First issues of big event comics deserve to be cut a little bit of slack. They carry the responsibility of explaining the status quo to an influx of readers who may not normally follow the featured characters. Additionally, since events are so massively hyped by their publishers, their first issues regularly tell stories that fans have already "read," if not yet formally in the actual comic. It is commonplace for the main plot conflict not to be revealed until the closing (and sometimes the absolutely last) pages. Think Secret Invasion #1 (ending with massive Skrull reveals and attacks) or Infinite Crisis #1 (pulling the shadows back from the Earth-2 survivors on the final page), recent blockbuster debuts that closely followed this formula.For these reasons, it is Issue Two that often gives readers their first true look at the quality and character of an event comic. Since the exposition of the first issue is out of the way, you can generally rest assured that the characters and concepts given focus in the second issue are central to the series as a whole. In other words, this is when we generally learn what the event in question is really about. The aforementioned Infinite Crisis was written like this, as was Green Lantern: Rebirth. And given that the writer whose name appears on both of those epics, Geoff Johns, is also responsible Blackest Night, it stands to reason that one could expect a similar pattern to emerge in that series as well.
If that is to be the case, count me as one of the naysayers.
Using the series' #2 as a litmus test, Blackest Night appears to be about the heroes in the DC Universe who have lost loved ones and what happens when those dearly departed return to open up old wounds (as well as heart-sized new ones). Granted, it's not an empty premise, and it's far beyond the "DC Zombies" label it has been unfairly given. But it does pull the rug out from under the two years of buildup for the story that occurred mostly within the pages of Green Lantern comics and thereby strip itself of its own considerable momentum.
The buzz for Blackest Night began with a teaser in the finale of the Sinestro Corps War crossover, instantly transforming that much-beloved story into mere prelude. Just as that tale introduced Sinestro's band of yellow ringed fear mongers, we were told that there would soon come other similar corps, a veritable Roy G. Biv of them. And that a clash between these colorful forces would ultimately lead to the fulfillment of an ancient prophesy known as "the Blackest Night" (like in the oath!), an dark and deadly time of despair. According to many a Johns sound byte, this would be Hal Jordan's Return of the Jedi, the completion of a Green Lantern trilogy begun in GL: Rebirth.
With that, preparations were underway to make Blackest Night the biggest Green Lantern story ever. The Guardians unveiled the first batch of 10 foreboding new laws in the Book of Oa that looked to take the GLs down a darker path. The promised corps of many colors were rolled out one by one, many in clever and interesting ways. Even Hal's origin was tweaked to coincide with the upcoming event, now featuring Atrocitus, who would play a key role in the formation of the Red Lanterns and the delivery of the Blackest Night prophecy itself.
The expectation was that all of these plot points would converge to form some sort of grand culmination of the Green Lantern mythos. A tall order, for sure. But the problem with Blackest Night isn't merely a failure to live up to its hype. Instead, the series so far has underwhelmed by largely divorcing itself from the climbing crescendo that should have given it its punch. I have no doubt that DC believed they were making their 2009 event bigger by yanking it out of the confines of the Green Lantern universe and expanding its scope to the DCU at large, but in reality this move has had the opposite effect. Without the legs of rising action to stand on exclusively, the events of Blackest Night must be judged on their own merits. And frankly, there's really not a whole lot there.
I know I'm supposed to feel the sting of fatherly rejection when Aquaman's reanimated corpse mocks his former Aqualad. And that I should lament the tragedy of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan having to fight an evil undead Martian Manhunter, once embraced by his friends as the "heart of the Justice League." Truth is, all of these scenes ring hollow because they're nothing new. Good guys die and come back as villains all the time, and the emotional weight of these encounters in Blackest Night is diminished because it is obvious that the Black Lanterns are simply perversions of the living men and women they resemble. Plus, haven't we witnessed heroes dealing with the specter of disapproval from beyond the grave just about every time Scarecrow has dosed Batman with fear gas?
In the end, I'm sure Blackest Night will tie up the plot threads from the Green Lantern titles in some fashion. However, if what has been released so far is any indication, this will occur off to the side in tie-ins rather than in the main book. Such climaxes should be at the forefront of a comic series like this, and if they aren't it's a real shame.
Too often event comics are thrust upon readers with little context other than publishers' desire to hear the clinging of a cash register. But just when Blackest Night was poised to become the type of Big Payoff that serial fiction devotees dream about, it gets cookie-cuttered into the type of dime-a-dozen (Or is that $3.99-a-dozen?) event comic you can find any year by the Big Two. No matter how close to the top of their game Johns and artist Ivan Reis happen to be in the technical merits of their craft, they'll be hardpressed to overcome the foolishness of opportunity lost.
