Review: Blackest Night #6
This weekend I finally got around to reading Blackest Night #6. Did I like it? Is it possible for me to like an issue of this comic anymore, or am I trapped in a negative feedback loop, doomed to suspect anything I like of being some narrative trap?
Actually, I did like it. Sort of. I still think the whole thing is ridiculous but this particular issue had two things I really enjoyed. The short version is that I recommend this to others.
The long version? Hit the jump for less long-winded but still-spoilery rambling than usual!
I still can't take the whole concept seriously, nor can I get it up to worry that maybe everyone is about to get waxed. The melodrama is so high at this point that it feels less like a serious comic and more like an episode of Superfriends. However, there were two things I really, really liked.
First, I like that there is now some explanation of why some characters had rings forced onto them and some didn't. The implication that there is at long last some sort of price to pay for having died and come back to life - as basically everyone in the DC Universe has done at some point or another - is a welcome nod in the direction of some of my main beefs with the storyline overall. I'm willing to set aside the fact that this also highlights my main problem with Blackest Night - that I find it impossible to care about character deaths when so many characters have died and come back, many times over - and give DC and Geoff Johns a point for at least having a sense of consistency and comprehensibility as to how this whole Black Lantern thing works and is working. In a story that revolves around what is effectively magic it's impossible to explain the technologies involved so it's important that things make sense somehow and having the rings target anyone who has died and been resurrected conforms to that.
Second, I confess that I did really dig seeing the new temporary non-green Lanterns. The Scarecrow as a Yellow Lantern is just effing brilliant and Lex Luthor as an Orange Lantern is an insightful and engaging comment on that classic character. I'm not sure I get why the Flash has to be a blue lantern, but I mean, OK, whatever. I am easily entertained by any sort of double-dipping storyline like that, whether it's cowboys in space or vampires in history or, in this case, superheroes with a new portfolio of skills. Any sort of recontextualization like that lets the writer explore and expose the character in a new light and that's always a good thing. Three weeks ago I probably would have scoffed and snorted and made nothing but deprecating remarks on how this is the cherry on the whipped cream on the icing on the over-the-top cake, but today it feels like an author experimenting and I'm always interested in what happens in a high-wire act like that.
As an aside, kudos to DC for creating a crossover that really can be comprehended via nothing but the actual limited series. I know that there has been plenty of action in other books and the main one does occasionally allude to them but the storyline can be followed without reading all seven million tie-ins.
It kind of leaves me looking forward to Blackest Night #7, which is not what I would have expected a few short days ago.
Klarion
Posted to Review on 19 January 2010
· Comments (8)
Other stuff like this: Blackest Night, DC Universe, Geoff Johns, Reviews
I notice you don't seem to get comments, so I just stopped to let you know that yer mah faveritest comic reviewer person evar.
Anywho, from what you've been saying about this I think I'll just wait until it's all released in nice big volumes.
On the topic of you not getting comments, I just wanna say I always enjoy reading your articles, but feel like I have nothing meaningful to say so I never comment myself.
But, I do in fact regularly read Pink Kryptonite, so don't think your efforts go unappreciated :)
Well, bless your hearts! Thanks!
Also, I appreciate the desire for substance, but this is the Internet; meaningful content is optional. :)
I keep reading these Blackest Night reviews and I have to admit my blood pressure does go up slightly... haha. I admit it!
I've been following Green Lantern ever since Rebirth, so all of this makes perfect sense to me, and every time I see a comment about how things don't make sense, I just want to yell, "That's why they had all those other comics and 2 major events before this one!"
But then I stop because it's interesting to see what someone with very little knowledge of Green Lantern thinks of the story as a stand alone series.
The power ring thing is just something that isn't so ridiculous after you've been reading it for a while. The power rings are just tools, even the power rings of the Black Lantern Corps. (and by extension, all of the Black Lanterns) are tools. Constructs. The Lanterns aren't fighting former loved ones at all, they're fighting death. All the shoot-em-up is just a layer over some of the more philosophical aspects. What is the essence of these characters? If you were boiled down to a single emotion that best characterized you, what would it be? How does mortality work in a world where no one really stays dead? How do we let others manipulate our emotions to their own ends?
I could go on, but it seems rather pointless if the whole thing just looks like Power Rangers and Care Bears to you guys... :-\
I'm always open to being corrected; there's a lot of context I just don't have in these stories. If there's something I'm missing, or a counterpoint to be made based on some recent back-story, by all means, go for it! I want to know when there's something I missed. :)
That said, yes, I wholeheartedly agree that they clearly aren't really fighting resurrected persons, they're fighting constructs designed to manipulate and weaken them. I do like that the psychological attacks are all meant to evoke emotional responses that weaken them, since the Lanterns are all about emotions being used as the basis for strength or, at the very least, power. (I dispute DC's generous definition of "emotion" on the grounds that "hope", "willpower" and "death" do not qualify, but that's neither here nor there).
However, the question of "how does mortality work" in this world is exactly my problem. Everyone is acting shocked and dismayed and saddened by the deaths and false resurrections going on throughout the story but those sorts of things happen all the time in that world. I would imagine most DC heroes, on seeing someone resurrected, would say, "Oh, must be Wednesday."
That's my personal beef with it, though. That the drama isn't to my taste doesn't mean it's necessarily bad, it just means that it doesn't engage me. I'm sure there are people for whom this is the best and most narratively appropriate turn of events in their entire comics careers, and I salute them. I simply am not among them.
I'm not saying you are "wrong" or any other similar remark. I'm just sharing through discourse. :-)
Well death and resurrection "all the time" is a little extreme. It does happen OFTEN and they do make comment on it. Still, if in The Real World (not Mtv's) 50-ish people were resurrected over the course of 30-ish years does that mean I wouldn't be shocked or saddened if someone I knew died? Just because others came back does not mean all people, or a particular person is going to. Indeed, in the DC Universe, there are plenty of people that have stayed dead. Some big names too, like Ted Kord. Most of DC has a sort of lineage with characters, where mantles are passed down to sons and daughters. Which is why it can be troubling for those sons and daughters to see their fathers and mothers return with their powers. Or in the case of Barry Allen, his grandson is attacking him (The Blackest Night Flash tie-in #2 is pretty decent, if a little roughly paced).
I think that's sort of my beef with Marvel though, where resurrection happens just as often, but it obviously has little emotional impact on the parties involved. Again, no guarantee that a certain someone will come back from the grave, or will stay dead, so I would expect some emotion of some sort. They might cry for a few panels. They also make many cameos post death. Jean Gray anyone? I believe every major character in the Siege storyline has died at least once, including Osborne, and now they're going to go fight gods with a flying aircraft carrier. So the reverse side of things can look equally silly...?
I finished reading GLC #44 the other day, which just has me stoked for the next GL and BN issues. Sadly though, I can't really recommend it, because it's relies heavily on other story threads that probably wouldn't make sense without reading issues and issues and issues of GL/GLC. That last sentence is probably the single greatest weakness/strength of the series. This is how I feel when I want to talk about how great RDM's Battlestar Galactica is... ha. I can't have them start with the really good stuff, or conversely, skip the weak stuff.
If you love the modern Battlestar Galactica - and who doesn't? - then you should definitely make sure you check out this PopSucker post from Wootini. Love it. However, it is heavy with spoilers.