Tpull's Weekly DC Comics Review – Part 2
Blackest Night 7
by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
The story starts off with a bang. Not only is every page gorgeous, but Johns manages to mention in the first couple of pages to mention that Ganthet has an agreement with Larfleeze to be his slave when Nekron is vanquished, and that the multi-colored beams, which can sever the normal connections of the black rings, have no negative effect on Nekron himself, or the black battery. The exposition feels natural, does not overly clutter up the page, and works to fill in someone if they are a brand new reader. This is the best way to write a comic book event like this, folks.
Each page has some vital information to clue in and/or remind the reader of the unique nature of each character, to include the recent retroactive continuity that Johns himself wrote into the Green Lantern origin, with Black Hand remembering Atrocitus’ attempt to kill him years ago. There are little jewels sprinkled everywhere in this mag, including Scarecrow having the most wonderful time of his life, reveling in the horror of it all, and sparking off the most colossal backstabbing at the precisely “wrongest” moment: Luthor greedily wants the moment, the ring, everything to himself. Instead of fighting with the others as he has been recruited to do, Luthor goes off the reservation and tries to collect everyone’s rings!
Out in Earth’s orbit, the invasion by Xanth is interrupted with the timely arrival of the rest of the entire colored corps, all side by side, in a two-page splash that is worthy of study. Unlike the scenes in other comics where they have Mon-el or Superman slugging some nameless villain you’d have to look up on the internet, most of these characters are people we have been introduced to relatively recently in the two Green lantern series. They all belong there, and are integral parts of the ongoing story, not some meaningless popcorn thrown on the page to eat up some space. Plus: Luthor secretly wants to be Superman. Thank you, Wonder Woman’s lasso! (Although we all knew that already, right?)
For the exciting conclusion, Nekron kills a Guardian and yanks out his multi-colored organs, pressing them to the ground in a ceremony that is slightly reminiscent of a Native American ritual. He calls forth an angelic being, all white, that represents the light of all life. As Nekron attacks it, every living thing feels pain. Ganthet finally speaks to the truth: life began on Earth, not on Oa. Here, Geoff Johns gives a better reason than any ever before given as a reason for the DC Earth to be so special, to always play such a pivotal role in cosmic events. Ganthet claims they created this deception to protect the entity, but conveniently leaves out the fact that the lie helped them to create the mystique surrounding the Corps as the legitimate authority in the cosmos.
Hal heads towards the entity to act as the pilot for it, but Sinestro heads him off: Hal had his moment when he hosted Parallax! Sinestro is successful!!!!
…I can’t wait for the next issue. What better compliment can you give a comic book?
Blackest Night: JSA 3
by Tony Bedard, James Robinson, Eddy Barrows, Marcos Marz, and Eduardo Pansica
Cool cover, good corpse recap for the first couple pages, followed by a two-page splash of Power Girl fighting Black Lantern Superman-2. The formula for these mini-series is still being followed, and the concluding issue brings it home. Mister Terrific holds the people he needs with him, while Superman beats the crap out of everybody else in a holding action.
It’s hard to tell which artist did the work on which page, but they all do an excellent job. The most moving part, though, is the race between revived Johnny Quick, a long-beloved and missed hero, and his daughter, Jesse. She leads him on a race together, reminding her of her childhood time spent with him, always just out of reach and barely out of danger from his touch. At the end, he melts away, and we feel her selfishness at using this as one more attempt to spend time with him, and her sorrow at knowing it wasn’t really him, but still sad to see him go away.
Mister Terrific’s plan comes together in the nick of time, but conveniently with components that can’t be re-created. They do manage to clear the entire city of New York of the Black Lantern threat, which is on a bigger scale than any of the other teams have done, so that’s a plus in the column of the JSA. This is something the JLA should have been able to accomplish, if they weren’t in such sad shape right now. Another good BN tie-in.
The Flash: Rebirth 6
by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver
This issue and mini-series ends with Barry arriving at his welcome back party, saying, “Sorry I’m late.” It’s classic Barry, and humorous for the moment, but also appropriate for the lateness of this series. As if we haven’t had enough embarrassing moments of lateness from Marvel and DC both, the idea of the fastest man alive having his comic come out so late each time has to fall under irony.
That aside, if you can read all of this in one sitting, it comes across pretty well. I read it first, just to have some sense of letting it “catch up” with the rest of my reading stack this week. Barry arrives in the nick of time to stop Zoom from killing Iris, helped along by Wally. They steer him towards the containment device that cuts him off from the Negative speed force, and all of the speedsters get to participate in a Flash parade. The end-notes show us Dr. Alchemy has escaped Iron Heights, both Eobard Thawne and Zolomon Hunter are locked up, and Abra Kadabra is on the loose too. Zoom’s meddling has created some new effect in the Gorilla City jungle, and the Rogues are planning on how to handle their returned nemesis.
I always seem to think that DC’s artists are more worth waiting for than the late ones over at Marvel, but if you can get around the tardiness, I think this will actually read better together in one sitting, so the ones who wait for the trade might experience this better. I know I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it came out in monthly installments, at least.
Green Arrow 30
by J. T. Krul and Diogenes Neves
This title has been such a mess for so long, I couldn’t bear to purchase it, but I took a chance on the BN tie-in. Krul actually gives a better story than I can ever remember, packing in some emotional content that has weight to it. I’m already a fan of Diogenes Neves, and the way they show the real Ollie, and his perception as the Black Lantern-possessed version of him does things, is neat. The clever way the Lantern twists Ollie’s thoughts to pervert them into harmful weapons is lovely.
Unlike what is going on with the Siege tie-ins at Marvel, we catch some scenes from the main Blackest Night event that do not feel overly repetitive, and the emotional struggle feels just as important as the physical fight. It’s the best Green Arrow story I have read in years, and it just might convince me to follow Krul’s new story arc with Ollie and Roy coming up.
Madame Xanadu 20
by Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley
The saga concludes, with the story of Rome segueing into the story of Camelot, and the introduction of Merlin. By the end, we have caught up with where this series started at hits first issue, with a better idea of Xanadu’s place in this world, and her rivalry with her sister. The pictures often cut off the prose of history, which can be mildly irritating, but the purpose is to have the story carried by the pictures, and have just enough of the words to catch the gist without getting mired down in the details.
Hadley’s art gives us a great environment that would feel out of place if this was your conventional capes and tights kind of adventure. It’s a solid story, with the art fitting the genre very well, unlike a lot of this stuff being used for super-heroes, which doesn’t mix as well. They have me wondering what’s next, and looking forward to it, whatever it is. I hope they can keep this good stuff going.
Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.
