Comic Book Review: Blackest Night #0

The Revolution has been excited about the upcoming Blackest Night event. So, naturally, the free comic that I was most looking forward to reading was Blackest Night #0. This is an excellent opportunity for DC to hook in new readers to this big event. DC has already sold readers like me. Now it is time to reel in readers who have never read either Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps. Let’s go ahead and hit this review for Blackest Night #0.

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Ivan Reis and Doug Mahnke
Inks: Oclair Albert, Rob Hunter and Doug Mahnke

Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Hal at Bruce Wayne’s grave. Hal thinks about how there is a war between the different colored lights of the spectrum. Hal Jordan introduces himself. He talks about how he has always been a guy trying to prove that he was not afraid of anything or anyone. Hal stares at Bruce’s tombstone and thinks that no matter how brightly his green light shines today that it will not be able to get rid of the shadows.

Hal flashes back to a time when he and Batman got into a verbal disagreement on a JLA mission. Batman was mad that Hal’s shining ring blew Batman’s cover as he was hiding in the shadows. Hal retorted that Batman’s only super power was to hide in shadows. We then flashback to the end of Final Crisis with Superman holding Batman’s dead body.

Suddenly, Barry Allen appears on the scene. (Why of course he does.) Barry asks if this is it. No big funeral or speeches. Hal replies that this is how Alfred wanted it in order to distance Batman’s death with Bruce Wayne’s death. Evidently, Batman has not been publicly declared dead. Hal says that Robin still insists that Bruce is not really gone.

Barry answers that Dick is holding onto hope. Just like how Dick always gave Batman hope. Hal replies that he meant Tim Drake, the current Robin.

Hal then recreates the scene from Barry’s funeral with his power ring. Hal says that Barry’s funeral was huge with people that literally came from everywhere including parallel worlds and gorilla cities.

Hal says that his funeral was just the opposite. His funeral was held after Hal had been infected by Parallax and everyone had thought that he was dead. Hal says that his tombstone was desecrated, not by enemies, but by old allies. Hal says that Barry died a saint and Hal died a sinner.

Hal continues that everything changed after Barry died. That the world became darker and more violent. The Justice League of America was no longer untouchable.

We cut to Arthur Curry’s body on the ocean floor. Hal explains that Aquaman was killed after spending months trapped in some mutated state. We cut to Arthur Curry’s tombstone. Hal says that there were rumors of Aquaman’s resurfacing during Darkseid’s attack. But that they were just that. Rumors. (Damn! That has to be the fastest retcon every. Seriously, Morrison had Aquaman appear in Final Crisis #7. I know it was just one panel, but that has to be some kind of retcon record to already be retconning Final Crisis just three months after it ended. At least Morrison is used to other writers always ignoring and retconning his stories away.)

Barry says that death is not the end for super heroes. Barry says that he is proof of that. So are Hal, Ollie and Clark. Barry says that something has pried the door open. That there is a bigger force at work here. Barry says that if there is an escape then they can bet that Batman is already planning it. Barry says that Batman always had a plan.

Hal talks about how Martian Manhunter was murdered. That the heart and soul of the Justice League of America is now gone. And now Batman is gone as well. Hal says that he might not have been as close to Bruce like Hal was with Barry. But, after all was said and done, that they were friends.

We flashback to Hal alone with Batman. Hal just learned about the fact that Batman saw his parents get murdered. Batman comments that he knows Hal saw his father die in a plane crash. Hal comments “No wonder we’re both screwed up.” Batman gets a smirk and replies “Speak for yourself.”

Barry tells Hal that Bruce, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter were his friends too. Barry says that he will not stop hoping that they find their way back just like he and Hal did. Hal and Barry then leave the graveyard.

We then see Black Hand arrive in the graveyard and start digging at a grave. We see the tombstones of Ralph and Sue Dibny as well as Ronnie Raymond (Firestorm). We see Hawkman, Hawkgirl and the Atom (It has got to be Ray Palmer) flying over the graveyard.

Black Hand recited the Oath of the Black Lantern Corps: “The Blackest Night falls from the skies. The darkness grows as all light dies. We crave your hearts and your demise. By my black hand, the dead shall rise.” We cut to Scar sporting an evil grin and totally surrounded by darkness. End of issue.

Commentary

The Good: Blackest Night #0 was an ordinary issue. Of course, there were several aspects that I enjoyed about this issue. Blackest Night #0 was a well written issue from a technical standpoint. Johns crafts some fine dialogue and performs some quality character work with Hal and Barry.

I always enjoy seeing Barry and Hal together. It just feels right. Johns is in his comfort zone with these two characters and it really shows in this issue. Johns has an excellent feel for both Barry and Hal and has no problems generating some good chemistry between the two Leaguers. Johns use much of Blackest Night #0 to introduce readers to Hal and Barry and their personalities and histories.

Johns re-enforces Hal’s fearless and direct personality that shapes how he handles his role as a Green Lantern. Readers who are unfamiliar with Hal Jordan certainly get a succinct and good sense of his personality. Johns also manages to concisely review Hal’s background in a manner that seems natural for the story and manages to give newer readers a good introduction to Hal’s past.

Johns also does a good job presenting Barry’s character to newer readers who may be unfamiliar with him. Barry is all business and is obsessed with time. The second that Barry arrives at the graveyard, he is already set to go and deal with crimes that are being picked up by his police scanner. Barry referencing Dick as Robin was a neat way to emphasize the “man out of time” aspect of Barry’s character and not have it seemed forced or out of place with the rest of the story.

Johns does a fine job using Hal and Barry’s conversation as the spine for a broad look back over the general mood and attitude of the modern DCU. Johns surprised me by engaging in a larger discussion of the DCU than just focusing solely on the upcoming Blackest Night event. I enjoyed how Johns showed how much darker and more violent the DCU has become ever since Barry died. The Blackest Night is the exact type of grim and violent event that has come to define the current DCU compared to the much more bright and positive DCU that existed pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths and before Barry’s death.

Hal commenting on how he used to think that the JLA was untouchable re-affirmed just how far the JLA had fallen in the current DCU. By examining the “death” of Bruce Wayne along with the deaths of Aquaman and Martian Manhunter it becomes evident that the JLA has been shook to its foundation. They have lost their heart and soul in Martian Manhunter and two founding members in Batman and Aquaman.

I liked how Johns handles the concept of death in the DCU. Johns does not shy away from how it seems that death simply does not apply to super heroes. Barry, Hal, Ollie and Clark are all proof of that. My favorite part of this discussion is how Hal recounts Barry’s funeral and then contrasts it with his own. The analogy that Barry had a saint’s funeral and that Hal had a sinner’s funeral was perfect.

I also like that Bruce Wayne’s funeral was done in the shadows and in a quiet manner. And that Batman’s death had not even been acknowledged. This was perfect. It is only fitting that Bruce’s funeral be done in the shadows where he spent most of his life. And I like that even in death, Alfred keeps Batman and Bruce Wayne separate. This reflects the secretive nature of Batman even toward his own teammates.

Barry hints that something larger is at work here and that something has pried the door open that is causing death to become so fluid. This ties-in with what Johns hinted at over in Flash: Rebirth #1. Obviously, Barry is going to play a large role in Blackest Night than I was expecting. I am curious to learn more about what Johns has in store for Barry during this big event.

We get plenty of teasers about the potential members of the Black Lantern Corps in this issue. Between the final scene in the graveyard and the fact file on the Black Lanterns there are plenty of little clues about some of the members. It appears that we may see both Ralph and Sue Dibny as members. I don’t know how that would jive with the Dibny’s being “ghost detectives.” It also appears that the original Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond will be a Black Lantern.

The fact file on the Black Lantern Corps shows a bunch of hands reaching through the ground. We see Martian Manhunter’s arm and Aquaman’s arm. We also see what appears to be Mirror Master’s arm and maybe Deadman’s arm. I always figured that Johns would bring Ted Kord back as a Black Lantern as well. I have done my best to avoid spoilers about possible members of the Black Lantern Corps, so I am looking forward to learning who the Black Hand is going to get to join his Corps.

The best part of Blackest Night #0 was not the 12 page story that we got in this issue. It was all the nice extras in the form of cool fact files on each of the eight Lantern Corps. This was a great idea which helps to get new readers up to speed on each of the Corps. Each fact file includes the emotion, homeworld, brief history, powers, weaknesses and the main members of each Corps.

I found the fact files to be the most interesting aspect of Blackest Night #0 and they were certainly extremely helpful to new readers looking to jump aboard the Blackest Night bandwagon at this point. Readers who have not been reading Green Lantern, but are interested in getting Blackest Night should definitely pick up Blackest Night #0 just for these fact files alone. The fact files were the only aspect of Blackest Night #0 that I thought did the job of trying to entice readers into hopping aboard Blackest Night.

Blackest Night #0 has plenty of fine artwork. Reis, Oclair, Hunter and Mahnke all combine to create a good looking issue. I particularly love how Reis draws Barry. Even though this issue lacks action, the art is still good enough to captivate the reader’s attention.

The Bad: Blackest Night #0 was a very thin read. The story is only a mere twelve pages long. That is pretty short. And, other than the teasers for the members of the Black Lantern Corps, there is no new information in Blackest Night #0 for readers who have been reading Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. Instead, Johns simply re-hashes rather well worn ground with most of this issue. If you have been reading DC comics for a while then there was nothing new and different delivered in this issue.

Blackest Night #0 was actually a bit of a dull and subdued read. This issue was completely lacking in action. That was an odd path to take with an issue designed to promote a big event. Johns delivers a very talky and slightly rambling issue that does more to bore the reader at points than to get them excited and on the edge of their seat with anticipation for Blackest Night. This issue simply did not generate any buzz or excitement in me for Blackest Night.

Now, as a fan of the general DCU, I certainly did enjoy Hal’s reflecting back on his relationship with Bruce. However, as it relates to Blackest Night, I found it to be largely useless and pointless for the story at hand. The main reason is that Bruce Wayne is not dead and, therefore, cannot be a Black Lantern. The Omega Sanction does not kill its victim. Instead, it sends them into a series of alternative worlds or fate where the next one is worse than the previous one.

Of course, maybe I am overanalyzing this too much. Even though the Omega Sanction does not kill a person, it sure separated Batman’s soul from his physical body. Maybe Batman’s charred body that Superman is holding in Final Crisis #6 can be claimed by the Black Lanterns even though Bruce Wayne’s soul is still alive and on a parallel Earth? Seeing Batman as a member of the Black Lantern Corps would not be that exciting if his soul is separated and somewhere else.

In the end, the biggest defect of Blackest Night #0 is that if failed to achieve its primary objective. And that was to entice readers who have not been reading Green Lantern to hop aboard the Blackest Night train. Yes, the fact files were very informative and great for new readers. But, did they help sell the big event? I do not think so.

The files in and of themselves are not enough to convince me to get this series. And there was nothing in the slightly boring and thin twelve page main story that would have sold a non-Green Lantern fan on Blackest Night. There was nothing at all in the story that hooks the reader’s attention and compels them to decide to get Blackest Night despite never having read Green Lantern.

Blackest Night #0 was quite the contrast with Marvel’s free issue in FCBD The Avengers. Bendis delivered a full twenty-three page story that was crammed full of some nice character work and some great action. While, FCBD The Avengers may not have been as new reader friendly as Blackest Night #0, the fact is that FCBD The Avengers actually got me excited over the Avengers franchise. FCBD The Avengers grabbed a hold of the reader from the start and delivered a rocking ride. As a matter of fact, I got for free an issue in FCBD The Avengers that was far superior than any issue of the terminally dull New Avengers that I have purchased for $4.00.

Overall: Blackest Night #0 was an average read. As a fan of the DCU, there were aspects of this issue that I found enjoyable. However, DC squandered a golden opportunity to hook non-Green Lantern readers into wanting to get Blackest Night. Blackest Night #0 failed to properly sell the upcoming big event. I am excited about Blackest Night, yet nothing in Blackest Night #0 piqued my interest in the upcoming event. So, I can only imagine how unimpressed a non-Green Lantern reader would have been with this issue.

Having said that, if you are a non-Green Lantern reader who is late to this party and have now decided to give Blackest Night a try, then I highly recommend you read Blackest Night #0. The fact files on the different colored Lantern Corps are incredibly useful and should get you up to speed enough so that you can properly and fully enjoy Blackest Night.