In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night...

...Watch out for racial slurs in your signature oaths.

I've decided that one way to spruce this place up is to start writing on more mundane (ie: real) topics. So the first is a bit of a review/rant on a recent comic. Yes. Dork Central, thy Mayor is The Nick. If you're not interested in comics, bow out - this gets knee-deep in obscure references.

Mini-series are a very hit-n-miss affair in the world of comics, mostly because it's hard to sustain a world-changing story when you have 50 or more books all telling stories inside that universe. To have everyone on the same page (pun intended), seems to be awfully complex. The current series, "Blackest Night" is walking that fine line. Ostensibly about the Green Lantern characters, it's affecting the entire DC Universe, and bound to c-c-change things.

The 25 words or less summary of the event is thus: There are seven different corps of power ring wearers - an evil black corps has appeared composed of resurrected dead heroes and villains. Cue fight scene.

The Black Lanterns differ from the other Corps greatly - the others all harness a particular emotion to power their rings: will, compassion, avarice, hope, rage, love, fear...the Black rings seem to do the opposite, and thrive on the emotional highs that they can instill in others - right before tearing said emotional hearts out. Nasty. No Black Lantern had fallen (spoiler!), and they're doing a good job of culling the living (who then, as classics say they should, rise as more Black Lanterns)

So I've just read issue 3 of 8...wow!

I reckon that's the best issue so far - not only have we experienced the unstoppable terror of even more Black Lanterns, (who, unlike classical zombies, don't seem to have a weak spot) but we've been given some insight as to how this thing is going to eventually resolve. Turns out our Disco Lantern concept wasn't so far off, thank you Indigo-1. Some lovely beats, as well. (no pun...well okay, intended)

So the first battle scene is probably the most opaque in regards to the Black Lanterns trying to push people to an extreme before they take their hearts - this has happened before, but now they are taunting and goading in differing directions, which is interesting. Doesn't seem like the Black needs an even balance of emotional hearts, and they'll settle for any they can get, ie: Flash is pushed to rage, even though last we saw he was full of fear.

The Atom's investigation of the black rings was cool - the idea of it being bone-like struck me as equal measures cool and creepy, and sort of reinforces the idea of the Corps being one combined. Bones make up a creature, right? HMMM.

The scenes in the JLA hall were some of the best though - the monitor sequence displaying the other parts of the world nicely displayed how big this is. The terror isn't restricted to Gotham, Metropolis and the other main hangouts of cape-wearers, it's global (well, intergalactic, but Batman can't fly). It's also cool because it showed a number of lesser known characters returning as Black Lanterns (Osiris, Black Adam's adopted punk kid for one). And the Tomb of the Unknowns - isn't that the Tomb in Arlington Cemetery for the unknown soldier? Who the hell could come out of that? (Don't say Jason Todd)

Next is the arrival of Ignignokt and Err. Um, the Indigo Tribe. Nice entrance, especially because I really thought The Atom was about to buy the ant-farm. And yes, confirmation that those rings really do need to do a Voltron and combine before the Night is over. I'm curious as to whether "Nok" means "Will" or "Green" - I guess writer Geoff Johns is the only one to know, and he probably won't share it. Then we get exposition that pretty much leads up to where we are now. Nice to know that the DCU is running short on compassion, and that the Indigo Tribe take compassion to an extreme - they don't just feel for others, they give up their identity of self. HMM! (My money is on a super-dooper Disco Lantern coming from the Indigo Tribe. Or Hal, but that's lame.)

Then we have Green Lantern and Flash lay all their cards on the table and get all Jerry Maguire on us. I like the fact that it deals with the changes in character since they both returned (from the grave...), and that both realise the other is speaking from a position of understanding exactly where that was. Then, just as we're about to get the Justice League of Man-Hugs going...POW! Black Lanterns. Spoil sports.

Firestorm - the dead, the alive and full of flash cards, and the one to be sprinkled on your next serving of chips. Really should have seen at least one of those coming (given the first page being a D&M on the relationship, that WAS the most obvious...but salt? Harsh!) And then we see that because of the Firestorm connection, Gen is actually worth whatever can be illicited from Jason - interesting, and true to the character's concept of fusion. Then we have Black Lantern Recruitment Drive #152

Lanterns, League, a suggestion - stop storing dead people in, under and around your home base. It's turning out to be a really dumb move.

The story is still going strong. I feel the Indigo-1 exposition was a little too heavy handed, but that might also be because I enjoyed the more subtle, piece-it-together-yourself clues from the first issues. My initial thoughts of a final combat featuring all the heroes slipping on respective power rings is pretty much squashed, but I am sure the Disco Lantern concept still holds water.
It's also nice to see that between the power ring-laden battles going on, we still have some genuine character development being done, but when you consider who the author is, that's one of his trademarks, so whilst expected it is still a highlight.

I give it 4 out of 5 power batteries (-1 for no Batman or Bat family)