Reilly2040's Blog

IGN has previews of the Blackest Night titles due in December, and there’s some big plot points revealed.

The solicit of Blackest Night #6 is being kept pretty quiet beyond seeing that we’ll be learning some of Nekron’s secrets (presumably relating to the white light we learned about this month and how he’s returned?), however the real meat is in some of the other solicits.

The two that really lept out at me are Green Lantern Corps and Blackest Night: Flash.  In Green Lantern Corps we see things get just that bit worse for the Lanterns on Oa as Guy falls to his rage and becomes the latest recruit of the Red Lanterns. Its something that was hinted to in one of the last two issues where we saw Black Lanterns approaching Guy and a few other GLs, and they saw willpower eminating from the other GLs, but rage from Guy.  I must admit, I wasn’t really expecting any of the four “musketeers” to switch to another side during this event, but it looks like I was wrong.

But what does this mean?  Well, we know its an event related to the Corps that pushes him over, so that to me discounts the obvious cause of Ice being killed.  I’m personally wondering if its related to Salaak and the Alpha Lanterns.  We’ve seen the Alphas getting slowly out of control over the last while, and after Salaak shot down their attempt to take control of the Corps in the last issue there was the undercurrent of threat from them.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve made a move against Salaak, attempted a coup, either killing or injuring Salaak and that’s pushed Guy over the edge.  And if Salaak’s out of the picture, and Guy’s a Red Lantern, then that leaves only Kyle in their way.

I also wonder if Guy will necessarily be out of action due to this?  He’s always been portrayed as an angry character, and he’s got a heck of a lot of willpower.  Hal’s willpower was still manifesting in the form of constructs when he had a red ring, and Atrocitous has shown the red rings can be mastered, so I wonder if it infact means that Guy will still be able to fight alongside the GLs.  If so, then his red ring combined with any of the green rings on Oa will make short work of the Black Lanterns.

The other solicit that really caught my eye was Blackest Night: Flash.  Firstly due to its brilliant Scott Kolins cover, mimicking the Ethan Van Sciver cover to Flash: Rebirth #1.  And the solicit itself shows us that this isn’t just a bit of fun by the artist as there’s a very strong tie-in between the few.

In Rebirth #4, Thawne mentioned to Barry that he had a rebirth of his own in the coming days.  This indicated that the Thawne currently terrorising Barry had actually come back in time, from a point after his resurrection, and that was a separate story waiting to be told.   Many had speculated that it would tie in with Blackest Night, and its now looking like that is indeed the case, as the solicit specifically mentions the Reverse Flash as one of the Black Lantern Rogues returning.

How this works should prove very interesting.  And is it our first hint that some of the Black Lanterns will indeed be fully restored to life by the end of Blackest Night?  It would certainly make sense for DC to use this event to bring back popular characters like Aquaman and Firestorm (as mentioned in my Blackest Night #3 review, Geoff’s already given us strong hints of what a post-BN Firestorm could be like).

Finally the solicit mentions that “The Flashes of Two Cities – Barry Allen and Wally West – battle the undead Rogues”.  I’m taking this as a solid sign that while he may be getting a new costume, Wally will still be keeping the title of “Flash”, which makes me very happy.  After all, Jay’s been using the name during Wally’s run so that idea of multiple Flashes is long established now.  Presumably Wally will still be protecting Keystone as he has been, just in a new costume, with the main series following Barry’s adventures in Central City.  Now we just need a hint as to what titles we can expect Wally to feature in.

The War of Light’s impact starts to be felt in this month’s issue of Blackest Night.

Again, Johns anchors this issue around Barry and Hal, who’re dealing with the Black Lantern JLA from the end of last issue, and who find themselves saved at the last moment by the Indigo tribe in a surprise appearance.

Bringing the War of Light to the Blackest Night series, the leader of the Indigo tribe explains what’s been going on for those who haven’t been reading Green Lantern, but also helps fill in some of the general backstory as well.  The much-speculated white light gets a mention, but unlike the “White Lantern”, I’m more inclined to think what we’ll actually be seeing is a teamup of the lead Lantern from each Corps, forced to work together, rather than one special Lantern saving the day (Hal).

However, despite this being confirmed we’re still left with questions.  The Indigos obviously know more about what’s going on than potentially even the Guardians.  They’ve been in hiding, but I have to wonder how long for.  Are they as old as the Guardians, or older?  We also have Mera noting she was able to escape the Black Lanterns by controlling her emotions.  A balance related to the white light?  Or perhaps even peace such as we’ve seen with Dove?  Food for thought.

Really, the only misstep in the book probably comes about when Hal learns Carol is again a Star Sapphire and on Zamaron.  He’s ready to run off, until Barry stops him, as it’d leave Earth defenseless.  Without a Green Lantern (we learn their light combined with another Lantern can defeat a Black Lantern) Earth has no chance of stopping the Black Lanterns.  Hal’s response is to get in touch with Alan, or any of the light-weilding superheroes.   It really jarred for me, as Hal should be well aware that Alan’s ring is intrinsictly different to his (the status of the Yalan Gar origin of Alan’s battery not withstanding), and Hal’s been at the forefront of the emotional spectrum side of things.  He should know that light has very little to do with what’s going on.

While last month’s issue was all about Aquaman, this month its about Firestorm, as Jason is pushed to the forefront, and finds himself up against the Ronnie Raymond Firestorm, and it doesn’t end well.  Johns plays out the tragedy of Ghenna’s fate brilliantly.  What happens to her is horrific, with Jason an unwilling participant.  However I can’t help but wonder if Geoff is also teasing the future of Firestorm.   Should Ronnie be resurrected by the end of this series, we’ve been shown exactly how both Firestorms could work together as the lead role, with Jason moving into the Professor Stein role.   Its a tempting thought and a move that would potentially keep fans of both Firestorms happy.

An effective tease at the end of the issue as well .  100%.  Thanks to the solicits, we know exactly what this means.  But its still hugely effective.

There’s no doubt that Geoff is bringing his best to this series.  The War of Light’s impact finally being felt in this series was very welcome indeed and I look forward to seeing what exactly is going to happen next.