Green Lantern #43

Why does DC have to tease us with Bruce Wayne's tombstone on the cover of Green Lantern #43? Will Bruce Wayne (or his corpse) even be in the issue? Probably not. Most likely it's just a gimmick. Like Superman and Hal Jordan in an epic fight last month. Or Spidey-Venom vs. Captain Marvel on the last cover of Dark Avengers.

With as good as this book has been, artistically and economically, I don't see a reason why DC would need to do this.

If I wasn't reading GL, this cover would push me to read it.

Mahnke will kick major asses!

Does Black Hand have anything to do with Black Glove? Or should Batman fans just not even bother?

Black Hand has nothing to do with The Black Glove.

great cover even if it doesnt include either characters.

The preview for this.....*goes giddy*

Oh man this is gonna be excellent and I dont even have a copy yet. Hell anything that comes out after that disappointing 'Agent Orange' arc makes me giddy.

Who is Bruce Wayne?   :p

there is a blackiest night batman tie-in maybe this will connect into that

@AmirCat if you do not know who bruce wayne is you must be able to compeatly block out one of the biggest parts of the dc universe

@oldmanlogan

 I'm gonna say the guy was kidding.

@Mustbedammed yeah probely

Bring it on.

Black Hand, Black Glove, Black Mask, Blackest Night...

I love Manke art, so I might pick this up. I was really underwhelmed by the Blackest Night #0 that came out on FCBD. I used to like Johns' Green Lantern when I read most of it a year ago. But I feel like if I hop on now I'm going to *have* to get caught up in the hype and buy it now, along with the tie-ins. I think I'd rather just wait it out and get the trade if I hear great things about it, all told, when it's over with.

i've never heard of this "blackest night" thing, is that what the kids are calling it, "blackest night"? has it been publisized much?

HOW MANY PROLOGUES TO THIS DAMN THING!?!?!?

That said, I can't wait!

i'm looking forward to giving GL another shot now that Mahnke is on board...  

I'm diggin GL right now I'm looking forward to this.

if you read the free comic book day issue you say that black hand dug up bruce's parents grave not his. so yeah that cover is just a tease but still close enough

This looks to be mighty good! Especially with the Mahnke art.

OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY. 

@Conor I tried looking this up, but to no avail.  You said on the POW show a few weeks ago that when Ion went into Daxam's sun and turned it red, that the Blackest Night had begun.  Where did you get that information from?  How was that the starting point?  I tried looking at all the former Lantern issues and didn't see anything about it. 

Where should I start with Green Lantern?  Is this a good jumping on point?

 :-P

Blackest Night is my gateway to the Green Lantern series. I know, I'm begging for constant confusion. But how can anyone resist such a great concept?

It's funny that over on the Dark X-Men thread plent of folks are mentioning Marvel 'milking it' with the crossovers and tie-ins. I suppose they don't want to say bad things about a book by Geoff Johns, so they convenient forget about Blackest Night being an event mini with at least two ongoing series tied in, as well as at least three additional minis, an #0 issue, and probably more stuff that I'm unaware of.

"Utopia? Humbug! Blackest Night? OMGROFLCOPTER."

Even with Marvel/DC bias set aside, I just don't get it.

@vadamowens

In that issue of GL Corps Scar (the screwed up Guardian) unleashes the some power from the book of death looking thing she has been reading from. Also, the two GL's that were sent out into the universe to see what the freak is going on encounter the dead rising when they find the husk of the Anti-Monitor which is now the Black Lantern power battery.

@drakedangerz

You might be kidding but according to the interviews I've read with Johns this actually is a good time to jump on. He said that a lot of people started at the beginning of Sinestro Corp and that he made Blackest Night #1 as new reader friendly as humanly possible.

Honestly though you really don't need to know that much. The Green Lanterns are space police who control the green side of the emotional spectrum which represents willpower. There are now other "Corps" that represent the rest of the ROYGBIV rainbow of colors and emotions. They must now all fight. There you are now ready for Blackest Night.

@ Parker - Nice recap, 'You are now ready for Blackest Night' LOL.

I'm still giddy over what I saw on the previews. This could be POTW on the previews alone.

If the rest of these issues have been prologues...then I'm gonna call this the "preamble".

@parker I appreciate you trying to help, but that didn't really explain anything about what I asked.  

Conor said on the POW show a few weeks ago that when Ion went into Daxam's sun and turned it red, that the Blackest Night had begun.  Was there some sort of prophesy that I missed? How was that the starting point?  Can anybody explain why they think he said that?

@vadamowens  at the end of that issue didn't the power battery turn black. wasn't that the beggining. goddamn these two GL books are running together now. i have no idea

@vadamowens

Oh, sorry I misunderstood. I believe Conor just meant it began in that issue, not that Ion going into the sun was the actual event.

Well isnt it when Ion dies that the prophecy will begin for Blackest Night? That coming from when Alan Moore wrote that story so many decades ago. Or maybe he ment it'll be the end of Blackest Night if he dies. I'm not sure anymore.

Parker is correct.

Cool. Thanks for clearing that up.

@vadamowens: Ion aka Sodam Yat's death is foretold in the Book of Oa.  When he dies that signifies the start of the Blackest Night.  Ion flying into Daxam's sun and making it ignite and turn yellow presumably killed him and starting Blackest Night.

Whew, it's finally here. It feels like the end of a marathon and the start of a race.

I'm really looking fowward to all my books this week.

This is gonna be so worth the wait!

Holy........

I mean.....

Did I just see Hand shoot hi....

This was without a doubt the best GL comic I have read in months. Johns is the master of origins and his origin for Hand was perfect. Add in the most disturbing moments in comics this year and perfect art by Mahnke. I am not stoked for Blackest Night. However, even if this kicked major ass, this was no where near close for POTW.

EDIT; Sorry I ment to say 'I am totally stoked'.....dude

Mahnke on GL forever!

Mahnke KILLED IT on this book. Man, what a step up in the art.

Thank god GL is back to form. Great issue, great Mahnke art, great all around. This made me remember why I'm so excited for Blackest Night.

This was all kindsa creepy-awesome!

I don't usually buy variant covers but today I just had to. Ok, I'll come clean, I bought them both!

first off...Black Hand is my favorite DC character. What a great , twisted back story. This issue was easily a 5* and POTW for me. My single, one tiny complaint is how awesome it would have been to have the little frame of BH sitting at the table with his dead family around, as a big two page spread.

quick question: i got an action figure from Kmart a while back of BH and his costume was blue. Then in this book i was trying to figure out if his costume (pre-death) was dark blue or just the shading? It looked solid black on the last panel.  

This was over the top awesome!! So excited for the rest of the story!!!

@Fvckstick: Seeing him spooning skeletons in the grave on the first page is more then enough for me.

Holy shit! I started reading GL with Rage of the Red Lanterns. This is awsome. Geoff Johns is fckn brilliant!!

@Fvckstick I think traditionally his costume has been colored Navy Blue because of four color separation used in comics until only the past decade or two. That is to say, blue was easier and less of it was needed to color something "Black" than to actually use enough black to do it, as the black would dry gray. This is why Batman has a blue cowl for the longest time, why some characters have blue leather jackets, etc.

This was a brilliant issue. Fantastic, really. 5/5 for me. Can't say enough good things about this book. This got me pumped for Blackest Night more than I had originally been. It's here! Not sure if this is POTW yet, haven't read Wednesday Comics. 

Amazing issue.  I'm officially excited again for GL.  I can't wait for Blackest Night and for more Mahnke on this title.  Easily POTW

WOW! That was amazing. Cannot wait for more!

Holy...was that the best issue of GREEN LANTERN all year?

BLACKEST NIGHT has indeed begun.

5/5.

This was really freakin good.  What a twisted tale. 

@Jestr Where can I find that?

recalls the best of johns' work with the rogues on the flash.

@vadamowens You can find it in the Alan Moore story about Abin Sur first featured in.... I want to say Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 (Maybe three?) It's been reprinted a number of times. Once in "DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore" another, more recently, I think, with just the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annuals.

@Prax Thanks.  Every time I read your texts it's impossible for me not to put Bones' voice to it;) God I loved that fucking movie.  Can't wait for the DVD!!!

Just to make sure.  We are talking about the Sodam Yat/Ion prophesy right?  If so, isn't Sodam a newer character?

@vadamowens Yes, I'm talking about the Sodam Yat prophecy. You see, Alan Moore once had Abin Sur encounter the Three Inversions (featured in Rage of the Lanterns, Secret Origin) and Abin Sur asks three questions. One of them is about the "greatest threat the lanterns will ever face" and it's called the Blackest Night and features the children of the white lobe, Ranx the sentient city and others. However, none of them had appeared up to that point. At the center of the Prophecy is Sodam Yat, a Daxamite. Geoff Johns is best known for being the king of continuity and thusly created this event out of a small, one-off story from Alan Moore. The fun part is that the prophecy may or may not be a lie. So, while Sodam Yat is himself a new character. His name and species were laid out in the 80s!

It should also be noted that in the Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds mini, Sodam Yat is alive in the future of 3009. Indeed he is also sporting a look very similar to that of the look he had in the Alan Moore story (a big mohawk, over-muscular and with a different costume than the standard GLs).

Jesus, man.  You are one thorough SOB, lol.  Seriously, thanks alot!!!

I sense this week's POW Podcast will bring back the phrase "that's fucked up"

That line about the first kiss might be the most disturbing thing I've read in a long time, and I have a feeling most people didn't catch it.

@vadamowens Happy to be service. I'm a big Green Lantern fan, so I try to help out where I can. ;-)

@Slockhart Agreed! That line was seriously disturbing. 

Soooog gooood. This issue was a shot in the arm after the previous arc.

My God! I told myself I was going to trade wait this whole thing. Oh, why did I have to open up this issue at the shop.?!? Damn you DC!

Green Lantern lore question;  Is an entity a corporal body?  Parallax was kinda a ghostly apparition, right?  It can possess others and work through them or act on its own.  Is this true for all the entities of the various lanterns?  Thanks in advance.

@Slockhart that line was awesome.  and so was the panel when he was just staring at the dog, you just knew wht was coming.  Amazing book.

Definitely a couple "whoa" moments in this issue.

eh ive been to vegas nothin shocks me anymore. ok issue i guess

haven't read a Green Lantern book since rebirth.  This was so damn wild!  Johns should just write some horror comics when he is done with DC and looking to do a personal project.

THIS BOOK WAS THE COMPLETE & UTTER SHIT!!!!!!! FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!!!!! POTW BY A MILE. EXCELLENT CHARACTER STORY. IT MADE ME ACTUALLY GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE BLACK HAND. WHO WOULDA THUNK IT??????

I thought this was a great introduction to Blackest Night. The moment when the Black Hand ejected his brain out of his skull was brilliant and beutifully illustrated! I think that telling the reader who will "rise" in the next spooils it a little though. I would rather be surprised.

After the dissapointing Agent Orange, this was a refreshing return to the format that made me start reading GL in the first place.

 Good story, great art. Bring on Blackest Night!

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwww. This was SICK. Geoff Johns & Mahnke is a personal dream team of mine & this book lived up to the hype! Great great stuff, I am getting more & more amped for Blackest Night with each week that passes.

People are always joking about how death is meaningless in the DCU, it's awesome to see that Blackest Night will be dealing with that (maybe even explaining it?).

One thing though, will all these "emotion power" rings, Fear, Love, Rage. Hope etc ... is "Will Power" really an emotion? And ... how does "Death" fit into an emotional spectrum?

I really cant say something that hasn't already been said but Doug Mahnkes art was outstanding!

@PraxJarvin - Where could i see a picture from the Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds series of Sodam Yat from 3009?

@Fvckstick - Sodam Yat is in top panel http://www.geoffjohns.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/legion4.jpg

WHY ISN"T THIS THE PICK OF THE WEEK? This book was incredible... I never knew that The Black Hand could be so scary... there's a flashback panel ("so pretty...") that gave me the creeps. Great work by all. 

black hand is batman.

can anyone tell me what he stepped on the graveyard that went crunch?  couldn't figure it out.

@sandman300 - I think it was an Easter egg.

I have been a Mahnke fan for awhile but he stepped up into a whole new league with this book. The art had a Dillonesque quality that put Johns' script over very well. Whoever put these two together for this story deserves major kudos!

@gnanniv aah that makes sense.  thanks!

926 pulls - wow!

 What do you guys think about Blackest Night making it to 1000 pulls? Any chance?

 DC books are really doing well lately - I was a Marvel zombie until all this kicked off

Did this issue remind anyone else of Thanos' obsession with Death in the Infinity Gauntlet?

Not complaining, just wondering.