Even before their “official” team takes over the book, James Robinson and Mark Bagley are having some fun with the remnants of the previous team in this Blackest Night crossover. The rag-tag team, including Vixen, Gypsy, Dr. Light,Zatanna, Red Tornado, and Plastic Man, stand in the broken husk of the Hall of Justice, where the Black Lantern corpses of many of their enemies have recently arisen. It’s not just the enemies they’ll need to deal with — Gypsy and Vixen find themselves facing their late teammate Vibe, Zatanna confronts the soulless corpse of her own father, and Dr. Light seeks out the villain whose name she has been trying to redeem for years.

As always, Robinson’s grasp of character is impeccable. He puts these heroes through real Hell, and they’ve started from a pretty nasty place to begin with. The duel between Zatanna and Zatara is epic, exciting stuff. Zee already had to watch her own father’s soul destroyed in the Reign in Hell series — fighting his body, battling him spell for spell… it’s wonderful. We also get some really good stuff here with Dr. Light. In fact, Robinson in general has become quite the champion of that character, both here and in Superman.

Bagley isn’t just one of the top artists in the business because he’s consistent. He’s also good. The women especially look good here, and the slowly-melting Plastic Man looks like he’s in major agony. Bad for Plas, of course, but it’s impressive in the terms of the artwork.

This story tales place after Robinson’s Cry For Justice miniseries which — as of this writing — still has two issues to go. But between that title and this one, I’m more than satisfied that the book is going to be in very good hands.

Rating: 8/10