Blackest Night

Jun 29, 2011 Stefanos rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have never read a graphic novel this epic before. Blackest Night is nothing sort of the Apocalypse in the DC Universe only its way cooler. There are so many fascinating concepts including the emotional spectrum and the seven factions of light; green, blue, orange, indigo, yellow, red and violet which represent willpower, hope, avarice, compassion, fear, rage and love respectively. Fortunately I was aware enough of the history of the Green Lantern so this wasn't difficult to follow like so many...more

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Aug 29, 2010 Khairul H. rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

Horrible! A third-rate villain is used by another lame head-villain in order to extinguish life from the universe. The heroes stop him but not before fighting some corpses of fallen comrades and foes. I never thought a story about superheroes fighting zombies could bore me but it did. Too long and underwhelming, Blackest Night's only saving grace was Ivan Reis's pencils which is always a pleasure to the eyes.

This is just a story vehicle for Geoff Johns to bring back characters that were killed o...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Devon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, graphic-novels

Hal Jordan always seems to be at the center of all the problems in the DC Universe lately. In this latest DC Universe Cross-over, the universe is seeing the dead rising and they're attacking the ones that once loved them. While I won't go into major details (which can be found easily with a few google searches), I will say this was a very interesting read, and it was satisfying, but it was a loaded satisfaction. I, personally, love DC, Green Lantern, and almost anything related to the comics, so...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, green-lantern

This title follows the main plot line of defeating Black Hand and Nekron. It includes the most important sections of the Black Ring Zombie invasion. I guess you could read just this if you want the bare bones plot, but it really won't mean much without the other 2/3 of the story.

I really enjoyed Blackest Night, silliness and all. I highly recommend that this be read with the main Blackest Night: Green Lantern Series and Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps using an order like this:
http://new.dcuw ...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have always been a GL fan, I think because anyone could be GL. It is not like superman where you are born a superhero. It is also better than Batman in some ways because you are definitely a super hero as opposed to Batman being a normal hero. I have always liked the PSIONIC like powers of the power rings it allows the wearer to create anything they want to. Blackest Night is a far reaching GN/Comic series that touches many of the DC superheroes and does a great deal to put a light of scrutiny...more

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May 08, 2012 Travis McClain rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was a regular reader of DC Comics from 1989 through 1994. By the end of those five years, I was simply exhausted from having to buy upwards of ten comics monthly just to keep up with Batman and Superman. Then came the "Zero Hour" event, marketed as a jumping-on point for new readers. I instead jumped off. I had become interested in Green Lantern right around that time, though, and there was just the one book to read. Plus, the story arc at the time was "Emerald Twilight," in which Hal Jordan s...more I was a regular reader of DC Comics from 1989 through 1994. By the end of those five years, I was simply exhausted from having to buy upwards of ten comics monthly just to keep up with Batman and Superman. Then came the "Zero Hour" event, marketed as a jumping-on point for new readers. I instead jumped off. I had become interested in Green Lantern right around that time, though, and there was just the one book to read. Plus, the story arc at the time was "Emerald Twilight," in which Hal Jordan snapped and killed all the other Green Lanterns to use their rings to kill Sinestro, and that set up newbie Kyle Rayner as the lone Lantern. It was accessible to me, so I kept reading. Eventually, though, I bailed on that, too, around 2000.

Since then, DC decided that they didn't really want Kyle to be the only Lantern so Geoff Johns was tasked with resurrecting not just Hal Jordan, but everyone. This kicked off a sort of sprawling space opera in the GL mythology the last several years and I kept hearing about it but, just like the 90s, there didn't seem to be an easy jumping on point. Last year, I picked up DC's Free Comic Book Day offering, presenting Johns's update of the origin of Hal Jordan. There was an ad in the comic for an assortment of recent collected editions of all that has taken place in the comics since those mass resurrections. I was briefly interested, but then I realized I would have to start at the beginning and work my way through eight volumes just to know what was happening and why. I passed.

Yesterday, though, I happened to find the Blackest Night hardcover at my local library. I decided to just read it and see what made sense. I was able to keep up just fine, but what I couldn't find was a reason to care. The plot amounts to "ZOMG! You know what would be awesome? If the whole DC Universe had to fight zombies with the Care Bear stare!" It's not without potential, but at no point did I ever feel this needed to be a DCU event. It could very easily have been confined to the Lanterns, and if they had gone that route, enough attention might have been paid to enough characters that I would have cared about them.

I did read the Identity Crisis mini-series when it was first published, so I got the subplot about Ray Palmer, Sue Dibney, et al but for casual or new readers, that's all treated as assumed knowledge. It's a microcosm of everything that has alienated me from mainstream superhero monthlies for about 17 years: The storytellers have often been so far down the rabbit hole that they forget not everyone is down there with them. There's a promotional piece for this story on the Green Lantern: First Flight Blu-ray, and Dan DiDio just gushes over what he got Geoff Johns to do with this. Both that promotional piece and the work itself smack of glorified fanfic. There should be a better reason for a sprawling storyline besides, "Wouldn't it be really cool to have lots of splash pages with all these characters?!" (Admittedly, Ivan Reis's art is gorgeous and the guy has a terrific talent for such large scale imagery.)

Johns does imbue the story with some nice character moments, most of which take place between Hal and then-recently-resurrected pal Barry Allen (The Flash). There's some nice stuff with Mera, Aquaman's wife; Ray Palmer (The Atom) and a small flicker of stuff with Hawkman and Hawkgirl. There's some nice humor, too; the Firestorm zombie genuinely made me chuckle a few times. But, much like the Star Wars prequels, all the reasons I was supposed to have for actually caring about the fate of most of the characters was outsourced or assumed and not in the story itself.

Maybe it played different in the frenzy of so many issues in so little time, especially since there were concurrent Blackest Night stories woven in the pages of other comics not included in this volume. I don't know. But this collected edition just felt obvious and uninspired, and rather than leaving me excited for more, I was more or less just grateful to have finished slogging through it.(less)

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Feb 28, 2012 Ashish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

There's different ways to read comics. While each individual book is a story, the lore is built up over several dozen, no, hundreds of preceding comics across decades, over crossovers, reboots, reinterpretations, plotlines, and tributes. Every comic contributes two things - the story itself, and one tiny particle of the overall mythology.
That said, I grew up with comics from second-hand bookstores. I would read across story arcs, between genres, back to front and sideways... basically anything...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Nicole Shelby rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, good-again

>>>before this review...read mine for Blackest Night: Green Lantern....

Okay. Confession: I misunderstood the order of the graphic novels and read BN:GL first. Wrong! Don't do that! Like any series, reading it out of order messes it all up.

I read all the preludes and buildups first. And while I appreciated the grand setup for the large event coming...i've got to show my crankiness. Specific subtleties aside: every one had the same basic plot = new color in the spectrum revealed, Hal Jord...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, graphicnovels

I picked a copy of Blackest Night up for my classroom because the lead-line on the plot seemed to mesh with several of my students' interests. Zombies? Check. Superheroes? Check. Zombie superheroes? Let's give it a shot.

Well... perhaps some of my students will find more to appreciate here than I did. In general, Blackest Night was a muddled mess of a story. I suppose it might make more sense if I read any of the 30 tie-in novels and comics but I haven't... so there was some stuff on display here...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Mackenzie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm not a comic book fan. Let me just say that up front. I am not normally so interested in any comic book series and I am quite sure I'm the least qualified person on earth to say anything about this title or any comic book on the planet. And most comic book readers are quite geeky about it so I wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes by pretending I'm an expert. However, allow me to say this: Geoff Johns, I'm a fan.

I read the Blackest Night series after a colleague recommended it to me. She sai...more I'm not a comic book fan. Let me just say that up front. I am not normally so interested in any comic book series and I am quite sure I'm the least qualified person on earth to say anything about this title or any comic book on the planet. And most comic book readers are quite geeky about it so I wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes by pretending I'm an expert. However, allow me to say this: Geoff Johns, I'm a fan.

I read the Blackest Night series after a colleague recommended it to me. She said, "You have to try this." She kept harping me on it, so I tentatively grabbed this first title in the series just to appease her. Then I settled down for a read. What happened next was I literally stayed put on my chair and did not move for the next two hours, reading and re-reading the book.

I can't even begin to tell you what I love about it. Not because there are so many that I don't know where to start, but because I myself have no idea what sucked me in. It could be the story. It could be the illustration. It could be imagining Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan (give me a break, OK? I'm a newbie and my point of entry into comic books was the movies). It could the zombies. It could be that Geoff Johns's words form a story that was equally chilling and thrilling in every page. But it's probably... all of the above.

I was looking at the whole universe through the eyes of an infant. I was wide-eyed and enchanted. This was a new world I was discovering and I wanted to know everything and anything. It was like stepping outdoors in the playground for the first time when you're a kid. There are already people there and you just want to get to know everyone.

Of course this title alone could not satisfy my curiosity; you still need a certain amount of knowledge of the characters, and their history in the DC Universe, as well as plenty of back stories and myths, to be able to fully grasp the intricacies of the series. So my lack of comprehension at first read is completely my own fault. Luckily, thanks to Johns' masterful handling of the story, I was able to enjoy it and be entertained without worrying about missing information that I would eventually get later on.

I like to think that I've been educated a little about the DC Universe and its inhabitants after reading this book (and the entire series). My education is still incomplete but I'm not totally ignorant the way I was before. And if there's anything or anyone whom I will gladly allow to educate me further, it's Geoff Johns and whatever his creations are.(less)

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Aug 05, 2011 Nathan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Geoff Johns has a talent for writing and partnered with Ivan Reis' outstanding artwork he brings a legend that is rooted deep in the Green Lantern mythos for readers to enjoy. The build-up to Blackest Night was excellent, the different corps were introduced slowly so the reader could see each had distinctive members and powers. When bringing a number of characters into an event so massive such as this, it is easy for writers to forget about some in the writing process but Geoff Johns has orchest...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Ottery StCatchpole rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Okay, so let me begin by saying that I have a personal bias against extreme gross out violence in comics so clearly the whole zombie concept was never going to go over well with me. I do however, like a good story and I do like Shaun of the dead so its not that I can't like zombie stories, its just that I'd rather read good zombie stories and Blackest Night was, while innovative at times exciting and fun, not a good zombie story. As a comic book story it fails as well. In many ways this crossov...more Okay, so let me begin by saying that I have a personal bias against extreme gross out violence in comics so clearly the whole zombie concept was never going to go over well with me. I do however, like a good story and I do like Shaun of the dead so its not that I can't like zombie stories, its just that I'd rather read good zombie stories and Blackest Night was, while innovative at times exciting and fun, not a good zombie story. As a comic book story it fails as well. In many ways this crossover fails, but here again, I don't particularly like universe level comic book crossovers because as Blackest Night so pointedly shows there are many things wrong with the concept.
This book clearly is a Green Lantern story, and it focuses on Hal Jordan the Green Lantern of earth and the newly returned Barry Allen Flash. It also picks up Mera, Aquaman's wife, and Ray Palmer Atom as backup characters. And a lot of the times Geoff Johns handles them well. He writes the characters well, with the exception of Atom and some few background characters who on occasion sound as if they've never been part of a cosmic crisis, which is hardly likely as DC has these almost every year.
There are threads that get picked up but never resolved in the story, such as who was buried in Batman's grave, why he came back as Batman in his costume if he was buried there, and more importantly why he'd scream "Aaaaaaaiiiiiiieeeeeee" when he was destroyed if he was dead. Also, a lot of characters that were killed suddenly get resurrected at the end with Hal saying that "I think dead is dead from here on out" which is hard to swallow seeing as you just resurrected every major silver age character in the DC Universe. Aside from the fact that it undoes everything the story originally set out to do, which is shake up the DC universe and change everything forever, we get the exact same status quo as before only now the DC universe is whiter than before. Poor Gen, 1/2 of the new Firestorm doesn't even bother a get out of death free card, and her boyfriend is your typical angry black male. I wouldn't be surprised if he resurfaces as a villain for Firestorm which would suck for its predictability and for what it says about the DC universe where there are more minority villains than heroes.
The story and the mayhem having taken most of the available pages for the storyline it leaves us very little room for an epilogue or for the characters to have any kind of proper closure except for Barry & Hal's graveyard discussion setting up Batman's inevitable resurrection and the white lantern in the field that obviously hints at Brightest Day which I will read to see if it does anything more for the DC universe other than keep the same tired story lines going.
I did love the tender moments with Hawkman and Hawkwoman and I'm wondering why they don't get more attention, awesome characters that they are. I disliked the way that major characters like Wonder Woman and Superman really barely got any talk in the story, and there was absolutely no chemistry or banter or even acknowledgement between Hal & Carol Ferris the Star Sapphire in the book despite their whole romantic history in the DCU. Hal and Barry had more bromance moments than Hal and Carol the woman he allegedly once loved. From a queer perspective I could see Barry and Hal having a relationship, as tender as there moments were as they were between Hawkwoman and Hawkman.
Constant gruesome horrific deaths all over, would have been fine, the story's pacing is good and there are a lot of exciting moments in the series but in the end nothing really changes except we get a whiter DCU and possibly a Barry/Hal romance, but in truth it just reads like too many books out today, professional fanfiction that has more to do with what a writer wants to see happen than what readers of comics want to see happen.
The art in the series is brilliant. If I have one objection to anything Ivan Reis did it is those ridiculous two page spreads that never really seemed to serve a purpose other than to show a lot of characters all at once or that made me flip the book which slowed down the action.
If you buy it, buy it for the art alone, if you read it I hope you enjoy it for what it is, a good adventure romp with Hal and Barry rather than any kind of story altering the status quo of the DCU or any kind of story focusing on the DCU. (less)

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Mar 24, 2011 Karly Abreu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Blackest Night is the sort of story arc that proves the merit of comic books. Spanning the entire DC Universe, this tale is the culmination of events that have been brewing in the DC since Identity Crisis. It ties strongly into other major recent developments, such as the Batman RIP arc, but thanks to the swift writing of Geoff Johns, never, like many similar arcs, gets too bogged down in continuity, setting the stage quickly before diving into events, and so can appeal to first time readers and...more Blackest Night is the sort of story arc that proves the merit of comic books. Spanning the entire DC Universe, this tale is the culmination of events that have been brewing in the DC since Identity Crisis. It ties strongly into other major recent developments, such as the Batman RIP arc, but thanks to the swift writing of Geoff Johns, never, like many similar arcs, gets too bogged down in continuity, setting the stage quickly before diving into events, and so can appeal to first time readers and those not up to speed. The story itself is grandiose and yet its strength lies in its simplicity at the same time. The Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, and his best friend Barry Allen, also known as the Flash, have both recently been resurrected, and the dark forces in the universe are not happy. In an effort to restore balance to the constantly shifting body count, Black Rings emerge with one goal- bringing the dead to life in order to ensure the total death of the universe and thus correct the "mistake" of the dead returning. Neither the Green Lantern Corps nor the Justice League can hold back a foe as intangible as death, and the only thing that can pierce the blackest night is the unprecedented union of all of the Lantern Corps. In the midst of all of this is an earnest examination of the nature of death- it's inevitability and the strength of hope, which comes across effortlessly and never bogs down the action, another sign of Johns' proficiency as a writer. I would not call Blackest Night, despite the quandary of death, particularly deep, though it does address many high themes, it does not truly go beyond the most basic of metaphor here which can be broken down to color coordination, which is truly a virtue for the medium, one that no other can quite accomplish. And by the same token, it is by no means mindless, and every page is gripping as new terrors rise up and twist and mutilate the characters we have come to know and love and new drama arises. At the heart of this also are two very well crafted characters in Barry and Hal, who compliment each other beautifully and have a wonderful "bromantic" dynamic between them that keeps their interactions and dialogue sharp and witty. Carrying the story are some absolutely stunning visuals, vibrant colors that bring the highly detailed pencils to life, and dynamic vertical and slash panels that emphasize the drama and contrast between light and dark. This is a story that will hold far reaching effects on the entire DC Universe, yet manages, thanks to its subject matter and balanced writing, to be one of the most accessible crossovers in comic book history, perfect for first time readers and absolutely stunning for the more well versed. A wonderful, forceful effort and one of DC's finest story arcs. (less)

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Jan 22, 2011 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars

While vampires have been all the rage, lately, zombies have not been too far behind. Like Marvel, DC Comics had a cross-title series that introduced zombies into the canon. In Blackest Night, Johns has found a way to bring back some of DC Comics most popular (and less popular) fallen heroes and villains from over the years.

It all starts when some of the fallen heroes start to arise, attacking some of those who would be considered their nearest and dearest friends. In the process, they kill their...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Brandon rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was a gift for my birthday, and I read it on our three day weekend.

I almost hesitated to count this but then my buddy Brian told me to, so here we are. Once a collection reaches a certain page length (and considering I hadn't read any of the individual issues previously), I guess it counts. Blackest Night is the supposed culmination of a years long story where the Green Lanterns started to produce more lanterns of various colors. Each color of lantern (It feels wrong to say "colored lantern...more This was a gift for my birthday, and I read it on our three day weekend.

I almost hesitated to count this but then my buddy Brian told me to, so here we are. Once a collection reaches a certain page length (and considering I hadn't read any of the individual issues previously), I guess it counts. Blackest Night is the supposed culmination of a years long story where the Green Lanterns started to produce more lanterns of various colors. Each color of lantern (It feels wrong to say "colored lanterns" because it's already bad enough that the ultimate bad guys are the Black Lanterns and the ultimate good guys are that defeat the evil Black Lanterns are the, you guessed it, White Lanterns, but I'm getting ahead of myself.) represents a different part of the emotional spectrum. While green still stands for will, red covers rage and blue is all about hope. Each one, with the exception of the Sinestro Corps' yellow power source, is less interesting and less powerful than the Green Lanterns until the Black Lanterns roll up because they are dead zombie assholes.

See, the Black Lanterns represent death and the rings attach themselves to the dead. Of course, to really present a threat, Skar and Black Hand, the Black Lantern ringleaders (HA!), start taking over dead heroes or heroes who had previously died. This is comics and this is Geoff Johns, so there are a lot more dead heroes for the latter to work with than you'd think, especially the big guns like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and the recently thought-to-be-deceased-but-actually-trapped-in-the-past Batman.

Geoff Johns is this mixed bag as a writer because he has some interesting ideas but he also doesn't know when to hold back. He thinks that shock, awe, and gore are a suitable replacement for tension and drama. So when a bunch of the dead heroes that he's responsible for killing in the first place start tearing arms and heads in half, it stops feeling shocking because he's done it so many times before. The closest equivalent to Johns that I can think of is former WWE creative writer and current TNA wrestling head booker, Vince Russo, whose philosophy towards his craft is to throw as much at the wall as he can muster and sort through what sticks. Then he collects it all up and throws it again, not really paying attention to what worked or did not work in the past. The "he" in the previous sentence can apply to either guy, by the way.

Considering this was a company wide crossover that has at least three other similarly sized collections of tie-ins, it never feels like the main book, this one, tells the full story. Thumbing through the Green Lantern: Blackest Night collection confirms this and it makes it frustrating that DC doesn't collect everything in its proper order as opposed to the collection of the individual titles that they do collect. (less)

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Jan 04, 2011 J. rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Oct 18, 2010 Susan rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic_novel, read_and_review, superheroes, what_was_i_thinking

Undead villain Black Hand is working with the embodiment of death, Nekron, to eliminate all life in the universe. Black rings turn the dead into Black Lanterns, although it is later explained that these are not the actual dead, but just a version of them that the rings somehow download and project. This is a sloppy idea--how are the rings downloading information from rotten brains, and isn't personality more than just brain cells?--but it allows Johns to sidestep the idea of souls and have the B...more Undead villain Black Hand is working with the embodiment of death, Nekron, to eliminate all life in the universe. Black rings turn the dead into Black Lanterns, although it is later explained that these are not the actual dead, but just a version of them that the rings somehow download and project. This is a sloppy idea--how are the rings downloading information from rotten brains, and isn't personality more than just brain cells?--but it allows Johns to sidestep the idea of souls and have the Black Lanterns be eeeeeeevil in ways that would be out of character for the deceased. The Black Lanterns provoke emotions in people they knew in life, then harvest their hearts once the person is emotional. To do this, they are exceptionally cruel, using personal knowledge against friends and lovers.

In some ways, the whole concept of the Black Lanterns perfectly reflects this series--it's all about pushing boundaries to provoke emotion from the chronically numb.

Beyond the silliness of the dead being not-themselves--seriously, where are the souls? Are there souls in the DCU?--there's the silliness of the Rainbow Spectrum Lantern Corps, who supposedly represent the main emotions sentient beings feel: rage, avarice, fear, will, hope, compassion, and love. Well, that makes for a complex emotional range. Will isn't even an emotion. They all also have a little cantrip to recite, similar to the (somewhat) famous Green Lantern "In brightest day, in blackest night..." The original maho shoujo* corps has the best one, which is no surprise, since the others are clearly derivative and suffer for it.

*Yes, the Green Lanterns are all magical girls. They fit the maho shoujo tropes to a T.

Readers who are not intimately familiar with the history of third-tier characters will need to frequently consult Wikipedia.

I will now let the editors speak for themselves:

"You pretty much knew the tone of the book, when on the second page, you had Black Hand licking the skull. It really would be like no DC series before it." Eddie Berganza, editor. Black Hand licking the skull was indeed completely disgusting and seemed really unnecessary.

"Originally, this scene opened with Gen and Jason making out....this was just not a slasher flick." ibid Gen is one of the few Asian characters in the DCU and was killed by being turned into salt.

"Here's our first shot of Black Lantern Aquaman and holy cow, he just ripped out the heart of one of his people. Our heroes are evil and they kill. ANYTHING can happen!" Adam Schlagman, Associate Editor

"Check out that eel ripping off the Atlantean's lips." ibid

Do you get the impression of a bunch of testosterone laden fanboys sitting around trying to make things as extreme as possible? At least when Marvel brought in zombies and thought up atrocities like Spider-man eating Mary Jane, they had the sense to make it a stand-alone story and didn't make it part of continuity. [i]Blackest Night[/i] stretches back to [i]Identity Crisis[/i]--a lovely story of rape and murder--and having lasting effects into [i]Brightest Day[/i]. One of the characters even says, "I think dead is dead from here on out," but let's be realistic, that will only last until some other writer wants to play with a character Johns killed off in this round.

The cover says "The talk of the comic book world"--USA Weekend, but I honestly don't remember any of that talk being positive, and now I know why. This is horrible and unnecessary. The story is impossible to understand without a degree in the history of the DCU. It's not even good horror. It's no wonder it's almost impossible to find good superhero books for the library if this is what DC considers one of their premiere events.(less)

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Jul 19, 2010 TJ Shelby rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dc

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. How high has Geoff Johns set the bar for himself (and fellow industry writers)? I would give this book an A- and simultaneously admit that I was somewhat disappointed. I mean, how can an A- disappoint? It was a solid story with art that was visually stunning...but...

And I can't even really put my finger on it. Even during the MANY deaths of prominent DC characters, which during a few actually caused a loss of breathe at how devastating they were, I never really felt that "permanent comic death"...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Tom rated it 2 of 5 stars

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Jun 05, 2011 Justyn Rampa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, m-u-l-e

This volume essentially covers the entire event of "Blackest Night". If I'm understanding it correctly, the rest of the volumes of which there are six essentially fill in some blanks and enrich the story with greater details. I'm sure that they would make this awesome story even greater, but I found that the Blackest Night volume on its own (which is huge) does very well on its own. I know that I may be in the minority here based on other reviews I've read, and maybe my mind will change once I'v...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Sesana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, superhumans, fantasy, science-fiction

After reading the meandering and disappointing Countdown to Final Crisis and confusing and disappointing Final Crisis, it was so, so nice to read a DC crossover that delivers. If you haven't been keeping up on the new spectrum of Lanterns, I'd suggest reading Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps first.

So, where does Blackest Night succeed where Countdown and Final Crisis didn't? Unlike Countdown, Blackest Night has a tight, focused story that, while epic in scope, doesn't wander from what's reall...more

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Dec 17, 2010 Giovanni Gelati rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have turned into a huge Geoff Johns and Green Lantern fan. I saw this and had to pick it up; The Green Lantern and zombies. Could it get any better? Yes, I opened it up and began to get absorbed in it. Check out the particulars on this graphic novel:
“Comics hottest writer Geoff Johns (GREEN LANTERN: SINESTRO CORPS WAR, THE FLASH, ACTION COMICS, JSA) and superstar artist Ivan Reis raise the dead in this hardcover collection of the most anticipated comics event of the year!
Throughout the decades...more I have turned into a huge Geoff Johns and Green Lantern fan. I saw this and had to pick it up; The Green Lantern and zombies. Could it get any better? Yes, I opened it up and began to get absorbed in it. Check out the particulars on this graphic novel:
“Comics hottest writer Geoff Johns (GREEN LANTERN: SINESTRO CORPS WAR, THE FLASH, ACTION COMICS, JSA) and superstar artist Ivan Reis raise the dead in this hardcover collection of the most anticipated comics event of the year!
Throughout the decades, death has plagued the DC Universe and taken the lives of heroes and villains alike. But to what end? As the War between the different colored Lantern Corps rages on, the prophecy of the Blackest Night descends and it's up to Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps to lead DC's greatest champions in a battle to save the Universe from an army of undead Black Lanterns made up of fallen Green Lanterns and DC's deceased heroes and villains.
This collection of the best-selling epic is the culmination of the events that Geoff Johns has been leading to since he relaunched the Green Lantern franchise in 2006! “
The artwork was the best I have seen from DC Comics, period. That, in and of itself is worth getting this and turning the pages, panel after panel of just amazing work. The dialogue is not too shabby either. The fight scenes are epic and overall I have to say that this is one of the best DC Comic graphic novels I have seen in a while. I tried to take in not just the artwork and story, but the extra material the graphic novel has to offer. The Introduction by Donald DeLine is fun to read and offers an insider’s viewpoint. The director’s commentary was informative, educational and plain fun to read. At the end of the story the extra artwork was just incredible and further displayed the talents of Ivan Reis. Basically this is the real deal from front cover to back, no wasted space or fillers.
I am not a big zombie fan, this is just a great Green Lantern feature written and inked by two of the best in the industry at the top of their game. I would go out of my way for this and enjoy the ride.
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Aug 02, 2012 Danyal Khan rated it 5 of 5 stars

AMAZING!!!! Probably my favorite comic book event (that I've read) so far!!!! A lot of people complain that this isn't a stand alone story, which is true. Although there are numerous amounts of tie-in books, the only other essential book you have to read to get the full story is Blackest Night: Green Lantern, which is a phenomenal supplement that gives the story more depth. Personally, I like the idea of tie-ins because that way the story can be covered more throughly, a problem that was suffere...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Alicia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I first have to say that I am not really caught up on my comic book history – so when I started this graphic novel I wasn’t really sure who was dead, who was resurrected, etc. I think the book does as good of a job as it reasonably could of trying to not make all of that too confusing, but if you are like me and you didn’t read Infinite Crisis or some of the other major story lines, it can still be really confusing (Why do Ralph and Sue matter, who is this woman that Atom is obsessed with? And w...more I first have to say that I am not really caught up on my comic book history – so when I started this graphic novel I wasn’t really sure who was dead, who was resurrected, etc. I think the book does as good of a job as it reasonably could of trying to not make all of that too confusing, but if you are like me and you didn’t read Infinite Crisis or some of the other major story lines, it can still be really confusing (Why do Ralph and Sue matter, who is this woman that Atom is obsessed with? And when did Martian Manhunter and Aquaman die? And what is up with Aqualad’s (former Aqualad?) love life?).

The best part of the actual storyline to me (other than the multicolor lights attacking a bunch of blackened zombies) was the friendship between Hal and Barry. I haven’t really read much about either one of these characters (I think from the time I started paying attention to comics it was mostly Kyle and Wally) so it was really nice to see who they were, why they were legends, and what makes them so great. The actual plot was interesting, and as this was a Green Lantern book it was obviously focused on power rings and there was a relatively straight forward plot of “there is the bad guy/all the zombies, lets flash a bunch of colored lights towards him so that he dies (permanently)”. I usually stick to Batman books where there is a bit more of a mystery, whereas this was a bit more focused on the characters and the concept of death/resurrection.

Since I don’t pick up comics all that often there were quite a few things that confused me, but I could still follow most of the plot, which was pretty good since I have picked some comics which make no sense without knowing 50+ years of history. I don’t think there is any way to really get caught up on all of the things that happen in the DC Universe, at least not without spending a year reading who knows how many books. There were some little things that bugged me, but overall it was a pretty decent book.

There were also some really great moments which were grin worthy. For example, when Scarecrow went all Wicked Witch of the West and pulled out the flying monkeys, or some of the conversations between Hal and Barry. Even Lex Luthor managed to insert his own insanity for a while.

Favorite lines:
(I think it was the Indigo Lantern speaking)
If the Green Lantern Corps wage this war alone, each of you must face three billion, four hundred thousand and twenty-three Black Lanterns without support.

GL: And if we team up like good boys and girls, how many of these flyin’ deadheads do each of us ringslingers gotta hack and slash our way through?

Two billion, seven hundred and twelve thousand, nine hundred and nineteen.

GL: And THAT’S an improvement?

(view spoiler)

I was surprised to see the plot actually conclude since this is apparently one of six books, but then I looked up the other books and found out that the rest of the books in this series are not continuing the story so much as just filling in the gaps in this one, which doesn’t make a lot of sense – why not just put everything into one book so that we don’t have to retroactively read part of the story? Oh well, I’m off to start book 2 and hope that I can figure out where in this original book it belongs.
(less)

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Dec 04, 2011 Craig Powell rated it 4 of 5 stars

For many years, Green Lantern has been one of those characters who has been almost B-list in the DC Universe. This is very evident in the fact that there has been multiple characters to assume the title. And this was never followed in the media with such attention as the Death of Superman or the unmasking of Spider-Man. While many know of him, Green Lantern just never seemed to break free of the "supporting character" mold. That all changed when the recently brilliant DC scribe (and now Chief Cr...more For many years, Green Lantern has been one of those characters who has been almost B-list in the DC Universe. This is very evident in the fact that there has been multiple characters to assume the title. And this was never followed in the media with such attention as the Death of Superman or the unmasking of Spider-Man. While many know of him, Green Lantern just never seemed to break free of the "supporting character" mold. That all changed when the recently brilliant DC scribe (and now Chief Creative Officer) Geoff Johns took over.

Quietly, at first, Johns began to craft a long form story that incorporated long
forgotten threads from the Green Lantern mythos. In his fashion, he took an ensemble cast of characters, places, and origins and began to update them. In the process, making you care about a universe that had been in front of us all along yet mostly ignored. Beginning in Rebirth and focusing on the most famous of all Lanterns, Hal Jordan; Johns steadily led from a reboot of the series, thru the also stellar Sinestro Corp War, up to a major event in Blackest Night.

Spanning multiple titles (even those not in the Green Lantern family), this event focuses on rings fashioned from other colors in the light spectrum. This idea is almost so simple it is hard to believe that it was never done in the years since the creation of the title. It really works, and Johns is very thorough in the backstory of each color's corps and powers. It all ties together nicely in a very large universe of characters, motivations, and events. Finally it culminates in the joining of all the corps of light to fight the greatest threat thus far, The Black Lantern Corp.

In a smart fashion, the story serves dual purpose as the Black Lanterns consist of the re-animated corpses of some of DC's slain heroes and villans. While it creates a formidable opponent for the united forces of the other corps, it also allows for a plausible explanation for some of these characters to return to the stable of the living at the storie's completion. And thus leading into the next phase: Brightest Day.(less)

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Mar 31, 2012 Jorge rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really like Geoff Johns. I mean really really like him. DC Blackest Night was one of the most epic events to ever happen in the DC universe. Johns has this amazing way of just knowing how to write for each DC hero. He becomes The Flash when writing for the Flash he becomes Hal Jordan when he writes for Hal. In this hardcover trade you get issues 0-8 of the Blackest Night arc. An evil threats to over take the world and make it nothing but darkness by raising the dead. Not just any dead either....more

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Jan 07, 2011 Brian Williams rated it 4 of 5 stars

During the big crossovers company even era we live in, the only DC crossovers I have liked have been the Batman line events and 52.

Being such a huge Green Lantern fan (though I hate Hal Jordan) I really wanted Blackest Night to be a great read. Right here is usually when someone adds a but... But I'm not going to, I loved Blackest Night.

Even though it was about zombies.

Oh, I guess I did use a but there.

Barry Allen drives this story forward or runs it forward. His return, his friendship; and how...more

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Feb 18, 2011 Jesse Whitehead rated it 2 of 5 stars

I don’t read many comic books. The ones I do read are almost never of the superhero variety. This book is a perfect example of my reasons for that.

If you haven’t read every single comic book ever then you have no idea what is going on. When I was little I could go into a comic store (I did this rarely even then) and buy a comic book. It didn’t matter if I picked Superman or Batman or Green Lantern or Fantastic Four or Spiderman or Ironman, the comic would be exciting and fun to read and I would...more I don’t read many comic books. The ones I do read are almost never of the superhero variety. This book is a perfect example of my reasons for that.

If you haven’t read every single comic book ever then you have no idea what is going on. When I was little I could go into a comic store (I did this rarely even then) and buy a comic book. It didn’t matter if I picked Superman or Batman or Green Lantern or Fantastic Four or Spiderman or Ironman, the comic would be exciting and fun to read and I would usually read it until the book fell apart and I threw it away.

The world of comics has changed. The learning curve here is beyond the ability of people who work and have lives to accommodate.

Blackest Night is a prime example. It starts out interesting. There is a character that is going around reanimating deceased superheroes as some kind of zombie hunters that feed off of emotions, any emotions, good or bad. These zombie superheroes are hideous and creepy in a number of ways.

That’s when everything explodes into huge epic thousands-of-comics-have-come-before-this grandeur that completely wipes a normal brain (like mine) into stupefaction. There is one two-page spread that shows all the heroes who have died and been brought back as zombies. There are more than 55 of them on the page. That’s just the dead ones. It all goes downhill from there.

Green Lantern and the Flash discover, somehow, that the zombies are being created by a new Black Lantern – representing Death. (Let’s ignore the fact that Death would not be bringing things back to life for now. Also, yes, the skull of batman -- in the picture -- does have bat ears for no reason in particular and his reanimated corpse has some kind of magical abilities that none of the other superheroes had -- no reason for this either) They are intent on destroying the universe because what comic would be complete if the entire universe weren’t at stake. In answer Green Lantern sets out to recruit all the other Lanterns in the spectrum so that they can shine bright lights on the bad guys and kill them. Apparently there is a whole rainbow of Lanterns out there – other than the Green Lantern Corps – and they don’t always get along. Meanwhile the Flash runs around and gathers up all the living heroes to help fight the zombies until Green Lantern comes back. Heroes come and go, fight, die and become zombies without any way of distinguishing who they are, (in fact many of them are different incarnations of the same hero – at one point there are three different Flashes on the page) especially because the other heroes always just call them by their first names.

I think even the writer realized how silly it all looked at one point when one of the characters refers to the collected Lanterns as the “Lite Brite Brigade.” Alas, that doesn’t stop them from having ever more ridiculous things happen that nobody knew was possible until suddenly they were. Nothing works until the last chapter when Green Lantern suddenly turns everybody into White Lanterns – no explanation of how – and resurrects some of the dead heroes, but not others.

The art by Ivan Reiss is simply amazing. The detail of the drawings is astonishing and looks like every frame is a piece of fine art. The writing is at times poetic and at times just as sill as the story is.

It will probably be a long time before I pick up another superhero comic book. I’ll stick with the ones that stand on their own.(less)

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Jul 27, 2012 Bryce Holt rated it 3 of 5 stars

The problem with this isn't in the story, but with me personally as the reader. You apparently need a comprehensive understanding of the DC Universe to grasp all the moving cogs in this story, and I adhered more naturally to the Marvel, Image and Valiant worlds instead. Much like the Valiant/Image crossover "Deathmate" way back in the early 90's, this is like having the whole kitchen sink thrown at you. If you don't know a character or you love just one character and aren't invested in the other...more

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Dec 15, 2011 Jessica at Book Sake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels

The story in this graphic novel is great. It’s entertaining and surprising. This is a must read for Green Lantern fans, or even just comic book readers. There are tons of characters that you will recognize and some surprising main characters in the series. The fights are great, the colors are amazing, and the textures of all the costumes are great. You might have to read other DC comics to get what’s going on though. I was surprised that Batman was dead the entire time. (Not a spoiler, its part...more

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Blackest Night (Blackest Night #1)

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