My problems with Blackest Night

[incredibledave]

Hey Guys

Been chatting to the guy who runs the Gametavern twitter account (who is he anyway?) and he suggested I put my thoughts/complaints about Blackest Night on this website rather than in a million separate tweets. Just to clarify, this will be a review of the main mini-series only (writer Geoff Johns claimed that it could stand alone without any tie-ins), is written before the release of issue 7 and I'm a relative newcomer to the DCU. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and I encourage you to comment

SPOILER WARNINGS ON

My main complaints around Blackest Night revolve around Plot, Protagonists and Antagonists.

**Plot**
My problem with the Blackest Night plot is that stuff just happens in it. For no reason.
Issue 1 is zombies attacking, why now? Who knows.

Issue 3 is Indigo arriving, why now? Who knows. And she tells the heroes that the zombies are weak to Green Lantern Light + other colour light, why? Who knows.

Issue 5 is Nekron rising "Bruce Wayne" so he can establish an emotional connection to the heroes and instantly kill them. Why does that work? Who knows.

Issue 6 is Barry running through time by 2 seconds to severe the connection to those Black rings. Why does that work? Who knows. And then Ganthet shows up to deputize a bunch of people. Why? Who knows.

There is no possible way anyone could have seen any of those things coming (sept maybe the first zombie one if you read solicitations). Thats not a good thing. I'm all for a twist coming and surprising me but there has to be a few hints leading up to it otherwise it just feels like the author is making shit up as he goes along.

Also, Issue 4 is completely without any Green Lanterns, ie; the only guys who can kill the zombies.

**Protagonists**
The main protagonists for this title are Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, Mera and Ray Palmer.
Hal is the head strong one.
Barry Allen is inspiring/shouts exposition at people (I think inspiring is what they were going for)
Mera is the tough as nails angry one.
And Ray is kinda spineless.
Each of these characters remain like this for the entire series. Hal will still be just as head strong. Barry will still love to make speeches. And Mera and Ray may get snazzy new costumes but they will fundamentally be the same.

None of the characters seem to have the time for a major character arc because of the constant cutting back and forward between other characters who only show up for a couple of panels.

Now this may just be the result of the event comic format. But Barry, Mera and Ray don't have ongoings at the moment so a shift in character wouldnt ruin any other series. And this is being written by the Geoff Johns, the writer of Green Lantern (Hal's series) and intertwines with that title. There seems to be little reason why he couldnt just pick one person and give them a character arc in the main title.

**Antagonists**
Alright, the baddies! They're likely only going to be around for this series so there is no excuse to hold back anything with these guys. Lets look at who we have:

Black Hand: despite Green Lantern #43 (which is not a part of this mini-series) Blackest hand has done nothing but skulk around and look creepy. He also occasionally has a line of dialogue in an issue. This simply isn't enough to care about the villain.

Black Lanterns: evil zombies version of past heroes. But they just act like dicks. Thats all there is too them, occasionally (mostly in tie-ins) they will take on a few verbal ticks of the old characters but for the most part they just act like dicks. Not enough to carry an 8 issue mini-series.

Nekron: besides randomly kill all the heroes instantly in #5, he hasnt DONE anything! Hes just STANDING AROUND!

**Summary**
Blackest Night has been a series of unpredictable random events involving unchanging fairly simplistic characters fighting simplistic bad guys. On one hand its beautifully drawn by Ivan Reis and has cameos from just about every single DC character. On the other hand its not that different to a child playing with action figures.

[Professor S]

Gametavern has a Twitter account?

[ZebraRampage]

Originally Posted by Professor S

Gametavern has a Twitter account?

BaB

[Teuthida]

Heh, I only found out about the twitter account last week. Welcome to the board.

-------


I think one could enjoy BN from just reading the mini, but you need to read the other Green Lantern books to make full sense of it.

I don't remember everything as well as I could but here goes.

1) They're attacking because Black Hand along with Scar (I forgot the deal with her, need to look it up) brought about the Black Lanterns. You read GL 43 so you know BH's messed up story. Johns also retconned Black Hand's origin with Green Lantern Secret Origin to tie him into the mythos more. There was always a prophecy about this "Blackest Night" too and the war of color which goes all the way back to Alan Moore in the 80s.

3) Yeah, the Indigo tribe is pretty deus ex machina. Another one of them showed up in GL (Corps?) in the same way. Drawn to compassion?

5) This lost me too. Wanted a game changer and since was using Bruce's skull as the source of the rings anyway, I guess having a full body would make them more powerful when spewed out. Nekron said his name in quotes and if you read the last Batman and Robin... appears that's not Bruce's body after all but a clone...I think.

6) Who knows? If the prey the ring is after disappears does it become inert? Should have probably went looking for someone else when Barry and Hal disappeared.

Don't have to be a GL to kill them. Dove killed a bunch. That still needs to be explained. BN is more of a Justice League book than a Green Lantern book even though the threat is ring related.

I like that Barry, Mera, and Ray were used. Barry just came back from the dead so this is his first major story after that. Shall be getting his own book very soon. The other two might be getting set up for something too. Ray (or at least his wife) was the major catalyst for DC's dark turn in 2005 (what that it? that's when I got back into comics) and it's about time he confronted that. Mera...well, I'm don't know too much about Aquaman.

Completely agree with you on the baddies.

I look at Blackest Night as a way to bring dead characters back for future stories. Just know a lot of folks are gonna be brought back after this.

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Professor S

Gametavern has a Twitter account?

Originally Posted by ZebraRampage

BaB

A Twitter of sorts, and as Zebra ruined, ran by me and few others who have access.

As for the Blackest Night issue, hmm this is a tough.

I think your assessment is correct if you read Blackest Night 1-6, but I see Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps being equally viable and important (and really necessary) for the story.

As I heard it, it was intended to be a GL story until DC decided to expand it to an event comic so that might be why the story is spread out like that.

Issue 5 is Nekron rising "Bruce Wayne" so he can establish an emotional connection to the heroes and instantly kill them. Why does that work? Who knows.

The way I figured it, is that in the characters it did effect, the image of Bruce elicited a strong emotional response. Strong enough for the rings to take control of them. That and they didn't die, if I'm remembering correctly the rings were able to latch on to them because they had died before and come back to life.

Issue 6 is Barry running through time by 2 seconds to severe the connection to those Black rings. Why does that work? Who knows. And then Ganthet shows up to deputize a bunch of people. Why? Who knows.

I believe, by existing outside of time, even for 2 seconds, the ring figured it has lost its host. Same way Kyle's ring left him even when he wasn't completely died.

As for the split rings, I thought they explained that they needed the manpower since the rest of the corps were busy fighting Black Lanterns at the Central Battery.

I can't really disagree or Agree with Barry or Ray.

But Mera has been an awesome character, and I think she has done a hell of a job in the story so far especially with her and Wonder Woman when you find out she never wanted a child.

Black Lanterns: evil zombies version of past heroes. But they just act like dicks. Thats all there is too them, occasionally (mostly in tie-ins) they will take on a few verbal ticks of the old characters but for the most part they just act like dicks. Not enough to carry an 8 issue mini-series.

They are dicks, but you know what, they feed off of emotion, and I think that rage/hatred is the easiest emotion to elicit out of someone. Especially when you happen to be wearing the body of someone who has a past with said character.

That said, I don't expect Black Lanterns to be around past the end of the story.

And welcome to the forums.

[Dylflon]

Move to Video Games?

[Fox 6]

Originally Posted by Dylflon

Move to Video Games?

Its a comic silly

[incredibledave]

Hey guys
Thanks for the response

Regarding the importance of GL and other tie-ins to the story, Geoff Johns claimed that BN would be a mini that could be enjoyed on its own, so I read it as such. I've heard some good things about GL and GLC, and I picked up a few tie-ins that were pretty good, but I don't think this holds up as just a mini.

Also, it's entirely possible that these characters got character arcs in the tie-ins (I believe Mera played a big roll in the BN: Wonder Woman mini) but that doesn't excuse the main title for not having one.

About all the "who knows" things I mentioned in my original post, Im sure there are explanations floating around somewhere, my issue was that they just seemed random when they happened.
If some clues had been left and those moments were built up to, they would have seemed like a natural part of the story, instead they just seem random.

Anyway guys, love what your doing with the place here, if your interested I could put up some more posts like this if your interested (not necessarily negative ones)

[Fox 6]

Originally Posted by incredibledave

Hey guys
Thanks for the response

Regarding the importance of GL and other tie-ins to the story, Geoff Johns claimed that BN would be a mini that could be enjoyed on its own, so I read it as such. I've heard some good things about GL and GLC, and I picked up a few tie-ins that were pretty good, but I don't think this holds up as just a mini.

Also, it's entirely possible that these characters got character arcs in the tie-ins (I believe Mera played a big roll in the BN: Wonder Woman mini) but that doesn't excuse the main title for not having one.

About all the "who knows" things I mentioned in my original post, Im sure there are explanations floating around somewhere, my issue was that they just seemed random when they happened.
If some clues had been left and those moments were built up to, they would have seemed like a natural part of the story, instead they just seem random.

Anyway guys, love what your doing with the place here, if your interested I could put up some more posts like this if your interested (not necessarily negative ones)

Any input is always welcome.

[Dylflon]

Originally Posted by Fox 6

Its a comic silly

Thread comprehension fail.

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by incredibledave

Hey guys
Thanks for the response

Regarding the importance of GL and other tie-ins to the story, Geoff Johns claimed that BN would be a mini that could be enjoyed on its own, so I read it as such. I've heard some good things about GL and GLC, and I picked up a few tie-ins that were pretty good, but I don't think this holds up as just a mini.

Also, it's entirely possible that these characters got character arcs in the tie-ins (I believe Mera played a big roll in the BN: Wonder Woman mini) but that doesn't excuse the main title for not having one.

About all the "who knows" things I mentioned in my original post, Im sure there are explanations floating around somewhere, my issue was that they just seemed random when they happened.
If some clues had been left and those moments were built up to, they would have seemed like a natural part of the story, instead they just seem random.

Anyway guys, love what your doing with the place here, if your interested I could put up some more posts like this if your interested (not necessarily negative ones)

I'm always down for more comic discussions on these boards.

Just know the audience is small, but dedicated.

And most hate DC.. *Stares at Prof*

[Thespis721]

This is why I am having more problems reading comics nowadays. The storytelling is really gone to shyte. They put stuff out there and expect us to fill the gaps but that's just lazy storytelling. You watch a good movie, or read a great comic, and they make sure that the world exists and that they set the rules. And all great comics have story arcs.

Hell, even if you look at Infinity War, there is a character arc with most of the main characters in the main storyline even though there are dozens of tie-in comics. The tie-ins are bonuses and should not be necessary to read.

I blame the Matrix Reloaded. Everything seemed random in that piece of crap movie and then I went online and found the answers on their website. What the...? When does a good movie require a website to fill in backstory? THAT'S WHY I'M WATCHING THE MOVIE!!

[TheSlyMoogle]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

I'm always down for more comic discussions on these boards.

Just know the audience is small, but dedicated.

And most hate DC.. *Stares at Prof*

Because DC fails hard.

[Teuthida]

Originally Posted by Thespis721

This is why I am having more problems reading comics nowadays. The storytelling is really gone to shyte. They put stuff out there and expect us to fill the gaps but that's just lazy storytelling. You watch a good movie, or read a great comic, and they make sure that the world exists and that they set the rules. And all great comics have story arcs.

Hell, even if you look at Infinity War, there is a character arc with most of the main characters in the main storyline even though there are dozens of tie-in comics. The tie-ins are bonuses and should not be necessary to read.

I blame the Matrix Reloaded. Everything seemed random in that piece of crap movie and then I went online and found the answers on their website. What the...? When does a good movie require a website to fill in backstory? THAT'S WHY I'M WATCHING THE MOVIE!!

Plenty of self-contained indie books. Anything outside of Marvel or DC. The one Marvel book I continuously read is Amazing Spider-man (because it's damn good) and hardly ever ties into what's going on in other books.

[incredibledave]

@Thepsis721

I doubt Matrix Reloaded had enough of an impact on public perception to warp how other movies and comic books are written. But it may be a symptom of the same problem.

@TheSlyMoogle

I promised myself I wouldnt let myself be dragged into a DC vs. Marvel arguement. Must.... resist.....

Also, has Mera done anything in any Blackest Night tie-ins. People seem to be going on and on about how shes such an awesome character but I dont see it.