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)

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There are more than enough problems to go around in the conclusion of Emerald Eclipse, as things start wrapping up for the emergence of Blackest Night. Just as the Alpha Lanterns were able to provide the final push in quelling the riot in the sciencells, the Green Lanterns look up to their beloved Oan sky only to see that it is beginning to fall apart. Trouble is on the way!

Soranik Natu (still on Korugar) is having trouble dealing with her daddy-issues (what child of Sinestro’s wouldn’t?) while Arisia and the newly empowered Daxamites are able to finally kick the last of Mongul’s faction of the Sinestro off of Daxam. Most of the issue however is spent on Lanterns Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner standing up to the Guardians’ execution order of the attempted sciencell escapees.

Over the past few months, I have given Peter Tomasi and Pat Gleason a pretty hard time for their (in my opinion) shortcomings on the Emerald Eclipse story arc. I didn’t care for Tomasi’s seemingly short attention span, nor for Gleason’s stretched out character faces. The strengths of these two as a team seemed to be action. In this issue (and the past couple), I have noticed that I do like how well Gleason can draw a large scene like the outdoor execution and argument sequence.

All in all, Emerald Eclipse was an ambitious story with quite a bit going on and simply not enough space in each issue to address it all. I am still fairly new to this title, so that might just be how it has to go. Maybe someone could point out to me the reason I preferred Sins of the Star Sapphire over this arc.

(3/5)

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Is there a difference between hoping for something and wanting it? Obviously there is. Why else would Larfleeze want a blue power ring? It could be that he simply wants everything, and a blue ring is one of the few things that are difficult for him to obtain. But I think what he wants more than power is the ability to satisfy his hopes, and that is something that the power of avarice cannot provide for him. If those of you reading this think differently, please let me know.

Apparently this issue is more than just absent-minded entertainment. I have said before that I enjoy Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps comics for all of the same reasons that I would enjoy a movie like Die Hard or Shoot ‘Em Up. Thoughtless action and dazzling effects are nice every now and then, right? But over the course of the past few months, Geoff Johns and Phillip Tan have pleasantly blind-sided me with a story arc that has proved to be thought-provoking just as much as it was awe-inspiring.

This final installment of Agent Orange opened with a bit of insight about the blue power ring and what it does to those who get a taste of it. Most of the issue is centered around the conclusion of the conflict between the GL Corps, the guardians, and Larfleeze. Of course, the guardians show us once again just how shady they can be.

Also, there is quite a bit going on between John Stewart and Fatality. Now I know that whatever is going on between them is important, because I have seen their reunion used in the context of a showstopper/cliffhanger for one of the other recent issues. My hope is that one of you loyal readers might be able to explain to me just what their past is and what this most recent part of the stories implies for the future. I’ll look forward to that.

The art in this issue is spotty, and I believe that the reason for that is the use of both Phillip Tan and Eddy Barrows as the pencillers. Some of the images look terribly computerized and those are usually my least favorite. The more drawn looking frames are the ones that especially catch my eye and come across as nothing short of absolutely gorgeous. A precious few of the frames look as though they were painted either with oil-based or water color types of paints. Wouldn’t mind having one of those on my wall, and I don’t mind saying so.

At it’s conclusion, Agent Orange turned out to be a pretty incredible arc. The foreshadowing for Blackest Night is subtle when it needs to be and in-your-face even more, but never exceeds its boundaries. I won’t be making it to the comic book shop until next week, but I really can’t wait to see all that is coming to the Green Lantern universe.

(4/5)

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