By Geoff Johns (writer), Ivan Reiss (pencils), Oclair Albert (inks), and Alex Sinclair (colorist)
The Story: The super villain Black Hand and the Guardian Scar, both minions of some unseen death-force, resurrect heroes and villains from across the DC universe to build the Black Lantern Corps. Starting with some gross skull-licking of Bruce Wayne’s dead head, Black Hand creepily emerges as a threat to all life as we the reader are treated to the back stories of many well-known DCU deaths, as Green Lantern and Flash conversate. Scar takes on the rest of the Guardians as Oa is attacked by the cosmic undead.
What’s Good: The wait is over! Blackest Night has begun. That in and of itself is reason to rejoice, but the fact remains, this is a particularly strong and well-executed first issue for this series. Johns continues the great story from last week’s Green Lantern story while working his DC-spanning story.
There is a ton of story here and Johns and Reis deliver. It feels like the creators are mindful that a lot of this comic is backstory/ build-up to catch new readers up with what is going on. Because of that, we get lots of beautiful panels and quality dialogue in few pages, dedicating the the rest of this large issue to new developments. One has to think that now that all of the backstory is out of the way, this series will only get better.
Some of the Black Lantern Corps members are appropriately brought back to life. Not to spoil things, but a few dead heros come back in a big, big way. There is one couple that steals the show and are downright frightening. Plus, there are a few “deaths” of heroes that are a complete surprise.
As far as the art, Ivan Reis is exceptional and he draws so many different characters, settings, and themes dead-on. I hope he can maintain the pace down the road. The way he draws the Flash is particularly memorable and unique.
What’s Not So Good: Not a lot to complain about. I had no idea who a lot of the corps were and since they seem like marginal heroes, like C or D list, I wonder if there was any point in telling us their names. Also, the Hawkman drama scenes with him and Atom were a little ridiculous. I had no idea why Hawkman was getting so upset at the Atom and then when he moves into his love stuff with Kendra, I was ready to turn the page.
My chief complaint is that the Guardians didn’t receive enough attention in this issue except for getting beaten down and overstating the obvious, repeatedly.
Conclusion: Blackest Night won’t disappoint. There is a ton going on here and it sets the tone for a riveting and exciting event. More questions are raised than resolved and I can’t help wonder what Bruce Wayne’s pivotal role in this series will be. I am also extremely curious who the force behind the Black Lanterns are and I really hope it’s not the overused and predictable Anti-Monitor. Let the tie-ins begin as this event looks to be awesome.
Grade: A-
-Rob G.
Filed under: DC Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Alex Sinclair, Black hand, Black Lanterns, Blackest Night, Blackest Night #1, Blackest Night #1 - Review, comic book, Comic Book Reviews, DC Reviews, Geoff Johns, Green Lantern, Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert, weekly comic book reviews
