The Cost of Blackest Night?

You know how this works; we’ve done it before. We’re taking a look at the Big Events and breaking them down purely in terms of cover price. Remember: These examinations imply no editorial judgment; they are merely a look at the totals as a service to the readership. And, of course, whether you buy all of the tie-ins is up to you and your individual proclivities, and as always, comes with the message from the publisher that you don’t need all the tie-in issues to enjoy the story, though individual readers’ mileage on that statement may vary, of course.

This time around, we’re going to take a look at DC’s summer Event, Blackest Night. Of course, DC did you the solid of providing the #0 issue at no cost on Free Comic Book Day. With that one in the bank, let’s look at the actual branded “Prelude” issues.

Prelude to Blackest Night

The Prelude consists mainly of two arcs, one in the Green Lantern book, the other in Green Lantern Corps. While we could legitimately claim that the drumbeats for this have been going on for years (with the indication of the storyline’s impending arrival essentially announced at the close of The Sinestro Corps War at the end of Green Lantern #25 in December of 2007), this is where we’ll begin the official count.

Green Lantern #39, 40, 41 and 42 (includes the “Agent Orange” arc)
Green Lantern Corps #33, 34, 35, 36, and 37 (includes the “Emerald Eclipse” arc)

These 9 issues each carried a $2.99 cover price, for a total of $26.91 before tax.

Blackest Night Core Titles

It’s been stated that the issues of the Green Lantern titles running concurrently with the Blackest Night mini-series itself are the most important of all the companion issues. Therefore, we’ll define the core titles for the event as the central mini and the two regular GL ongoing titles. We’re going to presume, since the mini runs until February, that the ongoings may also continue as tie-ins thru Feburary. That should leave us this framework.

Blackest Night #1-8 (at $3.99 each) = $31.92
Green Lantern #43-49 (presently $2.99 each) = $20.93
Green Lantern Corps #38-43 (presently $2.99 each) = $17.94

The Core Title presumed total would be $70.79.

Blackest Night Satellite Minis

This is where we get a little more tricky. Several three-issue mini-series have been announced to complement the overall event. Some of these minis have yet to be announced. We’re only going to figure on confirmations now. Each issue of “Tales” will be $3.99; the rest will be $2.99.

Blackest Night: Tales Of The Corps #1-3 (July)
Blackest Night: Batman #1-3 (August
Blackest Night: Superman #1-3 (August )
[b/]Blackest Night: Titans[/b] #1-3 (August)
Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1-3 (Announced)
Satellite Minis Total (so far): $47.85

Beyond That . . .?

It’s pretty certain that there are more satellite minis to be revealed, and it’s pretty certain that single issues of other runs may/will tie in to the ongoing story. When those become available, we’ll provide an update to this feature. As it stands now, though . . .

Read the Prelude? That’s $26.91.

Prelude and Core Titles? That’ll run you $97.70.

Prelude, Core Titles, and Satellite Minis (thus far)? That’s $145.55 that we can confirm.

Overall, it’s a fairly slim price for that many months, considering other recent events from DC and their competitors. If you just stick to the main mini, with no GL core titles, that’s down to a (comparatively) mere $31.92 over eight months.
So let’s talk. How this strike you? Not bad, considering the duration? Fairly limited? Too much? Dislike $3.99 on the main book, but happy that the tie-ins are $2.99? Please discuss.