So as has been made perfectly clear from the get go, Blackest Night is a Green Lantern event. I don't think Barry Allen got that memo. Who are we kidding kids, Barry Allen nearly single-handedly stole the show. And I don't particularly mean specifically this three part tie-in, which was awesome, definitely the best of this bunch, most definitely top 5 tie-in status (which is saying something seeing as there were 25 Blackest Night tie-in stories and 45 tie-in issues. Wow.) But even outside of this tie-in Barry has pretty much changed the direction of Blackest Night. A couple of times. He was the first to die, last to be reborn. He spread word of the Black Lanterns. He single-handedly prevented both himself and Hal Jordan, who is pretty much the leader of the Green Lanterns at the moment, from being reacquired by Nekron. He has what could be the most popular quote of the series, "All will be well." He saved his grandson Bart. I mean, c'mon people. He's pretty much the savior of everyone. Go Bartholomew Henry Allen!
And we're off. This Flash tie-in was fantastic. Seeing as Barry had just made his triumphant return, the first issue was a bit of a history lesson to help those unacquainted catch up. The whole issue takes place before Nekron's grand appearance and Barry is having to deal with the Black Lantern Reverse Flash, not to be mistaken with the currently living Reverse Flash. Barry then makes a pit stop at his old buddy Solovar, the Gorilla's town. Suffice to say Solovar has been dead for many years and is now a Black Lantern. The second and third issues follow Barry as he is becoming accustomed to his temporary role as a Blue Lantern. His being is overcome with a great sense of Hope, which is fitting because he is Hal's best friend. I know, some of you are thinking, who cares. The answer, you, or at least you should. The way the Blue Lantern rings work is that they are based off the emotional spectrum, like the other rings, but without Will, Hope eventually dies out. Thus, the Blue Lantern rings are at their full power when in vicinity of a Green Lantern.
While Barry was quick enough to evade the special Black Rings,
unfortunately his estranged grandson Bart (also named Bartholomew Henry Allen II) was unable to do so. I loved, Loved, the Barry and Bart scene. I'd say that it perfectly summed up their relationship, estranged with a desire for more. And that bit of hope is exactly what saved Bart, well that and their joined connection to the Speed Force. What saved them all from the Black Lantern Reverse Flash you ask? Why that'd be the Rogues. The who? No, not those old farts. The Rogues are pretty much The Villains of the Flash-verse. And as such, they were graced with nearly a 50% stake of this series. There are a bunch of them but only two worth mentioning, because to be hones, I only know two of their names. Captain Cold is pretty much the Mr. Freeze of Keystone City. And while he's been known to have a conscience and feel guilt, he's still a Rogue at heart. He takes on an old love of his and is able to freeze his emotions before freezing her in a block of ice.How'd he save the Flashes you ask? He froze the living Reverse Flash, who was imprisoned and as a result Black Lantern Thawne (I apologize for changing his name, I couldn't stand to write it the other way once more) froze as well. The other Rogue that I have a sliver of a connection to is Boomerang. Those of you who have read Identity Crisis and have a shred of emotion in your heart will remember him as the son of the man who killed Timothy Drake Wayne's father. Well this fool, the son, came to the conclusion that he could "cure" his father by feeding him humans. The Rogues find out and find out that he also killed women and children, which is a big no no. Nice to know even crooks have a code. Suffice to say Cap Cold threw in Boomerang Jr. into the pit where his Black Lantern father was. If you had to pick up one of these issues, it would be this one. No questions about it.
Geez, I almost completely forgot to talk about the artwork. Scott Kolin, I'm not particularly sure I completely loved the art. It's weird, because I liked it all except for their faces. And it's not really that I didn't like the faces, it's just that I thought that they were a bit too cartoony and didn't mesh well with the bodies and their surroundings. But with a different body, those faces would be just fine.
Blackest Night: Wonder Woman **1/2
I've never been a Wonder Woman enthusiast so my review may have a hint of a bias. For one thing, the first issue seemed like it didn't really belong with the second and third issues. I know why it was the way that it was, what with her becoming a Lantern and all, but I felt it still could have been tied together a bit better. Scratch that. Upon rereading the first book, I realize that there was an attempt to set things up for Diana. As she was being attacked by Black Lanterns left and right, she emanated only one emotion, Love. I didn't, however, understand how her Lasso was able to destroy all of the Lanterns, but oh well. The second two issues, in my opinion, were saved by Mera's appearance. I know, I know, you are all thinking, "What an idiot." You are wrong.
Here's what I am feeling. I do not think that Diana has the ability to overcome the powers of the Black Lantern Ring, regardless of when Matt tries to convince me the Violet Ring takes over. I did not appreciate a whole fight scene(Cassie, Donna, Hippolyta and Bruce) that was pure imagination. What a crock. And more importantly, I am displeased with the continued implications of Diana's interest in Bruce. Unless I am missing something, her love of all loves was Clark and frankly, she should keep her Amazonian parts to herself. That being said, I thought Mera's cameo in this was great. I never really knew Mera, but with her resurgence as a result of Blackest Night, consider me interested. And just to wrap things up, I think Nicola Scott is a fairly decent artist, but the man just cannot do faces. I mean, he takes wonky and turns it up a notch.
Blackest Night: JSA ***
So the first two issues of this three part tie-in series were very good. The original Flash and Green Lantern kicking ass is always awesome. The rest of the JSA, who I have only passing knowledge of, were actually pretty interesting. Major plot points. Kal-L made his triumphant return as a Black Lantern as a result of some really crafty thinking on the other Black Lantern's part. Now, the Black Lanterns have not really been zombie like throughout the entirety of Blackest Night, but in this series they were especially witty. I mean, pretending to have a conscience, then fighting other Black Lanterns to assert your trust-worthiness, culminating with a self-explosion, all in order to break the ground to open a pathway to reach Black Lantern Superman. How genius is that? I wasn't exactly a fan of the multiple artist deal, most specifically because Power Girl was god awful ugly. I don't know which artist did what, but one was fantastic and the other was a let down. Moving on, who knew that a Black Lantern ring could move from one body to the next? I certainly didn't. I didn't really think that the conclusion suited the first two issues. I know that the fight scene between Power Girl and Superman was probably meant to be more emotionally taxing, but who are we kidding, it wasn't. And while having that machine take out all of the Black Lanterns in New York was cool, it was just so anti-climactic.
Secret Six 17-18 **1/2
No offense to this series in particular, but I completely forgot this tie-in even existed for the longest while. In fact, I didn't remember about it until I came to write my review. That being said, this wasn't exactly the worst of tie-ins. Other than the fact that I didn't know anyone other than Bane(yes, the man who broke Batman's back) and Amanda Waller (who I utterly despise) and was therefore confused from time to time, the overall plot wasn't too bad. Two teams battling it out. A truck load of deaths. Truces and death threats. Ending with a gunshot and a man changing sides. That's really all you need to take out of this. Unlike the Flash and Wonder Woman tie-ins, and slightly the JSA tie-in, there is little attempt at relating to Blackest Night. This was pretty much two Secret Six issues that happened to have some Black Lanterns in it.
Re Flash: I agree, I loved Barry in these issues, and that's the whole reason I went and read Flash: Rebirth (which reminds me I should review that). I can't say I care for Bart much, but that's a different story. I didn't care for the Rogues side of things very much, but mainly because I don't consider Flash's villains to be anywhere near Bats' or Supes'. They all seem like knock-offs to me.
ReplyDeleteAnd clearly you're just missing the awesomeness of Wonder Woman. I agree that the first issue doesn't match as well with the second or third, but I think more than the fact that she displays love, they wanted to touch on her breaking that guy's neck. I assumed her lasso was able to destroy the lanterns because they're not real people, and her Lasso of Truth shows that they're just constructs. I think the magic in the lasso is probably "White" to use the color spectrum of these books. As far as the ring over-coming, I think the Black Lantern Rings are not as powerful when on people that are alive. Hal was momentarily possessed by one when he was fighting Nekron, but he was able to break it. Same way Bart could with Barry's help. As for the fight scene, I can kind of see your point, although about halfway through I figured it was fake. Credit to Blackest Night for that part not being obvious straight away, since clearly they have no qualms wiping out other major characters.
And I always thought there was something there between Bruce and Diana, but I've not read half of what you have. I'd imagine the Batcomics usually focus on Selena, who you have a bias for anyway. Hell, I think one could almost make a case for any of the Big Three in DC to get paired up, although it's admittedly weaker between Bats and Supes.
I love Bart. It's interesting you say that about the Rogues, because I recently read an interview with Geoff Johns where he talked about the Rogues being his favorite group of villains, second to the Bat Villains. I mean, let's be honest no one has villains like Batman. Pretty much the ultimate when it comes to villains. I do feel you'd like the Rogues a tad more if you read Flash comics.
ReplyDeleteI'm more than sure I'm not missing anything from what can only be described as a half-assed attempt at a tie-in. It was definitely not the worst of the Blackest Night tie-ins, with as many as there were, there was bound to be a couple of pitfalls. But in comparison to the regular Wonder Woman issues I've read, this fell short. It was for sure the worst of the Trinity. And then if you incorporate the whole DC Pentacle (adding in the Flash and Green Lantern) it comes in last place then too. I don't know her lasso well enough to make assumptions one way or another. My take on it was that the rings were just as powerful on the "living" maybe even more so, because they were reborn and therefore had that connection to Nekron.
Also, my feling is that you have this feeling, regarding the Trinity, as a result of having read Trinity. I have not, but I have read the Batman Series and it's sons, and I haven't particularly seen anything to point in this direction. I mean, she marries Clark in Kingdom Come!
Well, is Kingdom Come canon? And I haven't read Trinity, or at least anything past the first one. I got hit over the head with Bruce-Diana in the Justice League cartoon. I'm not saying they make it abundantly obvious, but I don't think it's outside the realm of speculation. You always see those three together, and Diana has enough of a "Do what needs doing" that you could see her and Bruce matching better than her and the Boy Scout in Blue and Red.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think the rings control over living people is stronger. Yes, they were dead, but they were kinda reclaimed by the light. The connection is why it works at all, but the fact that they're leaving means the connection isn't as strong. We saw Bart break out of the control because of the help of the Blue Ring and Barry, and I assumed that's similar to what happened with Diana.
I'm not disagreeing that of the main 5, her's is probably the weakest, although again I don't care for Flash's rogues. I think it's because I find Captain Boomerang to just be goofy. Admittedly I haven't read much of them.
Kingdom Come isn't exactly canonical but it's not exactly of a whole different universe. I mean, it's not possible for any story that takes place in the future to remain canon over any extensive period of time, unless the story ends. I've never seen the Justice League carton, but I will say this. In all of the Batman issues I've read, Wonder Woman has never made an appearance, while even Aquaman has come and gone.
ReplyDeleteAlso, while Diana does have a "Do what needs doing" attitude, it tends to clash with Bruce more times than not. Her being a killer, for one thing, is a major problem with everything Bruce stands for in life. Her amazonian ways are also too alien in nature. And even though both her and Bruce have always been played off as being true Earthlings born of an alien race, Superman is much more of an Earth being than she is. After all he was raised on Earth. Whereas Diana and her attack first mind was raised off Earth. I think All Star Batman and Robin (which although also not canon, puts her with Supes again) paints her in her truest light. Well that plus Infinite Crisis does a pretty good job. I dunno, I think if you take Infinite Crisis, Kingdom Come, and All Star Batman and Robin, regardless of two of them not being canon, they paint the same picture and that can't just be coincidental. Plus the Man in Blue provides more of an equalizer to her instability. I feel I should add that if possible I would have Lois Lane never die.
See I didn't see them as being reclaimed by the light. More that they were released by the Dark. And it's not like the rings had just given up their victims. Diana's black ring was defeated by her violet ring. Superboy's ring was destroyed by the fact that there were two Superboy bodies. Bart's ring was defeated by the Speed Force, which has proven to be a formidable power in and of itself. Hal and Barry's rings were defeated by time travel. I wouldn't consider that to be evidence of a weaker connection.
Captain Boomerang the first is dead. His son, Boomerang the second, is just a lonely boy without a father.
This is clearly evidence we need to have more IM chats (which is my fault. And the fact that we have a 3-hour gap).
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you just argued yourself out of the Clark/Diana pairing. Diana's willingness to kill would turn off Clark just as much, if not more, as it would Bruce. And you made it sound like Diana was more alien than Clark or Bruce. I'm not saying she is MORE likely to be with Bruce than Clark, but you had originally said you didn't get it, while I definitely do. I could easily make a case of how Diana and Bruce could end up together, even if normally she'd end up with Clark.
I think a better indication of their feelings for each other might be found in a book like Trinity, or JLA, or one of the Crisis books rather than their individual titles, none of which I've read. And the other thing is, just because writers have traditionally done Clark/Diana (which is kind of a painfully obvious choice, in my opinion) doesn't mean that alternative viewpoints don't make sense.
We should just be glad we're talking Bruce and not Dick, because heaven forbid anyone touch your Dick/Barbara ship ;)
As toward the rings: Hal was almost claimed by the dark another time, when he was fighting the Sentry. And I'm not saying the rings just gave up, there was clearly a fight there, but to say they were 'released from the dark' makes it sound like the dark 'gave up.' Not that 'reclaimed by the light' is any better. So maybe the argument should be made that Diana's lasso is just more powerful than you thought it was. It's hard to tell since we've not seen anyone try to 'reclaim' a dead body, they just sever the connections. I'd be curious to see if the speed force or whatever would work on a dead Black Lantern, rather than an alive one. Did they touch on that in any of the tie-ins?
I don't think I do, so much. Superman has something against killing, that much is certain. However, with Clark it's all about making amends and all that jazz. Like, Clark is ever the boy scout, and he always will be. But like Jesus, his inner gut will always welcome and embrace forgiveness. Also, Clark doesn't really have the same connection to murder that Bruce has. Bruce's parents were killed in front of him. Dick's parents were killed in front of the both of them. Tim's father was killed as they raced to save him. Bruce's life is wracked with the tragedy that is murder. Whereas for Clark, the closest people that have died, familial for the most part, have died of uncontrollable actions. Heart attack, planet's destruction. Other than Superboy's death, murder doesn't really affect him in that same manner. Also, I feel after writing this much I don't particularly want Diana to get with Clark. I love Lois, I think she's great and if she could live for as long as Clark, more power to them.
ReplyDeleteNow here's where I differ from you. I don't feel that it's really obvious to have Clark with Diana. I mean Lois entered the comic realm in the exact same issue Clark did, Action Comics #1 (most people don't realize that Action Comics #1 is really the first appearance of Superman, Lois Lane, and Giovanni Zatara-father to Zatanna,) which means she's been part of the Lois and Clark love circle three years before Diana existed. Pairing Diana with Clark only adds drama to one of the most beloved couples of Comic history. I thinking it would be a cop-out to have her get with Bruce. Because then it would be just sticking the two remainder gods of the trinity together, because they happened to be single.
By the way, I'm sure with the right motivation I could make the argument for any two superheroes to belong together. Even Wonder Woman and Cyborg. :p
Oh and I do agree that alternative viewpoints could make sense. It's why, except for a select few, most of the superheroes have had multiple partners, some at the same time. I just don't think this one makes sense. As per my explanations. haha.
Right, so the rings. Hal almost being claimed by the darkness is really just another example of the clash of the lantern rings. I think to the only ones you could argue about are the souls who were reacquired that are not ring bearers. Because while there have been individuals who hold more than one ring, in this case it is a clash of life and death and not emotion to emotion. I don't think it does make it sound like the dark 'gave up,' rather, that he let them go in preparation for what's to come. It's like if you have a prisoner and you implant a bomb inside of them, then you release them back to their friends and make the bomb go off.
You couldn't reclaim a dead Black Lantern. They're not particularly bodies, but rather vessels, or at least that's what I've come up with in my readings. How do I explain this. They're kinda like Ditto, the pokemon, except non-sentient. They can become anyone, by downloading their memories via the ring, but they aren't and can't ever be that person. Sorta like plasma clones. And no, they didn't really touch on that. I mean there were instances when someone tried to turn their Black loved ones human by talking to them. But as we all know, that doesn't end well. I mean look at Boomerang.