Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Blackest Night #5 of 8
DC Comics
Johns, Reis, Albert & Prado
Note: Read this after reading Green Lantern #48 if you are picking both up.
The cover might state that Nekron rises but this is not the big story in this issue. Just as you probably thought that this event was getting stale with all of the Black Lanterns rising up and pestering their loved ones or former super hero friends, this issue ups the ante and not a moment too soon. It's a good switch-up as this mini series finally got as interesting as the two core Green Lantern titles. It's not possible to discuss this issue without doing some spoiling so this is your warning. If you decide not to read any more of this review then be ready for a great surprise in this comic book, both in plot and in the concept of raising the dead.
The comic begins with the seven colors showing up to save the day. Hal Jordan, Sinestro, Saint Walker and all of the other colored lanterns are on the same team and are ready to take on the main battery of the Black Lanterns on Earth. You'd almost have to think this is all going too easily. You would be right.
On Earth, Barry Allen Flash, Mera and Atom continue to hold down the fort. Thankfully, these three characters are not the focus of this comic as they had been in the previous issues in this mini series. In short order Wally West Flash shows up and brings in reinforcements in the form of Superman, Wonder Woman and much of the DCU cast of heroes.
The seven colors show up and start taking out the Black Lantern Guardians as they start their assault on the battery. They make their white light just as they had been to kill of the Black Lanterns, they aim it at the battery and bang! This brings the power level for Nekron to new levels. Not making sense? Well apparently the Guardians and their sacred book of Oa have been lying all along. It's not entirely clear what the real prophecy is, but it is clear that what everyone thought of as the solution was really a trick to giving the power of Black more power than ever. Well that's a punch in the gut.
Oh, but there is more! Nekron uses his new found powers to raise the one person from the dead that you may have been wondering about this whole mini series. Once this person is brought back he unleashes the power to revert those that have returned from the dead back to being dead. Dead and very, very powerful. Heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and so many, many more. Think about the DCU and which characters have died in the last 25 years and those are the characters that are pretty much taken down. Almost all of them.
There's a lot to like in this issue. As mentioned, the focus is no longer on Barry Allen, Atom and Mera. Instead we have Wally West, Superman, Ice, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy and so many others taking a panel or two. On the other hand many of the characters we saw in the previous issues aren't even in this issue, like Firestorm. Sure, something might have happened to him in a tie-in issue but in the flow of this series it seems odd. Still, the comic is better served with the larger cast of characters it seems.
The other element to like about this issue is the plot twist. It makes sense that all of the colors feeding together would help to make black stronger as black in itself is all of the colors of the spectrum blended together. You'd think someone would have thought of that ahead of time, but it's a lot cooler that they didn't.
Finally, the art is at the top of its game in this issue. Most of the comic takes place at night with a black backdrop, which helps to make all of the colors pop. However, the details in the penciling brings a great level of despair and drama to many of the panels. A couple of awesome splash pages don't hurt either when dealing with this type of story.
Blackest Night found its way into a story that's now unpredictable thanks to this issue. This is definitely a comic book worth checking out as most of the main heroes of the DCU have some piece of representation here. Maybe if so many of DC's characters hadn't died over the years this new plot twist wouldn't be such a problem. Oh well. There must be someone who can help them out, right?
4 out of 5 geek goggles
