Blackest Night #7

Release Date: February 24, 2010
Cover Date: April 2010

Story: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Ivan Reis
Inks: Oclair Albert and Joe Prado
Cover: Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert
Variant Cover: Rodolfo Migliari

Nekron’s honor guard of Black Lanterns drag the captured Guardians towards a symbol the villain is drawing, and the black sludge they leave behind helps finish the glyph (it’s the Brightest Day symbol, of course). The representatives of the seven Corps and their deputies try in vain to attack him with their rings, but it’s not doing squat. Luthor eventually covets Scarecrow’s ring, and breaks off the attack in order to successfully steal it. Mera is next in his sights, and the Corps are distracted. High above the Earth, the rest of the various Corps are fighting off the onslaught of Black Lanterns who have been flying in from the rest of the universe. Still, the important battle’s going on in Coast City. Dove is destroying Black Lanterns left and right with a touch, and she senses something else at work. She’s incapacitated by a blast from Nekron’s massive black power battery, where the Anti-Monitor trapped within (Green Lantern [Vol. 4] #25) is demanding that Nekron release him.

Nekron has other plans, though; he murders a Guardian, and Black Hand spreads its innards within the symbol. With a powerful burst of bright white light, a being rises from the ground. This is the Entity, the physical manifestation of the white light of creation. The Guardian’s ultimate lie was that they’ve always told people that life originated with them at the center of the universe, but the truth is that it originated on Earth due to the Entity. The Guardians lied in order to protect the Entity, and prevented humans from becoming Green Lanterns for millennia, but Abin Sur figured it out. That’s why he crashed on Earth so many years ago, but the cat’s out of the bag now. Nekron attacks the Entity with his scythe, and every living thing in the universe feels its pain. Hal Jordan realizes that like Parallax and Ion, the Entity needs a host in order to really fight back. He flies towards the Entity, but Sinestro blocks him, claiming that this is his duty. He joins with the Entity instead…becoming the White Lantern.

Okay, I was obviously wrong on that prediction. (All of the others were spot-on, though!) Geoff Johns and the powers-that-be at DC Comics have done so much jerking off over Hal Jordan, I thought for sure he’d be the White Lantern. Casting Hal’s archnemesis as the ultimate warrior of life was a great touch. I suppose Hal could still become the White Lantern in Blackest Night #8 if Sinestro ends up failing, but that remains to be seen.

Other than that, the revelation that Earth was the genesis of life in the universe was interesting, but obviously nothing surprising in the least. Seriously, who didn’t see that coming? The rest of the issue was just filled with the standard battles. Blackest Night #7 was great due to the surprise appointment of Sinestro as the White Lantern, but the rest of the issue was standard comic book fare.

Oh, and “the Entity” is a stupidly generic name. C’mon, you honestly think they couldn’t have come up with something better than that?

Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 2) #45

Release Date: February 17, 2010
Cover Date: April 2010

Story: Peter Tomasi
Pencils: Patrick Gleason
Inks: Rebecca Buchman, Keith Champagne, and Tom Nguyen
Cover: Patrick Gleason and Rebecca Buchman
Variant Cover: Brian Bolland

Red Lantern Guy Gardner is ready to beat the shit out of his Green Lantern comrades, but Kyle Rayner tries to stop all sides from acting rashly. This lasts all of a few seconds, as Guy boils over and the battle is joined. The Green Lanterns don’t want to kill their friend, so Kyle has Mogo help out. After shocking Guy with a massive blast, Mogo forces Guy to relive his past horrors and victories through his red and green rings. With Guy distracted, Kilowog knocks him out, and Kyle restrains him. They want to yank off the red ring, but Munk reminds them that doing so will kill Guy, as the rage energies created by the ring replace the host’s circulatory system. A Blue Lantern is needed to purge the infection, as it were, but there’s no way they can restrain Guy long enough to get him to one. Left with no other options, Mogo takes matters into its own hands (well, not “hands,” per se, since Mogo is a planet). It grabs Guy and forces him into a nutrient bath, while leeches invade his body and destroy the red infection, much like “super-antibodies.” This does the trick, and when Guy bursts out of the bath, he’s back to his old self. He embraces Kyle in thanks, but Mogo still warns that there might be some residual infection present, and they should still locate a Blue Lantern as soon as possible. Suddenly, Munk reports that more members of the Indigo Tribe are arriving on Oa, and the group takes off to meet them. The other Tribesmen update all those assembled of the recent events on Earth (see Blackest Night #6), and after the Green Lantern Corps recharges their rings, they’re all teleported to Earth to face Nekron.

The “Red Badge of Rage” storyarc comes to a close, and Guy’s back to normal, as we expected. Well, as close to “normal” as Guy Gardner will get, anyway. Watching the source of Guy’s rage was cool, especially the scenes with his abusive father. A bit clichéd, sure, but still effective. And finally, the rest of the Corps is joining the fight on Earth, so we’ll see just how well they’ll fare against the likes of Nekron and his minions. (We know our important characters will survive, but that’s nothing new in comics!)

Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #51

Release Date: February 17, 2010
Cover Date: April 2010

Story: Geoff Johns
Art: Doug Mahnke
Cover: Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy
Variant Cover: Greg Horn

While Parallax-possessed Hal Jordan is throwing down against the Black Lantern Spectre, Larfleeze is still trying to take back the extra orange ring from Lex Luthor, and Atrocitus senses an overpowering amount of rage coming from somewhere. Parallax burrows deep into the Black Lantern Spectre, and finds the real Spectre trapped inside. He destroys the black ring keeping him prisoner, and the Spectre is finally freed. He renews his battle with Parallax, though Sinestro tries to stop them. Atrocitus believes the great rage he sensed must have come from the Spectre, and turns him into a Red Lantern…albeit briefly. The Spectre tells Atrocitus that while he is an instrument of God’s rage, he is not the rage entity the Red Lantern leader had sensed; that being is something else that the Spectre has faced before, and he warns Atrocitus that seeking it out will destroy him. The Spectre admits that he does fear Parallax, and he latches onto it. Carol Ferris latches onto Hal Jordan within, and Parallax is torn away from the hero. Before Sinestro can retrieve him, though, Parallax is pulled away from the battle by an unseen force. The Spectre then tries to judge Nekron, but he cannot, as Nekron is neither alive nor in possession of a soul. Nekron banishes the Spectre, and prepares for the death of the universe.

Not a bad issue, people. Doug Mahnke’s art continues to impress, and since Parallax was in control for nearly the entire issue, we were spared any shitty Hal Jordan one-liners. Blackest Night may be coming to an end, but we’re already seeing the seeds of stories to come. As to who or what stole Parallax away, we saw that Hector Hammond (incarcerated in Belle Reve Prison) knows…and was terrified as a result. Naturally, we’re not given any detail, but I’m sure we’ll find out relatively soon, along with the identity of the rage entity. Parallax is fear, Ion is will, the Predator is love, and Black Hand is death, so it was only a matter of time before the other embodiments of the emotional spectrum came along. I’m guessing that like the others, the rage entity is a character or force we’re already familiar with; perhaps Eclipso, who originally served as God’s wrath?

Blackest Night: The Flash #3

Release Date: February 17, 2010
Cover Date: April 2010

Story: Geoff Johns
Art: Scott Kolins
Cover: Scott Kolins
Variant Cover: Francis Manapul

Captain Boomerang has chained up his Black Lantern father in a pit outside of Iron Heights, and is trying to “save” him by secretly feeding him fourth-rate supervillains and other unlucky victims. Meanwhile, Barry Allen, Wally West, and Saint Walker are still busy fighting off the Black Lanterns, and Barry’s still wondering how the Reverse Flash will eventually get resurrected; Barry knows he’ll be back, as he just fought off his return and incarcerated the villain in Iron Heights (to be detailed in the upcoming The Flash: Rebirth #6, I’m assuming). When Black Lantern Bart Allen tries to tear out Wally’s heart, his true self is briefly glimpsed. Barry’s got a plan to save him, but they’ve still got their hands full.

At the prison, Captain Cold and the Rogues are fighting off zombie hordes as well, but in the midst of battle, the Black Lanterns suddenly stop and stare into the Reverse Flash’s cell. The villain’s securely locked up, but a black ring is apparently calling to him, only to be stopped by a mysterious force. Cold takes advantage of this opportunity, and freezes the entire lot of Black Lanterns at once. He then drops a cold grenade that’ll freeze the entire facility, and the Rogues hightail it out of there. When the grenade goes off, however, the Black Lantern Reverse Flash also freezes solid, much to the surprise of the Flashes! With the undead villain incapacitated, Barry runs full force into Black Lantern Bart and finds the latter’s true self. The two manage to sever the black ring’s connection, and Bart is back amongst the living as he should be. The Flashes rejoin the fight, and the Rogues come across Captain Boomerang’s pit. Cold discovers that Boomerang been feeding women and children to the monster in the pit, and as that’s against the Rogues’ rules, he shoves Boomerang in. At the bottom, the Black Lantern makes very short work of him.

A fitting finale to a good miniseries! Art and dialogue were great, and the cutting back and forth between the Blue Lanterns and the Rogues worked quite well. There seemed to be a bit of a continuity error towards the beginning, however, as we see Barry and Saint Walker making Blue Lantern constructs. The problem is that Blue Lanterns can’t do that without active Green Lanterns around, and none were anywhere to be seen! (If the Flashes are still within the vicinity of Coast City, then they’d technically be near Ganthet and Hal Jordan, but we’re not told where they are. Since Flashes move so quickly, they could be in any city during their fight. Plus, the range of the Blue/Green Lantern connection is unknown.)

The big highlight of the issue, though, was when the Black Lanterns in Iron Heights were transfixed by the sight of the imprisoned Reverse Flash. A black ring clearly tried to go after him, but it only met with static…and a familiar symbol floating above the villain’s chest:

That’s the symbol commonly associated with the upcoming Brightest Day event, but this confirms it as having significant meaning in-universe. It’s definitely a White Lantern symbol, providing the first solid evidence of that group within the DC Universe. This also likely means the White Lantern will have something to do with the resurrection of the Reverse Flash. In fact, one theory I’ve heard is this: if Hal Jordan becomes a White Lantern, he’ll use his newfound powers to bring all of the Black Lanterns back to proper life. That would include Barry Allen’s nemesis, the Reverse Flash! It makes perfect sense, and it explains the correlation between the living Reverse Flash and the undead one. The living one can’t be turned into a Black Lantern, because he already was in the past, and now he’s off-limits due to the White Lantern. As to why freezing the living Reverse Flash affected his past Black Lantern self…well, that remains to be seen. (I’m guessing we may find out in Blackest Night #8, as the last page claims that’s where the story will continue.)

Desperately seeking spoilers

You all know how much I hate spoilers. In fact, I’ve made it quite clear that I do not search for them, nor do I permit them on this blog. Many of my peers share this belief, but it seems that a majority of people do not. Spoilers are all the rage, and not a day goes by where some hotly-anticipated television plot or upcoming film script isn’t spoiled on the internet by greedy fans.

Nowhere is this behavior more prevalent than in comic book fandom. Legions of message boards and websites are devoted to spoiling upcoming issues and plots, weeks (and sometimes months) before their release. In fact, I’d wager that the amount of comic book nerds hunting for spoilers far surpasses those who do not. Which of course begs the logical question: if you’re going to rabidly seek out spoilers, then why bother even reading comics in the first place? You’re obviously not that interested in experiencing the story from month to month, as was intended.

It’s been pointed out to me that some spoilers are “impossible” to avoid, such as those printed in the monthly PREVIEWS catalog put out by Diamond Comic Distributors. Is this catalog full of spoilers? Absolutely. But there’s a legitimate reason for this: the PREVIEWS catalog is an advance order book designed for comic book shop owners so that they know how many of a particular book or other piece of merchandise to order. However, you don’t have to dig through it for spoilers! In fact, I skip past the entirety of the comics listings in the catalog for that exact reason. So don’t tell me that those spoilers are a given; you can avoid them just as easily as I can. The closest we come to “impossible” spoilers are when something’s printed on PREVIEWS‘ cover. For example, the villain behind Blackest Night was spoiled a few months in advance of his in-series appearance due to a PREVIEWS cover promo, but the few readers that complained about it were drowned out by the rabid cheers of fanboys.

I’m sure the ending of stories like Blackest Night are already well known amongst the basement-dwellers, even though the final issue isn’t due out until the end of March. I’m perfectly comfortable waiting until then; I don’t know why so many of these losers just can’t learn simple patience.

(Note: This entry was crossposted to Text and Violence. The version here, however, has been edited slightly.)