Best Shots Extra: Blackest Night #1 [and Reader Poll]

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Blackest Night #1
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert
Colors by Alex Sinclair
Published by DC Comics
Review by Lan Pitts

It's hard to believe that this moment is finally here: Blackest Night has begun.  Two years ago, at the end of the Sinestro War, there was mention of a prophecy of the "Blackest Night," which is also a phrase from the Green Lantern oath.  Geoff Johns has been a master at setting all this up and making Green Lantern one of DC's must-read titles in addition to being one of the best books on the market today.

Though, if you went and bought this issue today, chances are you knew that already.  If you haven't read Blackest Night #0 (which was available on this year's Free Comic Book Day) and Green Lantern #43, I recommend you do so.

Blackest Night #1 is everything I thought it could be and then some.  Sharp dialogue, intense action sequences, and shocking reveals.  I'm not sure this book could have been that much better.  Johns and his dynamite team, who have worked on Green Lantern with him before, make the panels pop with intense magnitude and the images stick with you well after you put it down.  I knew the dead would rise, but I didn't know it was going to be on this scale.

This issue reflects what basically the event is about: death.  The book is mainly narrated through the words of Hal Jordan and does a major recap of his life, death, and rebirth as well as other heroes' losses. There are a few touching scenes in this issue, especially Hal showing Barry all the heroes that have fallen while Barry was lost to the Speed Force.  The number of casualties surprised even me.

The design of the Black Lanterns, or "Death Lanterns," is a bit creepy.  The evolution of Black Hand in particular is amazingly disturbing.  Once just a B-list villain, he has developed into a crazy, necrophiliac monster who is headlining the DC "Event of the Summer."  The one thing I'm unsure about, which I hope will be explained later, is exactly how the Black Lantern works.  The body of the deceased rises, but is there a soul to the corpse?  Or does the power of the lantern twist the soul as well?

Bottom line, readers: pick this one up.  Sure, it has a $3.99 price tag, but it's more than worth it.  You won't be disappointed.

So that's Best Shots' take. What's yours? Take part in today's Newsarama Reader poll and tell us what YOU think...