The best thing so far about Blackest Night is that it’s given everybody a crack at dealing with the Black Lanterns. So often with giant cross over series you’re forced to deal with only the main characters and however many books they’re involved with. Take a group like JSA who, though a long and proud part of the DC Universe, has never drummed up the popularity of the JLA or the big three. Regardless, in Blackest Night: JSA the oldest superhero group around is forced to take on old friends back from the dead, looking to kill them.
Blackest Night: JSA #1 has a pretty spectacular opening that sets the scene for the rest of the book. The opening is divided into no less than four sections, each one providing a different aspect to the story. Three of the parts tell the separate life and death of the original Sandman, Dr. Midnight and Mr. Terrific while the fourth is showing the battle raging between the current JSA and those original three heroes as Black Lanterns. By the time the two page splash depicting an undead Sandman, Dr. Midnight and Mr. Terrific hits you’re pretty much breathless. From there on, Blackest Night: JSA #1 is a visceral ride into violence, betrayal and confronting demons.
Writer James Robinson brings a lot more realism to this issue as the Black Lanterns are shown actually killing innocents as opposed to just attacking heroes. It’s jarring to see the Black Lanterns holding bloody corpses with holes in them and Robinson plays off of that in a big way. He also does a nice job of bringing in other Black Lanterns that stir up some emotional upheaval for the JSA members. I don’t want to give too much away, but suffice it to say some of the JSA members are forced to face some powerful moments from their past. The end is a nice treat as Power Girl is forced to face Lois from Earth-2 to try and save Ma Kent while S.T.A.R. Labs falls under attack from the Black Lanterns.
Eddy Barrows is behind the pencils on Blackest Night: JSA and he does a fantastic job. Barrows brings into play much more of the horror angle of the Black Lanterns who have more of a rotted look to them than the other titles involved with Blackest Night. Barrows is also great at cramming a lot of action into each panel and his sense of movement allows Blackest Night: JSA to come across more like an action move than a comic book. Outside of the action, Barrows has a good sense of how to create emotion in the faces of the characters. Fear from Ma Kent, sadness from Power Girl, terror from Stargirl and so on, Barrows builds right into their expressions. It’s not always easy to show emotion in a two-dimensional medium but Barrows nails it.
Blackest Night: JSA is another unforgettable entry into a series that is starting to become the stuff of legend. As with the other parts that make up Blackest Night there’s still no definitive answer to how this is all going to end or what will truly stop the Black Lanterns reign of terror. On a personal note, pay particular attention to the nametag on the dead cop being held by a Black Lantern on a two-page splash. It’s a pretty awesome swipe.
