Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps, Vol. 1

Blackest Night: Collected Editions

by Peter J. Tomasi, James Robinson, J.T. Krul

Writers James Robinson, Peter J. Tomasi and JT Krul are joined by artists Eddy Barrows, Ardian Syaff and Ed Benes for this essential BLACKEST NIGHT storyline tie-in title that features Batman, Superman and the Titans dealing with their greatest villains and loved ones returning from the dead as evil Black Lanterns. The hardcover edition includes Blackest Night: Batman #'s 1-3, Blackest Night: Superman #'s 1-3 and Blackest Night: Titans # 's 1-3

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Peter J. Tomasi is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, such as Batman And Robin; Superman; Super Sons; Batman: Detective Comics; Green Lantern Corps; and Superman/Wonder Woman; as well as Batman: Arkham Knight; Brightest Day; Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors; Nightwing; Black Adam, and many more.

In the course of his staff career at DC Comics, Tomasi served as a group editor and ushered in new eras for Batman, Green Lantern, and the JSA, along with a host of special projects like Kingdom Come.

He is also the author of the creator-owned titles House Of Penance with artist Ian Bertram; Light Brigade with artist Peter Snejbjerg; The Mighty with Keith Champagne and Chris Samnee; and the critically acclaimed epic graphic novel The Bridge: How The Roeblings Connected Brooklyn To New York, illustrated by Sara DuVall and published by Abrams ComicArts.

In 2018 New York Times best-selling author Tomasi received the Inkpot Award for achievement in comics.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe I'm getting into this wild and crazy collection, even if I'm mostly out of the loop with all the things that DC has done in my absence. Who are these strange kids taking up Batman roles? Or Superman roles? Or just who the hell are the Titans?

Okay, maybe I know a little more than I think I think, but that's still not a damn lot.

I DID enjoy Dove kicking some ass. I may not know those silly kids (the Teen Titans), but I do think I like them.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been enjoying the Blackest Night event. It's been very creepy, and more than a little disturbing, and this is collection is no exception. This trade has three storylines (Batman, Superman, and Teen Titans), all of which tie into the greater Blackest Night story by featuring the Black Lanterns. (I would suggest reading at least some of Blackest Night first, so you understand what they are.) There's some serious writing going on here. The weakest storyline, for me, was Superman. Naturally, since I'm not a Superman fan. But even that one was a fairly good read, and included at least one moment that I think everyone will enjoy. (Ma is no pushover.) The Batman story featured a team-up between Dick (now Batman) and Tim (now Red Robin), and I always like seeing those two together. Both Dick and Tim are orphans, and the contrast between how they handle their grief (Dick's has long since been resolved, while Tim is still dealing with his) was handled very well. But the biggest emotional punch came from the Titans story, which confronted Gar with Terra and very nearly went too far by making Donna's dead, infant son a Black Lantern. Bad writing would have made this just exploitational. This wasn't bad writing.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very impressive for a set of tie-in stories, the focus falls on Superman, Batman and the Titans. Whilst all of them are well executed with the right amount of heart and action, it’s the Titans story that reigns superior amongst its collected peers thanks to its overall importance and the most interesting re-animations. For those who enjoy Blackest Night and are seeking more of it, this is a must read!

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story: So here we have three different storylines all happening at the time of Blackest Night event. The first deals with the batfamily. So we have Batman (Dick) and Damien and Tim all trying to survive in Gotham along side Gordan and Barbara. When the rings bring back Dick and Tim's family things get bad for the young crusaders. Next up we have Superman and Superboy dealing with their own issues in smallville and the return of a certain father. Last but not least is the story of the Teen Titans dealing with their loss and return of many, including a baby.

Art: Overall, each one has pretty solid art. A little too much sexy posing in Teen Titans one (Which is odd considering it's the ones featuring teens but...) but the fights look great, gruesome, and fun. The superman one especially looks menacing and badass big fights.

Enjoyment: There's surprisingly a lot to enjoy here. I like we got three different stories that all have closure. I like them all dealing with their personal demons who have now manifested. I also thought most of the dialogue was solid, and this was from 3 very different writers. The more horror approach to most of these stories was a welcomed addition.

What I didn't like: As I mentioned, the weird sexy poses of teens was odd at points. Bigger problem is every story kind of happens the same way. Issue 1, surprised the dead have return. Issue 2 losing to the dead and giving in. Issue 3, fighting back. It's kind of repetitive after the Superman story.

Overall, pretty damn fun. I wasn't blown away but none of the stories bored me. I'm kind of excited to try volume 2. A 3.5 out of 5.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the past several years, I have read a lot of comic collections. I have tried to get caught up on the various DC crossover events.

Blackest Night is the event that made all that reading worth it. It is possibly the best crossover event in comics (at the very least it is the best I have read so far).

This volume focuses on the Earth heroes Batman (with Robin, Red Robin, Deadman, and Etrigan), Superman (with Superboy and Krypto), and the Titans. So, this book does not capture the amazing space war going on as part of the Blackest Night. Instead, it gets very personal and deeply emotional.

This volume really worked for me. I like it a lot. I just happen to also be reading the rest of the Blackest Night collections, so this one added a ton to the reading experience.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess you either love the Blackest Night story arc, or you hate it. I'm in the 'love it' camp, and I thought this volume was an awesome addition to the story line! Loved seeing the 'new' Batman and Robin together with Deadman. Also enjoyed Superman and Superboy's story in Smallville. It was fun to see Martha Kent kick some ass in that one! The third story was about the Titans. I'll admit that I'm pretty out of the loop when it comes to those guys. Still, even knowing next to nothing about them, it was so much fun to read!

[Anca · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most uninteresting stories in the crossover in one neat volume.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blackest Night Batman/Superman/Titans 1-3 are collected in this volume (I have reviewed each book individually). So I will just say something about the Black Lantern Corps (BLC): one of the 'splinter' corps of the expanded Green Lantern (GL) mythos. Black rings have the ability to reanimate the dead; once reanimated they go after individuals that they had 'issues' with when alive. The creepy part is that they have intimate knowledge about their victims - they are often individuals who played an important part in the life of those they now hunt. In my opinion a more 'intellectual' take on Marvel Zombies. Check a couple issues out - but not for everyone!

[Damon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing I can say so far for Blackest Night. In most of these "comic events", you end up with a main limited series that tells the story, and most of the tie in issues feel like cash grabs that aren't really needed. Marvel is especially guilty of this, but DC does it as well. However, that hasn't been the cast to this point in Blackest Night. The three tie in series in this volume all felt integral, and I never felt like I was reading something unnecessary to the main story. I also liked the art in these volumes, especially the Ed Benes art in the Titans series. (Sexy!)

Overall Blackest Night is turning out to be one of the better big event comic stories I've read, and I've read a lot of them.

[Rihards Husko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Blackest Night tie-in collection is, like most, a bit of a mixed bag, but a commitment to the overarching themes (at times to a fault), great work by all of the artists involved, and some pretty gnarly scenes help sell this invasion of horror into the mainline DC universe.

The 3 Batman issues were easily my least favorite. All of the villains brought back are pretty low-tier, and the orphan drama was a tad over-the-top, even for this event. Ultimately, it just didn't grab me, despite some cool moments and a fairly clever resolution.

I enjoyed the Superman issues more, but they suffered from a lack of consistency. The scenes meant to display what a gosh-darned quaint little all-American town Smallville is felt *real* overdone, and the overall outstanding art occasionally gave way to some really bizarre panels. It had some strong characterization, and watching Clark and Connor face Kal-L after everything the three have been through was just the kind of gut-wrenching conflict Blackest Night was made for (even Ma Kent gets a badass moment), but a few odd choices including an unsatisfying resolution hold this one back.

I'm not particularly well-versed in Titans lore, so I imagine the call-backs to loss from their past means a lot more to people who have been following the team for years. Still, I gotta give it to J.T. Kril, he *really* went for the shock and horror factor here. I didn't always enjoy it, strictly speaking, but I do appreciate it. It is helped by some great, detailed artwork from Ed Benes (I honestly thought it was Jim Lee, which I mean as a compliment) and team. It was probably the best book of the three, but also the one I was least emotionally invested in, unfortunately.

Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol.1 was pretty good.

P.S. The Kindle formatting continues to be atrocious while Comixology does not offer this collected volume, for some reason, much like most of the other Blackest Night tie-in books.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

When you read all six miniseries, they're pretty redundant. Batman was okay. Superman a hair better. Titans a little less so. Flash the worst. JSA, hard to get invested in, as I don't know the characters at all. Wonder Woman, choppy, too caught up in the main event and various ring permutations Diana goes through.

The trick of seeing the characters in the emotional color spectrum was neat, but over-used.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's nothing terribly wrong with this collection of Blackest Night crossover miniseries, but there's also not much particularly right with it either. Here we get three stories by three different writers about how some prominent DC superteams deal with the rise of the Black Lanterns, and it's kind of surprising how all three of them go after the exact same trope: wouldn't it be terrible to have to fight a reanimated version of your loved ones. Yes, I imagine this would be horrible, only that's what the entire central Blackest Night series is about, so I didn't feel like I needed to see several more superheroes have the same "Whaaat?!" reaction every time a zombie hero showed up.

Of the three, the clear standout (and only one that felt like it even mattered to the overall storyline of the crossover), is Blackest Night: Titans, written by J.T. Krul. First of all, Ed Benes's art breathes much-needed life into the affair, even though he seems to have a predilection for drawing women's butts, like, one-inch from your face (which also made me feel pretty embarrassed while reading this on a crowded subway, where anyone could look over my shoulder and see Starfire's ridiculous costume that you may not want to Google at work). But all that aside, the story still flows much better and with more exciting action than the other two, ultimately culminating in a very clear tie-in to the central Blackest Night series that actually explains a little bit of what was going on. Also, I should say, the only Titans storyline I've ever read is The Judas Contract, and I still did not feel lost by anything happening here. THIS is how you incorporate a multitude of characters without forcing the reader to do research, Geoff Johns.

The other two stories, unfortunately, suffer from interminable boredom and a lack of importance. Peter J. Tomasi's Batman story is borderline awful, setting up a ton of situations that seem to be totally inescapable, and yet our heroes get away with almost no explanation. Also, there is a scene where Deadman possesses Barbara Gordon (who is paralyzed from the waist down), and does a bunch of crazy flips and stunts and combat moves, all utilizing her body, only to explain this away with the single sentence "Good thing Barbara has kept her upper body in such good shape all these years." What? She still wouldn't be able to DO FLIPS.

As for the Superman story: eh. Basically Superman and Superboy fight a bunch of other undead Superguys and then it's over. It doesn't seem to tie-in to the central story at all, and only serves to force an explanation as to why Superman wasn't there throughout the first half of the main Blackest Night storyline. This one is also very missable, and doesn't even feel like it resolves. It just kind of stops.

So, if you're a big fan of Blackest Night, I'd recommend this just for the Titans story, but if you aren't, there is no reason to read this. Nothing special, just standard tie-in mediocrity.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume One of Black Lantern Corps contains three stories, each told over three issues. First, we see Batman (with Dick Grayson under the cowl) and Robin (Damian Wayne) take on resurrected past Batman villains. Deadman pops up again to help them as Barbra and Jim Gordon deal with other Black Lanterns at Gotham PD. The whole thing was okay, but most of the characters fell flat. I did like seeing old villains like The Ventriloquist, but no one got too much time to shine. Dick sees him parents' graves dug up and warns Red Robin that his parents might be in a similar position. The action was good and the art was fine, but I really don't like Deadman. He seems to be a pretty big deal in the Blackest Night stuff, but I had to check Wikipedia (what's new?) to get some background. I imagine we are supposed to think that he's funny, but I found him to be annoying.
Next we get Superman and Superboy defending Smallville from the Black Lanterns and Superman's Earth dad (I know that the black rings are targeting people who will illicit strong emotions from the heroes, but this book is a lot of undead parents). This story felt kind of sloppy. We have Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, Krypto, and Martha Kent taking on a slew of Superman villains and Earth 2's Lois Lane and Superman. The storyline is fine, but the problem comes when we get all of the Black Lanterns; they all look the same. In the main Blackest Night series, part of the fun was checking out all the Black Lanterns on each page and picking out the ones I knew. The Superman issues have made this much more difficult by making all the Black Lanterns have nearly identical costumes and overselling their zombie qualities. It's too much to keep track of already, but adding the difficulty of figuring out who is who was too much.
The last story is three issues of Blackest Night: Titans, which starts with the Teen Titans looking at the statues of fallen members in Titans Tower. Kid Flash is talking about how his statue had to be taken down since he's back now, when the Black Lanterns start popping up. While we see quite a few Teen Titans in this story, it focuses on Donna Troy fighting off her dead son and ex-husband, Dove and Hawk taking on the old Hawk, and Beast Boy taking on Terra. Again, it's just too much jumping back and forth between skirmishes. It was exciting and eventful, but it's too busy.
While I liked continuing to fill out the Blackest Night event and see what other superheroes were up too, everything felt too rushed. Rise of the Black Lanterns was just one shot stories that took only one issue to tell their stories and they had much better pacing and storytelling than this book does. It isn't terrible and I did enjoy it, but there is just so much potential that is squandered. I would have rather had nine issues of one of the stories over these three.

[Justyn Rampa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this volume collects the three issues of Batman, Superman, and Titans. The whole concept is ridiculous, or at least it can be. I think each story handles it in its own way. I found the Batman issues compelling and well done, but I'm also a huge Batman fan. The Superman comics were somewhat absurd as they featured Superman, Superboy, Ma Kent, Supergirl, and Krypto the dog. Now, I didn't say I didn't enjoy it because even though it was absurd, it was also enjoyable. The Titans comic was a little disorienting because I find the Teen Titans costumes a bit ridiculous for one, and I'm just not connected to the Titans enough to really get most of the references. That being said, you had enough context clues to figure it out. The Titans issue walked a line between the previous two in that it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be completely absurd or compelling and grounded in realism. Overall, I really enjoyed the volume but I didn't feel like it was compelling enough on its own as Blackest Night proper was.

[Harry Shim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why I chose this book is it has many stories about it and it has superheros on this book
And I have heard my friends talking about this book.i like this book because it has a really good story and a interesting ending. This Story it has batmans best friend die and make him comeback but a new villain came and was finding superman to kill.

I learnt that batman and superman are teams in this book but in every other book they are enemies. I think they know this vilin that are stronger than both of them so they team up to beat them.

The characters in this book are…

Superman
Batman
Venom
Dr octopus
Carnage
Symboit.

My favourite character in this book was Batman I like him Because he seem calm and very strong.

This book doesn't have any chapters Because it’s a comic

[Pochodnia fandomu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trochę oszukałam, bo przeczytałam tylko jedną historię za drugim razem, ale ćśś

[Nico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was a mixed bag.

It took me awhile to decide on the rating of this, honestly, because both the Bat-family and Titans storylines were A+ easy 5 stars will read again, and Superman storyline in the middle was... yeeahh. Not. It probably rated somewhere in the land of 1.5 because the art was literally the only thing I liked. Anyway. I'll try to do this in order.

The Bat-family storyline: Holy shitballs this gave me all of the possible emotions on the GL colour spectrum. I feared for all their sanity (and safety), I had hope that the Robins would somehow find a way through the utter disaster that was upon them, I had immense love for both Tomasi and the artists/pencilers etc. for creating such a masterpiece, I felt compassion for both Tim and Dick because goddammit their dead parents came back to life and these boys can't get a second of closure, and you better believe I had rage against the Black Lanterns for the pain they put my favourite boys through. As for willpower? Well, after reading this, despite the lack of funds in my savings due to Christmas extravagance, my great willpower led me to purchase this volume despite the odds. Lucky me. Anyway, without getting too spoilery, this was just wonderful. You got ass-whooping, a plethora of Robin banter, drama, tears, Deadman being a helpful yet eternally snarky Deadman, fire, fire, more fire, and a whole lotta feelings. So good.

The Superman/Superboy storyline: I won't spend a lot of time here because I didn't enjoy my stay and frankly the read felt like a waste of time so I won't waste much more on a review. First of all, I'm not a big Superman fan. He just annoys me in whatever universe or version of himself he's in, so yes, I'm biased, I realize that. If you like Superman, give this a try, don't take my word for it. That being said, the writing was often clunky to the point where it took you out of the story to shake your head and wonder how that got past editing. Example from Psycho-Pirate: "Feel the love for everyone. While others feel other things!"
Also Ma's dialogue had me cringing the whole time. My favourite: "Yeah, I'm a widow that's gonna cook your goose!"
Also the use of exclamation points was just overwhelming. Anyways. Enough of that, moving on.

Titans storyline: Alright. So it's no secret that I adore Raven probably more than life itself. So when she was noticeably absent here, I was disappointed. I got even more angry when Tara showed her miserable face (definitely not a fan of her, even less of a fan of her romance with Gar). But, as the story progressed, the plot became about Gar moving on from her and realizing that was wrong to defend her, and OH MAN, was I here for that!! I've been waiting to read Gar speak the way he did at the end for a loooong time now. Also I'm now freaking in love with Dove, holy shit. I have a crush and it's not even subtle. She is absolutely badass and mysterious, and I felt for her so much through the course of this story. Also for poor Donna, heaven help that woman, jeez. When she crushed her baby's skull I was both impressed that it was written (even if the deed was showed off panel), and absolutely shocked at how strong she could be. I need to learn not that Amazon.

Overall, the Bats-family and Titans epic storyline absolutely make up for the Supes one and it definitely adds to my whole understanding of the Blackest Night. Worth reading.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

While ostensibly a Green Lantern story, Blackest Night had a scope that meant that there was no way that the arc was going to be just confined to the pages of the eponymous mini-series and corresponding Green Lantern titles. Of course, this means you are going to get the heavy hitters involved in the form of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, among others. In Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps, Vol. 1 we get two of those three heavy hitters in the form of Batman (kind of) and Superman, as well as the (Teen) Titans.

I'm going to assume that if you are going to go this deep into the Blackest Night apocrypha, you're already aware the main plot line of the mini-series is that Nekron, who is an embodiment of death has risen a bunch of dead heroes and villains as Black Lanterns--effectively a zombie lantern corps that feeds off the emotional spectrum from which the rings get their powers. However, because these zombie heroes are effectively still dead and just avatars for Nekron's nihilism, the "risen" heroes like the Martian Manhunter and the original Firestorm among others can act out of character and the reader doesn't need to question this fact. The fact that the dead allies of the living are there at all is part of Nekron's plan to end all life in the universe and so they shouldn't act as they did when they were alive. Why is this important? Because this is the conceit that drives the three mini-series contained in this volume, with varying degrees of success.

The highlight of this volume is the Superman story, in which Superman goes up against the zombie Earth-2 Superman, who had been killed in the pages of Infinite Crisis. Evil Superman is always fun, and again, given how the Black Lanterns act in Blackest Night it is easy to suspend disbelief and enjoy the Superman v. Superman action. By contrast, the Titans arc in this collection is the weakest, focusing on Beast Boy/Changeling and a sub-plot from Wolfman and Perez's New Teen Titans with the eventual point of revealing that Dove has the ability to stop the Black Lanterns, which later becomes crucial in the main Blackest Night book. The problem with Changeling's part in all of this is that unlike Earth 2 Superman, who is a joy to behold out of character, the focus of Changeling's Black Lantern friend/foe isn't really acting out of character, as that character was pretty much a shitty person to begin with. So when we see Changeling questioning his feelings for this newly risen character, you would think he had resolved it all back in the Wolfman/Perez days.

The fact is that going into Black Lantern Corps, vol 1 I did not have the highest expectations. These sorts of stories are always beholden to the main publisher "event." When I read something like this, I just hope that maybe one of the creative teams will be able to craft a good story despite the limitations imposed by the "event." I am not shocked that of the three series included in this trade, the one I enjoyed the most was by James Robinson, whose Starman is brilliant. There's a reason why it seems that the cream always rises to the top.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this was way better than I expected it to be. I don't know why I didn't think it was going to be that great, considering I think that Blackest Night is one of the most solid DC events ever. I'm just going to go through and give my thoughts on each story for Batman, Superman and Titans.

Batman: My least favorite of the three, though that's not to say it wasn't good. The inclusion of Deadman was the best part for me. He's such an interesting character and he fits extremely well into this event. I thought Tim Drake was a bit irritating in this story - it's like, come on, Tim, these are not your parents, dude. As always, it's cool to see Dick Grayson in the Batman suit, though there were times when I honestly forgot that Dick was behind the cowl and not Bruce.

Superman: So, the art in this story was real weird for me. Sometimes the faces of Superman and the people in Smallville look really creepy and scary. There's this barber on the first page of issue #2 and oh my god, he looks like the Joker or something. Other than the art, I enjoyed it. Earth-2 Kal-L and Lois are formidable Black Lanterns. Psycho Pirate was also a Black Lantern and I was just like, jeez, I would not want to fight that match up. Martha Kent and Krypto have some things to do here that show that they are capable in their own right. Good stuff.

Titans: Titans is admittedly the one out of the three I know the least about. My knowledge of the Titans is pretty much the extent the the cartoon and various bits and pieces of information I've picked up about it over the years. But damn, this story was brutal, the most brutal out of the three. Even though, these aren't characters I'm super attached to, I felt for them. I was shook when Donna Troy's dead baby came back as a Black Lantern and then she smashes his head between her hands. Like DAMN. And Beast Boy is over here crying over having to kill fucking Black Lantern Terra. Hey, man, at least you didn't have to kill your BABY. Dove's sister being murdered by Black Lantern Hank Hall was also savage as hell. They really didn't pull any punches with Titans. Honestly, this was my favorite of the three.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stories tying-in to the Blackest Night event story, in which black power rings resurrect fallen heroes and villains to murder their living counterparts.
In the first story, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake have to confront their dead parents with help from Deadman. The second story sees Superman and Superboy going toe-to-toe with Kal-L, the dead Superman of Earth-2. The third story sees the Teen Titans confronted by lost loved-ones and having to deal with the trauma of loss whilst also surviving the murderous undead.

Know going in that this is a pretty dark and grim book. It involves the main character not only dealing with the pain of some of the worst bereavements of their lives but also with hordes of seemingly invincible zombies hell-bent on eating human hearts. And you genuinely see one of the main heroes featured here have their heart ripped out and eaten, so don’t underestimate how dark things get.
Personally, that tone didn’t work great for me here. I’m perfectly happy to read bleak and grim stories, but it’s not really something I want to see in a book starring Batman, Superman and the Teen Titans. That’s just a personal preference.

Where this book really falls down is simply a product of its nature. It’s a tie-in to the main event and, as such, doesn’t teach you anything of the origins of these Black Lanterns, doesn’t show how they’re defeated and, ultimately, is little more than a sideshow to the main event.
Now, I’ve read the main event, so I can forgive a certain amount of these faults but if you’ve not got your hands on ‘Blackest Night’, you’ll be left without a beginning or and end to the narrative featured here.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will serve as my review for all of the "Blackest Night" graphic novels as a collection.

I feel that someone needs to do a list of in what order to read all of this. Because . . . it's a lot. And when you read the individual stories from the various points of view, there are chapters missing that are filled in by reading a different story. Only when you've read the entire collection can you see how all the pieces fit together, and that wasn't super fun for me. But it's still a fun read. I almost decided to call these "comic books" but there was enough depth and commentary on the human condition that I think they qualify as "graphic novels." The idea that there are these 7 emotions present in basically all sentient life across the universe I find interesting, as well as the idea that combining the emotions all together is, in the end, the healthiest way to exist.

Of note were three individual stories that I found myself moved by:

1. The story of Saint Walker becoming the first blue lantern moved me quite a bit. The "religion" he espouses is a little cliche, but I was glad to see it represented. He may be a fictional character, but that attitude of "all will be well" is one that I still aspire to.

2. The story of Wonder Girl having to kill the Black Lantern versions of her dead husband and dead infant son was heartbreaking.

3. The story of Wonder Woman and the guardians at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington was pitch perfect. Those two soldiers, wearing dress uniforms and with no real weaponry, absolutely would stand up and continue to guard the Tomb against all of the risen Black Lanterns from the rest of Arlington National Cemetery and yes, would be pure will.

Enjoyed the series. Might enjoy a re-read now that I have all the parts (and I did go back to re-read some of it, and yes it made more sense with all the puzzle pieces). 4 stars overall.

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit worried about the series diverting from Lanterns into more established stories with other familiar DC names, but it worked well as a way of continuing the Darkest Night story.

The Batman issues were probably my favourite, as Dick, Tim and Damian deal with the trauma of lost parents, in the face of an unrelenting onslaught as Gotham is under siege. The Superman issues were fine, but nothing especially memorable apart from Martha Kent showing herself to be the smartest person in this series yet. I struggled a little with major storylines from the past clearly playing a role (Kal-L? Whoever the weird Lois zombie was?), but it still served to propel the story forward and Psycho Pirate was an interesting addition.

I should have loved the Titans section best, as it certainly packed the biggest emotional punch. However, I did struggle with the depiction of the female Titans - especially if they are indeed teens! The young women were drawn in an overly sexualised way, and it put me off from the story, which is a shame because the threads with Dove and Gar in particular were great. I've been spoiled by Babs Tarr's Batgirl in my expectations for what a female superhero can and should look like.

Still, an excellent entry to this continuing saga, and I look forward to finding out what happens next.

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Blackest Night books are a mixed bag.

While I enjoyed the main story when I read it fourteen years ago, I remember that my interest in the side stories depended on my interest in the main titles. Therefore, the Batman story should be , and was, my favorite. It's from the era where Dick Grayson was Batman, Damien Wayne was Robin, and Tim Drake was Red Robin, and they were still figuring out how to be a Batfamily without Bruce Wayne. The atual Blackest Night part of the story, where each Robin/former Robin has to battle their dead parents was very silly and ineffective, but I liked the larger story around it, and watching their interactions.

I was expecting to be less thrilled with the Superman books, as I barely ever care about Clark Kent and his extended family, but this was a solid, brief story where Martha Wayne gets to kick a little ass, and we see Krypton through the eyes of Supergirl instead of Superman.

The Titans story was over my head. I need to go back and read the Teen Titans/Titans from the 90s and 2000s, as I dipped out in the 80s for no good reason. So while I wasn't engaged, I don't blame the creative team.

If you're reading the main Blackest Night book, and are looking for a side book or two to add to it, this might be the one for you. Particularly if you're a Batman or Superman fan.

[Elder Magalhães Campi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Em um enredo carregado de emoção e horror, “Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Volume 1” reúne três minisséries do universo DC: Batman, Superman e os Jovens Titãs enfrentando uma ameaça apocalíptica: seus entes queridos ressuscitados como temíveis Lanternas Negros. A história costura ação, tragédia e tensão sobrenatural com habilidade, elevando o sentimento de urgência e o peso emocional de cada confronto  .

O roteiro de Robinson, Tomasi e Krul equilibra bem as batalhas épicas com momentos de introspecção, mostrando como heróis reagem ao retorno dos que já partiram—e as implicações devastadoras disso. As ilustrações de Barrows, Syaf e Benes intensificam o impacto, com cenas viscerais e visuais que carregam tanto o desespero quanto a esperança  .

Um thriller gráfico envolvente que explora medo, redenção e perda num universo heroico. Ideal para fãs de cliclismo emocional e narrativas visuais poderosas. Recomendo fortemente para quem busca uma saga de super-heróis com toque sombrio e cenas inesquecíveis.

[Graham Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not going to lie I'm really enjoying the Blackest Latern event and this is another tie in. I'm not fully up to speed with the other characters and stories so a few things I did have to read up on like who's died and how, why there are multiple Kal-els etc, however the stories are so good you don't mind doing a little bit of back reading to catch up.

Really 3 stories - Batman & Robin fighting the newest resurrected Black Lanterns with a nice little cameo from Deadman. Next up Superman and Superboy do the same with a little help from Krypto and Martha. Finally Teen Titans. The Titans one I did find the creepiest as they brought back a baby and haunted Donna with the dead baby which was so cruel and really made think wow this is so dark. Also incredible upsetting as all the Black Lanterns are friends/family/personal enemies that mean something to the hero they are haunting. Honestly it should have an age rating on!

Can't wait to get started on vol 2. So I'm starting right now 😆

[Grant Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complimentary side-stories to Blackest Night involving Batman, Superman, and the Teen Titans.

First time reading this and it was a feels trip. Heroes dealing with the pain of loss for their deceased love ones and the sadness they experienced being weaponized against them.

While I don't think its an "Essential" part to Blackest Night it does give the reader more insight into the event and how the various heros of earth dealt with undead on their own turf.

[Pho · Rating 5 out of 5]

it a very good book because it is a first event for black lantern that present just black lantern .
so in the end most of the people die because that is the power of black lantern but .
and most of the hero turn to black lantern but it still have two hero that doesn't turn to a black lantern and he is green lantern and yellow lantern

[Jorge Reyes · Rating 2 out of 5]

En general me gustó...como entretenimiento, un tanto superficial y fácil. En realidad no es mi estilo, pero creo que de vez en cuanto conviene leer este tipo de material, tampoco es que caiga muy bajo en cuanto a la narrativa o la ilustración.
Continuaré leyendo, esperando que el nivel de los argumentos suba.

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because of the complexity of it. It had the character constantly in a fight with them self and you on the edge of your seat. It also went into deep history on about some of the characters like Batman, Robin, Superman and The Teen Titans. They are different stories but tie into one another perfectly. I personal love the DC universe because I have grown up with it and this didn't disappoint me. I would recommend this to anybody that like DC character and is okay with a little bit of profanity and gruesome(It only gets about as gruesome as the cover).