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BLACKEST NIGHT #5 (OF 8)


Price: $3.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 4.2%
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Comments

  1. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    Nekron doesn’t instill the kind of fear in me that this cover seems to imply he should.

  2. Avatar photo vadamowens says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    He does for me.

  3. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:03 pm

    @stuclach-I’m guessing that by the end of this issue he will have you quaking in your booties.  If Johns can make me care about Firestorm in one issue, he can also make me care about Nekron.  I’m counting on it.

  4. Avatar photo vadamowens says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:08 pm

    @drake he’s done a hell of a job making me care about a lot of characters that otherwise I would’ve dismissed.

  5. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:11 pm

    I don’t know Nekron’s history, so it is hard for me to feel he is a threat. Has he done anything significant?

    And yes, I do trust Johns to make him a threat.

  6. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:12 pm

    Yeah I have a feeling Johns is gonna make us crap out pants when we learn more about Nekron.

    At least we know Ivan Reis will make it look pretty.

  7. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:29 pm

    Yeesh! I dread this book!

  8. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:32 pm

    Awesome. What a great Reis cover.

    @stuclach Nekron is the lord of the dead. Even without any characterization that’s a pretty big deal. Other than that, he’s appeared a few times, mainly in TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1-3 from 1981. (Where he appears with great Joe Stanton art: http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5714/nekron1.jpg He also appeared in Green Lantern Annual #7 during the "Ghosts" crossover, where… a mini-version of Blackest NIght occurs and we get a peak at Nekron behind a dimensional barrier. 

  9. Avatar photo AmirCat says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:38 pm

    I am skeeerrrrrrred. hold me.

  10. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:46 pm

    @PraxJarvin – I knew you’d pop in here with something interesting. "Ghosts" sounds interesting. I had no idea he was the lord of the dead. Interesting. Thanks.

  11. edward says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:52 pm

    @Stuclach: if aren’t scared you may be Green lantern Corps material!! Not me, I literally shit my pants when i saw that cover,

    Literally!!!

  12. Avatar photo AmirCat says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    "Bring out the gimp"

  13. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    November 23, 2009 at 8:07 pm

    @Stuclach Back in the 90s, there was a 5-7 year period where DC and Marvel were obsessed with having their annuals being thematically linked. It was a cool idea, but ultimately  most of them were lacking. There cool ideas some years. "Tales of the Dead Earth" features some fun Elseworlds stories, the best year was probably the one that featured each annual being written like a classic Pulp, with great pulp art covers. (One of the Starman annuals is part of this X-Over.) I’m not actually sure what the GHOSTS crossover was, other than in GL Annual #7 Kyle encountering a resurrected Mogo and a few resurrected lanterns (Tomar-Re, Kilowog) fighting them a bit and then a random appearance by Nekron, who says he’s not involved in the resurrected lanterns. Odd stuff. I pulled the annual out not long ago to give it a read. It’s not particularly good, and seems really rushed.

  14. edward says:
    November 23, 2009 at 8:20 pm

    @Prax: do you remember the "Bloodline" Annuals?

  15. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    November 23, 2009 at 9:15 pm

    @edward I have one or two of them for Green Lantern and Flash, but I don’t think I ever read them. So, "Yes, I remember they existed, but no clue what it was about."

  16. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    November 23, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    so at what point does Darkseid attempt to win Nekron’s love?  …?

  17. Avatar photo vadamowens says:
    November 23, 2009 at 10:41 pm

    @amircat I catch the PF reference, but I’m not sure how its connected to this.

  18. edward says:
    November 23, 2009 at 11:01 pm

    @Prax: they were pretty good, dude

  19. Avatar photo ShonenRafa77 says:
    November 24, 2009 at 12:14 am

    Holy socks; I dunno about the rest of you guys but this book’s up against some stiff competition this week when it comes Pick of the Week if you ask me, but knowing Johns and Reis I think it’s sure to be a definite contender… l:D

  20. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 24, 2009 at 12:37 am

    Ironically, I’m tired of hearing the discussions of ‘why doesnt ifanboy make this potw?’

    I was on board with that the first issue, but this event so far has not been potw worthy since then. Not to say it’s bad, this has been a hell of a good event. But I think it’s nuts to think #2-4 were worthy of the pick.

  21. Avatar photo ShonenRafa77 says:
    November 24, 2009 at 1:46 am

    @TheNextChampion

    lol Man I hear what you’re saying, I get kinda tired of that too sometimes; my reference to Pick of the Week was actually meant to reference my own personal pick, not necessarily any of the iFanboy crew’s.

    Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure the first issue was definitely a POTW for me, but you’re right, after the first issue, I don’t think that any of the subsequent installments have held the same sway for me (although for sure, I’ve had a BLAST reading each and every one)

     But hey who knows? Maybe this Nekron-centric issue will rock worlds enough to make it POTW in my book once again 

  22. Avatar photo Zeppo says:
    November 24, 2009 at 7:04 am

    Loving this series much more than I thought I would.

    I’ve never heard of Nekron, so for me he is an unknown quantity and that’s a bit scary.

  23. VicDeZen says:
    November 24, 2009 at 11:33 am

    Nekkron has to do something huge in this series to really get the sense of a real threat coming from him.  Especially since he may turn out to be the corner stone threat in this story.  I am so enjoying this story right now it’s not even funny.

    -Vic De Zen

     

  24. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 24, 2009 at 1:58 pm

    I have a feeling this issue is going to be ‘holy shit’ worthy. Like how we saw in Green Lantern with the rise of Black Hand. There is going to be some revelation in this or just a fantastic take on Nekron to make us smile with joy.

  25. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    November 24, 2009 at 5:09 pm

    @Prax – Maybe I won’t look them up then.  Thanks for sharing your encyclopedic knowledge.

  26. flapjaxx says:
    November 24, 2009 at 6:39 pm

    Batman fans might wanna take a look at the variant cover…

    The regular cover is just beautiful, though.

  27. Avatar photo drakerivera says:
    November 24, 2009 at 9:51 pm

     here is the info on NEKRON http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Nekron_(New_Earth)

  28. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    November 24, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    I’m really glad I DON’T care who Nekron is.

  29. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    November 25, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    I looks like you should read GL #48 before reading this.  It appears to lead right into the beginning of this issue.

  30. Avatar photo forestjwp says:
    November 25, 2009 at 1:21 pm

    @TNC The "holy shit" moment happened and it was AWESOME!

  31. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    November 25, 2009 at 1:31 pm

    SPOILERS

    That was decent.  Nekron seems superfluous, though I am confidence Mr. Johns will make good use of him in future issues.  I felt the resurrection of Bruce was a bit unnecessary.  He served a purpose, but it felt like he was used for the shock value, not because he was the only viable method to connect to the reborn heroes.  Donna Troy could have been used (especially since her transformation was taking place at that time).  I do like that the reborn heroes are being used as Black Lanterns.  I’m glad things are continuing to get worse rather than better.

  32. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 25, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    This was tough to read. Very very tough to read. I’m using the analogy of this with Secret Invasion a lot, but it works for me. So far this series has been nothing but fights and ‘holy shit moments’. There doesn’t seem to be a real emotional core to this entire thing……Which is ironic considering emotion is a factor for this entire event. lol

    But nothing about this was great for me, other then Reis art. If there is a man, other then Frank, who isn’t a shoe in for ‘Best artist of the year’, then I dont know what else he needs to do. Everything on the art in this was great and I cannot say anything to say otherwise.

    Yeah this was pretty disappointing. Probably the worst issue in terms of story cause there was basically none. Again I hope this is going to be more like a true story and not Secret Invasion. But considering how it’s nothing but ‘holy shit moments’ and nothing else…..I guess it is a lot like SI in more ways then one.

  33. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    November 25, 2009 at 5:53 pm

    @TNC – I have to disagree. While I didn’t love this issue, I do think it achieved some story progression. We saw members of the full spectrum working together (only really a contribution if you didn’t read GL #48 first).  We learned that the combined colors don’t affect the Black Lantern (which contradicted my expectations).  We saw a large contingent of the heroes converted to Black Lanterns (slightly more shit hitting the fan).  We saw "Scar" the "evil" guardian die (as much as anyone can die in this book).  We saw the Flashes attempt to free the Guardians (featuring Wally being as awesome and fun as he was when Mr. Johns wrote his ongoing).

    I don’t mean to belittle Secret Invasion, but it did actually feel (at least to me) like something happened in this issue.  I didn’t particularly enjoy some aspects (particularly Bruce Wayne being brought back for 15 seconds), but I didn’t find it as uneventful as I found much of Secret Invasion.

  34. Avatar photo intergy says:
    November 25, 2009 at 6:03 pm

    SPOILER

    Larfleeze amused me greatly this week.

    When I got to the two page spread of Batman I actually yelled out, "This shit just got real!"  Then my jaw hit the floor when the Nekron ordered the resurrected heroes to die. 

  35. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 25, 2009 at 7:30 pm

    @stuclach: But that doesnt really give any story progression with the JLA turing into Black Lanterns. I agree that knowing that bringing all the color lanterns together and failing is story progression…..But it’s very minor compared to what went down in this issue. Besides, you can’t tell me that having them all together means anything…..It happened in a different comic! lol

    The Flashes trying to save the Guardians was barely worth mentioning. Cause it didnt do anything in the long run.

  36. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    November 25, 2009 at 8:18 pm

    @TNC For the last time, THE EVENT IS SPLIT BETWEEN BLACKEST NIGHT, GREEN LANTERN AND GREEN LANTERN CORPS. This is exactly the same way that Sinestro Corps War worked. The editors and writers have been very clear about this point. I can’t believe how many times I keep hearing "Why did X happen in the Green Lantern tie-in issue? Or why did Y do Z in a non-main book." They’re all equally important to the main body of the event.

    @TNC, as well It sounds to me like you were just disappointed that it was an issue full of people failing.

  37. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    November 25, 2009 at 9:17 pm

    @TNC – Again, not to knock Secret Invasion, but this book actually contained some story progress (though perhaps not as much as you would have liked) unlike many of the issues of SI.

  38. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    November 25, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    This was amazing.  TNC is silly. 

    In a week where I handed out almost all 5s (except for JLA…fuck JLA) this one took the cake.  Killer stuff.

  39. Avatar photo comicBOOKchris says:
    November 25, 2009 at 11:31 pm

    I remembered back around when Issue #2 came out with the start of all the tie-ins thinking "I love Green Lantern, but this story of the DCU fighting dead superheroes DEFINITELY doesn’t have enough steam to last 8 issues!"

     

    Silly me.

     

    Im very glad that this event isn’t what I feared it was going to be (DCU vs. DCU zombies) and is turning out to be an excellent story that includes several plot points that Johns has scattered throughout his run on Green Lantern. I especially liked this issue since it moved the story along quite well from the first act (Issues 1-3, pretty much). There was great story progress in that respect, and I was excited during several moments, especially al the major ring bearers finally working together.

     

    And yeah, there were a bunch of fights, but that’s not a bad thing in the slightest (would any of us be readng these books if there WEREN’T any fighting??). Too much fighting is a bad thing only when the only reason that the story exisists is to serve the purpose of fights. The fights are indicative of the story in Blackest Night, not the other way around.

  40. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 26, 2009 at 12:17 am

    91.5%? Bullshit.

    It’s that high just to entice Ron to make it POTW. It’s gonna be sure disappoint IF he doesn’t pick it this week.

  41. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 26, 2009 at 12:24 am

    @comicbookchris: I’m sorry how is this not like the DCU fighting zombies? That’s what its been for five issues now. The only difference is that we are seeing the main zombie show himself.

    @drake: What was amazing? The fight on page 5 or the continuation of that fight on page 20? Or how about Ray Palmer getting freaked out about his dead wife again. That sure is refreshing.

    @Prax: I was disappointed because this is just lazy writing. Geoff Johns isn’t telling a beautiful story here like he was in Superman Secret Origins. All this is, is just cheese for the generic comic book fan. No depth, no layers, just endless amounts of fighting and bad one liners. This is exactly like Secret Invasion and just like that event, you need to read other comics just to read the actual ‘story’ involved.

    Not only that, but barely an hour seems to have passed in the DCU since this event started. So I’m sure the event will end roughly an hour after this particular issue ended.

  42. Avatar photo comicBOOKchris says:
    November 26, 2009 at 12:31 am

    @NextChamp: Yeah there’s DCU zombies here (I wouldnt exactly call them zombies, but thats just nitpicking), but the story doesn’t just revolve around fighting zombies for the sake of fighting zombies. It’s not like the zombies rose out of nowhere, the good guys killed them, and then story over. There’s actually a higher plot to all of this, much of which that Johns was building up in the core title with the mythos about the Emotional Light Spectrum.

  43. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 26, 2009 at 12:40 am

    @comicbookchris: But there is no emotion in here (ironically) nor is there any character moments. It’s just nonstop fighting and that’s about it. What has happened in this book to tell me otherwise? I’m not talking about GL or GLC, I’m talking about the ‘main event’, which should have most of the story happening in it. Not just like a bookmark to get the story to continue, the story should be happening in here!

    All it is, is just random moments with barely any connection to them. If I wasn’t reading GL right now I would be mighty pissed.

  44. Avatar photo NathanNicdao says:
    November 26, 2009 at 3:05 am

    NEKRON DOESN’T SCARE ME.

    WHERE IS MY POWER RING?

  45. Avatar photo Impulse says:
    November 26, 2009 at 3:08 am

    This issue is a great example of what Geoff Johns does better then any writer in comics today.  He takes a flaw in comic lore and takes it beyond plausible and weaves it into compelling storytelling.  Much like the Green Lanterns weakness to yellow (try explaining that one to someone unfamiliar to comics) Geoff explains why comic characters return from the dead so often and easily, and makes it riveting.  Because Death (Nekron) himself let them.  NICE!  The final use of Bruce (all be it short) was pretty cool too.

    Who else wants Geoff to handle Bruce Wayne’s return?

    Also I can’t believe it took me until now to realize that all the heroes floating on the #5 cover all had died and resurrected.  DUH! 

  46. Avatar photo NathanNicdao says:
    November 26, 2009 at 3:13 am

    @Impulse :

    HOLY CRAP!

    BATMAN : REBIRTH..

  47. Avatar photo NathanNicdao says:
    November 26, 2009 at 3:16 am

    Next Tuesday:

    GALACTUS VS. NEKRON.

  48. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    November 26, 2009 at 4:26 am

    @TNC- Fair enough if you didn’t like this, but to say it has 90% user POTW% just to entice Ron to make it his POTW?? Your mind is a puzzle, my friend. What would anyone gain by Ron making it his pick?

    I’ve told you (& others have) about a million times — POTW = personal opinion. There is no right or wrong pick. 

    I didn’t love this issue either, but for different reasons. I didn’t like the amount of one-liners (bad ones) & the story kinda not taking itself seriously. The art was great & I liked all the action, but the tone of "hey, this is great fun! Let’s make jokes!" when everyone is dead or dying just didn’t seem to fit the story.

  49. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    November 26, 2009 at 4:40 am

    @Impulse: I for one do not want to see Geoff Johns handle Bruce’s return. And he might be my favorite comics writer.

    But back on topic — fantastic issue. Best since #1.

  50. Avatar photo Crippler says:
    November 26, 2009 at 7:57 am

    AWESOME issue.  Pure awesome. 

  51. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    November 26, 2009 at 8:01 am

    Wow, rather gripping! A great horror story!

  52. Avatar photo mikegraham6 says:
    November 26, 2009 at 8:33 am

    I think TNC just likes to argue 😉

  53. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    November 26, 2009 at 11:28 am

    @mikegraham6-haha, that’s an understatement 

  54. Avatar photo stustap says:
    November 26, 2009 at 12:13 pm

    That was FANTASTIC

  55. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 26, 2009 at 12:27 pm

    Actually @daccampo had the right idea (since he’s agreeing with me). It’s just an average story with very little push to the narrative.

    I’ll add by saving, I think Johns is distracting the readers with ‘holy shit moments’ to not show how medicore the story really is. Cause I’m not denying that Bruce coming back or the JLA during into Black Lanterns isn’t cool. But they add very little to the overall narrative.

  56. Rustyautoparts says:
    November 26, 2009 at 12:59 pm

    @TNC: So what would add to the narrative? What is Geoff Johns not doing? What do you specifically want to see that this story is not giving you?

  57. Avatar photo Bryce31 says:
    November 26, 2009 at 1:01 pm

    If you don’t like holy shit moments then your a communist!!!!!!

    I loved this issued by the way.

  58. Avatar photo JaqueNargg says:
    November 26, 2009 at 1:32 pm

    So did anyone else get the impression that that wasn’t really Bruce? Nekron refers to him as "Bruce Wayne" (in quotation marks just like that). I think he used "Bruce" to get a reaction out of all the heroes, which for some reason makes them die on command. Besides, doesn’t Dick have Bruce’s body over in Batman and Robin?

  59. Avatar photo Noto says:
    November 26, 2009 at 1:35 pm

    "Okay guys, it worked, now we can all change our POTW back to Wolverine: First Class #21 since we actually suckered Ron into picking Blackest Night #5."

    Seriously, the readership coming together to forcably take over the POTW is a concept more far fetched than most of the comic stories that we all read.

  60. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    November 26, 2009 at 1:39 pm

    @Noto: That’s an understatement.

  61. VicDeZen says:
    November 26, 2009 at 1:40 pm

    @Rustyautoparts – That is a good question to TNC.  For all the complaints about this story not being good enough and having too many "holy shit" moments, what can be done to change that.  I don’t get what it is about Johns writing right now that is not pleasing you.  Just curious is all.  Coming as someone who only mildly reads GL comics, I am loving this series.  It has everything you would need in an 8 part epic.  It’s a fast pace story.  Not all stories can be paced like Identity Crisis for example.  It just doesn’t fit in the dynamic of this story. 

  62. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    November 26, 2009 at 1:42 pm

    Rusty has checkmated TNC.

  63. Avatar photo Spoons says:
    November 26, 2009 at 2:01 pm

    I really liked this issue, but I actually prefered the previous issues where the heros were faced with their dead loved ones. 

    P.S.  Johns currently has 92.8% of the POTW between his three books.  that is pretty ridiculous.

  64. Avatar photo Paradiddle says:
    November 26, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    I gave it 4/5 but it felt a bit flat to me, mostly due to the groan-inducing dialogue in the early pages. The art was fantastic as always, especially in the "holy shit" moments.

  65. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    November 26, 2009 at 2:11 pm

    Can you point out the groan inducing dialog? I’m curious.

  66. Avatar photo supertrackmonkey says:
    November 26, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    Like PraxJarvin said above, this story takes place over 3 books. If your reading all 3, then the "holy shit" moments aren’t that numerous. 

    @TNC: If this was the only BN book I was reading, then I would agree with you. Cause I would only be reading 1/3rd of the story. You have to put this book in context with the other 2 (GL and GLC.) 

  67. Avatar photo captbastrd says:
    November 26, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    @TNC
    If they were ‘holy shit’ moments w/ no subsance, you’d be right, but these events are the crux of the story. I could be inclined to agree w/ you on Batman, because he showed up, did his thing and then disappeared, but I’d say that that was more likely due to Johns’ respecting whatever craziness Grant Morrison has planned for Bruce in his book, so Geoff didn’t want to make Bruce so vitally important in his own.

  68. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 26, 2009 at 4:29 pm

    I just want more character development and actual drama. Not:

    "Oh my god is that my [insert love one here], but he’s dead!" Then we’ll go over to another part of the DCU and get witty banter by Hal and Barry. Basically, anything that Hal said in this issue was groan worthy. Like Tom Cruise in Top Gun…

  69. flapjaxx says:
    November 26, 2009 at 5:04 pm

    @Jaque: Yeah, that wasn’t really Bruce on any level, except that it was probably the skull that USED to house Bruce’s consciousness. That was the whole point of the quotation marks, to let us know that "Bruce" really isn’t involved, even less than the real "souls" of other Blackest Lanterns are involved. Bruce’s "soul" has left that dead body–it’s in the past, not available anywhere in the current DCU timeline–so there was nothing for the Blackest Lantern power to mimic/pervert. That’s why the Blackest Night Batman was conspicuously silent and didn’t have a personality the way the other BL’s have. I think next issue we’re going to see Dick recover the skull and put it in the vault we saw at the end of Batman & Robin #6. (So, confusingly, Batman & Robin #6 will be revealed to take place after Blackest Night #6.) That’s my take.

  70. Avatar photo supertrackmonkey says:
    November 26, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    @TNC: Read the other two books (GL & GLC.) Read them as one continuous story and not as individual stories. 

    I also don’t really know what you mean by character development. We know these characters. We have been reading these characters stories for years/decades. Do you mean in how these characters feel to see their loved ones return as zombies? Well, if so, that took place in the first act of Blackest Night.

    Look for the "oh shit" moments of BL #5 to have ramifications in the next issues of Green Lantern and Green lantern Corps.    

  71. Avatar photo Mangaman says:
    November 26, 2009 at 7:00 pm

    Gonna be honest here. I had my doubts. In fact I thought this was going to be the issue where the main event would fall apart. When I walked past the lcs on my way to class I saw the solicit for the 5th issue on the front window and the door was open so I could hear some of my buddies gasping as they read it inside. I knew right away to grab this. I’m feeling really impulsive to just give this the pick of the week. But I’m better than that so I’ll be fair and finish my other issues.

    Bottom line: Another prodigious issue carried by a simple idea I would have never thought of.

  72. Avatar photo AmirCat says:
    November 26, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    Amazing issue … what now … Universe is screwed!!!

  73. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    November 26, 2009 at 10:22 pm

    is it fair for us to say whether or not there was story development when we don’t know the end of the story being developed?

  74. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    November 26, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    and it just occurred to me that it would have been genius of DC to engineer a Friday release for this issue.  the Blackest Friday! that would have been fun, oh well.

  75. Rustyautoparts says:
    November 26, 2009 at 10:56 pm

    I think Bruce Wayne’s body will prove to be even more important over the next few issues. I don’t think we’ve been getting the whole story about what Superman et al know about Batman’s death, as seen by the shock of our heroes when Bruce is resurrected. You would think that they would put together the fact that he hasn’t risen like the others. Or maybe not.

  76. Avatar photo oldmanlogan88 says:
    November 27, 2009 at 11:26 am

    best issue yet

  77. Avatar photo Paradiddle says:
    November 27, 2009 at 12:37 pm

    @JumpingJupiter – p.7, panel 2. Flash: "One giant skeleton-guy. One freaky guardian. And a Black Lantern in a pear tree."

    P. 10: "Let’s take a trip, ‘Little Mermaid.’ Under the sea."

    Don’t mean to be a stickler and let me reiterate that overall I enjoyed the issue, but those two lines in particular took me out of the story for a bit. I don’t mind a little light-heartedness in the face of ultimate evil, but I rolled my eyes after reading those two lines.

     

  78. Avatar photo Paradiddle says:
    November 27, 2009 at 1:02 pm

    Also, I wish I would’ve known to read this AFTER GL this week…where is this kind of stuff announced? Is GL a bit behind schedule or something?

  79. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    November 27, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    Fair enough. Thanks for pointing that out.

  80. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    November 27, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    @Paradiddle: Its not really announced anywhere (although Johns did say on Twitter to read GL first) but as a general rule you should always read tie-in books first and the main book last.

  81. Avatar photo KickAss says:
    November 27, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    @TNC-You buy all 3 books, so why do you complain what story beats happen where?  You read them all, don’t complain.

    This is the same bullcrap people put on Marvel when they actually read all the books anyway.  Even when you read just 1 book, it still makes sense.  It’s just less story.

    Like others pointed out, this should be judged as the middle of a story, not, "Well this issue was a long fight!"  Yes, a long fight out of 180+ pages of story!  20 pages of fighting works in that context.

  82. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    November 27, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    This was really good. Really, really good. I think the biggest problem people are having is that they expected this to be FALLING ACTION. But instead we take a left turn into The big "save everyone with the white light" moment didn’t happen! This doesn’t happen. People just don’t fail in the DCU. And then to top it all off the resurrected heroes all die on command? This isn’t just an "Oh, Shit" moment. It means something more. There’s a reason they can instantly die other than "This would be kewl!" Johns has been planning this for some time. And he obviously has a lot to say on the subject of death, because it’s quite interesting. 5/5 for me. However, it was surprisingly not my pick of the week.

  83. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    November 27, 2009 at 11:27 pm

    I guess the best way I could put this is that: It’s like an advertisment for other books.

    Let me state that I know full well that I have to read Green Lantern to get more of the story. But with that and other titles, it seems like those are more important than this ‘main event’ title. Everything about this feels like ‘Oh you like that little moment? Then go read [insert tie-in] to see more of it.’ I could tell that we need to pick up the Wonder Woman and Flash mini’s just to see more of it. It’s not going to have an endpoint in this title, but on random mini series. That’s annoying.

    Plus I was arguing about this with @PraxJarvin earlier; it just seems like the rest of the DCU doesn’t need to be here. Not the other color lanterns, but the other superheroes on Earth. It’s a given that almost every character has suffered death by a loved one or even has been killed before. But do we really need Superman, Wonder Woman, JSA, or even the Flashes in this? I don’t think we do. This is clearly a GLC problem and no one else’s. It just seems forced to me that’s all, adding all of these characters and Johns (to me) is struggling to make them revelent for the event.

    I know I’ve overreacted on this thing guys. I feel bad to be so harsh on this or anyone who actually likes this. But to me, and just my view, it’s just deja vu for me because this feels exactly like Secret Invasion. To much going on which means everything can’t be focused on the main event. As of right now, Johns could’ve told this story in two/three issues and not (as of now) five. That’s my problem with most events now a days, they spread out the story way too much. So there is no enjoyment factor because it feels so light.

  84. Avatar photo DarthDuck says:
    November 28, 2009 at 12:33 am

    I actually liked that Bruce was back for 2.5 seconds.  As stated, he served his purpose and then Nekron destroyed him.  That little bit makes me more scared of Nekron than anything else.

  85. flapjaxx says:
    November 28, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    TNC: You were "arguing about this with @PraxJarvin"? Not just just "with PraxJarvin"? Don’t let twitter hijack your brain, man.

    This doesn’t feel like Secret Invasion to me at all. Maybe amount as much time has passed in five issues, but there’s a ton of stuff happening here. This isn’t the decompressed storytelling of Bendis (not that that in itself is bad). I feel like a ton of stuff is happening here, not just a collection of moments. I mean, what else is storytelling, but a collection of moments that punctuate steps that characters take on the way toward certain goals? That’s what’s happening here. The dialogue in between the "moments" does not feel like filler. None of this feels like filler to me. Every single word and panel is not completely absolutely enthralling to me, but none of it feels beside the point either.

  86. Avatar photo mansuper says:
    November 28, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    I dont know if its because of the blackest night event, but, as a new comic reader, im loving DC comics more and more. I used to hate green lanturn, but now hes one of my favorite superheroes. you have my bank account, DC.

  87. edward says:
    November 29, 2009 at 4:09 am

    is the next champion actually superboy prime? typing away in his parents basement?

  88. Avatar photo supertrackmonkey says:
    November 29, 2009 at 10:17 am

    Go tell Superman or WonderWoman (or the other heroes for that matter) that this isn’t their problem. Now be honest, if some crazy sh*t was happening where people are dying with Sinestro or the Joker as the cause, do you think Superman (or any of the other heroes) would be like "Oh, that’s Hal Jordan’s problem." or "That’s Batman’s villain, I’ll let him deal with it." ? I don’t think so. They would go and try to stop it. Wally West went to go get all the heroes he could find to end this conflict. No GL’s, or any colored lantern, were around to stop it. So even if the heroes knew that this was a GL problem, they had no choice but to band together to stop this cause no GL’s were around.

  89. Avatar photo supertrackmonkey says:
    November 29, 2009 at 10:23 am

    Also, is it just me or has John Stewart been seriously underused in this story? I know he is going to be in the next issue of Green Lantern #49, but he has been a no show for now. And I’m not even a big John Stewart fan (he is my least favorite of the four three of Earth’s GL’s.) 

  90. Avatar photo Paradiddle says:
    December 1, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    @Conor – Thanks for the tip re: reading tie-ins before the main series. Will do so from now on!

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