Tales From The Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night

[Hypo]

TALES FROM THE DARK MULTIVERSE: BLACKEST NIGHT #1

Writer Tim Seeley (Nightwing) and artist Kyle Hotz (Swamp Thing: Roots of Terror) team up with cover artist Lee Weeks (Batman) to retell the tale of the Green Lantern event that changed the DC Universe forever, only this time the Black Lanterns emerge triumphant! Twenty-three days after the cataclysm, Sinestro, trapped between life and death as a White and a Black Lantern, emerges as the world’s last hope—the Limbo Lantern! In order to save the universe or end his life, he’ll need the help of some unlikely survivors—Dove, Lobo, and Mister Miracle—all of whom will put their lives on the line to give their world one final chance! This 48-page one-shot goes on sale November 13 for $5.99, and fans can also pick up a reprint of the original Blackest Night #1 the same day for just $1.

[Andrew NDB]

What in the hooting hell is this?

[Michael Heide]

It's the new packaging of Elseworlds. A bunch of overpriced What If one-shots featuring key storylines like Death of Superman and Knightfall. Apparently, DC considers Blackest Night to be the same tier.

[jhpace1]

We can't have a universe that never saw Third Army or The First Lantern or Relic. Oh no. They have to give Sinestro what he wanted during Blackest Night but twist it like a knife in the back of each fan.

[HalFingJordan]

Blackest Night was Geoff's masterpiece. A callback to it? Why the bloody hell not.

[Big Blue Lantern]

Originally Posted by HalFingJordan

Blackest Night was Geoff's masterpiece. A callback to it? Why the bloody hell not.

I'm not going to lie: I squealed like a girl when I heard about a new Blackest Night book. Give me another shot of that ringed-up zombie goodness.

[IonFan]

now this i might get.......................... if the art doesn't suck that is lol

[Big Blue Lantern]

Originally Posted by IonFan

now this i might get.......................... if the art doesn't suck that is lol

The cover image looks good at least. Plus, it's a one-shot, so it isn't a huge investment like reading a new series. I wonder if the BN #1 reprint will have a new cover or some other bells & whistles?

[buffalorock]

Not quite what I imagined when they announced it. The "Limbo Lantern" sounds like an awful concept. I may still pick it up since it is a one-off, depends on my load that week.

[Hypo]

Tales From The Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night #1 Art by Kyle Hotz

[jhpace1]

Just finished reading this, and something was nagging me the whole way through. Why Lobo? Why Sinestro? I'm not giving any spoilers, but critique:

ART: average. Not spectacular, especially the last 5 pages, but not shoddy or confusing, either. I know the artists had to come up with a lot of Black Lantern costumes, and the effort was appreciated. Not many rings' light seen either, they've all been turned into Black Rings by the start of the story except for Sinestro. But one depiction, which I will not name, other than hint to its' gigantic cosmic size, was done terribly!

PLOT: As small as a grain of sand. A "fifteen seconds to midnight" plot. Oh, evil in many forms. Sinestro's arrogance. Lobo's arrogance. A few surprising twists just before the clock struck twelve, and this is a "Dark Multiverse" title, so failure is not an option, but a requirement. One interesting note: Sinestro speculated that once the Black Lanterns were done "eating" each emotional light and the living, they would move on to eating matter down to the last proton bond, leaving the universe empty and black forever.

CHARACTERIZATIONS: Spot on. That's when it hit me: this is a "fan" fiction tribute to Lobo and Sinestro raised to DC Comics canon. You can see all four main characters above in the preview pictures. Sinestro is Sinestro. Lobo is Lobo. Dawn is Dove, and Scott Free is Mr. Miracle. It's too bad the morality failures outweighed the potential successes in this tale. The other "fan" fiction hint was the use of the words "Color Corps" by certain characters. That's a demeaning term, not used in canon before, if I recall correctly. Others have said "Emotional Spectrum". Not "Color Corps".

BUY IT/DON'T BUY IT: Just like Sinestro is the "Limbo Lantern", I'd give this one a 50/50. If you are a Sinestro or Lobo fan, then yes. If you cannot stand the heroes failing or the bad guys winning, then no.

[Space Cop]

I picked it up, but it's lower in my pile, so it'll be a few days before I get to it. Far Sector was on the top as a GL title.

[Mister Ed]

I’ll definitely skip this. It sounds like it is custom made to be unappealing to me. Lobo? Ugh. Evil triumphant? No thanks. And if Sinestro is portrayed as a hero who is the best ringslinger ever, that’s a trifecta of “avoid me like the plague” signs.