DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLACKEST NIGHT #4

Blackest Night

December 2009

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Ivan Reis

Inks by Oclair Albert with Joe Prado

Covers by Ivan Reis and Ethan Van Sciver

Synopsis

At the headquarters of the Justice League of America, various heroes are confronted by the dead in the form of Black Lanterns.  The Atom is able to pull The Flash and Mera away from the fight.  In Gotham City, the Black Lanterns don’t scare the Scarecrow. Only Batman can scare him.  In Metropolis, Lex Luthor doesn’t care about anyone else.  If the dead are rising, he has his own problems.  Meanwhile, Atom, Flash, and Mera plot a course in an attempt to defend Earth against the Black Lanterns.  The Flash runs to Coast City as he communicates what he knows to the rest of the hero community.  Atom and Mera contact the Justice Society, hoping Alan Scott’s power can diffuse the Black Lanterns power ring the way Hal Jordan’s ring had done.  However, it doesn’t seem to work.  As they fight, the power levels of the Black Lanterns reaches 100%.  In Coast City, Black Hand witnesses the rise of Nekron. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

The ending did little for me.  I do not know who (or “what” as the upcoming banner asks) Nekron is or what he means to the Green Lantern mythos.  To me it is just another Black Lantern; whatever importance he might have is lost on me.  The problem with the ending is not so much that lack of identity, but the lack of anything interesting or appealing occurring in the pages that come before it.  While I have to admit that Johns and Reis are crafting a terrific story and have peppered this issue with some cool scenes, the individual parts don’t make up a good sum.  There is very little in this issue that expands upon the events of the previous issues or pushes the narrative into a direction.  It is a variation on the same plot points we had seen before, with the dead rising to confront the living and the heroes trying to find a way to fight the dead.  We are essentially waiting until the power levels reach 100% and because of that, it feels as if Johns is marking time until he gets there.  And it when we get there, not knowing Nekron makes the entire thing underwhelming.

That is not to say there aren’t some cool moments littered in this issue.  My favorite is Atom reunion that forms the core of the battle with the Justice Society.  Johns has always been able to get to the core of the characters and find the emotional beats and that ability is on display with this sequence.  Moreover, it works in the context of the series since it gets to the core of the Black Lanterns and their affect on the living.  The same can’t be said for the Scarecrow and Luthor scenes.  I liked the monochromatic view of the Scarecrow and his disappointed the Black Lanterns don’t scare him.  And I also liked the way Luthor is getting ready to bunker down and protect himself from those he had killed.  Sadly, neither of these two scenes are connected to the main narrative there and I am uncertain whether they will pay off down the road, but as individual moments, it works. 

Ultimately, this feels more like a tie-in to the main series than the actual main series itself.  There is a lot going on, but none of it seems to have an impact on the plot.  In fact, Hal’s adventures seem more like the main series; after all, it is Hal who will eventually return to Earth to defeat the Black Lanterns.  It also doesn’t help that an issue of Green Lantern was released on the same day that features Hal and the others building their Light Corp to combat the Black Lanterns. 

Comic Connection

Nekron first appeared in the first volume of the  Tales Of Green Lantern Corps, issue #2 (June 1981).  Nekron is the embodiment of death and a ruler of hell.