PHANTOM STRANGER (BLACKEST NIGHT) #42

Review by: TheNextChampion

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Avg Rating: 3.5
 
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Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art and Cover by Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes

Size: 32 pages
Price: 2.99

Phantom Stranger is a great character for me. He’s mysterious, he has a vast array of powers, and he has a shiny medallion. So, like all of the rebirth of old DC comics, this one shot was very intriguing to me. I knew we weren’t going to get much advancement of the Blackest Night story overall, but learning more about Stranger would be fun. I mean with an event like this, that not even the Spectre is immuned too, this could get quite interesting.

What we get is just a bunch of things happening at once for both Stranger and Blue Devil. I loved the beginning with the BL Spectre. Yes we know where this is headed now, thanks to Green Lantern #50, but Stranger vs Spectre could be an epic fight in the making. Sadly it ends too quickly and Tomasi has to go on to the next bit in the story. I’m happy to see Deadman get more play into this story, but I think his appearence just seems out of place for this particular one shot. Granted I am not a huge scholar on the history of Stranger/Deadman but….do they even have history together? Either way things are resolved but one thing just kept bugging me threw out this issue. Yes the Phantom Stranger is the focial point of the issue, but why? I mean he seems to be in control and he has powers far beyond anyone else in the DCU. So where is the tension? Where are the other Black Lanterns attacking them? It just seemed like I know less of Stranger now then I did before.

The art by Ardian Syaf is quite good though. Nothing stand outs particularly, but he does layout Tomasi’s stuff very well. When the real Spectre is trying to escape from his BL counterpart, that looked great. There are some moments of excitement but really nothing happens, which could explain why this isn’t all that exciting to look at. I would love to see more of his work in the future, and I know he did the Batman BL mini earlier (which I didn’t read but I will eventually, and Tomasi wrote that too). Hopefully Syaf sticks around, he could be a great artist on a team book if given the chance. Like JSA, or how about a Sentinels of Magic ongoing?

It isn’t a bad one shot by any means but….there just doesn’t seem to be anything here to warrant an issue in the first place. I like Phantom Stranger and Tomasi/Syaf does a good job with what they can do for one issue. But really, it doesn’t seem like this is worth your time or money. Again, hopefully we see these two team up again on a regular book in the future. 

Story: 3 - Good
Art: 3 - Good

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