics has changed. The learning curve here is beyond the ability of people who work and have lives to accommodate.
Blackest Night is a prime example. It starts out interesting. There is a character that is going around reanimating deceased superheroes as some kind of zombie hunters that feed off of emotions, any emotions, good or bad. These zombie superheroes are hideous and creepy in a number of ways.
That’s when everything explodes into huge epic thousands-of-comics-have-come-before-this grandeur that completely wipes a normal brain (like mine) into stupefaction. There is one two-page spread that shows all the heroes who have died and been brought back as zombies. There are more than 55 of them on the page. That’s just the dead ones. It all goes downhill from there.
Green Lantern and the Flash discover, somehow, that the zombies are being created by a new Black Lantern – representing Death. (Let’s ignore the fact that Death would not be bringing things back to life for now. Also, yes, the skull of batman -- in the picture -- does have bat ears for no reason in particular and his reanimated corpse has some kind of magical abilities that none of the other superheroes had -- no reason for this either) They are intent on destroying the universe because what comic would be complete if the entire universe weren’t at stake. In answer Green Lantern sets out to recruit all the other Lanterns in the spectrum so that they can shine bright lights on the bad guys and kill them. Apparently there is a whole rainbow of Lanterns out there – other than the Green Lantern Corps – and they don’t always get along. Meanwhile the Flash runs around and gathers up all the living heroes to help fight the zombies until Green Lantern comes back. Heroes come and go, fight, die and become zombies without any way of distinguishing who they are, (in fact many of them are different incarnations of the same hero – at one point there are three different Flashes on the page) especially because the other heroes always just call them by their first names.
I think even the writer realized how silly it all looked at one point when one of the characters refers to the collected Lanterns as the “Lite Brite Brigade.” Alas, that doesn’t stop them from having ever more ridiculous things happen that nobody knew was possible until suddenly they were. Nothing works until the last chapter when Green Lantern suddenly turns everybody into White Lanterns – no explanation of how – and resurrects some of the dead heroes, but not others.
The art by Ivan Reiss is simply amazing. The detail of the drawings is astonishing and looks like every frame is a piece of fine art. The writing is at times poetic and at times just as sill as the story is.
It will probably be a long time before I pick up another superhero comic book. I’ll stick with the ones that stand on their own.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Freaking epic, really, that's all I can say about this, and this made GL (especially Guy) my current favourite superhero, and Geoff Johns is definitely my favourite comic book writer now.
I must admit that this was the first Johns book I've been disappointed by, but I give him a pass. He's usually so good, and my disappointment stems from the fact that the premise seems lazy. The Black Lanterns are really just an answer to the Marvel Zombie series. And to me, zombie superheroes are really no story at all. I did enjoy the new Lantern Corps that he introduced with Avarice and Hope.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ooh what an epic run! Surprisingly dark too, with a lot of death and sinister goings on. So many DC heroes, and a great turnout for the different corps, especially awesome to see Saint Walker and the Blue Lantern crew. I want to glom on all the Green Lantern stories now, hoping my library can keep up with my need.
If you're like me, the only knowledge you have of the Green Lantern is the horrible Ryan Reynolds movie. Hopefully, you're not like me. Trying to scrub that version from my mind, I was handed Blackest Night from one of my comic loving friends. And wow, what a story to read.
Blackest Night holds nothing back as in the first few scenes we are welcomed into a world where superheroes such as Batman and Aquaman are dead. Green Lantern and Flash are trying to come to terms with what losing Batman will cost the world when an attack comes from the last place they would expect - the graves of their fallen comrades. What emerges is a new Lantern power, one that thrives on the dead. Soon friends are fighting not only friends they thought they long buried but also ones who still live.
While I liked getting to know more about the Lanterns and their different colors, this book was really jumbled for me. So much action was packed into these pages that it felt hard for me to really see who was dying and who was coming back. I chalk this up to there being so many superheroes with similar looking outfits. Overall, a depressing tale but one that provided more information into this world.
Blackest Night holds nothing back as in the first few scenes we are welcomed into a world where superheroes such as Batman and Aquaman are dead. Green Lantern and Flash are trying to come to terms with what losing Batman will cost the world when an attack comes from the last place they would expect - the graves of their fallen comrades. What emerges is a new Lantern power, one that thrives on the dead. Soon friends are fighting not only friends they thought they long buried but also ones who still live.
While I liked getting to know more about the Lanterns and their different colors, this book was really jumbled for me. So much action was packed into these pages that it felt hard for me to really see who was dying and who was coming back. I chalk this up to there being so many superheroes with similar looking outfits. Overall, a depressing tale but one that provided more information into this world.
To get the whole story, Blackest Night and Blackest Night: Green Lantern have to be read together (swapping books chapter to chapter). The reading order is as follows:
GL #43
BN #0, 1
GL #44
BN #2
GL #45
BN #3
GL #46
BN #4
GL #47, 48
BN #5
GL #49
BN #6
GL #50, 51
BN #7
GL #52
BN #8
I tried using DC's list (http://imgur.com/Qrxty) but they actually have a couple out of order. The main reason this isn't a 5 star review is the poor organization of the trades. There were also a couple of moments where it felt a little jerky, maybe that would be smoothed out by reading Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps as well, but I didn't read that and don't see it as necessary. That being said, I'll move on to content.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story. There was a lot of build-up, but it was really exciting, and the action itself was well done. There were high points and low points, but it was really cool seeing character development all across the spectrum. It felt like it came to a bit of an abrupt close, but I know it gets carried on through Brightest Day; I just don't have the time or money to read that quite yet. Some of the Black Lanterns seemed underutilized, but you can only fit so much into an event of this magnitude; and again, they might be covered more in the other titles, which I'll save for the future. Nonetheless, it's a really good story and it was worth reading, and has huge implications for the whole DC universe.
GL #43
BN #0, 1
GL #44
BN #2
GL #45
BN #3
GL #46
BN #4
GL #47, 48
BN #5
GL #49
BN #6
GL #50, 51
BN #7
GL #52
BN #8
I tried using DC's list (http://imgur.com/Qrxty) but they actually have a couple out of order. The main reason this isn't a 5 star review is the poor organization of the trades. There were also a couple of moments where it felt a little jerky, maybe that would be smoothed out by reading Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps as well, but I didn't read that and don't see it as necessary. That being said, I'll move on to content.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story. There was a lot of build-up, but it was really exciting, and the action itself was well done. There were high points and low points, but it was really cool seeing character development all across the spectrum. It felt like it came to a bit of an abrupt close, but I know it gets carried on through Brightest Day; I just don't have the time or money to read that quite yet. Some of the Black Lanterns seemed underutilized, but you can only fit so much into an event of this magnitude; and again, they might be covered more in the other titles, which I'll save for the future. Nonetheless, it's a really good story and it was worth reading, and has huge implications for the whole DC universe.