Shazam Returns? Wither Batman: Earth One? (UPDATE)

Update: Well, no sooner did I post this than stumbled upon better coverage of the convention that demonstrated that BATMAN: EARTH ONE is, indeed, still coming and Amazon has it for pre-order.

Original article:
If you check The Source, Captain Marvel is coming back.

The team doing it? Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. It starts as a backup feature in Justice League, but this is the same team that was supposed to have completed the Batman: Earth One by now, with no word of its completion or scheduled publication coming out.

Honestly, if I had to pick one, I'd go with the CURSE OF SHAZAM project (even if the "curse" part has me a bit worried), despite my strong interest in the Batman: Earth One OGN.

DC has been remarkably quiet about the previously planned OGNs, as far as I can see.

New 52: Aquaman

I'll flesh this out in a later post, but just to get my initial reaction up here immediately:

Why did I have to pay $3 for Geoff Johns to literally lecture a section of the comic book reading audience on how Aquaman isn't the joke they think he is, especially when a good portion of that group probably skipped the book on the shelf to begin with?

For my money, we got about three-to-five pages that should have been in this book...and they were the ones that just featured the new-big-bad rising from the deep.

Any other writer, the next issue would not be leaving the shop with me. But, then again, few other writers would be bold enough to expect their audience to pay $3 to be told (much more than shown) how the character is much cooler than the people making fun of them for buying the issue think.

At least the art is strong, even if some of the coloring effects are a bit much.

Schwappathetic 52

Count me amongst the folks that felt that DC Comics should have relaunched all of their comics back when they did Crisis on Infinite Earths or several of their other events. It would have been well-timed and, I believe, much better received than this new directive.

For some reason, I can't muster much enthusiasm for this relaunch. I think I figured it out.

All of those other moments where they thought about it or could have done a relaunch? They weren't using an Elseworlds story as the launching point. That's what Flashpoint is.

All of the previous events included at least an attempt to give the characters we've followed for decades a last hurrah. They were going out with an epic fight before being started over. We weren't given empty, alternate versions of the characters to follow through an event that hasn't even given us enough time to be made to care about them sufficiently to even be concerned about the stakes. 

With the original Crisis, there was a fight at the beginning of time. We knew all the players, so you didn't have to learn about them and decide if you cared, but just have it demonstrated that the stakes were high. Zero Hour probably made the weakest argument for being used as a huge relaunch starting point, but it did have the plot devices necessary. Infinite Crisis would have been pretty strong, given all the discussion that had come from DC about this being an example of it being darkest before the dawn, seeming to indicate plans at a tonal shift for their entire line. Final Crisis would have been a bit poetic, given that it was Grant's demonstration of the power of a story, being used to end one while starting another.

Flashpoint? Ugh. It is an "event" in name only, as it centers around only one of the DC flagship characters being used to drive this alternate reality...and not one of the most commercially attractive ones, at that. While this is going on in its mini and a bunch of alternate one-shots and minis, the rest of the DCU titles are going on as if blissfully ignorant of the whole thing. So we don't seem to even get much of an opportunity for creative teams in the original titles to give titles or character versions a real send off. 

In that sense, the whole thing stinks of business-first/story-last. I'm not naive: I'm fairly aware that business, push comes to shove, is always first. But it is in the best interests of all involved to make sure that never stands so naked before the customer as it appears to be right now. Which makes it difficult to build up excitement to continue to read the obligatory event that launches the business decision of the year in September. It, also, makes me wonder if they knew they had the OK to relaunch back when they planned Flashpoint or if it came along after this event was already scheduled, making it necessary to turn this into part of the launch, rather than designed that way.

Schwappathy Continues

I've been treading water with the comics habit lately. I'm buying stuff and reading it, but not being wowed. All of the stuff that grabs me is largely read in trade format. Thankfully, I had periods of time where I was out of comics, so there is a wealth of stuff from years back that I can read for the first time today (Gotham Central, for instance).

But what I had been looking forward to snapping me out of my current mainstream comics doldrums (since even the TPBs I'm enjoying are largely from smaller publishers) was FLASHPOINT. I didn't care about the comparisons to the Age of Apocalypse, mostly because I enjoyed that event so much. But man...

I know they couldn't have this sneak up on readers like AoA did. We live in a different age where information can't be kept from the masses (even in cases when it arguably should). But the run up to it had no suspense or excitement. Instead, we saw a few issues of Flash that largely spun their wheels and had everyone read more than a little bit emo.

Then we get the first issue of this alternate reality and never has the term "meh" seemed so appropriate.

Judging by an alternate cover, I get the feeling that we're supposed to be wowed by Cyborg's place in the super-hero world as a leader. But then the contents of the issue show him to be ineffective, with everyone scattering when he can't deliver a more important teammate.

Try as I might, I can't really get excited by the new or obscure characters remade in this reality. Maybe one of the problems is that we weren't really shown what key change was made that turned this reality on its ear. One of the things that made AoA so interesting to me was that we were seeing how some of the players might have been effected by the absence of Xavier. Here...we don't know what, if anything, is missing. We're supposed to be keenly interested because we're trying to divine what that item is that led to this world? Sorry...not really grabbing me.

But one of the biggest whiffs for me was best pointed out by a friend of mine: the product of Shazam was turned into Captain Planet-Thunder. It wasn't really much of an interesting change. I felt like the kids in the group already annoyed me with a surprisingly short exposure.

The only thing that topped it, though, was the "shocking" reveal of an identity at the end. Dropped with a thud.  I'm not really curious how this makes anything different. To my thinking, it just further cements the idea that little is going to feel changed when this story is done.

In typing out these thoughts, it struck me how this issue really was just a collection of scenes slapped together more than a natural story. We just seemed to flip through "hey, look at this different character" moments, rather than focus on telling a story. What little story and character was introduced wound up denied oxygen due to exposition and costume redesigns sucking all of it out of the room.

It's going to be a long summer.

Uh-Durrrrrrrr

(or why I hope the CGI is still being tweaked in a movie I'm otherwise fairly excited to see)

Assorted Reviews (Because Something Needs To Go Here)

I went through a week and a half with no air-conditioning in my apartment. That led to less blogging for two reasons: the laptop overheated too often and comic-book-related thoughts had no chance of pushing out angry thoughts about a property management team that couldn't manage to fix the issue within a day or two.

I'll be getting back on the regular posting thing, but in order to put something up now, I'm going to share the pellet reviews I've done for the Best Shots team over the last few weeks.

Brightest Day #1 (Published by DC Comics): When #0 came out, I was fairly critical of it. I felt it jumped around haphazardly and had no flow to it. Whatever it was trying to do, it didn’t seem that successful at it. But issue #1? Much better. In his BSA of the issue, Troy Brownfield draws a favorable comparison between BD & 52…and I couldn’t agree more. This is due to fixing many of the problems in the #0 issue. Deadman seems more like a character and is used less clumsily as a transitional tool. We’re given a better sense of what the cast is going to encounter in the series. We’re shown that there’s something more than just observing a day in the lives of the characters going on here, which is better than what we were given in the initial issue.

Brightest Day #3 (Published by DC Comics): There’s something about how the different segments of this issue were weaved together that was not entirely satisfying. Each bit feels less substantial than the number of pages devoted to it suggest it should be. Without using Deadman as an obvious tool of the story, it seems like the team is unable to or unwilling (for some unknown reason) to make all of the scenes read like parts of an overarching story rather than a weirdly structured anthology title with possibly one too many stories than it can service in the room available. Which isn’t to say the book isn’t enjoyable. It manages to be well illustrated and entertaining enough to be worth purchasing and continuing to follow, despite the nagging feeling that it could be better executed.

Mighty Crusaders Special #1 (Published by DC Comics): If you can get over the feeling that this was made into a special just to be able to milk an additional #1 out of the upcoming series, it is an enjoyable read as a primer on the Red Circle characters. There are several writers involved in this special, but only one pencil artist…and you come away with the sense that it benefited from both of those creative choices. Each of the Red Circle characters seems to have their strong/unique voice (possibly made easier by the team of writers vs a single writer from the previous series), while a single artist helps make for a consistency to the visuals that was sorely needed. If more of the Red Circle titles had this type of artwork, I’d hazard a guess that they might have been more successful , ironically keeping this special from ever being needed.

The Matriarch #1 (Published by Arcana Studios): Richardson & Yarbrough craft a pretty enjoyable new character: a single mom, trying to balance raising her son with being a super-heroine and working for an ad agency. It’s a good, solid read, though, through the first chapter, that wasn’t my initial opinion. In that chapter, there seemed to be a rush to get as many of the character’s little hooks out on to the page as quickly as possible. While the urge is understandable (or would have been if there wasn’t so much room left in the book), it really hurts the character’s chance to naturally grow on the reader. Thankfully, the second chapter has a much better flow to it. It isn’t perfect, as the idea behind what the protagonists are fighting against could be more clearly defined, but we learn about the characters in a much more organic way than the prior chapter. The third chapter more closely resembles the first than the second, but creators were successful enough in the middle of the book for the good will to transfer through to the end. It’s worth a read if you can snag a copy. (edit: I didn't realize this had previously been a webcomic at the time of review)

Really Late, Yet Spoiler Free Blackest Night #8 Review

(I originally wrote the review below for the Newsarama Best Shots Extra coverage, but I got it in just a little too late for it to be included. I'm not going to flesh it out with specific plot point references and the like. Feel free to discuss "spoiler" bits in the comments section, as it has been out for 2 weeks now.)

Well, Blackest Night is over. That’s probably the only thing that everyone reading this issue will agree on. As conclusions go, I think this issue was rather weak and that it exposes some weaknesses in the event overall.

I normally strive to judge an issue on its own merits, rather than putting the weight of the rest of its arc on top of it. But, in this case, there are some elements of the larger story that you can’t ignore in looking at this individual issue.

With how many issues/pages were kept locked on the pitched battle with Nekron and his Black Lanterns, the resolution seems too neat, tidy, quick and unsatisfying. There are more costume changes that seem designed to sell action figures rather than service the story. The handling of the happy little side effects to the light beating the darkness, with each getting a few panels of attention, seems like just enough room to acknowledge that something happened and so little room as to boil down to kind of annoying quick hits. In a final issue of an event that already had a somewhat unmanageable number of characters and subplots to focus on, devoting eight (not always efficiently used) pages to reactions and “telling” instead of “showing” would appear to have hurt the ability for the first part of the issue to breathe and flow.

Now, I’m fully aware that the final issues of events often suffer due to having to tie a pretty bow on the wrap up. But I don’t know that it has to always be that way. In fact, I think that expectation has helped perpetuate the trend. Instead of languishing over making the flow tight, it is as if creators and editors are liberated by the idea that the audience will complain of a letdown to some degree regardless, so they put more of a priority on making sure they clearly spell out how everything has changed and what comes next. That they seemed to have failed to create much excitement for what comes next through how they presented it here just underscores the problems with this final issue.

Wow...For Such A High Tech Man, He Has Low Tech Vision

Jim Lee said, according to Newsarama coverage of the DC Nation panel, the following about digital comics:

4:36

Next question concerned "digital initiatives." Lee said he's never seen anything on the digital side that is as compelling for him as a printed comic, saying you can't replicate things like the four-page spread in Blackest Night #8.

4:37

Another advantage of printed comics, according to Lee: "You can read them on an airplane as you're taking off."

4:37

"They're not a huge part of anyone's business, regardless if you're on the iPad tomorrow or not," Lee said of digital comics.

4:38

"We're talking to a bunch of different vendors, software companies about it," Lee continued. "It's going to be more than, 'hey, here are some scanned comics,' because frankly, that's out there already."

Really? A gatefold, four page spread (that isn't really quite four pages) can't be replicated on a computer screen?

And I sincerely hope tongue was planted firmly in cheek with that "read them on an airplane" comment. Besides, that's really more of a trade paperback selling point than a periodical selling point. One clearly travels better than the other.

They aren't a huge part of anyone's business, even if they're on the iPad tomorrow...when the effects of being on the iPad haven't been seen yet? When the question was forward looking, not asking about how digital has performed thus far, seeing as how DC hasn't really even dipped their toe into the water yet?

The offerings have to be more than "hey, here are some scanned comics" because illegal scans are already out there? Seriously? Even when we're seeing that motion comics aren't setting the world on fire and the more bells and whistles that get added, the higher you have to price the content to make a profit, which inadvertently pushes readers back to the printed version?

This is the guy that just got promoted to one of the most important positions at DC Comics? All of a sudden, I'm much less enthused about that move.

Is It Just Me...

or has returning to regular work with Geoff Johns coincided with Scott Kolins' style reverting back to what it was like when he first made a name for himself?

I'm not complaining here. I've been hoping he'd return more to a cleaner finished product for awhile now. His work on Blackest Night: Flash has seemed to be just that, when compared to his Solomon Grundy and other recent work.

Geoff Johns: Angry DC Fanboy Target In 2010?

My buds in the Best Shots crew did their Best of 2009 list, along with looking forward to 2010.

One of the selections to watch in 2010 was Geoff Johns. I agree, but not for the same reasons.

I think Geoff has put himself into a spot where he can't satisfy expectations. He's performed at such a high level for a long time now. Normally, that is a case where fans give creators MORE benefit of the doubt. But when you've been going on as long as he has, it can often be the point where fans are LESS forgiving.

Writing four books a month and one of them was a bit of a disappointment? Must be losing his talent.

I think that his being on Infinite Crisis, Sinestro Corps War, and Blackest Night, on top of being the driving force behind Superman's current direction, has put him firmly in the cross-hairs of any fan disappointed with DC product in general. That's probably been a bit of a problem even before 2010, but the ending to Blackest Night and direction that DC propels its line in afterward can only take it to the Nth degree.

With Hollywood pulling him a little more each day, it increases the chances that his schedule impacts the quality of a comic book script here and there. The Flash movie pre-production is ramping up, Smallville might go another season that begs for more Johns' scripts and God only knows what other non-comic-book opportunities present themselves.

One of the few things shielding him from fans turning on him more is that he is a moving target. Over the last year, Johns dropped out of JSA and the main Superman titles. In 2010, while Johns returns to Flash, it is with Barry Allen and he moves on to new ground altogether (for him) with the Earth One take on Batman. I think it shows that he enjoys a challenge and still puts his all into his work, personally, but I believe it, also, helps him to avoid the whole "familiarity breeds contempt" (both for himself and fans of his work).

I think the angry fanboys are going to dial up their angry-fanboy-ness several notches in the coming year, even if Johns performs just as well as he did in the past year. Judging by Adventure Comics #5, I'd say he was able to deal comfortably with what has come his way.

I'm interested in seeing where things stand this time next year. Honestly, I hope I'm wrong, because I've enjoyed a great deal of his work over the years and, from listening to interviews and catching his panel appearances at conventions, just strikes me as one of the creators least deserving of catching grief from the fans (really, if more fans got to conventions and saw the passion the creators have for the characters and the medium, they'd shit on them much less on the internet, but that's a whole 'nother topic).

Why Geoff Isn't Publicly Fuming About BN6 Leak

You see, he can't control it. While he might be a bit mad about it, lashing out over it would make him seem just a bit too much like Superboy-Prime.

Which brings me to something that really bugs me. I'm not a fan of the overly angry fanboy, but the statement he makes about getting mad over something you can't control, even something you love, rings false in this example.

In the end, the angry fanboy is the consumer and a passionate one at that. The consumer will have control over DC Comics product long after Geoff's candle burns out. The amount of pull Johns has gotten at DC Comics owes more to number of fans buying the product than the quality of the work.

I'm a big fan of a lot of his work, but STARS & STRIPE went the way of the do-do, I'd imagine, more due to the lack of fans purchasing it than the skill he demonstrated on the book. There are, also, many times where issues or arcs of his books sold very well even when the finished product didn't read like he put forth his best effort.

It is all well and good if he wants to tell himself that the segment of the customer base that is most disgruntled with his work just has some control issues they need to get a handle on. But when he crafts an entire issue of a comic book around it and has the consumer pay $3.99 to read it, there would seem to be a bit of pride and arrogance on display.

In this day and age where more of the readers are migrating to downloading illegal bittorrents of the books that they feel addicted to reading but aren't so happy with that they feel guilty for stealing it, you might not want to poke some of them with a stick.

With how small the group still buying comics seems to be getting, I wonder whether a H.E.A.T.-level motivated group of readers unhappy with the direction Geoff Johns is taking the DCU would be able to put a big enough dent in the sales numbers of his books by encouraging folks to download and not buy his work? I doubt we'll ever find out, but I am definitely curious.

Blackest Night #6 Leaked

Update: From the comments in the thread on CBR about the article, it would appear less likely that the mention of the scan being "lower quality" was pulled from popular opinion of other readers of the illegally available comic book. Given that CBR banned a member who posted a few images from the book, it seems more and more likely that the comment may have been made to discourage others from seeking it out.

Original Post:

OK, we all knew that Blackest Night #6 would not successfully be embargoed when there are no proper checks and balances in place to keep it from getting out. There are no carrots and no sticks; any retailer who sells a few copies early to their best customers will likely be found out. Probably the only DM retailers that wind up following it are just the online variety (and even then, I don't think there are any that are STRICTLY online, so just the online segments of full service retailers).

But one of the things I found odd is the following in an article on CBR about the leak, specifically discussing the scanned book offered via torrents:

The scan itself was of lower quality than is typical of the pirated books, indicating that it was scanned, compiled and distributed in a bigger rush than usual.

The above quote was not placed in any context as being based on comments culled from the sites offering the torrent, but put forth as a statement of fact or judgment by the author of the column, Kiel Phegley.

If that statement is completely genuine, it suggests that a regular contributor to one of the top two sites covering comic books downloads and reads torrents on such a regular basis as to be able to compare and contrast scan qualities enough to make that assertion.

If that statement just isn't in its proper context (it WAS, in fact, made based on the opinions of others, not the author), then it runs the risk of people drawing the incorrect conclusion that Phegley is a connoisseur of scanned comics.

The third less likely option is that the statement is being made regardless of the real quality of the scan, only being there to serve as a slight attempt to dissuade readers from seeking it out.

I'd be curious to know which, if any, is true.

Ryan Sook On The Atom & Hawkman, BN #6 Only To Ship 12/30

UPDATE: BLACKEST NIGHT #6 will be the only DC Comics book shipping for the week of 12/30. This is the sort of thing that is often done in events when they're clearing the field for major line-wide changes. Is that happening here?

ORIGINAL BLOG: As per Geoff Johns' Twitter account, Ryan Sook is the artist on his contribution to the Blackest Night skip month twist/event.

Johns is excited to work with Sook and I don't blame him. While Sook has had some trouble with getting his best work finished by deadline, he's almost a mortal lock to present something beautiful for a one-shot that gives him lead time.

It is great to see Geoff still getting geeked to work with particular artists. He's already had quite an impressive list of artists he has worked with, including but not limited to Gary Frank, Doug Mahnke, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis and Dale Eaglesham (anyone left out is an oversight, not a reflection of my opinion of them).

Big Brass Ones

Let's see...

You just lost your artist to a competing publisher. The writer was overworked and chose this book to drop. You move a writing duo on to the book that has mostly been writing Vertigo stuff and one of the group had their previous super-hero book cancelled for low sales.

Then, before you can get any real sales feedback from the consumers (via retailers adjusting their orders over a few months), you create a spin-off title with the least heralded of the two writers (he of the cancelled super-hero book).

It takes HUGE BALLS to try to bleed the fans left on that book by trusting that enough of them will stick around on the original and buy the new title. I didn't know they allowed wheelbarrows in DC editorial.

BleedingCool.com's JLA Scoop

Rich Johnston is reporting on DC planning to make Vixen the focus of one of the JLA titles, once they get to launch the Johns/Lee Justice League of America run (which will be the book boasting Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman).

 

My take, as posted in his comments section:

 

1. The previous times they had multiple JLA series, they were all filled with B Teams of heroes, for the most part. JL/JLI had Batman for a short time. They were successful despite having characters that generally couldn't keep their own series afloat (Booster, Beetle, Capt Atom, etc).

 

2. Other times when they have followed the "start with Big Seven, then begin diluting and replacing with minor characters", there was only one series and it became known to fans as JLDetroit. They had to add Batman back to the fold in a desperate move to boost sales, but it was too little too late.

 

3. This seems like, potentially, one of the best ways to try to popularize minor characters through the JLA brand. If Robinson stays on a JLA title after Johns gets his (or another writer that Johns has an excellent working relationship with), I can really see enough interweaving of stories and characters to help keep the B Team version from scraping the bottom of the sales barrel, much the same way that Johns/Robinson/Rucka/Gates have managed to have their tide raise all boats in the Superman titles.

 

I think this could work out really well, as I imagine even the title with the "Big Three" will have some "minor" characters peppered in. This bodes well for some underused characters that never really met their potential getting a chance to showcase in BOTH of the JLA titles. If Johns' run on JSA shows us anything, it is that he loves to reach back for old characters/legacies and reach forward for some, as well (Magog, Starman, etc). Robinson has shown a flair for the eclectic selection as well, given his Cry For Justice line up. Congorilla? C'mon...who can't get jazzed to see what off-the-wall pick either writer is going to strike gold with?

Wee!

Alex Segura says, "Lovely Francis Manapul art always makes Monday go by faster, no?"

Oui!

Knowing that Geoff Johns is writing something that teams Connor & Tim up in Adventure Comics #3 speeds it up even further. That's my new desktop wallpaper right there.

Robinson On JLA Part Deux

The more I think about this, the more I like his being on the book. Sure, Geoff Johns would have hyped me up a little more...and I'm sad at the revelation that Rucka was going to do a second JLA series but it seems dead.

But what was one of the worst things that happened to McDuffie? He had to keep changing his stories because of what other writers were planning for rather big events.

Robinson is in that inner circle. Changes won't be taking him by surprise as much. The product, therefore, will suffer less.

I will say, though, that what McDuffie went through seemed to be some old concerns coming home to roost. When the 52 writers were being given the reigns of DC with new status and titles, some said that anyone not up on the pedestal with them might find things unbearably restrictive. Look at a lot of the books out there and you can see where writers not in the clique are dropping off projects to some extent.

And look at Sean McKeever back at Marvel. McKeever had the misfortune of being tied to the anti-52, COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS. Certainly not a part of the in-crowd at DC, he's recently parted ways with the main TEEN TITANS book, gone off exclusive (which he claims was repeatedly offered to be extended) and is placed on a Marvel title that seems to be part of the constant event cycle over there. He, also, seems well suited to write it, given both his success with SPIDERMAN LOVES MARY JANE and GRAVITY.

I think one of the biggest mistakes DC has made in recent years is hiring talented writers and then pressing them into writing stuff that doesn't play to their strengths. McKeever on Teen Titans? Seemed like a no-brainer...until it turned out it had to take a darker turn for what management had planned. McDuffie on JLA, after his great work on JLU? Self-contained single episode stories from JLU meet only telling partial bits related to someone else's story and not being able to set a tone to stick to consistently.

One way or another, I think their recent moves will lead to better books. I can't tell you whether it is that the writers are being matched to their strengths or if DC is giving them more of a say in where the stories go, but the end result will be the same: general improvement. Shame they had to piss away and make miserable a handful of other writers before coming to this point, though.

Robinson/Bagley On JLA

The Source blog announced that James Robinson and Mark Bagley will be working on Justice League of America starting in August. While not my dream team, I can definitely see some great advantages in their pairing on the book.

Robinson is basically immersed in all the big events going on at DC through his collaborations with Geoff Johns on the Superman books and Blackest Night: Superman, not to mention always having the potential to put together something great.

Bagley is fast and still manages to turn out some of the better artwork out there. I wonder what his work would be like if allowed more time to breathe and grow, but I'll definitely take it as is.

It isn't a pairing that made my jaw drop the second I heard about it. But it is a pairing that my excitement for is growing as it sinks in.

DC Comics: Blackest Night In August

I've been slacking on the blog, lately. I can't really blame it on work getting in the way, because I've done more blogging with a much more hectic schedule. Regardless, I'm planning on making this a daily thing again starting now.

With that out of the way, I'm...at work. Waiting for the project to get under way, I figured I'd compose an entry via e-mail. Stupid internet filters keeping me from Blogger. Images will follow the text entry and be corrected to go with each proper entry later this evening.

In August, DC is dominated by Blackest Night. This brings no complaints from me, as I've been looking forward to it for a long time. As we're discussing solicitations, you don't want to read further if you want to remain completely unspoiled. Nothing outside of what is in the solicitations will be stated.

Blackest Night: Superman #1

The Shane Davis cover is a striking image and a bit unexpected for me. Jonathan Kent isn't THIS Superman's dad, so I wouldn't necessarily expect that would be a target of his. The interiors are going to be by Eddy Barrows, which isn't everyone's favorite choice, but I think he'll exceed expectations. For all the grief I've given James Robinson for his writing since returning, I've been converted to a believer again. The World of Krypton stuff is reading very nicely. I'll give him a mulligan on that Atlas arc from this point on and try not to bring it up again.

Blackest Night: Titans #1

While I'm not thrilled with the proliferation of tie-in mini-series for this event, JT Krul has supposedly been consulting Geoff Johns on this (meaning it may avoid being a completely unnecessary riff) and has shown a lot of enthusiasm in his interviews. I would have to say I'm more concerned about Ed Benes on the book. His habit of posing characters for excessive T&A shots can be very distracting. I'm hoping he'll avoid doing that with a Black Lantern Terra.

Blackest Night: Batman #1

This mini screams of cash-in more than the other two, despite it being Peter Tomasi handling the scripts. I've been very impressed by his past work and he's obviously deep into the Blackest Night plans, having handled the run-up on the Green Lantern Corps series. But Deadman, "cries of the dead rising" and Black Lantern Flying Graysons, while possibly making for a good story, don't seem like they'll handle an intregal plot point for the event or move it forward in any noticeable way. I've yet to encounter any Adrian Saef artwork that I'm aware of, so that's a completely unknown quantity. I'd like to assume that putting him on a Blackest Night AND Batman book means he's a great talent...but I've been burned by that sort of thinking before. I'll still pick this up on the strength of Tomasi's previous work.

Blackest Night #2

Yeah...vague solicitation. Almost no point in having one: it has nothing to sell the issue in it and, honestly, doesn't need to anyway. At this time, retailers are aware this is going to be something big and their existing customers have already communicated in some way what their level of interest is in the book. The only thing that would necessitate a solicitation would be to express that some Spider-Man unmasking or Captain America catching a bullet with his chest level stuff is going to happen. Maybe if this was Marvel, it would have just read "Nuff Said!" and been done with it.

Green Lantern #45

While the idea of seeing the non-green factions go at each other (rather than this being driven completely by the Guardians' gang) piques my interest, zombie Sinestro Corps cannon fodder doesn't. I'm not complaining, because we've certainly known that not every Black Lantern was going to be a marquee character. Just saying it does nothing to amp my excitement to see the issue. Then again, with Geoff Johns & Doug Mahnke on it...I didn't really need to be amped further. The John Stewart/Katma Tui bit is worth looking forward to, assuming they can give it the space it needs to be effective.

Green Lantern Corps #39

In what may seem contradictory, I am excited by the idea of Green Lanterns being revived in Black to go at their former colleagues. The reason is this: we know and care about many of the living Lanterns and even a few of the dead ones. There's not nearly as much emotional weight to a fallen Sinestro Corps member fighting against a live one, since we don't know them or their relationships nearly as well. I know some of them have been given personalities as Mongul was establishing his control of the group, but that's still far from where we stand with the GLC and its diseased members. I think Tomasi and Gleason tend to do "all hell breaking loose" pretty well, on top of that.

As If It Needed To Get Better...

Doug Mahnke added to the event of 2009, Blackest Night? You already had me. Now I need a Blackest Night bib to catch the drool.

Come to think of it, though, part of me wishes they put Mahnke on something else that could use the added attention. Of course, if they did, I might have just complained that they didn't put a big enough name on the book in his place. From finishing up Final Crisis to the heart of Blackest Night, maybe Mahnke is finally going to get treated