DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLACKEST NIGHT #8

Blackest Night

May 2010

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Ivan Reis

Inks by Oclair Albert and Joe Prado

Covers by Ivan Reis and Doug Mahnke

Synopsis

In Coast City, Sinestro has merged with the Entity of Life to become a White Lantern.  Sinestro attacks Nekron, literally ripping out his heart.  Nekron rises from the dead and attacks Sinestro.  Just then, more Lanterns arrive to help.  They attack en masse against Nekron, but the power rings have little effect.  Suddenly, Deadman appears and tells Hal Jordan that Nekron exists only because he is connection to the land of the living via Black Hand.  To defeat Black Hand they must find a way to get Black Hand’s heart beating again.  Meanwhile, Nekron severs the Entity’s connection to Sinestro.  Nekron then prepares to destroy the Entity.  Nekron allowed everyone to come back from the dead, but no more.  Jordan tells him that Nekron didn’t do it, he did it.  They all chose life.  Jordan then merges with the Entity, but everyone is connected.  All of the former dead superheroes become a part of the White Lantern Corps.  They then choose Life for Black Hand.  He rises to life.  Suddenly, the Anti-Monitor breaks free of the black power battery.   Nekorn sends the Anti-Monitor back to is own dimension.  But without the power, Nekron is destroyed.  In the process, 12 selected individuals return to life, rejoining their loves ones.  Or their enemies.  Meanwhile, Black Hand is taken prisoner by the Indigo Tribe.  Later, Hal and Barry realize that they need to break away from the past and the blackest night and head into tomorrow.   

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

If there is anything I have learned in the past 4 or so years that I have been reading and reviewing comic books for this site is that no story really ends.  It just reaches a point where it changes and becomes another story.  That is extremely evident here as Johns finds a conclusion for Blackest Night that serves in a way as the prologue for Brightest Day.  Does that make this a bad comic?  Certainly not, but knowing where the story is going next certainly does change how a writer would end the story.  In this case, Johns was well aware that he was bringing characters back to life, so he needed to find an ending that reflected the resurrections.  The fact that it works is a compliment to Johns; this was a great, and fitting, conclusion to the story.  It hits all of the right beats, ties up everything it needed to, and then effortlessly leads it into the next big Event.  Will everyone be pleased?  Probably not.  I am sure there will be some who will complain the ending wasn’t bombastic enough.  Or certain characters didn’t get the space/panels they deserve to really shine. There will be others who will complain the resurrections were editorially chosen rather than emerging logically from the script.  Still others will complain about the non-ending.  Some may grumble at the use of Deadman as a dues ex machina for the plot. 

I will concede that all of the above are legitimate criticisms and I wouldn’t be bothered if anyone dislikes the comic for those reasons. As for me?  I don’t care.  I loved this series, I loved the ending, and I loved this comic.  The emotional payoffs for a lot of the characters are wonderful; I was very pleased with the way a lot of the storylines played out.  I especially liked the reunion between lovers (Arthur and Mera as well as Carter and Kendra) and the fade away by Maxwell Lord and the confusion from Boston Brand on suddenly being part of the living.  I also liked Larfleeze and the way he gave back Lex Luthor, which was totally at odds with his avarice nature.  Overall, I don’t care about any of the problems with this issue because in my opinion, Johns found the right ending and hit the right notes.  It is not perfect, but I loved it.   

It is interesting that in the conclusion to Flash: Rebirth (also written by Johns) I complained how the story ended halfway through the issue and the final pages were simply devoted to setting up future stories.  The exact same thing happens here, yet it didn’t bother me.  I think the difference is that Nekorn is defeated around page 22, which is the normal size of a comic book.  In that regard, it felt like I was reading a full comic, and then had extra pages.  In contrast, the Reverse Flash was defeated in about 11 pages, which is half the comic.  So, I guess Rebirth was not so much the structure of the story, but the use of the available pages. 

The entire situation with Sinestro grabbing the white light was basically just a trick, a shift in the plot that makes the reader think something different and/or special has occurred.  It was a momentary shift in the story, designed to generate a twist cliffhanger.  In reality, it had no impact on the plot and negligible impact on the overall story. At the end of the day, Jordan (with an assist from Deadman) still was the one who defeated Nekron and saved the world.  There is no reason Jordan could’ve become the White Lantern and while he was uselessly bombarded Nekron with White Light, realize what he really needed to do win, and then do what he did. 

I agree with many who complain about the choice of those that returned to life and the choice of those that remained dead (why Garth?).  However, I have to add that the choice of those who lived and died was dictated by what DC wants to do next and, yes, it was editorial driven, but you con’t really complain about it until you see what they do with them first.  Again, I have to give Johns credit for writing each resurrection with a great scene showcasing the characters and providing just enough to give each an impactful moment to tease Brightest Day. 

Finally, I will save the best for last:  Ivan Reis.  And I do mean the best.  The art is freaking gorgeous and the storytelling is crisp and clear. Take a look at the two-page splash of the back-up arriving to help.  Note Wonder Woman against Max Lord or Starfire hitting Martian Manhunter with fire or Hawk versus Dove or Superman against Power Girl or Black Canary’s cry tearing about Black Lantern.  Brilliant stuff.  On top of all that, Reis managed to draw all eight issues by himself within a 9-month period, even with an extra large-size finale.  Hell, I’ve got the fold-out page as my desktop wallpaper; space in the past I have reserved for works by Alex Ross and Jim Lee.  It is that good.  I hope DC gives Reis a well-deserved pay raise and vacation, but not too long because he needs to get back to work as soon as possible. 

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