Pick a color, any color, many rings available in one size fits all for any hero or villain.
What They Say:
The secrets of Nekron are revealed as darkness consumes the DC Universe.
The Review:
The rise of Nekron and the return of the rainbow Corps players in the previous issue started changing the game as Nekron took control of those who had died and were resurrected before. Revealing that their return to life was orchestrated by him behind the scenes for all these years tied a lot of very different events together in order for him to launch his master plan at this point. With the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and more under his control now in addition to the hordes of the dead that have risen from the grave, Nekron has a very powerful army at the ready and has no problem in using it. But he’s not going to settle for just what he has, he’s the type that wants it all.
Having the various members of the rainbow Corps return to Earth set the stage for a stronger face-off as they search out the Black Lantern Battery, but they’ve discovered they can’t actually do anything against it. They’re capable of taking out an individual controlled Black Lanterns, but with so many out there and the battle raging, they can’t really combine in effort enough to do it because of all the distractions. The biggest distraction though is that Nekron has unleashed more black rings to take over the living, especially those who have experienced death before. Having them trying to connect with Hal and Barry adds to the tension since if they fall under, everything goes to hell in a handbasket even quicker. Trying to stay one step ahead is a good part of this issue as they and others deal with the fights themselves and the psychological impact of seeing their friends in this form.
What changes the game even further is the news that all the Black Lanterns in the galaxy are swarming towards Earth now, with John Stewart riding just ahead of it in some futile attempt to… look cool I guess. News of that, combined with the inability to use enough light in order to turn back Nekron forces Ganthet’s hand to do something very different that can only be done when things are at its darkest. Deputizing is something that we’ve seen to varying degrees in the past with Green Lantern books but it takes on a whole new meaning here as all the various Corps replicate their rings and start deputizing. There are some very amusing ones, ones that tie into past small panel events in previous issues, and it certainly makes sense to see the Scarecrow take on the yellow ring and for Luthor to nab the orange ring of avarice. Rage, compassion and more all find a home and that starts to turn the tide. It’s a rather neat sequence of events, but in the back of your head you hope they never really try to pull this off again since it’s such a huge unbalancing act.
Digital Notes:
This Comixology edition of Blackest Night contains the three main covers that were released in its initial run. We get 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 takes things up another level here as it brings together various characters that have been spread out since the beginning. Everyone is ending up in one place and with the mass deputization that’s now starting, it’s going to go even more interesting since it has to try and force some very different people to work together. Luthor and Scarecrow don’t get a lot of time here, but they were some of my favorite panels in the book simply because it spoke to their core nature and amplified it. In fact, Scarecrow has been the most fun to watch with his small number of panels overall with his relationship to Batman. As events in other books play out alongside this, I still find that the core book is the most interesting one of all the ones I’m reading and this one is no exception. The mass deputization is definitely a moment that stands out in a series with a lot of standout, if creepy, scenes.
Grade: B+
