Weekly Comic Book Review

By: Greg Rucka (writer), Nicola Scott (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), Nei Ruffino (colors)

The Story: Diana, just saved from being a black lantern, is guided by Carol Ferris as they go to fight the other black lanterns. Although the black lanterns are a big deal in their zombie apocalypse sort of way, a bigger piece of trouble is red lantern Mera, consumed by rage.

What’s Good: I’m loving Blackest Night not only because it expands the Green Lantern mythos, but because it really gets us into what the different colors of the spectrum are like and what it feels like to wear a power ring. In this case, we hear Wonder Woman’s monologue: “…to wear a power ring and feel emotion made manifest. To wear fear or anger of will or hope on one’s hand…” Geoff Johns’ Blackest Night is letting us see what it is to feel different emotions, what it feels like to belong to one of the other ring corps and it is cool. At the same time, the *reasons* different characters in the DCU were picked to be new lanterns is also very revealing of character. Check out what Carol says about Diana and about being a Star Sapphire.

On art, I have to say that the Greg Horn cover was pretty wow-worthy. Inside, Scott and Glapion told a pretty good visual story. I thought they hit the right level of dynamism in many poses and composed the layouts effectively. Better than that, though, were some of the full page moments, like the close-up of the star sapphire ring on the first page, the narrowing of vision around Diana and Mera with the lasso and the arrival of the cavalry on the back splash page. I also felt that the strongest piece of the art in this issue, what most jumped out at me aesthetically, was the color. I haven’t had that happen before, but the overpowering dominance of violet in the book, the hard, angry shards of red and the rainbow arrival of the cavalry really made an impact on my read. Good work Ruffino.

What’s Not So Good: The moment of connection for Mera and Wonder Woman, through the magic lasso, would have been much more powerful for me if I’d have known half of the events pictured there. I am not a neophyte, but I doubt I’d win a trivia contest on every event that has happened in the DCU since the silver age. However, I’m not sure how Rucka and Scott could have made it easier for newer or less experienced readers. Something big was going on there, but I felt left out.

On the art, while I did enjoy some pieces, I’m very sensitive to poses that seem stiff or a little less than dynamic and the bad feeling I get can last for pages. The worst piece for me was an awkwardness in Diana when she ran at Max Lord, but there were other minor examples elsewhere.

Conclusion: If you want to know what it’s like to be a star sapphire or you want a window of insight into Wonder Woman, then buy this issue. It’s a good deal for $2.99. If you’re looking for a story that you must have to understand Blackest Night or even the first two issues of this series, then that isn’t this book.

Grade: C+

-DS Arsenault

Filed under: DC Comics, Other Tagged: | Black Lantern, Blackest Night, Blackest Night Wonder Woman #3 review, Blackest Night: Wonder Woman, Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3, Carol Ferris, Comic Book Reviews, comic books, comic reviews, Comics, DC, DC Comics, DS Arsenault, Geoff Johns, Green Lantern, Green Lantern, Greg Horn, Greg Rucka, Jonathan Glapion, Mera, Nei Ruffino, Nicola Scott, Reviews, Star Sapphire, WCBR, Weekly Comic Book Review, Wonder Woman