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Green Lantern Corps artist Patrick Gleason and the artist of the “Agent Orange” arc of Green Lantern, Philip Tan, were both in attendance. Below is a video with some clips as well as a bit of the DC Nation Panel, in which three minis were announced for the as-yet unreleased Blackest Night Checklist Part Two: Wonder Woman, Flash, and JSA.

Just as we recently summarized all the news being released on the internet about the Green Lantern movie, we’re taking a look at all the Green Lantern comic book news as fans have been inundated with information lately about the road to this summer’s Blackest Night event.

– Eight Issues: As announced at the ComicsPRO retailing summit in Memphis last month, the Blackest Night mini-series by Green Lantern writer Geoff Johns will be a total of eight issues beginning in July. These eight issues will follow a Free Comic Book Day release on May 9th of the Blackest Night #0 prologue issue.

– Tie-ins: As Johns and Dan DiDio have both told Newsarama, the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps titles will tell part of the story of Blackest Night along with the mini-series. Blackest Night editor Eddie Berganza told IGN this week that “ideally we’re giving you complete stories in each title, but if you read them as a whole, you are getting a larger view of this threat that is spreading death throughout the universe.” DC has not confirmed how many issues of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps are involved in the event.

Berganza also announced the following Blackest Night tie-in issues:

Green Lantern #43: Just like Blackest Night #0, Green Lantern #43 will serve as a prologue issue for the mini-series, coming out in early July before Blackest Night #1. While Issue #43 is the debut issue for new Green Lantern penciler Doug Mahnke, Johns told Newsarama the issue will also debut new “entities” representing the colored energies of the emotional spectrum (similar to Parallax for fear and Ion for willpower). “You’ll see two new entities – one kind of revealed in Green Lantern #43, and another full out in Green Lantern #43. But the entities are these living creatures that are born out of this power,” Johns said.

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1-3 – Written by Johns and Green Lantern Corps writer Peter Tomasi, these three issues in July will highlight the various colored Lantern Corps. As Johns told Newsarama last month, basic information on the Lanterns of the emotional spectrum will be in the next few issues of Green Lantern, but the Tales of the Corps series will go into “a lot more detail on a lot of these Lanterns.”

Blackest Night: Batman, Blackest Night: Superman, and Blackest Night: Titans – These three-issue comics will tell up-close stories beginning in August about how the characters in the DCU react to seeing their deceased friends and/or family members rising from the dead to become Black Lanterns. Another wave of tie-in minis will follow in November and will include Blackest Night: Wonder Woman. While writers for these comics have not been named, Berganza teased that they will include Tomasi, James Robinson, Greg Rucka and J.T. Krul.

– Artists: Art by Reis and Doug Mahnke is featured in Blackest Night #0, the Free Comic Book Day preview issue.

At New York Comic Con, Reis promised Newsarama readers that he will be drawing all eight issues of the Blackest Night mini-series, plus a few other possible tie-in issues. Blackest Night will be the last work he does on Green Lantern, although Reis said he’s planning another project with Johns after the event finishes. Oclair Albert will provide inks for Reis with Alex Sinclair on colors for Blackest Night.

As Reis moves off the Green Lantern title, Mahnke will take over as penciler beginning with Green Lantern #43. Mahnke will continue as the regular artist on Green Lantern during and after Blackest Night, along with Johns, who told Newsarama he’s staying on the title indefinitely. Christian Alamy will be the inker on Green Lantern with Randy Major and Nei Ruffino on colors.

As we found out last week from Mahnke, the new Green Lantern artist shares his studio in Minnesota with Patrick Gleason, the artist on Green Lantern Corps, who will continue to pencil that series during Blackest Night. “If a bomb was dropped up here on North Branch, Minn., that would wipe out the team,” Mahnke joked. Providing inks on Green Lantern Corps will be Rebecca Buchman, with colors by Major and Ruffino.

– Black Lanterns: Fans got their first glimpse of some Black Lanterns designed by artist Ethan Van Sciver as they hit the internet this week. On DC’s newSource blog, the publisher released images of two characters who will apparently rise from the dead to serve as Black Lanterns during Blackest Night. As Van Sciver told Newsarama in October, he worked with Johns and editors to “compile a list of specific DC superheroes and supervillains who have assumed room temperature,” and was “assigning a new look to each of them.” Artists Ivan Reis and Joe Prado told Newsarama in February that they are also designing Black Lanterns for the storyline. (Spoiler: The two teaser images of Black Lanterns released this week depict Earth-2 Superman and Aquaman as zombie-looking Lanterns. Of course, E-2 Superman as a Black Lantern was spoiled awhile ago when Blackest Night action figure previews were released.)

Other Lanterns: Based on the idea that emotions have energy that can be harnessed with power rings – with the Green Lanterns controlling the central, green-colored energy of willpower – the Green Lantern titles have been revealing the various colors of the emotional spectrum and their ring-wearing corps for awhile now. To date, readers of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps have seen the Red Lanterns, who wield the power of hate; the Sinestro Corps members, who use the energy of fear; the Violet Lanterns who use love; and the spiritually driven Blue Lanterns of hope who support the Green Lanterns’ energy of willpower. Johns told Newsarama of the yet-unseen wielders of the compassion-driven indigo energy: “I’ve been very careful with indigo because they’re not what everyone expects, and they act very differently than what everyone expects. They will be introduced within Blackest Night. And they’re actually called the Indigo Tribe. You’ll see a little glimpse of them in Blackest Night #0, the Free Comic Book Day comic we’re doing, but a very little glimpse.”

And beginning next week, Philip Tan will debut as artist on Green Lantern for the four-issue Agent Orange story arc. The story will introduce the Orange Lanterns, focusing on the leader Larfleeze. The stories in both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps will build toward this summer’s event over the next four months, Johns said, and “as the books get closer to Blackest Night, there will be more threads zipping between the books.”

We’ve seen Earth-2 Superman, now get ready for the original Aquaman.

From IGN, finally showing us the first look at the Black Lantern Earth-2 Superman

As DC’s Green Lantern series heads toward Blackest Night, it’s also heading toward a new regular penciler.

As Newsarama reported, Doug Mahnke will work with writer Geoff Johns on the Green Lantern title during and after this summer’s Blackest Night event.

Mahnke has been working in the comics industry several years, being one of the creators behind The Mask series for Dark Horse Comics in the ’90s. More recently, the artist has been working for DC Comics, providing pencils for projects like Batman and Black Adam: The Dark Age, and helping out with the last two issues of Final Crisis.

While the upcoming “Agent Orange” storyline in Green Lantern is being penciled by Philip Tan, the regular penciler on the series has been Ivan Reis since 2006. Once Blackest Night begins, Reis will become the artist on the eight-issue Blackest Night mini-series that is beginning in July as Mahnke takes over the regular title with issue #43 in July.

Newsarama talked to Mahnke about the new job as Green Lantern penciler and found out that somebody at DC should make sure North Branch, Minn., stays safe from harm.

As I bring Blue Lantern month to an end. I decided to take another look at the current state of Justice League of America. The most recent issue was the team’s status in the aftermath of Final Crisis. Hal Jordan pretty much aid everything wrong with the title in the story. The lack of stopping the big threats or handling the small one before they get big. I’m not sure its basically an apology to the readers or the writer tell us he hasn’t had much of a choice in the manner. It seems to be the plug to James Robinson’s Justice League mini this July. A title I’ve already got reserve. Truth is I’m very unhappy its become a mini series. The story of the Justice League going pro-active after Final Crisis and made up of classic and new members. Screams what the book should be. However, its turning into a mini with while the main title still being the same old same old.
Starbreaker ambushing basically the Jusice League Detroit remix and then getting caught into Blackest Night and the fall out of Trinity later on. Dwayne McDuffie is a very capable and good writer. You can see it in the title. However, he is still having to tie the book into other stories. Icon characters, long drawn out of left over threats from Brad Melterzer’s story lines. That honestly should have been tied up in 4 issues instead of being dragged on for another year. This isn’t Justice League of America, it’s basically JLA: Classified part 2. The main book is going nowhere and the editorial stuff doesn’t seem to bind or doesn’t care. Despite dropping sales and lack of interest now. Really, get a new creative team and direction on this book and cut away from making the book about other writers’ stories. I don’t care how good they are, this series is just not cutting it outside of being an outlet for crossovers and characters that DC just wants to beef up.

DC Comics has released their previews for titles for June 2009.