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Sunday, May 03, 2009

Blackest Night #0 - June 2009

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Comics Weekend "Death Becomes Us" by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert, and Rob Hunter.

While enjoying Free Comic Book Day over at my favorite comics store (All Things Fun in Berlin, NJ) I picked up the free preview of the upcoming Blackest Night mini-series, where DC has promised Aquaman--in some form--will return.

This story opens up with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen at Batman's unmarked grave, where Hal catches Barry up on all the grim events that have transpired since he "died" in the Crisis.

There's a flashback to a tense confrontation between Bruce and Hal:
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...and then they get to discussing what happened to the Aquaman they knew, Arthur Curry:
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Hal believes that Bruce, Arthur, and J'onn J'onzz, are really truly dead, but Barry is, of course, more optimistic. (When you've died and come back to life, how can you not be inherently optimistic?)

As they take off, we see the super-villain The Black Hand showing himself and exclaiming "The dead shall rise!"

To be continued, of course.

This special preview edition also features a multitude of pin-ups featuring all the various Green Lantern characters, drawn by Doug Mahnke and inked by Christian Alamy, ending with The Black Lantern Corps:
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...as you can see, there's a familiar green gloved hand popping up in the center of the page.

Rest assured, The Aquaman Shrine will be "there" on July 15th for Blackest Night #1!

10 comments:

Erik the Sleeper said...

G'day Rob/Everyone,

I too picked this freeby up at a free comic day at my local - the comic shop, Liverpool NSW. Like Barry, I'm also the eternal optomist for a revived Aquaman. I'm just hoping he has all his body parts in his next reincarnation; sometimes it's hard following a superhero who is entitled to a disabled parking permit!!!

Wings1295 said...

I am just afraid we aren't getting "our" Aquaman back, but instead some "Zombie-Aquaman" instead.

Anonymous said...

What a terrible looking comic book. This is why I don't read DC anymore. I think the whole DC Universe needs to explode. Now.

Erik the Sleeper said...

Anonymous must read DC or at least be interested, otherwise how would Anonymous know?

"I think the whole DC Universe needs to explode. Now." ...Really?

BentonGrey said...

Well Erik, I don't read modern comic either, but I do have lots of friends who do, which enables me to follow current trends to a degree. I sympathize with our nameless poster. While DC is doing some really cool things lately (mostly the GL books, which I've read in TPB through the library), they are so bound by bad continuity that I'd rather they just start over again. Even in a good book, they still have to deal with the consequences from bad books. Take Aquaman's dead son, for example, it was STILL haunting the Aquaman books up until he died, even though it happened twenty years ago or more. When I heard about this latest Crisis, I was really hoping that they would start over again, or at least provide an alternate set of books that did. We could have a Batman who not only isn't CURRENTLY a psychotic loner, but who never was one, nor ever drove his best friend away. We could have a Green Arrow, a Flash, and a GL who didn't play musical coffins. And we could have an Aquaman who never lost his son, his hand, or his dignity.

Russell said...

I'm with Anonymous. I don't read any current DC books, but it's not because I don't want to! I was a fan of NIGHTWING and BIRDS OF PREY until the newest CRISIS, when I basically said, *%$@ it.

Interestingly, I don't recognize any of the other hands popping up out of the ground except maybe... is that Jonn's new look at the very far right front, and maybe Mirror Master, there in the center?

Erik the Sleeper said...

After reading and having a think about those last two comments, I stand corrected, to an extent!

The whole thing of dying and then coming back to life is getting a little 'Days of our Lives', with a lot of heroes. I suppose its in the eye of the beholder as to how you percieve a storyline.

I still don't want a one armed zombie Aquaman though!!!

Grears said...

The amount of new DC comics I have been buying continues to dwindle. I am down to Flash, GL, JLA and JSA. Even JLA is down to force of habit... It seems like they are marking time between crossovers. I did pick up some Superman books on FCBD, and there appears to be hope there. I'm so sick of dark, gritty, worlds... and heroes fighting their opposites.. anyway... enough ranting. Yay for Wednesday comics!

-George Rears

BentonGrey said...

I just thought of something in relation to the JLA scene in that book...how wonderful is it to see our heroes threatening brute violence on each other? Ya' gotta' just love that...so heroic.

Erik the Sleeper said...

It would be cool to see Wonder Woman holding Bruce and Hal by the ear saying "Do I have to seperate you too? If you can't behave, we're going straight home!!!" I also don't recognise too many of those arms in the graveyard... a bit of help, anyone?

I agree with Captain Jersey, the whole 'dark gritty world' genre is getting a bit much. I think these storyline creators should take some time to go back to the comic book roots (gold/silver age) and refocus. Personally, I'd like to see comics, regardless of the hero, to have a relationship closer to the world today.