Blackest Night

Background

The storyline was first mentioned at the conclusion of the ” Sinestro Corps War ” in Green Lantern vol. 4, # 25. Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps reach out to the climax of the Green Lanterns of the Earth Hal Halman , Guy Gardner , John Stewart , and Kyle Rayner -are told by the Guardians Ganthet and Sayd of the Blackest Night prophecy. According to the prophecy, the two existing body would be joined by a specific dynamic and a specific color of the emotional spectrum , leading to a “War of Light” that would later destroy the universe. Johns says^[3] The prophecy has its origins in the story “Tygers” by Alan Moore , which touches on the rising up of the Guardians’ enemies of the Weaponers of Qward , Ranx the Sentient City , and the Children of the White Lobe, ^[4] Hal Jordan, Sinestro, and Mogo dying. Both Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver said thatBlackest Night is the third part of a Green Lantern trilogy that began with ” Rebirth ” and continued with “Sinestro Corps War.” ^[3]In a December 2007 interview with IGN, Johns said that he has the Green Lantern book plotted up until issue # 55. ^[5] More details for the event were revealed in DC Universe # 0, ^[6] which depicted Black Hand discovering the black power battery on the planet of Ryut.

Blackest Night # 0 was released on May 2, 2009 – Free Comic Book Day -and portrays a series of events directly leading into Blackest Night # 1. The standalone, self-titled miniseries consists of Blackest Night # 0 and eight monthly issues. Tie-ins include Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps starting with issues # 43 and # 38 respectively, and nine 3-issue limited series: Blackest Night: Tales of the Body , Blackest Night: Superman , Blackest Night: Batman , Blackest Night : Titans, Blackest Night: Blackest Night, Wonder Woman : Flash , andBlackest Night: JSA. ^[7] Ethan Van Sciver : The Rebirth of Miniseries. Van Sciver and Ivan Reis created many of the designs for this storyline. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}

Plot

Prelude

Green Lanterns Ash and Saarek find the Black Central Power Battery at a reportedly classified location within Sector 666. After touching the battery, Saarek reports that their presence has awoken something. The two are killed when they come to the flesh. ^[12] In Green Lantern Corps , a field of asteroids in an unknown region of space is depicted with the colors of the spectrum in the background. The asteroids, which are apparently the remains of the Xanshi planet, are shattered and a large quantity of black and white. ^[13]

Central storyline

In Gotham City , Black Hand removes Bruce Wayne’s skull from his grave and carries with it, and a Black Lantern power battery. ^[14] The Guardians of Oa observes the War of Light and realizes that Ganthet and Sayd are correct, but who do they care? Thousands of black rings assault the body crypt, creating a Black Lantern Corps. Hal Jordan and the newly revised Flash Bruce Wayne’s serious and attacked by Black Lantern Martian Manhunter . On Oa, the Green Lanterns are in the resurrected Lanterns, now reborn as Black Lanterns. Hawkgirland Hawkman are killed by Black Lanterns Elongated Man and Sue Dibny and join the growing Black Body. ^[15]

The Atom is tricked into visiting Black Lantern Hawkman, and Deadman is the first to realize the dead are not their true selves when his physical body revives a Black Lantern while he is still free. Aquaman and his Black Lantern Mera , who flees. A black ring strikes the Specter , binding the spirit Aztar and reviving Crispus Allen as a Black Lantern. Done Don Hall , Hawk and his brother Hank rise. In Gotham, Hal Jordan and Barry Allen are confronted by several Black Lanterns, includingRonald Raymond . ^[16] Hal, the Atom and Flash battle the Black Lanterns when the Indigo Tribe appears and uses their Indigo power with other rings to obliterate the Black Dibnys. Mera finds the new (still human) Firestorm and Gehenna , who merges to create a new Firestorm. Indigo says that the Lantern Corps must unite to defeat the Black One. The Indigo Tribe starts with Hal and leaves the other heroes to fight the invading Black Lanterns. Black Lantern Firestorm separates Gehenna and Jason, Gehenna kills and absorbs Jason’s consciousness. Black rings revive the villains whose remains in the Hall of Justice . ^[17]

Mera and Flash flee the Black Lanterns Flash leaves and gives all the keys in the US the key to defeat the Black Lanterns-merging lights with a Green Ring-and the Atom, Mera and the Justice Society of America battle many Lanterns together. Jean Loring kills and causes Damage to revive as a Lantern, which fully empowers the Black Lantern power battery. Barry arrives in Coast City , where Scar has teleported with the Black Central Power Battery. Black Hand then summons Nekron, who revives the residents of Coast City. ^[18] The JLA, the Titans, Wally West , and Bart Allenfight the Black Lanterns Coast City. Dove can destroy Black Lanterns with her presence. Hal and Lantern Corps members Larfleeze , Atrocitus , Sinestro , Carol Ferris , Saint Walker , Indigo-1, Ganthet , and Sayd Return to Earth and Attack Scar while she is attacking Wally West. Nekron has Batman’s corpse-later revealed to be a clone briefly reanimated to gain a necessary connection-and-sent rings to Superman , Wonder Woman , Superboy , Green Arrow , Kid Flash, Donna Troy , Ice , and Animal Man, previously killed and revived into Black Lantern by Nekron as Hal and Barry try to outrace their rings. ^[19]

Allen time-travels himself and Jordan. Mera and the Atom is coming. John Stewart Hal Warns Every Black Lantern in the Universe is heading for Earth. Jordan says they need the body to produce White Light. While they are summon the seven Corps to Earth, Ganthet duplicates the seven colored rings present and deputizes Non-Corps members Ganthet as Green, Barry Allen as Blue, Mera as Red, Lex Luthor as Orange, Scarecrow as Yellow, Atom as Indigo, and Wonder Woman as Violet after separating her from her Black Ring. ^[20]The Corps Leaders and deputies fight Nekron but can not stop him, because Luthor is overwhelmed by the Orange light of avarice. John Stewart is trying to stop the horde of Black Lanterns when the Six Corps arrives to join together and battle the Black Lanterns. In Coast City, Dove tries to reach the Black Lantern Battery is forced to retreat. Nekron kills a Guardian and uses his blood to cause a cocoon to emerge. Ganthet reveals that this is the White Light Entity that triggered existence and that life actually began on Earth, and that the Guardians uphold the link to protect the Entity and justify their power. Nekron stabs the Entity, living beings across the world to feel bread, and Sinestro surrenders to his anger atAbin Sur’s death and stabs Ganthet .

Hal realizes the Entity is like Parallax and Ion and needs a guide, and tries to merge with it, but is blocked by Sinestro, who is angry that Hal has recently been granted Parallax, who Sinestro feels he deserves. Sinestro demands the Entity’s power, emerges and is told “Thaal Sinestro of Korugar. ^[21] Sinestro is promptly killed by Nekron, but the White Ring revives him. Sinestro retaliates and kills Nekron, but Nekron’s scythe is picked up by a Black Lantern, who transforms into Nekron and says “death can not be stopped”. Ganthetnotes that Sinestro can not properly control the Entity as it is being powered by Sinestro’s ego rather than his will to live. The united Lantern Corps attacks Nekron. Deadman possesses Guy Gardner and explains that Black Hand is Nekron’s tether and that he must be revived to defeat Nekron. Nekron separates Sinestro from the Entity and Hal says that Nekron opened the door to death but it was the decision of the heroes to live. Hal merges with the Entity and transforms itself and the Black Lantern heroes into a White Lantern Corps , who restore Black Hand to life. This causes Black Hand to regurgitate a White Ring which revives the Anti-MonitorTrapped in the Black Lantern Power Battery. Nekron briefly fights the anti-monitor and banishes him to his home in Qward, the Antimatter universe. Black Hand regurgitates a cluster of white rings that destroy Nekron. Twilight Lord , Professor Zoom , Jade , Hawk, Boomerang Captain , Firestorm (Ronald Raymond), Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Hawkman , Hawkgirl , Deadman (Boston Brand), and Osiris .

Upon seeing Aquaman alive, Mera’s love causes her ring to depart, sending her into cardiac arrest . Star Sapphire and Saint Walker join their powers together to restore her, and Aquaman and Mera share a joyful reunion. Hawkgirl recalls her past lives, removes her helmet to reveal that she is still Shiera Hall and embraces Hawkman. Superman expresses his happiness that I have returned. Firestorm forcibly separates into Raymond Ronald and Jason, the latter upset that Ronald has killed his girlfriend. As Mera Jason comforts, Ronald is confused and asks Atom what is happening where Professor Stein is. Guy lets Lord, who is controlling his mind, escape. Jade kisses Kyle, unaware he is in love with fellow Green Lantern Soranik Natu. Osiris is confused and says he wants to go home. Superboy and Kid Flash, who only knows him by name, try to figure out who he is. After Professor Zoom Beams, Flash knocks out Captain Boomerang. Barry notes that Ralph and Sue Dibny have not been revived. Deadman, the only one of the resurrected still wearing a White Ring, is stunned to realize he is alive and something is wrong. Larfleeze returns an unconscious Lex Luthor stripped of his ring, who briefly realizes that he has given something away, and demands that Sayd honors her debt to him.

Ganthet Protests Saying Saying She Can Help Larfleeze. Sayd says the future of the Lantern Corps must be discussed. Saint Walker records that the Indigo Tribe and Black Hand are missing. On the Indigo home world, Black Hand is now a member and prisoner of the Indigo Tribe, and is chained to an indigo power staff. Hal and Barry realize that because Black Lantern is a fake, Bruce Wayne is still alive somewhere. Barry wonders what has become of the Entity; Hal says it is still out there, urging them all to move past the events of the Blackest Night. Elsewhere, we have a remote road, a White Power Battery is found in a crater. ^[22]

Follow-up

DC announced in January 2010 that following the end of “Blackest Night”, it would launch Brightest Day , a 25-issue bi-weekly comic book written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi . ^[23] [24] Also, Action Comics would feature a story in which Lex Luthor starts a universal quest to locate the energy of the Black Lantern Corps after being infused with the Orange Light of Avarice. ^[25]

Titles involved

title	Issue (s)	Writer (s)	Artist (s)	Notes
Preludes
Green Lantern	39-42 #	Geoff Johns	Rafael Albuquerque, Eddy Barrows, Doug Mahnke, Philip Tan	“Agent Orange” storyline
Green Lantern Body	29-38 #	Peter J. Tomasi	Patrick Gleason	“Sins of the Star Sapphire” and “Emerald Eclipse” storylines
Solomon Grundy	# 7	Scott Kolins
Titans	# 15	JT Krul	Jose Luis
Main Series
Blackest Night	# 0-8	Geoff Johns	Ivan Reis
Tie-ins
Blackest Night: Batman	# 1-3	Peter J. Tomasi	Adrian Syaf	“Blackest Night” Tie-in Miniseries
Blackest Night: Flash	# 1-3	Geoff Johns	Scott Kolins
Blackest Night: JSA	# 1-3	Tony Bedard, James Robinson	Eddy Barrows, Marcos Marz, Eduardo Pansica
Blackest Night: Superman	# 1-3	James Robinson	Eddy Barrows, Allan Goldman
Blackest Night: Tales of the Body	# 1-3	Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi	Eddy Barrows, Gene Ha, Mandrake Tom, Mike Mayhew, Rag Morales, Jerry Ordway, Chris Samnee
Blackest Night: Titans	# 1-3	JT Krul	Ed Benes
Blackest Night: Wonder Woman	# 1-3	Greg Rucka	Eduardo Pansica, Nicola Scott
Untold Tales of Blackest Night	# 1	Geoff Johns, JT Krul, Jeremy Love, Peter J. Tomasi, Adam Schlagman, Ethan Van Sciver	Ed Benes, Brett Booth, Patrick Gleason, Jason Fabis, Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver	“Blackest Night” One-Shot
Adventure Comics	# 4-5, # 7	Tony Bedard, Sterling Gates, Geoff Johns	Travis Moore, Jerry Ordway
Atom and Hawkman	# 46	Geoff Johns	Fernando Pasarin, Ryan Sook
Booster Gold	26-27 #	Dan Jurgens	Dan Jurgens, Mike Norton, Norman Rapmund
Catwoman	# 83	Tony Bedard	Luciana Del Negro, Marcos Marz, Fabrizio Fiorentino, Ibraim Roberson
Doom Patrol	# 4-5	Keith Giffen	Justiniano
Green Arrow	#30	JT Krul	Diogenes Neves
Green Lantern	43-52 #	Geoff Johns	Doug Mahnke
Green Lantern Body	39-47 #	Peter J. Tomasi	Patrick Gleason
Justice League of America	39-40 #	James Robinson	Mark Bagley
outsiders	24-25 #	Peter J. Tomasi	Derec Donovan, Fernando Pasarin
Phantom Stranger	# 42	Peter J. Tomasi	Adrian Syaf
Power of Shazam!	# 48	Eric Wallace	Don Kramer
Question	# 37	Dennis O’Neil, Greg Rucka	Denys Cowan
REBELS	10-11 #	Tony Bedard	Andy Clarke, Claude St. Aubin
Starman	# 81	James Robinson	Fernando Dagnino, Bill Sienkiewicz
Suicide Squad	# 67	John Ostrander, Gail Simone	J. Calafiore	“Dance Macabre” storyline
Secret Six	17-18 #
Superman / Batman	66-67 #	Scott Kolins
Teen Titans	77-78 #	JT Krul	Joe Bennett
Weird Western Tales	# 71	Dan Didio	Renato Arlem

Collected editions

The series and its tie-in books have been collected into a number of volumes :

• Blackest Night (collects Blackest Night # 0-8, 304 pages, hardcover, July 2010, ISBN  1-4012-2693-0 ; paperback, July 2011, ISBN  1-4012-2953-0 )
• Blackest Night: Green Lantern (collects Green Lantern vol 4 # 43-52, 272 pages, hardcover, July 2010. ISBN  1-4012-2786-4 ; paperback, July 2011, ISBN  1-4012-2952-2 )
• Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps ( Green Lantern Collects Corps Vol.2 # 39-47, 264 pages, hardcover, July 2010, ISBN  1-4012-2788-0 , paperback, July 2011, ISBN  1-4012-2805-4 )
• Blackest Night: Tales of the Body (collects Tales of the Body # 1-3 and stories from Green Lantern vol 4 # 49 and Adventure Comics vol 2 # 4-5, 176 pages, hardcover, July 2010, ISBN  1-4012 -2790-2 , paperback, August 2011, ISBN  1-4012-2807-0 )
• Blackest Night: Black Lantern Body Volume One ( Blackest Night Collects : Batman # 1-3, Blackest Night: Superman # 1-3, and Blackest Night: Titans # 1-3; 256 pages, hardcover, July 2010, ISBN  1-4012 -2784-8 , paperback, July 2011, ISBN  1-4012-2804-6 )
• Blackest Night: Black Lantern Volume Two ( Blackest Night: Wonder Woman # 1-3, Blackest Night: JSA # 1-3 and Blackest Night: The Flash # 1-3, 240 pages, hardcover, July 2010, ISBN  1- 4012-2785-6 , paperback, July 2011, ISBN  1-4012-2803-8 )
• Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns ( The Atom and Hawkman collectibles # 46, The Question # 37, Phantom Stranger vol.2 # 42, Starman vol.2 # 81, The Power of Shazam # 48, Catwoman vol.3 # 83, Weird Western Tales # 71, Green Arrow Volume 4 # 30, and Adventure Comics Volume 2 # 7, 256 pages, hardcover, July 2010, ISBN  1-4012-2789-9 , paperback, August 2011, ISBN  1- 4012-2806-2 )

Reception

The series has the positive positive reviews. Comic Book Resources gave the first and third issues in the series 5 out of 5 stars , ^[26] [27] and the second received 4.5 stars. ^[28] IGN also reviewed the series favorably, and rated the first three individual issues between 8.7 and 9.3 out of a possible 10. ^{[29] [30] [31]}

In other media

• In The Green Lantern: The Animated Series , Episode 24: Scarred, The Black Lantern is in the Guardians quarters.
• In Green Lantern: Emerald Knights , Arisia Rrab asks if Krona’s attack is the “Blackest Night that everyone keeps talking about,” but Sinestro tells her that it’s only a dash.
• There are skin pack DLCs available for Injustice: Gods Among Us , featuring “Blackest Night” -inspired skins for Superman, Batman, Flash, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, and Doomsday. The Injustice mobile platform version features “Blackest Night” skins for Batman, Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter.
• A downloadable Black Batman Night Skin appears in Batman: Arkham Origins .
• The storyline is featured in several DC Universe Online Episodes, which introduces several of the Lantern Corps members to the game, many of which can be seen in an overworld called ” Metropolis Battlezone”, and several other missions, that finally leads to a battle against Nekron and Black Hand in an 8-player instance of Metropolis at night.

See also

• Black Lantern Body
• Emotional spectrum
• List of events of the DC Universe

References