With the prologue and setup out of the way, Blackest Night kicks off things more clearly with the first issue.
What They Say:
Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis raise the dead in the most anticipated comics story of the year! Throughout the decades, death has plagued the DC Universe and taken the lives of heroes and villains alike. But to what end? As the War of Light rages on, the prophecy of the Blackest Night descends upon us, with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps at the center of it all. Don’t miss this 8-issue epic taking the DCU beyond the grave!
The Review:
Blackest Night has been one of the better seeded event stories in recent memory with it being teased a few years prior to its actual start in a Green Lantern issue that almost felt like an offhand reference to something that the writer would likely forget about and never make it back to. That didn’t happen and instead we got a sprawling epic that helped push the Green Lantern books even further up on the radar of fans and non fans alike. While I had been keen on the Green Lantern books for quite awhile, I shifted to being a trade buyer instead of singles and then fell out of that when the digital books started becoming more available. So I never grabbed Blackest Night until Comixology had a 50% off sale on Black Friday and offered up all 79 issues of the story for sale. I only grabbed a handful that were of particular interest outside of the core books, though with a story of this nature there’s a lot of strong material.
The first issue of Blackest Night isn’t the real start of the story as events have been seeded for awhile and the prologue occurred in the Green Lantern books, but what we get here does serve as a very good introduction, even if it’s light on the action. That’s a positive in my view since we get to spend time with the characters while knowing there’s dread coming rather than being thrown right into things. In fact, the book opens in a very engaging way by showing how society has repurposed the Death of Superman date into a day of remembrance for heroes who have passed as well as those that died in some of the larger conflicts, such as Coast City’s decimation with over seven million people dead. Using that date in a new way and providing a way to honor the dead and their sacrifices feels right and long overdue. Enough so that I could see DC spinning out a special or two around that date every year to do retrospectives or side stories for these kinds of characters or those who remember them.
The pain of losses is a big piece here as we see various stories covered, some more detailed than others. The Green Lanterns know their pain very well with the deaths they’ve been involved with as do other groups like the Titans. Aquaman in particular gets a good sequence since he’s buried in the ground rather than the sea and Mera holds firm to this because of what he stood for. An intriguing section shows how the Justice League has coped with the deaths of heroes in recent times by keeping the bodies preserved in a secret location because of harvesters who may try to use them for nefarious ends or disturbing research. That alone offers a lot of potential, but it wants to focus more on the recently returned Barry Allen who hasn’t been caught up yet on all those who have passed on since his departing of this particular plane of existence.
All of it is set up for the arrival of the Black Rings themselves, which we see at the opening making their way into our local space and finding bodies to become attached to. With all of the characters who have suffered losses, the rings know exactly where to go and we see the flip side of their somber and grieving moments become much more as the bodies rise. Having Hawkman see Sue and Ralph Dibney not only rise again but killing Kendra right in front of him is very telegraphed but appropriate considering their relationship. While we do get a splash page showing numerous other new Black Lanterns that have risen, the only one that gets his own shot is the Martian Manhunter and that’s a big signal as to what kind of challenges everyone will have to face. Though the payoff isn’t huge here when it comes to the dead rising, what we do get works very well since it puts Hawkman in a very bad place, shows the level of violence that we’ll see in the series to start and the kind of angst everyone will go through as their lost ones come back.
Digital Notes:
This Comixology edition of Blackest Night contains all three covers that were released in its initial run with the main cover, the variant edition and the reprint edition as well. The practice of including more than just the original cover is definitely that is very fan friendly and gives the digital editions just that little bit more value for appreciating the artwork and in my mind does not devalue the print editions in the slightest since these often show up in trade collections.
In Summary:
Blackest Night had a lot of enthusiasm and anticipation going into it and the first issue delivers well. It wasn’t a book that knocks you for a loop but it also wasn’t a chaotic mess of storylines and plots that left you wondering what the hell you were reading (yes, I’m glaring at you, Final Crisis). As the first entry into the series, it feels much more like an event book of old that wants to spend the right amount of time building the overall idea, seeding it elsewhere, and then starting to ramp up here. With strong artwork overall, good pacing and a lot of character to cover, it hits pretty much every mark right and makes it as accessible as it can be considering the scope of it. Event books of the last few years have turned me away quickly and easily but this one has me wanting to see more of where it’s going to go and how the spinoffs will play out as well.
Grade: B+
