This was the first book I read this week, and even without having looked at the rest- I only had 4 total this week, and one of them is on the way- I knew this was my pick of the week.  To be fair, I’m sure Wednesday Comics will be great, but I am taking the Oprah route and not submitting it for consideration for PotW, as otherwise it could be so for the next 8 weeks.  But anyway, onto the review.

This is the best issue of the three, despite having the least original material.  Also, unlike the other two which have featured the other six corps, this only focuses on the Green Lanterns and is, appropriately, written entirely by Pete Tomasi of Green Lantern Corps.  The first story is about Killowog and is a bit of an origin story, going back to his days as a new recruit.  We learn where he picked up his iconic word and see him going through the equivalent of basic training (having the “drill sergeant” be named Ermey is a great piece of humor too if you pick up the reference; if not, go watch the first 20 minutes of Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and you’ll find out why.  This was one of the few times that it sucked for the writer to be confined to PG/PG-13 language).  While the plot is rather standard, the ending was very touching and gives a good deal of insight into Killowog’s character.

The second story is about Arisia, who’s been a focal character in GLC, and this too is an origin story.  We learn of the history of the Green Lantern ring in her sector, and also learn about the nature of sacrifice in the Corps.  This is not as strong as the first story, but again it gives us insight into a character that will likely be a major part of Blackest Night.  The ending of her story also brings us full circle in a way to the Killowog story from before.

The third story is a B&W, un-inked, reprint of Blackest Night #0 with commentary from Geoff Johns and editors Eddie Berganza and Adam Schlagman.  It’s always nice to get insight from a creator because you get to see part of the process and thinking that goes into his or her work.  I don’t think any of the comments are intensely profound (some are quite obvious, and some about color don’t really make sense in this context), but it’s kind of nice to feel that way because it means you as a reader are in sync with the artist; you know that you “get” it.  The B&W treatment also lets you see Ivan Reis’ pencils with no alteration, and you see how amazing an artist he is.  His line work is so crisp, his figures so well defined, that this really could just use inks and be fine as a B&W story in the original publication.

The art on the first two stories are very good and fit the tone of the stories.  Chris Samnee, who previously did the Mongol Jr. story in Tales #1, has an old-school style, one that would work well in a war book like Sgt. Rock.  Since that’s the kind of story this is, just taking place in space, he’s a perfect fit, and I like his work here much more than the previous story.  The second story is by Mike Mayhew, who I’m not as familiar with (he has no other stories in the series).  His work has a much lighter, airier feel to it, and again this matches the tone of the Arisia story- we’re watching someone in the throes of hero worship, and this requires an innocent kind of art style.  It’s somewhat similar to Samnee’s, but his lines are not as fuzzy.  It is still a cartoony style.

While one’s enjoyment of the overall Blackest Night storyline will not be lessened by not getting this, if you like Green Lantern Corps, you really should get this book.  Also, if you were not able to get BN 0 for some reason, here’s your chance.  Enjoy!