DC’s Blackest Night debuted over a year ago- just before the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, in fact. Unfortunately, my memory of the Blackest Night panel that year is weak; however there is one word that sticks out: “horror.” Geoff Johns and his fellow panelists wanted to instill in the brains of the fans that this was not to be a typical DC series filled with vivid colors and an uplifting plotline. “This is a horror story!” they assured us, and they weren’t kidding.

From issue 0, Blackest Night has been visually disturbing, and it is the visuals (Ivan Reis on pencils, Oclair Albert on inks, and Alex Sinclair on colors) that steal the show in this book. It isn’t simply that they are scary, but that they meet and exceed the epic requirements that the game-changing plot demands. The villains of the book are chiefly zombies that are all wearing their own costumes but black and showcasing the same Black Lantern logo. Between the uniform rotting grey of their skin and the apparent similarities of their gob, these villains should be a pain to differentiate and have the visual depth of cardboard. But they don’t. Firstly, I credit this achievement to Reis, who came up with a seemingly infinite amount of original character and costume designs that allow readers to identify individual DC heroes and villains from within the haunted masses. Secondly, much credit is due to colorist Alex Sinclair. Sinclair made depth appear from thin air by applying various light sources to his otherwise drably colored subjects. Whether it is from street lights, fires, reflections, or lantern rings; the lighting makes these grey ghouls come alive panel after panel.

Johns’ story is a great one, but unfortunately it also seems as if it was manufactured out of thin air. He makes it seem as though there would be nothing entertaining to come out of the Green Lantern family of books if it weren’t for those darn Guardians and their secrets. It is the revelation of those secrets that has been providing most of the major story arcs for Green Lantern ever since the return of the Manhunters. I suppose all stories have to just pop out from somewhere, but those coming from the hidden Guardian files are becoming a bit cliché. More than anything, I enjoyed Johns’ promise that those secrets are now completely revealed.

Origination aside, the story is phenomenal and created ripples throughout the DC universe much as Jeph Loeb’s Hush did for the Batman world. The best and worst part about such a story is the way it ties into almost every DC book. The hardcover isn’t titled “Green Lantern: Blackest Night” (even though Hal is the main character), but Blackest Night. That is because this book is about the entire DCU. It could easily have taken on a “crisis” title if it weren’t for the promises delivered by Final Crisis.

[Spoilers beyond this point] Epic things happen for everyone here. The hawks die and return, Martian Manhunter returns from his pyramid tomb created in Final Crisis, the Guardians are shattered and separated, the full spectrum of power rings and those that brandish them is revealed, a handful of DC characters wield the various rings (some suffering long term effects), and another handful of previously deceased characters come back for good (including Deadman, whoops!). All of these things happen with the entertaining and intellectual style that Geoff Johns has become acclaimed for. It truly is brilliant.

My one major complaint is the change that Johns makes in the structure of the Green Lantern universe itself. Green Lantern first appeared in 1959, shortly after the death of Albert Einstein and the end of the scientific revolution in physics and astronomy that occurred in the first half of last century. America had just seen Sputnik launch into space and heard JFK’s promise to get men on the moon before the end of the next decade. The immensity of the universe as we had come to know it dwarfed us, and the revolutions in science and technology gave us opportunities in exploration that we never thought possible. The Green Lantern embodied our senses of fear, wonder, and adventure. The fact that he was only the first to join an order that had existed for ages symbolized that feeling of insignificance and the human spirit’s struggle with it. It is a beautiful concept.

Blackest Night has done away with that. Before, Earth was but a trivial cog in an unknown and incomprehensible machine. Now (as far as the DCU is concerned), it is the most integral part of the entire universe’s existence. This could be Johns’ attempt to explain why all of these exciting events take place on Earth all of the time, but I feel that it takes something away from the essence of Green Lantern’s story. It hurts the reader’s ability to relate, when those that he or she is relating to are so much more vital than any human being in the real world. Maybe I am just being nihilistic, but I feel as though I can identify with last year’s Hal Jordan just a bit more than today’s.

Don’t let this deter you from reading this amazing hardcover. It still addresses some of the biggest themes that make Green Lantern books great: the struggle to maintain will and stave off hopelessness, the clash of the rank-and-file with unquestionable authority, the philosophiy of utilitarianism versus that of social deontology, and the spectrum of gray areas (or in this case, rainbow of colors) between pure good and pure evil. It really is a masterpiece. It is an amazing visual storytelling achievement that surpasses Final Crisis and rivals the likes of DC: The New Frontier or Batman: Hush. And don’t forget, “After the Blackest Night, comes the Brightest Day…”

(4/5)

As you can tell by browsing through the website, I have stayed pretty mainstream in my comic book reading. As I have usually bought comics, my philosophy has been about the same as with buying movies: Mainstream is mainstream for a reason, and underground is underground for a reason. While the former may be true, my recent reading of Studio 407’s The Spark has proved that the latter just doesn’t apply to comics. There is just so much out there, that one can’t just limit his or herself to just one publisher without missing out on some really cool stuff. Think of DC and Marvel as the Coke and Pepsi of the comic book world. Have you ever tried Jone’s soda? You should. Personally, I prefer Dad’s Creamy Red soda.

The Spark takes place in a generic big city in a time that can be considered “now” for the rest of my life (at least). Imagine that there was a cosmic event that took place fifteen years before “now” that chose four of Earth’s inhabitants to obtain extraordinary powers that they could use to save the rest of us from unknown disastrous events that would eventually take place. Assume that it is known to you that those four individuals were forced to sacrifice themselves to stop such an event. Now, it’s all happening again, but you are one of the four new superheroes.

Such is the plight of the protagonist, Lucas, midway through the first act of The Spark. Lucas is a caricature of the way that we all see ourselves in one way or another: talented, overworked, under-noticed, unconfident, and containing a potential that he can’t seem to catch up to. In way, he is the super hero that we all are. But that is before his transformation via The Spark. Now his newfound responsibilities are interfering with those that burdened him in his average life.

Writer Martin Renard is honest with his characters and conflicts in a way that most writers of fiction in general would never attempt. I’m used to seeing characters step right into the savior’s shoes. If they don’t, they’re usually some type of reformed villain or anti-hero. Lucas is just more interested in taking care of himself and his family, and is fine with letting someone –anyone- else worry about the rest of the world. He isn’t a jerk, a coward, or a loser. He’s you and me.

Even more of a feat in honesty, he realizes that the villains in this story don’t matter. External conflict isn’t what drives the story, and is minimalized. Sure it exists here, but it isn’t needlessly emphasized or drawn out. You might think that a comic book story which is all about internal conflict doesn’t sound exciting, but I can promise you AT LEAST one “f—k yah!”, fist pumping, edge of your seat moment that will come as you near the climax in Act 3.

The art won’t completely amaze you, but it functions exactly as it should. I don’t think the heavily realistic, mainstream comic art styles would work half as well as Nahuel Cozman’s does here. Cozman works with an art form that seems to take its main influence from manga techniques. It is more about style and realism. Think of yourself enjoying Frank Miller quality work without having to worry about funding his bigot-like political views. That’s what you’re getting here. If you paid twenty bucks for the crappy Dark Night Strikes Again, twelve is quite the bargain for a book that contains the same style but with better substance.

All in all, this book is one of this year’s hidden gems in comics. Between Blackest Night, Secret Invasion and everything else; I’m sure it will be hard to find in stores. But after all, when was the last time you saw a commercial for Jones Soda? Do yourself a favor and dig for this one. I have made sure to include a couple of links to Studio 407’s web pages, and I’m sure you will also be able to find it on shopping websites by the time it is released on September 14th, 2009. You won’t regret it.

(4.5/5)

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At the 2008 San Diego Comic Convention I attended a Batman Panel featuring Grant Morrison, Dustin Nguyen, Paul Dini, and Jerry Robinson. Most of the material involved Batman of course, but one interesting question to the panel was, “What do you think is the best way to depict the Joker?” If my memory serves me correctly, the general consensus was that Joker is a bully. Since then, I have read comics with the Joker looking for those bully aspects and it became apparent that most DC writers thought so. Though it was a revelation for me at the time, it doesn’t surprise me to see him depicted that way anymore. Brian Azzarello takes the character one step further in his graphic novel “Joker”, and then he takes two steps more.

“ Joker” begins with the laughing maniac himself being released from Arkham. That’s right, he didn’t escape, but he was released. Nobody knows how, and he seems pretty set on keeping it that way. Since he had been locked away, the rest of Gotham’s underworld had picked away at all he controlled (since when did the Joker dabble in mob collections? But that is neither here nor there.). Obviously, no god-fearing criminal is about to go pick up the most dangerous man in Gotham when they know they’ve done him wrong, but one low-level degenerate named Johnny Frost takes the job. From there on out, Frost is the narrator, and his narration may just be the best noir writing I have seen.

The plot of “Joker” is pretty straight forward. We are following Joker and his new-found henchman on their rampaging joyride through Gotham as he tries to take it all back. Along the way we meet more realistic versions of the well-known Batman villains: a more human-like Killer Croc, a sniveling Penguin who can make dirty money turn into more dirty money, a Riddler that looks like Bono on heroin, stripper Harley Quinn, and Two-Face looking and acting the way we are all pretty much used to. Joker himself looks a bit more like the Heath Ledger Joker we have all been drooling over.

Lee Bermejo has worked with Brian Azzarello as an artist before with “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel” (haven’t read it just yet), and they work fantastically as a team. When Joker’s feeling especially crazy, he is looking especially crazy, and it frankly makes me go a bit bonkers. One of my favorite traits in a comic artist is the ability to make something look like a photograph and a painting/sketch at the same time. Jim Lee is a good example of such an artist, but Bermejo does it just as well in his own style. The cover is a good example; it is obviously a drawing, but it looks absolutely real and it disgusts me. So it should.

Let’s face it, the Joker character’s wide appeal is confined to the page or the screen. If I had the knowledge that this guy actually existed, I would have to change my shorts about twenty times a day. In that respect, Azzarello is honest with the character. He doesn’t sugar-coat him or make it seem as if he is a fun guy to be around. The prevailing metaphor for the Joker used throughout the novel is a disease; a disease that transfers to every desperate or amoral soul in Gotham.

As a comic book and science fiction fan, I am used to suspending belief, but every now and then it’s nice to have some of those questions answered that I would never frustrate myself by asking before. Here, we have the question answered of why henchmen end up with the Joker. Everything about him promises that his proximity will bring around either a gruesome death at his hands or an equally gruesome butt-kicking by Batman. Regardless, Johnny Frost takes up the henchman position with pride. Prepare to learn the reason behind Johnny’s madness and that of all the other poor lackey souls.

Overall, this is a solid book that really gives some dimension to the Joker. Sure there are scenes that disappoint me a bit- Joker doesn’t cry! But most of the scenes are genuinely mind-blowing, and the last fifteen pages or so are both exhilarating and thought-provoking. This is a must-read for any fan of the Batman universe or of villains in general. Goths who dressed up as Heath Ledger last July and then as vampires for Twilight six months later need not bother. The 2008 hardcover edition offer nothing in terms of extras, but believe me when I say you have everything you need here and more.

(4.5/5)

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