You know that feeling you get when the roller coaster gets to the very top of the hill and you’re just about to go over the edge and plummet straight down at incredible speed? That’s the feeling I got with Blackest Night #2 almost as soon as I cracked it open. If issue #1 was the slow build of tension then this issue is definitely the terror of the fall. So much happens in these pages and it’s all handled so well that I promise you’ll be re-reading Blackest Night #2 over and over just to savor all the action.
The story opens with a heartbreaking confession by Ray Palmer to the absolute wrong person, follows with a really tender moment between Barbara and Jim Gordon and then smashes us across the face with one of the greatest credits splash pages ever. From there we’re launched into a world that has absolutely gone black. The Green Lanterns on OA are overrun and the impact the Black Lanterns are having both physically and emotionally for our heroes on Earth is palpable from page one.
What makes the Black Lanterns so powerful as characters are their incredible aptitude for cruelty. They don’t just kill, they taunt, ridicule, and bully their targets, appearing to take as much joy in crushing their hearts as ripping them from their victims body. When the newly risen Aquaman attacks Mera and Aqualad it’s not so much what he does but what he says and his vicious cruelty that’s so jarring (though how he deals with the guards trying to assist Mera and Aqualad is incredibly evil).
It’s not all evil action there are plot developments that push the issue along. The appearance of The Spectre and his attitudes towards Hal Jordan is one interesting point as is the Black Lanterns attempt at recruiting Don Hall (yep of Hawk & Dove) and what seems like one thing capable of stopping the Black Lanterns. One of the harshest scenes concerns Deadman whose delicate balance between life and death is completely ripped from him. Characters die in this issue while others return as Black Lanterns after years of silence. Nobody is spared during Blackest Night.
One aspect I’ve really been enjoying here is how difficult these issues are. For the first time in a long while I’m actually invested in a crossover storyline because I have no clue how it’s going to end up or how the heroes will be able to resolve it. Geoff Johns has written a solid script that keeps you guessing and never strays into the easy out.
A great example of that is how The Flash and Green Lantern try to deal with the risen corpse of J’onn Jonzz. The two put into play something that they’re so sure will work they actually become a little cocky. When their attempt fails both Flash and Green Lantern are at a complete loss. They have no idea how to stop this onslaught and being able to make you feel that sense of desperation is Geoff Johns real gift.
Art wise Ivan Reis is simply spectacular. Each frame is a work of art and his ability to bring out real emotion in the characters faces is the corner stone to why Blackest Night works so well. Reis has also done an incredible job of bringing the putrid evil of the Black Lanterns to life. They look so perfect that you can almost sense how bad they smell, the sound of their muscles tightening outside of their skin, the drool from their half worn faces, everything. I also have to give a huge nod to colorist Alex Sinclair because he makes Reis’s art pop so well it seems like it’ going to land in your lap.
Blackest Night issue #2 pushes comic books into the realm of art by allowing it to transcend its own genre. This isn’t just great comic book writing this is great storytelling with overtones of Frankenstein, Night of the Living Dead and even a touch of the Exorcist. If Blackest Night continues on this trend of innovation and gorgeous storytelling it could become the most important event arc in comic books since Secret Wars.
