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Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns |  | Authors: Geoff Johns, Various
Publisher: DC Comics
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $13.95
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Seller: centralkybooksupply
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 19393
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 10.4 x 7 x 0.8
ISBN: 1401227899
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9781401227890
ASIN: 1401227899
Publication Date: July 27, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
This essential BLACKEST NIGHT tie-in title written by event architect, Geoff Johns along with collaborator James Robinson, Peter J. Tomasi and others is an essential part of the Blackest Night storyline. Eight classic titles from DC's past return for stories featuring characters from their original runs dealing with the events unfolding in the DC Universe which show the amazing reach of this mega-crossover event. Includes POWER OF SHAZAM! # 48, CATWOMAN # 83, SUICIDE SQUAD # 67, QUESTION # 37, PHANTOM STRANGER # 42, WEIRD WESTERN TALES # 71, ATOM AND HAWKMAN # 46, STARMAN # 81.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Mixed Bag, but Decent August 2, 2010
JME2 (Monterey, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As part of the "Blackest Night" event, DCC did more than resurrect heroes and villains alike. They also resurrected monthly books that had been cancelled to tie into the spirit of the zombie apocalypse. "Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns" collects all but one of them (the "Suicide Squad" story served as a crossover with "Secret Six". The result are tales spanning the DC Universe with varied quality.
"The Atom and Hawkman" sees "Blackest Night" architect Geoff Johns focus on the Indigo Tribe's newest inductee, Ray Palmer. Johns completes Ray's character arc from the main book and this tale is mandatory reading for "Blackest Night" as it sets up a key plot point of that story's climax.
"The Phantom Stranger" sees the event's co-architect Peter Tomasi tackle the Phantom Stranger as he, the Shadowpact, and Deadman must try to stop the Black Lantern Spectre. Like the Atom, this story is actually somewhat important as it bridges and links "Blackest Night" with Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps" (or rather the Batman story, also by Tomasi) and "Blackest Night: Green Lantern".
"Adventure Comics" and "Green Arrow" sees Connor Kent and Oliver Queen fall victim to the Black Rings as they are inducted against their will. Krul demonstrates an excellent grasp of the Emerald Archer while Bedard provides a decent take on the Boy Steel while dealing with threads from "Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds".
"Starman" features the return of James Robinson to his most famous characters as the Shade must protect Opal City from an undead Ted Knight. Robinson proves that 10 years away from Opal City haven't changed his understanding of the characters and is a must-read for Starman fans.
"Power of Shazam" picks up on threads from "52". The Black Rings descend upon Kahndaq and claim Amon Tomaz AKA Osiris, but the resurrection doesn't quite go according to plan. Eric Wallace gives us a nice break from the standard Black Lantern formula,
"Catwoman" sees Tony Bedard again take up the fight against the Black Lanterns. He pits Selina Kyle and her allies against the sadistic undead Black Mask. Bedard's take on the Femme Fatale is serviceable and it sets up elements that play into recent stories of "Gotham City Sirens".
"The Question" sees Greg Rucka team with the famous Question team of Dennis O'Neill and Denys Cowan as Rennee Montoya must face a risen Victor Szasz. But how can a powerless hero take on a Black Lantern?
"Weird Western Tales" brings DC's western heroes into the mix courtesy Dan Didio. The Black Rings raise Jonah Hex and others, who go after the last living descendent of Hex's mortal enemy, Quentin Turnbull.
Not Spectacular But Probably Worth the Price August 2, 2010
E. David Swan (South Euclid, Ohio USA)
This isn't a book I would have normally purchased. Generally I avoid single issue tie-ins like the plague but I bought this one on a whim since I'm a fan of the DC western heroes. I thought it might be a neat to see Bat Lash come back from the dead. My expectations were set low for this collection so I'm pleased to say that many of the stories are actually quite decent. As a tie-in to Blackest Night it's completely unnecessary but it does add a new facet to the events. If you've read Blackest Night you'll know that the Black Rings not only raise the dead they are also capable of controlling any DC character who has ever died and returned which includes almost every member of the JLA. It wasn't mentioned in the core Blackest Night story but apparently the minds of the heroes (and sometimes villains), under the control of the Black Rings, are still fully active, essentially captive audiences to the events around them as their bodies physically attack and verbally assault their most cherished friends.
The book starts off with a story by Geoff Johns featuring the Atom that was ok but I didn't understand the ending. This was followed by a Deadman tale that again didn't really make much of an impression on me. The first story in the collection that stood out for me was Green Arrow by J.T. Krul and Diogenes Neves. Black Lantern GA's cruelty as he attacks his closest friends and allies is acutely painful knowing that within the rotting husk the mind of Oliver Queen is able to perceive everything even as he has almost no ability to control what's going on. I haven't been much of a fan of GA mostly because I don't like the way he's generally written but I was rather impressed with the story here. The art is extremely sharp, bold and clean and good lord Black Canary's breasts are huge. Poor Canary must find it so difficult in hand to hand combat encumbered by those two mountainous protrusions. I would love to see more of Neves art (and no not just because of the way he drew Black Canary dimensions).
The Superboy story was similar to the one with GA as the reader gets to see Conner Kent's horrified thoughts as his Black Ring controlled body assaults Wonder Girl and Krypto. I wasn't a fan of the rough art style in the Starman/Shade story but I was impressed by the writing of James Robinson in particular his ability to create compelling characters that feel more realistic than the often cookie cutter personalities in the DCU. The Questions story was rather forgettable including the sub par artwork. In that issue we discover a new weakness of the Black Rings (a weakness which seems rather unlikely) but this defect never carries over into the main storyline. Apparently it took four artists to produce the Catwoman story and it is pretty slick if uneven but the story is bland while at the same time being a bit more grotesque than I might prefer.
It only took one artist and one writer to produce the Jonah Hex story but this one stands out if for nothing else than the villains are attacked by heroes. Simon Stagg (whose villainy is apparent even as he works with heroes) and Joshua Turnbull the great great grandson of Quentin Turnbull come into possession of one of the Black Rings and are beset upon by the DC Western heroes returned from the dead. Besides the awesomeness of getting Jonah Hex, Scalphunter, Bat Lash and Super-Chief this story also has the best ending of any of the stories. The final story in the collection sees the return of Osiris and Sobek who died during the 52 series. I think the writer misunderstood the directive in writing the tie-in because the undead Osiris is fully in control of his actions (I know there was an explanation but it makes no sense).
I'm undecided as to whether or not I regret getting this collection. On the one hand the stories are repetitive with the dead rising and the heroes fighting against them and ultimately winning. It also makes the Black Lanterns look a bit weak by continually losing. On the other hand some of the stories and art are quite nice and it gave me the opportunity to sample some issues that would normally pass me by. I also got my brief but awesome appearance by Black Lantern Bat Lash. Fifteen dollars seems like a fair price for what you get here and you really don't want to miss Diogenes Neves' rendering of Black Canary.
 Fell short of my admitedly ill-defined expectations August 1, 2010
Merlin63 (Miami, Fl)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Not sure what I was expecting from this volume. Perhaps a unified story of the war of light from the Black Lanterns or Black Hand's perspective, with a little of the rogue Oan thrown in for good measure. What we get instead is a collection of short stories, one shots really, of various battles across the DCU between its heroes and the zombified people that died who were closest to them.
It starts off with the Atom, who is now deputized as a member of the indigo tribe (the one fueled by compassion) battling, and dealing with it emotional consequences, a zombie Jean Loring (plus some zombie heroes that died in Blackest Night).
It's written by Geoff Johns, and it's evident that Geoff has a real fondness for the character, as he tries to give the story some emotional beats, and Ray Palmer a perspective and objective unique to his own brand of nobility. But it falls short, perhaps because of lack of space in story telling. At any rate it feels tacked on, like an ill fitting suit of clothes. Then again, I've never felt one way or the other about The Atom, so...
We then get short story about the Phantom Stranger's quest to reverse the effects of a Black Lantern's ring and its possession of the Spectre, before he brings all of creation down around their ears. It's by Peter J. Tomasi, and I know you have to write a Spectre story, and include various members of the mystical pantheon of the DCU. It is a story about death and rebirth after all. But it feels forced. I just can't buy that the Spectre can be possessed so easily, and I somehow believe the Phantom Stranger is more powerful than depicted in this story. The Phantom Stranger is an angel. Condemned to wander creation and forbidden to act directly because he didn't choose a side in the battle between Heaven and Lucifer's minions. At least according to an Alan Moore short story now more than twenty years old.
I do realize it's unfair to have objections to a story based on an obscure tale by a different writer twenty years ago. But it's more than that. The art is wonderful, and in its outline form, the story works. It's just missing the gravitas, and the connecting thread that joins, what are essentially, characters who would best be served in the Vertigo line, to the DCU, where perhaps they should no longer belong to. Plus it's got Blue Devil. Which is just a dumb character.
Next you have a pair of short stories, one of Green Arrow, the other of Superboy, written by J. T. Krul, and Tony Bedard, respectively, and they're just ok. Both stories are about redemption despite most dire of circumstances, but nobody is going to finish them and say, "boy, I gotta follow J. T. Krul's or Tony Bedard's work from now on, these guys are the bomb"! The stories will rise and fall according t the affection you hold for their respective lead characters. Pretty standard comic book fare in other words.
I was a little afraid of reading the next story, which is labeled Starman 81, by James Robinson, because I'm only now reading catching up to the series as it's being reprinted in hard cover form. The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 1 The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 2 It does have a few spoilers, but none you can't live with. What happened to Ted and Jack Knight, Hope O'Daire and most of her brothers. But mostly it's a story about the Shade and how he deals with zombie Starman David Knight, now empowered with a Black power ring And a cosmic rod! The lines are drawn, the battle ensues, and in true enigmatic fashion, the way the Shade is eventually victorious is in keeping with his mysterious, morally dubious character. He's as cool as he's ever been! Welcome home, Mr. James Robinson!
Speaking of welcome home, the next story is the other highlight of the book for me! "one More Question" by Dennis O'Neill and Greg Rucka, with pencils by Denys Cowan and inks by Bill Sienkiewicz (yeah, baby)! First off, let me say I am a HUGE fan of the character in question (pun unintended) as writ by Mr. O'Neill. It was an odd hybrid of Elmore Leonard's Detroit city crime fiction 52 Pickup LaBrava: A Novel Stick and eastern mysticism a la Dan Milman's Way of the Peaceful Warrior. Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives [WAY OF THE PEACEFUL WARRIO] There's been no other comic like it since, and I HATE what Greg Rucka has done with the character (much as I otherwise love his work).
And it's not that I hate Rene Montoya. I liked her fine in Gotham Central! It's just she's not the Question. And she looks ridiculous in the fedora!
So it's nice to see Denny O'Neill return to the character he made great, even if he is an evil zombie version of his former self. It's not the story I would want. It can't be. Victor Sage is dead (thanks a lot Greg)! It's the story that you get. But it still manages to explore the man Vic Sage was, and what made him great. There are some nice character beats with Tot, and Lady Shiva, and even Rene. But do yourself a favor and pick up the original series. The Question, Vol. 1: Zen and Violence The Question Vol. 2: Poisoned Ground I highly recommend it!
There's a Catwoman story, also by Tony Bedard, in which a new villain is introduced. I don't follow that title, and nothing here convinces me otherwise to do so. A Jonah Hex (yep, evil zombie Jonah Hex) story that strains the definition of irony, by Dan Didio. Three guesses why it's even included (shoot, you got it on the first try didn't you)? And the return of Osiris by some cat named Eric Wallace with truly awful pencils by Don Kramer. Still, the story is a harbinger of things to come and perhaps something good will be done somewhere down the road with the character, but that's no reason to read this story. To tell the truth, Osiris comes off as a whiny b***h if you ask me.
The only reason I'm giving this collection two stars is because of the Dennis O'Neil and James Robinson stories, but honestly, just pull the book off the shelf of your local bookstore, read the two stories in question, and just walk away. Buy yourself a latte or something.
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