After John’s misadventures on Xanshi last issue, its straight back into the main action of Blackest Night here, with Hal and the rest of the New Guardians (as the group of Hal, Atrocitious, Sinestro, Carol etc are being called) as well as the new recruits (Wonder Woman, Barry etc) facing the hoards of Black Lanterns.

Things quickly take a turn for the worse (as impossible as that seems) when the Black Lantern Spectre turns up looking to judge Hal.  The Spectre’s power (currently contained by its Black Lantern host) is pretty vast, and Hal is almost transformed into a Black Lantern himself, before Ganthet and Sayd manage to free him (and he quickly returns the favour).

Thinking quickly and realising that they need something to give them an edge over the Spectre, Hal has Ganthet grab the Earth Lantern’s power batteries and releases Parallax from within them, rejoining with the fear entity to gain the edge they need to stand against the Spectre.

To be honest, I’m a little unsure about this issue.  Largely because the nature of Parallax and the power level of the Spectre.  As originally presented, Parallax had no real power of its own beyond corrupting its host.  Parallax originally had Hal absorb the power of the central battery, and then in Rebirth Parallax attempts to first get control of the Spectre’s power, and then later Ganthet’s (leading to the confusion about power levels above).  This all suggests Parallax’s own power levels aren’t really that brilliant.

Then comes Sinestro Corps War, and the Parallax-infected Kyle is shown to still possess powers.  Despite no longer having either his GL ring, or the powers of Ion.  So where did all that power come from?  Apparently Parallax.  So why did Parallax need to absorb the central power battery etc?

So this idea that Parallax is the only thing that can challenge the Spectre is not something I can entirely buy into.  I don’t see how Parallax is such a threat to something of the Spectre’s power levels.  I’m hoping it’ll be some variation of Parallax’s corrupting influence, capturing the Spectre’s fears somehow, rather than Parallax suddenly being some awesome powerhouse, so I’ll have to wait until next issue to see how this pays off.  But as it stands, in the midst of everything else going on, releasing Parallax again doesn’t seem like Hal’s best idea ever.

I’m quite surprised Parallax has been let out of the bag again so soon, although we have heard hints that the various entities will play into Blackest Night.  Another surprise was that this issue read very quickly.  As the 50th issue its oversized and $3.99, yet for some reason it didn’t really feel that the story was that dense to me.

Another thing I should mention is Carol kissing Hal.  Geoff has obviously been positioning Carol back as a major part of Hal’s love life since the initial Star Sapphire story and the reveal of her divorce.   While Hal and Carol are a classic DC couple, Geoff previously introduced Cowgirl at the start of volume 4 as an alternate love interest, and since the war of light kicked off, its really seemed like she’s been quietly dropped, which is a shame as I thought she was an interesting character.  Hopefully once this is over, Hal will spend a bit more time on Earth and we’ll maybe see her again.  That’s not really a complaint against the events in this book though.  I hope that Johns is actually setting up a more tangled love life for Hal, with him being pulled between Cowgirl and Carol and the different aspects of his life as a pilot and a Green Lantern.

That all sounds a bit negative though.  I didn’t really dislike this issue.  The only real complaint I can make is that the Spectre/Parallax stuff just feels like a diversion from the main events of Blackest Night, and a throwback to Rebirth that I didn’t really feel was needed.  I’d have been happy if Parallax and Spectre were left in Hal’s past.  Saying that, freeing Parallax in this way plays into Johns’ take on Hal as being someone who’s overly (perhaps even dangerously) cocky and doesn’t always think through the results of his actions and that’s a take on the character I’ve actually been enjoying.

Much like Kyle’s death over in GLC I suspect this issue will be better viewed next month, once I have a better idea where this storyline is actually going.  Although that’s a bit of a shame in an oversized anniversary issue.

I will say though, I really love the Larfleeze/Luthor interactions.  Larfleeze trying to get the orange ring back from Lex is a great comedy moment

I also enjoyed the way Larfleeze was convinced to join up with the group.  Seeing Ganthet and Sayd, he automatically gets jealous about how the other Corps have Guardians and his doesn’t.  This leads to Sayd making a deal whereby she’ll be the Orange Guardian if he helps them out.  Again it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the long term and whether Sayd will have to uphold her side of the deal (I can see her potentially getting out of it, as Larfleeze tends to be easily distracted by anything else new that turns up).

And with the leaders of the various Corps all together, they’re in place for the start of Blackest Night #5…

With last issue being focused on the Flash and co trying to keep their heads above water while Hal assembled the various Corps together, this issue brings all the Lanterns together in a big way.  Starting out straight away with a role call of all the main Lanterns reciting their oathes, the Lanterns are quickly teleported to Coast City having discovered the Black Battery is no longer on Ryut.

And its just in time to help the various assembled heroes.  I have to say, there’s some great dialogue in this issue.  The interactions between Hal and the various Corps (with Hal’s dialogue revelling in the inherent silliness of the multi-coloured Lanterns) and with the Flashes was great.  Line of the issue for me was undoubtedly Barry and Kid Flash’s exchange regarding Bart calling Barry “Grandpa”.  Although the Captain Planet wink to the readers from Carol comes very close.

It was nice to see Wally turn up in this issue having previously only been referred to in the series.  And in his new costume no less.  With the delays to Flash: Rebirth I have to wonder what would’ve happened to Blackest Night had Rebirth #5 had slipped any further.  Would Blackest Night also have slipped, or would DC just have accepted Wally’s new costume premiering in Blackest Night?  Also, I notice than Ivan Reis has also picked up Ethan’s version of Bart’s Kid Flash costume and is drawing the boots as the simplified Flash-style boots as opposed to Bart’s more stylised pair.  I wonder if this is another running change that will stick.  On one hand I hope not as they were part of what made Bart’s outfit distinctive, although realistically they’d probably be a pain to run in.

With all the players in place, Geoff then successfully turns everything on its head, as the Corps combine their rings to create the white light of life, only to find it actually makes Nekron more powerful, not destroying him as they’d thought.  And its here that the plot revelations start hitting, with Black Lantern Batman making a brief appearance, and Nekron’s use of “Bruce Wayne” in quotes adding fire to the theory that the skeleton isn’t actually Bruce’s (although the fact the heroes believe it to be is obviously enough for it to act as the emotional tether for the Black Lanterns).

Nekron then explains exactly why there’s been a revolving door to death in the DCU, as its actually been him preventing the heroes from moving on fully, and setting them up to be resurrected, and further along his preparation for the Blackest Night.

There’s a lot been made of how this series would address death and resurrection in the DCU and lay out the rules going forward, and this is obviously the start of that.  I must admit, I really like the idea that there’s been a wider explanation behind all the DCU resurrections.  Okay, so its being retrofitted in, but it does make all the resurrections easier to swallow.   The only thing I’m not entirely sure about is how this actually works.  For example, Ollie was clearly seen in heaven, having passed into the afterlife in the Quiver storyline.  Although so was Barry and we know he was also in the Speedforce (clearly there must be some overlap between the Speedforce and Heaven in the DCU, both are versions of the afterlife, so I think it kinda works if you squint at it for long enough).  How Ollie being happy in Heaven works alongside Nekron’s revelation that he was preventing the deceased characters being judged I’m not quite sure.  Although I guess there’s always the fact that Quiver was pre-New Earth as well.

That’s fanboy nitpicking though, and ignoring it, this explanation feels right.  With Nekron’s comments about souls being judged and moving on beyond his grasp as well, we’re perhaps seeing the wider hints for how death/resurrection will work post-Blackest Night.

And then the kicker.  As Nekron was the one who prevented them passing over, he still holds power over all the resurrected heroes, as he proves by sending the Black Rings to convert them fully into Black Lanterns.  Clearly Donna’s infection over in the Titans special was a tease that the resurrected heroes were still bound to Nekron, and the payoff here, with Diana, Donna, Clark etc all instantly turned into Black Lanterns is chilling.  The only two left trying to escape the Black Rings are Barry and Hal.

And that to me is something really nice about this mini series.  Its not about the “Trinity” of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.  This is a Hal and Barry story that everyone else has just happened to get caught up in, and this cliff hanger positions the series to continue building on that partnership the way the first three issues did.  It does make sense, since this is the first big event since both Hal and Barry have been re-established in the DCU to put the focus on them working together again.  Of course it helps that they’re written so well by Geoff Johns, who’s clearly having the time of his life working with them both.

The next issue looks to be a real corker.  With the majority of the DCU’s heavy hitters now Black Lanterns, and Barry and Hal desperately trying to escape the same fate there’s a real “how will they get out of this one” been built up.  Interesting should be the development with Atom and Mera, who’ve been dragged into Black Lantern Damage’s ring by Black Lantern Jean Loring.  With Atom and Mera being the other significant pairing of this series, I can’t help but think that being shrunk down inside one of the rings is going to put them in a key position to help out in the next issue or two.

The highlight of Green Lantern #47 was undoubtedly the War of Light coming back into focus again.  Unlike last issue, which stayed focused on what was happening with Hal, this issue covers the broader story of the war of light, which was a welcome return, with most of the main lanterns getting a look in.

The issue belongs to Atrocitus though, as the fact the red ring replaces the wearer’s blood turns out to be hugely significant when facing down the Black Lanterns.  Its another example of the great way Geoff Johns throws in things earlier in his run that pay off in a big way down the line.

Talking of which, we also get further teases of Sinestro’s past, with a mention of Abin Sur’s sister dying in his arms.  I can’t help but think that Johns is planting little bits and pieces building up to Secret Origin 2 which will focus on Sinestro’s downfall (in much the same way as Emerald Dawn II did, although I imagine this series will make Sinestro a bit more of a sympathetic figure).

It was also nice to see Odym revisited.  I had been wondering what was happening to Saint Walker, Ganthet and all.  However a better payoff is Larfleeze’s appearance.  Its fleeting, his rescuer from the Black Lanterns is unexpected.  The fact that Atrocitus has gone to Okaraa is pretty unexpected, since we know its the green light that is key to the Black Lanterns’ defeat.  However Atrocitus has the ability of prophecy, so I guess whatever he’s up to, its because he has a plan.

And of course, we have the Black Lantern Inversions.   Given their importance to kicking off this whole event with the original Alan Moore story, I had been quite surprised to see them despatched so early on in events, so their appearance in this book was very welcome.

Blackest night Titans, much like the Batman and Superman minis, sees our heroes manage to escape the Black Lanterns. But only for now.

There’s some particularly grim stuff here, as Donna is forced to face down the Black Lantern versions of her husband and child, and takes them down with her own bare hands.   While its nice to see that the DC characters are now wise enough to largely see through the manipulation of the Black Lanterns, it still made for a grim scene and I thought was well handled by both writer and artist.  It is interesting however that the issue of Donna’s infection by the Black Lanterns is left hanging.  Something the Wonder Woman mini will pick up?

As with the other two issues in this miniseries, its the Dove scenes that seem to contribute most to the main event, and that I’ve found most interesting.  Here we see her as the ultimate solution to the Black Lanterns plaguing the Titans, as she unleashes her power, resulting in all the Black Lanterns being disconnected.  Is this a hint that her power is tied to the white light?  We also see the original Dove appearing to her, and hint about things to come.  With the scene at Don Hall’s grave making it into issue 2 of the main mini-series, I really hope this is stuff that is going to be very significant and play out in the later issues of the mini-series.

I have to admit, for a mini that was originally hovering on my “skip” list, I’m really glad I picked this up.  Its been an excellent read, and I’m definitely going to be interested to pick up any Hawk and Dove stuff that spins out from this.

Overall, I have to say I’ve been very, very happy with these first three tie-in mini-series.  They’ve worked well to compliment the main Blackest Night series and have all featured great art and writing.  I really hope the next three series are as good, and from what we know about JSA and Flash at least, I can’t see any reason why they won’t.

Green Lantern this month follows on directly from the events of Blackest Night #3.  The War of Light gets temporarily shunted to the side as we deal with what happens to Hal after Indigo-1 teleports him to Zamarron to deal with the situation there and meet up with Carol and Sinestro.

Where this issue really shines is undoubtedly the scenes on Zamarron with those three.  They play off each other well, and again the character that really stands out is Sinestro.  Geoff Johns is well know for the character he infuses into his villains and Sinestro is no exception.   The fall of Zamarron is well done, and suitably ominous, with the Predator now on the loose (something the Zamarrons were keen to avoid) as well as a second set of Black Lantern Hawks joining the fray.

I’m now wondering if Blackest Night will see the Hawks rebooted.  I’d wondered if their deaths were going to be setup for a future mini or JSA storyline, but with the reveal that the couple in the Zamarron battery were the original Egyptian descendants of the Hawks, I do wonder if Geoff is building to something here.

The long awaited Sinestro Mongul confrontation was good fun, if a little short.  I loved the way Sinestro kept slapping down Hal and Carol for interfering in his fight and the reveal of the safeguards built into the rings made a lot of sense for Sinestro, who (at least post-Rebirth) has been all about forward planning.  The only real disappointment was that it was Geoff writing this and not Peter Tomasi, since Tomasi’s been the one handling Mongul’s takeover of the Sinestro Corps for the last couple of years over in GLC, although its understandable with all that’s going on on Oa at the moment.

Really the only lowpoint of the issue for me was the one page with John Stewart.  I’m starting to get a little tired of how slow this storyline is progressing, and to be honest, with only one page, I’d rather it had just been skipped this issue and dealt with in two or three pages next month.  As it stands, John is left looking a bit dumb running off onto Black Lantern Xanshi like that.  Granted, he doesn’t know what’s going on and can’t contact Oa, but another page or half a page showing him more conflicted over flying into such a dodgy situation might’ve been nice.  At least we know though that this storyline should be getting a bigger airing in upcoming issues.  Or at least, that’s what the solicits seem to indicate.  As it is though, I do feel for John fans as thus far, despite a really promising story arc, he’s been a bit short-changed by this event.

With Blackest Night being the pay-off of so much of Johns’ run since Rebirth its no real surprise that this is another cracking issue.  The only potential problem is that Johns has so much story and so many plot threads being covered that much of the War of Light is left to one side here (no doubt to get picked up on next month).  I’m really keen to see what’s happening on Odym, Okaraa and Ysmault with the Blue, Orange and Red Lanterns after last issue’s cliffhanger.

This was a brilliant issue.  Possibly my favourite Blackest Night issue so far.   Unlike a lot of the other issues though, it probably feels more like a superhero comic with less of the outright horror elements that the others have had.  But, this really reminded me of some of the best action-packed moments of the Sinestro Corps War.

A highlight had to really be the scene with Salaak and the Alpha Lanterns.  Again, Gleason’s interpreation of the Alphas is spooky as heck, and much like saw with Boodikka over in this month’s GL title, the Alpha Lanterns are getting out of control.  Only this time, rather than a programming glitch, they just straight out try and take control of Oa and the Green Lanterns.  This leads into Salaak revealing a message from the Guardians actually stating that he is in charge in their absence, followed by Kyle and Guy.  Its a great scene, with Salaak laying down the law, and also the nice nod as to how important in the heirarchy of the Corps Kyle and Guy actually are.  Still though, you can’t help but get the feeling that the Alpha Lanterns haven’t been completely dissuaded from taking over.   There’s going to be big problems with them in the near future.

Talking of Guy and Kyle, they both get their moments to shine as well.  The Kyle/Jade confrontation I found to be pretty effective, with Kyle quickly seeing through Black Lantern Jade and blowing her apart.  Of course she reforms, taunting Kyle with images of all the women he’s lost.   Its a keystone to Kyle’s character that he’s pretty much cursed when it comes to women, and its been brought up quite a few times lately, so it’ll be interesting to see how Peter Tomasi approaches it.  He seems to be keen to move Kyle on as a character so I suspect “Jade” isn’t going to get the reaction she’s expecting from him.

It was also nice to see the execution from a couple of months back revisited so quickly as again, one of the Guardians’ poor decisions comes back on them as the executed prisoners all rise as Black Lanterns.

While this book was filled with great moments, there was also a very intriguing moment, as we revisit Kryb who escaped from Zamarron in the latest issue of Green Lantern.  Here we find her arrive at her planet, closely pursued by Star Sapphire Miri, only to find the children missing.  Its an intriguing scene as we see Miri willing to play off of Kryb’s (twisted) love for the children and agree to help her find them.  Obviously here we’re seeing a more dubious side to the Sapphires as Miri seems to view Kryb’s love for the children above all other factors.

This was just a great issue.   I can’t wait to see what happens next month, but its safe to say things look pretty bleak on Oa.  The Guardians appear to be dead (or at least missing after their imprisonment by Scar), and with the sheer number of Black Lanterns they’re facing, its hard to see how things are going to get better for the Green Lanterns.

The John Stewart/Xanshi stuff was covered in the preview in its entirity.  Sadly we don’t get any other teases as to what the story is here.  We do know that this plot is due for some focus in the upcoming issues, however another page at least would’ve been nice here.  Its always a slight disappointment when a preview shows you an entire subplot.  Again though, this is largely due to the number of plot threads Geoff’s revisiting in this issue so its understandable.

The rest of the issue is filled full of the various Lanterns.  We get a bit more of the conflict on Zamaron, with Carol and Sinestro providing for quite an interesting battle of wills (if that’s the right word), as Sinestro plays on her character and mocks her for taking up the Star Sapphire purely to try and help Hal.  In reponse we get Carol briefly trapping Sinestro in one of the Sapphire’s conversion booths where we get an intriguing look at Sinestro and Abin Sur’s relationship, specifically in terms of Sinestro seeming interested in Abin’s sister.   Since we know the Abin is one of the Black Lanterns to rise, I’m guessing this is a plot we’ll be seeing sooner rather than later.  And even more interestingly, they’re interrupted by the arrival of the Black Lantern Sinestro Corps led by Black Lantern Amon Sur.  Its interesting that both Abin and his son have been risen as Black Lanterns, and surely that’s something Geoff is going to play with.

On Ysmault the Alpha and Lost Lanterns have retrieved Laira’s body but find themselves under attack from the Red Lanterns, but are also having problems with the Alpha Lanterns.  Boodikka is refusing to leave as her programming to terminate all enemies of the Corps is conflicting with the need to evacuate the planet.  Once again, we’re seeing the Guardian’s mistakes start to come back on them.   The Lost Lanterns say they’re going to have to force her to leave, but you can’t help but think she’ll react badly to that.  And then the Black Rings show up.  Laira is of course one of the first to rise as a Black Lantern, but given Ysmault’s population was nearly entirely wiped out by the Manhunters, you can’t help but think the Red, Alpha and Lost Lanterns are about to find themselves badly outnumbered.

The scenes with the Blue and Orange Lanterns though probably provided the biggest payoff.  Given the nature of the Orange Lanterns (they’re killed and Orange Lantern copies created), it always seemed like Larfleeze was going to be in a lot of trouble come Blackest Night, and here we see that come to pass as the Black Rings arrive on Okaara.

We’ve also got the continuing assault on Odym.  A nice touch, playing on how full of life the planet is, is the fact that the Black Rings sent there are just hovering in orbit.  There’s nothing on the planet for them currently, so they’re just waiting for something to die.  It gave us the really nice visual of the rings circling Odym like vultures.

I also liked the visual of the Orange Lanterns, with Larfleeze’s greed knowing no limits, having moved on from the idea of just grabbing a blue ring, to grabbing the whole central battery.  It was interesting that Ganthet wasn’t too concerned about the Battery though.  Granted, the Blackest Night has arrived, but you think his Corps being left powerless would concern him just a little, unless he’s betting on the Black Rings disrupting the Orange Lanterns as we saw in the final pages as he’s aware the Black Lanterns are the larger threat.

All in all, it was very nice, to see the War of Light return center stage, and going by solicits, it looks like this is the aspect of the story that the main GL title will be focusing on from the duration of Blackest night.    You’ve got to admire the sheer number of subplots Geoff is managing in this issue, its just perhaps a shame that we don’t get a bit more of them due to the restriction in number of pages.  But then, they do say you should always leave people wanting more

Very much looking forward to the next issue, hopefully with a lot more of the John Stewart/Xanshi stuff, and it’ll be nice to see Ganthet’s Blue Lanterns get more involved.  Although Ganthet will need to try and get a Green Lantern in range of Odym unless the Black Lanterns on Okaraa can cause Larfleeze to retrieve his “Corps” and leave behind the Blue battery.

The Green Lantern preview in particular contains some very interesting stuff.  The reveal of Xanshi (following on from the cliffhanger in GL #44) is huge.   Is the whole world a Black Lantern equivalent to Mogo?  And if so, does this presumably mean Xanshi was a sentient world like Mogo, or is the resurrection more symbolic than that?  Hopefully we’ll find out on Thursday.

Meanwhile there’s some interesting tidbits on Zamaron, with Carol leading the defense of the world against the Sinestro Corps, who’ve arrived to free their captured bretheren.  We learn that Carol is more resistant to the controling influence of the violet light than the other Star Sapphires due to her experience with them in the past, and there’s also the hint that the Zamarons will need her help with the Predator, which makes me wonder if they’re as in control of the violet light as they’d like others to believe.

There’s also the fact that the two skeletons that originally formed the Star Sapphire are human.   Who are they, and how did they end up on Zamaron?

All very intriguing stuff.  Can’t wait until Thursday to find out.

I must admit, Blackest Night: Titans was the only mini-series tie-in I’d really thought I’d skip from Blackest Night, but reading the preview has started to sway me.   I’ve never really followed Hawk and Dove as characters, but the way this series is picking up on the Don Hall moment from Blackest Night #2 has me intrigued.

I do like how this event is working so far, with some significant moments in the main series that are picked up on in the tie-ins and expanded on.  So far, its working very well, with those moments in the main series feeling very natural, as opposed to forced in order to support a tie-in.  Presumably these are events that will be picked up on later on (such as the Deadman stuff) however also lend themselves to further examination (e.g. Deadman going to Batman for help in the tie-in, while the spirit versus body resurrection element it introduced can be a plot point in the main series).

As seen in the preview, the issue is largely interested in the fallout from the riot on Oa.  This probably leads to the main disappointment of the issue, which is the events on Daxam.  Whereas previous issues in this story arc had played out those events as a major part of the story, here they’re effective resolved with a single two-page spread of the Daxamites attacking the Sinestro Corps and Mongul saying “Stuff this, we’re off”.  Its a disappointing ending to what had been a very powerful arc.  Interestingly, Sodam Yat is left as “dead” here, which leads me to believe his return could be a big part of Blackest Night.  Surely Arisia will twig with all the Black Lanterns around that Sodam’s not among them, and he can turn up to save the day at somepoint?

I don’t have the issue in front of me, but in Legion of Three Worlds, I’m sure Sodam mentions failing the Corps during the Blackest Night.  Perhaps this could be a reference to the fact that he was not able to help out, due to recuperating in Daxam’s sun?   It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

The main thrust of the issue is the events on Oa.  After turning up to quell the riot last issue, the Alpha Lanterns waste no time ferrying the prisoners away, leaving the Corps to handle the rebuilding.   We also get a great “WTF???” moment from the Guardians when they return from Vega to find Oa’s armour smashed to bits (I could just imagine one of them saying: “Honestly, we leave you alone for five minutes…” ).

Things then go from bad to worse on Oa.  Kyle and Guy discuss their mutual distrust of the Alpha Lanterns, but are still horrified when they discover them executing the prisoners who rioted on Oa.  Arguing that killing defenseless prisoners is against the spirit of the Corps, they intervene, but are overruled by the Guardians who teleport them back to Earth (putting all four Musketeers back on Earth together for the start of Blackest Night).

Its a great scene.  You really feel its going to turn very nasty with Guy and Kyle getting between the Alphas and the prisoners, only to then discover its all condoned by the Guardians and showing their disgust.  Here Kyle and Guy really become the mouthpieces for the fans who’ve been watching everything the Guardians have done since the Sinestro Corps War.  Its a powerful, great scene that’s been brewing for a while, and doesn’t disappoint.

Many people are starting to argue that out of the two Green Lantern monthlies, this book is actually better than its parent title, and while I’d probably still rate them both equally (Geoff has the advantage of getting first shot at the new Lanterns), its easy to see from the events on Oa in this book why people are thinking that way.

Interestingly the cover shown for Blackest Night #3 is the Firestorm-focused variant cover.  So it’ll be interesting to see what’s on the Ivan Reis main cover, but I’m guessing its considered spoilery (the main villain?).

Its also interesting that the Superman tie-in doesn’t mention the Earth-2 Superman, but does reveal that Psycho Pirate will be back as a Black Lantern.  I love how there’s a hole still in his head from where Black Adam punched him  (although it does raise the issue of how the Black Lanterns come back.  This lends itself towards them being the actual remains of the dead, but then we’ve got the question of how Black Lanterns come back where there aren’t any physical remains, such as Firestorm).  Given the prominance of Earth-2 Superman on the cover and in the solicit for August, it’ll be interesting to see where he’s gone, or if its just a natural shift of focus for this issue to Clark and Connor (speaking of which, its great seeing Connor on these solicits again.  I can’t wait for Adventure Comics).

Despite the firepower on display on the Batman cover, which I’m a bit dubious about, I love seeing Batman, Robin and Red Robin side by side on that cover.  I’m really hoping this is something that happens in the book, rather than the cover just reflecting the fact that all three of them are in the story, albeit separately.  I really want to see them team up, although it’ll be interesting to see how that jibes with the events of Red Robin #1, given Tim is currently globe-trotting.   And not a big fan of Richard.

Titans is still the book that’s highest on my “could skip” list, although the Donna focus of this issue grabs my attention.  Again, it wins the “most twisted cover” award of the month.  I’ve got a soft spot for Donna after the Kyle run, and realistically I’ll probably go all completist over this event anyway.

The Green Lantern solicits also cover a plot point I’d been wondering about, as the Green Lantern #46 solicit tells us this is the long-awaited Sinestro/Mongul confrontation.  I’m a bit surprised about this, as I’d really thought it would’ve happened by now (specifically by the end of Emerald Eclipse in GLC).  However its going to be great to finally see.  Its pretty much being taken as granted that Mongul is going to lose, but it’ll be interesting to see exactly what happens to him.  He’s been a great nemesis for the GLC and I hope Geoff resolves this conflict well and leaves Mongul open as a character for a new direction (ie, he doesn’t end up killed by Sinestro).

The cover of Green Lantern Corps #40 also provides us a tantalising image, with the various Black Lanterns appearing to absorb different aspects of the emotional spectrum from Guy, Arisia and Kyle.   It strikes me as something that could be quite amusing potentially.  Will we see the return of “nice” Guy from the JLI if he’s been drained of his hate?  And will Kyle without fear be roughly equivalent to Dave Lister in the episode Polymorph of Red Dwarf?

Ok, I joke, but it really does remind me of Polymorph, however I’ll be surprised if any aspect of this is played for laughs.  Its interesting as well that the cover is focused solely on the main/classic  Green Lanterns.   No Sodam Yat or Soranik Natu here.   Just Guy, Kyle and Arisia.  I wonder if this signals that the title will be very focused on these characters for the duration of this event, to ensure all the Guy and Kyle fans are left happy that they were properly involved in Blackest Night.  although I’ll still be annoyed if the four Musketeers aren’t playing a major role in the main mini series.  I’d rather have Hal, John, Kyle and Guy front and centre in Blackest Night and the GL series (albeit slanted towards Hal), allowing GLC to focus on the other Lanterns, much like happened in the Sinestro Corps War.

So the solicits are still looking very promising for this event.  And again, I think they’ve hit a good balance with the number of tie-ins for this event.  Presumably only Blackest Night, GL and GLC will be the “must-read” titles for the event, but the other tie-ins are restricted enough in number that I’ll be fairly happy to pick them up, without breaking the bank too badly.

It looks cracking, again focusing on the events of last issue and Sodam Yat kick-starting Daxam’s sun.   There’s an interesting parallel being made to Sodam Yat supposedly sacrificing himself, and Hal’s death back in Final Night.   Of course, we can assume that the Ion power is going to protect Sodam allowing him to escape the sun safely (albeit presumably a bit singed).

The Daxamite’s reactions to their new powers are well done, with Arisia forced to contain them all in force fields as their heat vision cuts loose, uncontrolled.  Sodam’s father as well seems happy to revert back to his xenophobic ways now he’s got a bit of power behind him.  Arisia cuts him down, but I can see him being a problem later on in the issue.

The really big thing for me is seeing Tomasi address the issue of the two separate hunts for the Anti-Monitor.  He picks up on the thread Geoff started with the GL vampire hunter, who is found by Saarek.  I’m glad to see this being brought up, as it seemed odd to me to have both books running virtually identical plot threads with GLs being sent out to determine the Anti-Monitor’s fate.  I’m struggling to remember but I’m sure one of them was sent by Scar.  Maybe the other wasn’t?

Anyway, looking forward to picking up this issue.  I’ll be intrigued to see if Sinestro turns up as well.  Over in GL he was talking about mounting an attack on Zamaron while in the last issue of GLC he was instead heading for Daxam, so I’m hoping we see him turn up to reclaim the Sinestro Corps from Mongul in this issue paving the way for the scene shown in Green Lantern.