To start, let me say that I have been trade waiting this series, not because I didn't enjoy it, but due to the fact that I enjoy the collected editions.  No patience I guess.  This comic was one of the best I have read this year.  The self contained story of William Hand and the things that lead to becoming the first Black Lantern actually gave me a chill down my spine, which does not happen very often.  The evolution of his obsession with death as a child, to the murdering of animals (including his pet dog), to the creation of the Black Hand and eventually becoming a Black Lantern (by doing a murder suicide with his family); was absolutely riveting to me as a reader.  I found myself going back and reading these pages thinking about the kind of person it would take to be the embodiment of death and Mr. Johns does it and does it well.  I almost felt bad for William Hand, but then remembered he literally is a crazy person and he absolutely terrifies me.  The whole scene in this book where we have “Death” telling him to retake the souls of the resurrected heros spooked me to no end as well.  I will recommend this to everyone I see as a jumping on point to what appears to be some of the best science fiction writing out there.  Also as a side note, this is coming from a Marvel Zombie, DC so far this year has been amazing and I find myself lately more gravitating to their works more and more.  Not saying Dark Reign is bad, but between this and the Batman Rebirth saga I find myself more and more leaning to the other side of the comic spectrum.