DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLACKEST NIGHT #2

Blackest Night

October 2009

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Ivan Reis

Inks by Oclair Albert

Covers by Philip Tan and Mauro Cascioli

Synopsis

In St. Roch, Hawkman and Hawkgirl have become Black Lanterns.  In Ivy Town, Ray Palmer tries to contact his friend, Hawkman.  In Gotham City, Commissioner Gordon and his daughter Barbara wait on the rooftop for the arrival of Batman.  Instead, Hal Jordan comes smashing into the skylight.  In Amnesty Bay, Tempest and Queen Mera are about to move the remains of Aquaman, but find the grave empty.  Aquman is now a member of the Black Lanterns.  In Gotham City, Boston Brand (aka Deadman) tries to stop the Black Lanterns from raising himself, but fails.  Later, Shadowpact along with the Phantom Stranger and the Spectre inspect the grave of Boston Brand.  There, they are confronted by Pariah and Black Hand.  The Spectre then becomes a member of the Black Lanterns.  Meanwhile, Mera fights Aquaman while Tempest is confronted by Black Lanterns Tula and Dolphin.  They kill him and Tempest rises as a Black Lantern.  Meanwhile, Hal Jordan shakes off the fall and returns to the fight with Barry Allen against Black Lantern J’onn J’onzz.  Hal and Barry think they have defeated J’onn, but quickly learn he is still going.  And he is joined by other Black Lanterns.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Why isn’t Black Lantern Ray Palmer sitting on the shoulder of Black Lantern Hawkman on the final page of this issue?  It would’ve been the perfect ending to the set-up of the first few pages. 

In many ways this is still part of the set-up as we are still getting the Black Lanterns rising up from the literal grave and trying to recruit new members.  We have not learned much of what they want or what the ultimate goal would be (unless the ultimate goal is to turn the entire universe into the walking dead, so who knows).  At the moment, however, Black Lanterns seem to be targeting only those with superpowers, so I suspect there must be an endgame to something.  Anyway, the issue is devoted to various Black Lanterns combing back (or not) as Zombies and to the Black Lanterns who have already returned fighting the living.  Most of the issue is devoted to an extended fight sequence with Aquaman and his supporting cast of alive and dead characters (including zombie sharks!).  The rest is just small snapshots here and there to set the stage for the upcoming main conflict (whatever it may be).  This issue is essentially filler and could’ve become boring, lacking excitement and zing as the issue trudges along to its cliffhanger, but Reis’ artwork brilliantly tells the story and keeps the action moving forward while Johns ability to easily and quickly encapsulate the characters keeps the drama and the action intense and purposeful.  There wasn’t wasted moment in this issue; seemingly everything has relevance.  Yet, it is still the typical “gathering of the troops” plot device.  At some point, Johns will have to kick the plot into gear.  As long as it is remains as good as the set-up, we are in for one hell of a ride. 

The conversation between the two Gordons was interested.  It seemed to hint at the fact that the Commissioner was fully aware of his daughter’s secret life as Batgirl.  If he didn’t know, why would he specifically mention her, as opposed to when Batman disappeared, you know, the multiple times he has been gone from Gotham City. 

The scene with the Spectre was weird.  I can understand Cris Allen coming back to life, since he had to die in order to become the Spectre.  But how could a magical, mystical, spirit become a Black Lantern?  Is it because Allen is still dead, even if he is a zombie.  But if Allen is now zombie, why wouldn’t the spirit just simply leave?  Does the black power ring lock the Spectre where he is?  Am I thinking about this way too much?

The scene with Hawk and Dove was interesting because the rings could not make Don Hall (aka Dove) rise from the dead.  Does this mean that if one is at peace with their death, they do not have to rise back up?  Does this mean that all of the characters that have come back to life were unsettled in their deaths?  One common theme about ghosts in the “real world” is that the linger after death because there is something not completed or unsettled with their lives.  It actually forms the basis of shows like the Ghost Whisperer.”  It makes sense for Johns t go down this route, but it is also weird that so far only one character remains at peace.  Don died during the first Crisis saving a young boy from the attack by the Anti-monitor. 

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