by SuperginraiX » Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:04 am
Maybe I'm just feeling a little burnt out on these events.
Yes. I just said that. The guy that has written up the details of every issue of Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, and War of Kings. I think the burn out is finally starting to hit home. With DC, I'm a big Green Lantern fan (go Kyle!), so I've been anticipating this event since the Sinestro Corps War ended two years ago. It might have been too long of a wait, actually. I've been ready for the full on color war for too long now. It's time to get on with it.
Green Lantern has been the hidden horror/science fiction comic in DC's arsenal since it started back up with Rebirth. There are some seriously messed up moments straight out of a horror movie through it's run. Plus it's basically about space cops. It changes up the whole super hero dynamic in a way that keeps me interested. The book is good and the lead up to Blackest Night has been mostly good stuff (I still would have cut down the Secret Origin story, for examply). Blackest Night is the culmination of all those horror elements and looks to be a classic Zombie tale... except these zombies have super powers and have intelligence. They actually seem more like dark side dopplegangers of their former heroic selves.
What I could have used less of in this issue was the rest of the DC Universe. I was promised this would be a Green Lantern centric event and, for the most part, it was. At the same time, I would have prefered more of the Corps to make their presense known and for less time to be devoted to the rest of the DCU. Flash was fine and his scenes with Hal almost (almost) make me happy that Barry is back. He still replaces the best Flash, though, so he doesn't win many points from me. Since most of these Black Lanterns were DC Earth heroes, it's only fair that we see some hero scenes around the issue. Still... the Flash Rogues? Eh. Maybe I was just hoping to see the color war start up right away and the Lanterns would be central to that.
All in all, the issue set up what it needed to set up and got me excited for more. I may be burnt out on the whole event thing but that doesn't stop me from still getting excited about it. I've been waiting for this event too long to just fall asleep now that it's here.
I was sad to see Hawkman and Hawkgirl die (again). I liked the current versions and if any death hits the revolving door of resurrection, it's the Hawks. At the same time, I see why they redied. The Black Lanterns are returning those who should be dead to death. Then they'll go for everyone else. This explains why J'onn went after Hal and Barry and should also tell you who else is on the Black Lantern's list. Stuff like that should make this a fun event and, even though it'll focus on some of those DCU characters other than the GLs, I'm not against it. I just want more Green Lantern action and don't want to see the GLs take a back seat in their own event.
Ivan Reis is a great artist that I've enjoyed since around the Rann-Thanagar War. I think I've got an Iron Man issue from him from much earlier but I remember the art not being as good as his later work. He also did some great work on Superman that almost got me to pick that title up at the time (Chuck Austen kept me away, actually). He continues to deliver great work here and I can't wait to see what he does after Blackest Night.
It's a solid issue that devotes too much time to DC Earth but I can't really hold that against it. It's good to see Hal actually mention he might be a pilot in the Air Force even though he's never actually doing that job anymore.
Blackest Night, you get a 7. It's not you, it's me.
