Since I’ve more or less decided to review all the chapters of Blackest Night here at Evertime Realms, I went back and pulled out the zero issue released in may for Free Comic Book Day. Produced by the same creative team — Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis — that will handle the regular miniseries, this issue takes place just after the Green Lantern #43 I reviewed the other day.
Hal Jordan is joined by his best friend, Barry Allen. Both the Green Lantern and the Flash are heroes who have come back from death, a feat that has been accomplished by a lot of people across the DC Universe. Today, though, they ponder those who haven’t come back from death’s door, and perhaps more importantly, why they did.
One of the central themes that Johns says will be explored in Blackest Night is the question of why so many superheroes seem to be able to cheat death again and again, and this issue sets up that theme nicely. It’s also a good focus on Hal and Barry as friends. Their own friendship is explored, as is their relationships to certain fallen heroes that we know will show their faces as Black Lanterns. (At this point at least five different Black Lanterns have been confirmed through solicitations and the like, but I won’t mention them here). Basically, the point of this book is to show the readers the chessboard. It reminds us where all the pieces are, who is in play and who isn’t, and gets us ready for the main event.
The book also features a series of pages drawn by Green Lantern artist Doug Mahnke. Each spread features a different one of the eight corps and points out the key players in each one. For those who may not have been reading the last two years of the two Green Lantern titles (more the fool you), it’ll get you up to speed quickly.
So that’s it. The prologues have been read, the players are all in place, and the Blackest Night is about to be unleashed. More than any time in my life of reading comics, I just can’t wait for Wednesday.
RATING: 7/10
Since we all do have to wait for Wednesday, though, how about you take a look at some of the other reviews I’ve written lately over at Comixtreme?
- Astro City: The Dark Age Book Three #3
- Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #2
- Gotham City Sirens #1
- Incredibles: Family Matters #2
- Incredibles: Family Matters #3
- Literals #3
- The Muppet Show #4
- Secret Six #11
- Superman #689
- Done-In-One Reviews for June 27, 2009-In which I review The Actress and the Bishop #1, Batman: The Brave and the Bold #6, Buck Rogers #1, Cars: The Rookie #3, Dynamo 5 #22, Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors #1, The Last Days of Animal Man #2, Perhapanauts #6, PVP #42, The Spirit #30, Star Wars: Legacy #37 and Zorro #14
- Done-In-One Reviews for July 4, 2009-In which I review Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #26, Chew #2, Finding Nemo: Reef Rescue #1, Greek Street #1, Irredeemable #4, Jonah Hex #45, The Mighty #6, Muppet Robin Hood #2, and Toy Story: Mysterious Stranger #2
- Done-In-One Reviews for July 11, 2009-In which I review Archie’s Double Digest #200, House of Mystery #15, The Stand: American Nightmares #4 and The Unwritten #4
Secret Six is one of the best comics being published right now, but villain-focused comics rarely last. What makes Secret Six different? And why do villain titles fizzle out?
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