BLACKEST NIGHT #8 (OF 8)

Review by: daccampo

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

1124
Pulls

Avg Rating: 4.6

Users who pulled this comic:

All users who pulled this comic

Users who reviewed this comic:

Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and Cover by IVAN REIS, OCLAIR ALBERT and JOE PRADO
Variant Cover by RODOLFO MIGLIARI
Sketch Variant Cover by IVAN REIS

Size: 40 pages
Price: 3.99

This review contains spoilers, click here to read

In the end Blackest Night, despite some wrinkles, did exactly what I had predicted from the first issue. Now, I'm not saying that to be a know-it-all or to gloat, even though I know that's exactly how it sounds. ;) Mea culpa. But from the moment Hawkman and Hawkgirl were killed, I knew there would have to be resurrections. And I suspected that a story revolving so much around death would have to end with life.

Now this isn't to say the story itself is bad or good. That was just an end result. But when the end result is this kind of thing, it raises a lot of mixed feelings for me.

Case in point: I don't like stories that hit the big cosmic reset button. And this is one of them. Kind of.

This one isn't as bad as Crisis on Infinite Earths or Infinite Crisis or Zero Hour, or any of the other the big events that have reshaped all of continuity, but this finale creates a similar overall effect. In the past few years, DC has spent time killing off characters for shock value, often in the name of "stimulating character growth." Okay, fine. But when you can just resurrect the characters, it reads as an apology for recent continuity. It feels to me like someone is saying, "Oops, hey, didn't mean to kill off those people... it totally worked for that moment, but now we realize they're still viable properties and easier than creating new characters." In my mind, it makes the original death look ill-conceived OR it makes the resurrection seem like a too-easy plot device. Or both. It muddies any emotional connection to the material.

And that's my big grievance with this issue. It's just a fell swoop of the hand, which has been wrapped in a lot of fairly meaningless statements about how our heroes "give purpose to life" or they were the ones who "walked through the door of resurrection." Well, okay, that may be true but that was established in each of the characters' "rebirth" series. It's not true of what happens here.

There's a spot at the end of the issue where Barry asks Hal why some heroes were reborn and others were not. The answer is "it's a mystery." But, really, for the readers it isn't. Johns and/or editorial picked out a handful of heroes they wanted to bring back for whatever reason (and re-design while at it, by the looks of Martian Manhunter). The un-reborn heroes may be part of Brightest Day, or they may simply be characters that no one wanted to bring back (I'll tell you right here and now that I expect Ralph and Sue Dibny to return in Brightest Day).

Side note: I will say that my favorite resurrection was the only one that DIDN'T make sense in a commercial waye -- Deadman is alive. Now that's just all kinds of awesome. That's an unexpected twist, and I heartily approve.

Okay, so what about the story? To me, this was an overly simplistic story, which taken as a whole seemed to amount to little more than "keep blasting the bad guy with newer and newer things." There wasn't a lot of character nuance here.

I mean, honestly, isn't that mostly what we got when you think back over the eight issues? Lots of explanations about rings and powers mixed in with different attempts to blast the bad guy with different kinds of power? As far as I can tell, Nekron didn't have much of a plan. He was just there... and was just... well... continuing to be there while people blasted at him. What do we learn by the end of the story? Only this: heroes are strong, and they can overcome death with the help of a really big power source. Used correctly.

My final take? Blackest Night is a testament to some of what Geoff Johns does best: labeling, defining, and setting a new starting point. With this series, he has successfully re-defined the rings, their origins, and how they tie to the history of the DCU. And he's also set up new points for different writers to continue the stories of various DC heroes. But as an adventure story in its own right? It's decidedly average -- with some admittedly big fun comic-book moments.

Story: 2 - Average
Art: 4 - Very Good

Comments

kingdomofevan says:

March 31, 2010 at 5:43 pm

You’re right, the Deadman resurrection doesn’t make a lot of sense commercially, but it’s keeping me guessing about what stories they’ll have to tell about him, considering that he doesn’t have any powers alive. Maybe he’ll show up in the Zatanna series they’re working on?

Log in to Reply
daccampo says:

March 31, 2010 at 5:58 pm

I didn’t explain it too well in my review, but, yeah, what I mean is that this is totally a case where it’s just a new chapter and a new twist for Deadman because death was really only the beginning of his story in the first place, y’know? So, where will it happen? In Zatanna? Maybe. That’d be cool. I could see it also being a part of Brightest Day. I like this twist because it’s unexpected for his character and I have a hunch it’s NOT going to be what he expects at all, either. I really do hope they have a clear story direction in mind for him.

Log in to Reply
WheelHands says:

March 31, 2010 at 6:46 pm

SPOILERS! (I know you’ve probably already read the review. Just coverin my bases. Nobody wants to be "that guy".)

@daccampo: I understand your complaint about this being another DC reset, and I can definitely sympathize. COIE was neccessary at the time, but it feels like they’ve hit the reset button four times in the last ten years, which is a little UNneccessary in my opinion. There’s gotta be a better way to clean house.

That being said, I think Blackest Night stands apart from things like Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis, because it wasn’t JUST a reset. Yes, some characters are with us again and others have changed a bit, but those are the only reset elements present. In other words, there’s just as many Earths as there were when it started (however many that is). Maybe it just sits easier with me because I was prepared for the ending we got. I’m not gloating either, and I’m not saying it was predictable. I just mean that from the beginning it seemed to me like Johns was making an effort to make death a more permanant thing in the DCU from this point forward. Making Nekron responsible for everyone’s ressurrections since COIE was simply the device he used to get us there. And I think it worked like gangbusters. It’s what the guy does best.

Maybe it is because I was prepared for it, but I loved the resurrections that were chosen. I’m a Morrison fan, and even though I understood what he was goin for when he killed J’onn, it never sat right with me. Something’s been missing in the DCU since he’s been gone, and I’m only half embarassed to admit that I actually cheered out loud when I unfolded that page (my dog was a little frightened). I also love his costume change, only because the older new one (?) was downright hideous. Like you said, there are other returns that will be exciting to follow. Deadman’s an obvious one. But how bout Keira coming back instead of Kendra? Or Jason sharing the Firestorm matrix with Ronnie (who technically killed his girlfriend)? Cool stuff.

Log in to Reply
kingdomofevan says:

March 31, 2010 at 6:48 pm

Okay, I see your point. They went to all this trouble to bring him back, so I hope they’d have something juicy in mind for him.

Log in to Reply
flapjaxx says:

March 31, 2010 at 6:48 pm

Excellent, thoughtful review, man.

"a lot of fairly meaningless statements about how our heroes "give purpose to life"

Yeah, completely agree with you there. For all the focus on the "spectrum" of emotions, this series felt very one-note for me, and the characterizations were terribly superficial.

"this was an overly simplistic story, which taken as a whole seemed to amount to little more than "keep blasting the bad guy with newer and newer things.""

Couldn’t agree more. It was neat while it was going on, but in the end it should have…meant more, in a cumulative sense.

I’m going to have to collect my thoughts before writing a review, though. I don’t regret my purchases at all. Overall, I had a good time and got what I expected. But I think there are huge writing faults that just can’t be ignored, despite the cool moments and always-great artwork.

Log in to Reply
brassai2003 says:

March 31, 2010 at 6:54 pm

There’s a MAJOR point that you guys are glossing over. The whole scene with Max is VERY important.

What if these heroes aren’t what they seem? the Aquaman solicit for BD has him as both Black and normal. Hal’s ring had no effect on Max, who’s nose was bleeding. That’s a serious plot point. I think that BD will deal with the ones who didn’t come back. I mean, if the Black Lanterns were mostly constructs based on DNA who’s to say that its not the same with the white light and life. Figments, not their real selves whatever.

Log in to Reply
WheelHands says:

March 31, 2010 at 7:01 pm

@brassai2003: I don’t think we’re glossing over anything. Max’s nose bleeds when he uses his mind powers, which he was doing when he convinced GUY (not Hal) to release him to make a getaway. Guy’s ring did have a normal effect, because it did hold him until that point. I think that was just a quick scene to show us that they HAVE returned with their powers, and an easy way to let Max sneak off into the shadows and create future mischief.

You may be right with your theory that not all is as it seems with the resurrections. In fact I’m sure you are since Brightest Day must have something worth explaining in 26 issues. But I think you’re reading to much into the Max/Guy interaction.

Log in to Reply
daccampo says:

March 31, 2010 at 7:03 pm

@Wheelhands — Yes, I liked this better than Infinite Crisis or COIE or Zero Hour, but as flapjaxx notes, the actual characterization here *does* seem very superficial, and I guess that’s my problem

The resets all work for the NEXT batch of stories, y’know? So even what brassai2003 says above me here about Max Lord or what may or may not be in store for Aquaman — that’s all about what comes NEXT. And I did say that that is one of the things Johns does best — setting the stage for a new direction. 😉

I will say that I’m actually really looking forward to Brightest Day, and I hope that we see Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Deadman, et al, in those pages. Because I would like to see what happens with them next.

Log in to Reply
daccampo says:

March 31, 2010 at 7:08 pm

And, yes, I should also admit that I WAS happy with the chosen resurrections. I smiled at the gatefold. I’ve long been a fan of the DC characters, and I reallllly hope this is the start of some great adventures for some of these b- and c-level characters. I didn’t want my review to seem overly negative, I just had to get that point off my chest. 😉

Log in to Reply
WheelHands says:

March 31, 2010 at 7:15 pm

@daccampo: I didn’t think it was overly negative. Your "complaints" are valid ones. I just felt like spitballing about it with someone because I had literally just put it down. I too am looking forward to Brightest Day, because there is a lot left dangling. But I think we all expected that after it was announced.

In other words, we agree on everything. 🙂

Log in to Reply
ABirdseysView says:

April 1, 2010 at 10:11 pm

I too agree with what you’ve said here daccampo. Nekron never felt like a threat at any point in the story. it was either in the thread for a GL issue or a BN issue where I likened the villains to Koopa Kids; the series felt like levels of a video game quite often.

Log in to Reply
WadeWilson says:

April 2, 2010 at 5:18 am

"But when you can just resurrect the characters, it reads as an apology for recent continuity. It feels to me like someone is saying, "Oops, hey, didn’t mean to kill off those people… it totally worked for that moment, but now we realize they’re still viable properties and easier than creating new characters." In my mind, it makes the original death look ill-conceived OR it makes the resurrection seem like a too-easy plot device. Or both. It muddies any emotional connection to the material. "

^ I agree with that 1000%.

Great review, dude. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought the story was average (& that’s being kind).

Log in to Reply

BLACKEST NIGHT #8 (OF 8)

Comments

Leave a Comment Cancel reply