Some changes, A New Direction

Hello, everyone. It has been quite some time since I've posted here. I've still been reading Comic Books and Graphic Novels, recently read Batman Inc Vol.1, Flashpoint and The Invisibles. I'm also pumped for The Dark Knight Rises
Recently, I've restarted blogging on a new blog, which you can check out at this link, it is called Portrait of Ideas which is basically a way for me to post my written work, whether that be Poetry/Songs, articles about current events or musings from everyday life. I also have some ideas of Grant Morrison s "Batman vs Dr. Hurt" in poetic form. Should be fun. I usually write  poetry about peace, Life, Abstract ideas and articles/essays ranging from World Affairs, Politics and Scientific growth.

http://www.portraitofideas.blogspot.com/

My Final Post on The Blackest Night

I know that I'll be in the minority in this and I don't mind. This is a forum to air ones views and that's exactly what I'll attempt to do without seeming to be personally abusive or insulting. If at any point it feels that I am I apologize, it's completely unintentional

All Right, I am not a Geoff Johns Fan. Hell you could say I'm nearly a hater. I didn't like Green Lantern : Rebirth very much, for the childish move to punch Batman etc. But otherwise I enjoyed the event a lot. Infinite Crisis shouldve been called Infinite Nonsense. There were too many plots which were unrelated and the story fell under it's weight of expectation promises and build

Soon I was told of The Green Lantern Monthly and how cool it was. I read No Fear, Dark Side of Green, Wanted: Hal Jordan etc and was excited for Sinestro Corps War.*

SCW blew my mind and soon became one of my favorite crossovers not billed as an event. This is why it become so cool. The story was great. So was the idea execution and build. Sure it ended with a cliffhanger promising something dark and menacing in the background that would soon come in the Future

Rage Of The Red Lanterns and Agent Orange were good builds. ROTRL was amazing, AO not so much, it was above average but below my lofty expectations. After all, the event building for 6 Years was coming to a head ( Paging Marvel: Siege :P )*

Now. During the Buildup to Blackest Night. We saw Black Hand at Bruce Wayne's grave in GL43 and BN0. We were teased continuously. Our greater heroes' demonic returns, from Aquaman, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter etc. There were rumors of WHITE Lanterns etc. It was comic book speculation at it's finest*

Soon Blackest Night rolled in and all the buildup seemed pointless. We got boring Crossovers and Boring Zombies in the main story. An event spanning a day ( maximum 2 ) stretched over 10 Months. We saw The Guardians fall too easily. The rainbow corps have hardly been build too much. The number of the members are low. There is hardly any role for The Blue Lanterns besides saying " All Will Be Well "

Scar was built as a big villain and was taken down in ease. The whole event has been predictable from Nekron to White Lantern Sinestro. Has there been anything surprising so far in BN ? Besides weird GeoffCons like Earth being the origin of Life and The Life Entity ?? Where is the important and teased War Of Light ? I know it's on but it's hardly on the scale promised to
us so far.*

The Teaser for Blackest Night 7 said " Black Hand Unleashed " what exactly did he do there of too much value that anyone else couldn't do ? What has Nekron done that makes him any more feared than a Lex Luthor or Joker ? He doesn't seem to be on The Scale of Terror as Darkseid and Mandrakk

Sure it's good to see characters revitalized like Mera and Atom. However what about Superman ? The greatest DC hero just out so easily to put the spotlight on Green Lantern and Flash ? That is just sad, convenient and most unfortunate.

Batman's big tease and appearance in BN5 was of importance, sure. But was it how it was built. It was predictable and was hardly explained in story as to who the body belonged too. Us Batman fans knew the answers long ago and to me this just seems that Batman was used for the sake of selling a few more books. Batman after all can sell anything. He is The Comic Book Hero

To Conclude, Blackest Night is big on build, promises, Art and Size but low on Story quality, Depth, Character Analysis and point. It's just about scale and less about the people in it. It's mee about Groups and less about the people in it. I enjoy personal stories.

It is obvious that once it ends it won't answer most questions like

1. Why is Nekron's Black Lantern Symbol same as Black Hand's and why does Nekron wear that symbol too ? Is Nekron Dead too ? Isn't he the Guardian of Death ? Backstory of Nekron is mostly negligible

2. What the hell with the stupid explanation of the Nekrotic Eight ? Is Nekron retarded ? Would it not be easy to raise the dead like Martian Manhunter and Aquaman were than to resurrect those 8. Once resurrected they can break the Black Ring Control. When dead they can't. If Nekron hadn't let them live he wouldve easily taken over the Universe. How stupid

3. History of The Guardians and Nekron ?? Why did the Guardians lie so much ?will Nekron do anything this event*

Think about the above guys. The story in most probability be continued into Brightest Day and be a neverending event Till Eternity.


Blackest Night will and should be remembered well below a Crisis event. Way below COIE, Final Crisis and Infinite Crisis. It's below Geoff's own Sinestro Corps War. It doesn't hold a candle to Grant's Batman, Jla, Invisibles etc, Bendis' overly blown Avengers, Dark Phoenix Saga etc

To Be Honest I am enjoying Siege more than BN now but maybe that's just event faitigue in The GL-verse. I love Hal and Sinestro but this event doesn't do anyone justice except talkative zombies and marketing. Nekron said it himself in the variant of Blackest Night 6, he is Offering you the rings. Take them, take them all and waste your time and money

 Some more questions towards Blackest Night including a little clarity on Nekron allowing the heroes to return et al

Am sorry if I was unclear in a few places. I'll hopefully be more coherent and articulate now.

Some questions for you along with some observations thrown in. Hope I don't go onto too many tangents and technicalities

1. An explanation for the Black Hand Symbol is that it's in the Black that is Billy ? The Hand Mortuary symbol surely has been around before William Hand was born. So how exactly dis the symbol get there ?

2. I must say that Batman is The Super Hero. He was totally used. Bruce Wayne's grave was in Green Lantern 43 and 44. The grave wasn't even mentioned in GL43, His skull was the cover of BN1 right ? Blackest Night 0 was The Brave and Bold at his grave. The event opened up at his Grave. It would be blind not to see Batman in Blackest Night. References to Batman nearly plagued issue 4 and 5 too. His skull ( technically the Clone's ) created the Black Rings by the power of the Black. The Batman Blackest Night Tie In was the highest selling mini.*

3. What is the exact relationship between The Guardians and Nekron. I know Nekron's back story from The GL Annuals. Have been Reading books going back to the 50's*

4. Did Blackest Night have to be 8 Issues with a month gap. That's 9 Months ! Issue One to Three was epic filler. It was zombie action. Issue 4 and 5 were very good. Issue 6 was just a freaking travesty. Predictable and cliched. Everything we expected. Nekron and Hand have done nearly nothing this event. To Be Honest, Nekron is the least developed Big Bad of an event by the big 2 (DC and Marvel) in forever !

Final Crisis surely deserved 12 Issues or at least 9. Blackest Night couldve been done and finished in 6 Issues without a skip month. I'm very happy that DC has made so much money out of BN and is kicking Marvel butt finally ! I'm glad that so many series that tied in got a huge boost in sales and are not cancelled.

5. Isn't Blackest Night the ultimate comic cliche ? I don't think there was anything surprising in it whatsoever. If anyone even dares to argue and say the same for Final Crisis, I'll lay a few ones

i. Orions death in the Opening
ii. Batman getting taken down by Granny Goodness
iii. Darkseid's easy takeover of The Earth
iv. Wonder Woman's Fall
v. The Heart Rendering transformation of Dan Turpin into The Darkside
vi. Darkseid's speech at the end of Issue 5
vii. Batman using a gun to take down a god ( yeah we kinda called that but that was better than anything in BN so far )
viii. Batman chilling at the beginning of time. I dare anyone to say they called that. Anyone ? It was the most badass end to a Crisis !

Finally, as to what I mean about the dead resurrection angle. I'll try to be clear below.

What really did you all DO ?

Nekron let those 8 Heroes he "took" at the end of BN5 to come back to realm of the living right ? Now why would he do that? If he let those heroes stay dead, there would Hardly be any worthy protectors of Earth. He couldve easily taken over. Also, I say this because A "Dead" Black Lantern hasn't registered a fight against the Black Ring, whereas a "Living" Black Lantern Has. Am I clear ? If so, the only thing I have to say to Geoff is " Lazy storytelling ? "

After reading Blackest Night, all I could do was stifle yawns and get tired. loved the Art, Ivan but beautiful splashes etc cannot save this story. Geoff was handling too much like Infinite Crisis and he just fell under the pressure . I will read Brightest day not expecting too much. This was overall a very average Event with too many issues and too less of a story

Only Reason I Don't HATE Blackest Night....

Blackest Night

Writing : 7.0
Art : 9.4


Green Lantern

Writing : 7.8
Art : 9.0

Green Lantern Corps

Writing : 7.6
Art : 8.4

Next In The DC Event Blog : Review Of Batman and Robin 11 tonight ! Plus plans of Return Of Bruce Wayne and why we all love RikDad !

I Know I Know

Gosh I could not be bothered finishing up with The Blackest Night i am really sorry. Next will be my opinion On Blackest Night after which i will start with my monthly reviews for The Following books, I have reduced the number for now at least......

Batman and Robin
Batman : Return Of Bruce Wayne
Batman
Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
Green Lantern : Emerald Warrior
Brightest Day
Justice League : Generation Lost

This time I will not delay. Really sorry have been busy with my Girl Friend :P

Blackest Night 6

Solicitation : The secrets of Nekron are revealed as darkness consumes the DC Universe. Everything else: TOP SECRET.


Written by Geoff Johns Art By Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert

Synopsis : We start with a shot Of "Bruce Wayne's" skull in Coast City moments after his skull was used by Nekron in The big conclusion Of Blackest Night 6. Carol and Saint Walker wonder what has happened as the ring calls out Hal's name. Hal corrects Saint and tell him only the resurrected are being targeted by the rings

Superman and The rest of The Nekrotic Eight take on Hal as Ollie says that heroes and all that is over. Everyone is only Nekron now and thats how things will be from on and forever. Hal recounts how every one of them was killed as Barry tries to outrun the rings as Nekron is hungry !!

 The Rainbow Rodeo has Superman and tell Hal to deliver The kill shot but Hal refuses as he does not think Superman can be dead. Sinestro says that this must be done or its better to lay down and die as Indigo's Bright idea did not work out...

Bart (at least The Black Lantern version) tried to goad Barry Allen telling him that he was the first Lifeline Nekron created and says that they all belong to him now. Bart goes after Wally as Barry tells Hal to throw him a line. Barry says he is faster than the rings as they race off. The rings connections are severed.. Barry explains that without a Cosmic treadmill, Time Travel is guesswork. They are Two seconds in the future. They try and wonder why Bruce was the only Black Lantern who combusted on his own. They have no cluw whatsoever and hope that they and the Nekrotic Eight don't die after all of this is over as they Race back to Coast City.

Ray, Mera and Jean Loring are in The Black Lantern Ring where suddenly Deadman possesses Jean and tells them that Black Lanterns from the whole Universe are descending to Earth. Atom and Ray flee out.

And now, For our 1 dialog - Double Spreader Edition Of John Stewart who gives us an Idea of all The Black Lanterns coming to Earth

At Least A Billion ? That's Xanshi behind...

They leap out of Wonder Woman's ring which is supposedly on its last legs.  Mera thinks she has what it takes to take on Wonder Woman. Yeah right, you wish..........

As Hal and Barry return, Indigo and the rest believe that they will need all the light bearers to recreate the light of life to Destroy The Black Lantern Battery. Indigo agrees to send her people to get all The Other Lantern Corps. Ganthet replicates Hal's ring and says some crap about how they are all Oan Technology and recruits himself to the Green Lantern Corps and replicates the rest of The 6 Rings to search for 24 Hour Replacements on Earth. Rings go around and find the following

Mera - Red Lantern Corps
Lex Luthor - Orange Lantern Corps
Scarecrow - Yellow Lantern Corps
Ganthet - Green Lantern Corps
Barry Allen  - Blue Lantern Corps
Atom - Indigo Tribe
Wonder Woman - Star Sapphires

The BL Wonder Woman tries to resist but Love overrules everything as the Ring is severed as we end with Our Saint Barry telling Hal Jordan

The Second Rainbow Rodeo !

Review : OK I will be honest with you. When I first read it I absolutely Hated it and thought it was utter Garbage ! However, reading the Tie Ins and some reasoning for some stupid decisions like Barry becoming a Blue Lantern over Superman ! WTF ? Ridiculous moves. I would have given it a 0 but now I will be a little more rational. Geoff has made an interesting concept stale and kind of ridiculous now. Nekron did absolutely nothing whatsoever, Black Hand was not even mentioned and Scar thrown like a bad disease. No resolution on The Guardians. Nothing Nothing Nothing ! Why The hell was Batman and Robin 7 even delayed for this story.

The art by Ivan Reis was great and I really loved it. That saved this issue from being Toilet paper. Thats all

Story : 7
Art : 9.4

Next In Blackest Night: Green Lantern 50 hits ! Its Hal Jordan vs Spectre as an old and familiar face returns. The Shit hits the fan, maybe..............

An Important Announcement

Hey Guys,  


I know that it has been nearly a month since I have blogged about a thing and I seriously apologize for this.....
I will restart my Blog from now covering only The Core Blackest Night Book and The Green Lantern Book (Issue 50 onwards). Have been dealing with personal problems as of late and hence have fallen back of my usual punctual schedule

Now For The Important Announcements


From March onwards, I will be covering Grant Morrison's Batman from Issue 655 to Issue 683 and Batman and Robin (1 - onwards ) in preparation For THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE !!


In addition to all of these I will be doing Monthly Comic Book Reviews For The Following Books, starting April 2010

Batman & Robin
Batman
Batman : The Return Of Bruce Wayne (May)
Red Robin
Flash
Green Lantern

Green Lantern Corps

Green Lantern : Emerald Warrior

Brightest Day (Bi-Weekly)

JLA : Generation Lost (Bi-Weekly)

Justice League Of America

Superman

Supergirl

Action Comics

War Of The Superman (May)

Thats 15 Monthlies along with 2 Minis. New Ones will be announced. I can only hope there will be no delays

Its Great to be back.. See You in The Brightest Day !

Blackest Night 5

Solicitation : The moment you've hungered for finally arrives! Who controls death in the DC Universe? NEKRON - Lord of the Undead! The dark being behind the undead Black Lanterns makes his presence and purpose known, and our heroes discover they re not only fighting for their lives, but their after-lives as well. Don t miss this game-changing issue from superstar writer Geoff Johns and stellar artist Ivan Reis!

Written by Geoff Johns Art By Ivan Reis

Synopsis : We kick of the story where Green Lantern 48 left us, on Ryut (Sector 666), Hal narrates saying that Ganthet and Sayd were born on Maltus and appointed themselves as The Guardians Of The Universe to ensure order, that does not mean they handled it well. He states that all the enemies have come together, so have friends and ex-Girl Friends. Hip Hip Hooray ! Sienstro patronizes Ganthet as Larfleeze complains about how nothing is worse than empty. Atrocitus asks where The Black Lantern battery is, they sense that the Guardian who betrayed them is within The Black Grasp and they will take them to her as Hal tells them to all shut ut and Light Up !

Time To Power Up.

They all power up except Larfleeze who complains that he is still hungry, Sayd says that she has given up her freedom for his cause. Larfleeze now wants a feast, his gluttony is crazy. He wants that otherwise he is taking his ring and going home.Atrocitus and Sinestro discuss about killing him and finding who the ring latches onto next. He wants to shove the Lantern down Larfleeze's throat to charge him up. Walker steps in and calms Lar down and tells him that as long as he is in the vicinity of Blue he will feel no hunger. Orange wants some dessert. Hal's construct shoves his head on the battery as Power levels touch 100000% ! Hal and the gang are ready to go aster the Black....

Back at Coast City, Barry Allen runs towards Black Hand, who is bowing before Nekron.. Nekron says that Barry's death was the first and his rebirth will be The Last ! So says he (Little Narcissist huh ?). William butts in spews some Dark Philosophy. Barry wonders what else he has gone through. William is happy because he is dead like Barry was. Barry realizes that Black Hand dug up Bruce's Grave as he touches it. It registers an Emotional Tether. William says Barry isn't his time nor is his skull. Somebody hates to know what his type is as WALLY WEST Runs in ! Wally sums 5 Issues in 4 Lines : One Green Lantern Baddie, One Giant - Skeleton Guy, One Freaky Guardian and a Black lantern in a Pear Tree. Wally mentions Kyle meeting him before. Wally says he is Barry's Nightwing to his Batman. Barry considers them equals and asks him if he is the only one. Wally says there is no Flash Corps but they have friends as The Heroes of Earth break in.

In Manhattan, Grant rises into a Black lantern as Palmer is unsuccessful to stop it. Jean Loring says that Ray understood Grant, no else did until tonight. She liked the Taste of Hope he gave grant. Mera attacks Jean who grabs her and Atom and takes them diving inside Grant's Black lantern Ring.....

At Coast City, All Hell has broken loose with the JLA kicking ass or atleast appearing to, Kid Flash runs in and tells Wally and Barry that Dove has some power and all The BL's coming towards her combust and are defeated. However, Donna Troy was bitten and she is starting to get very sick Donna did not want aid and said she would rather go down fighting. They run towards Nekron but ignore him and try and help the Guardians who are stuck in Black slime. Scar breaks in and says that The Guardians are to be drained. She says that there is no order when there is life. Someone wonders why Scar is getting pale as Hal (obviously) and his gang break in and Blast Scar.Sinestro has been waiting for this for a long time ! Some comedy with Larfleeze and The Guardian and Scar is defeated ..

Hal and Barry have a quick word with Hal confident on taking Nekron down. Indigo and the rest surround The Black Lantern and attempt to recreate The White Light Of Life as Carol and Hal mention seeing this in a cartoon. Ha Ha Nice. Nekron tells Sayd and Ganthet that their lie is to be exposed. Suddenly a ring pops out of his battery goes past the heroes. Donna is seeing Wonder Woman in Black-Lantern vision . Hal comments that this isn't doing anything as Indigo's plan is failing. Black Hand raises the skull as Donna seems to be converting .

  Bruce Wayne Of Earth

RISE !

The Greatest Comic Character ever rises ! Hal, Green Arrow, Superman, Bart and everyone express their shock. As Nekron says that He is the one who has allowed them to return from the dead and they are all connected to him as he allowed the numerous resurrections. They will help Nekron expose The Guardians lie (which we still don't know). Black Lantern Bruce Wayne spits out 7 Rings which move like bats towards the targets. Buddy Baker, Tora ,Princess Diana, Kal-El , Conner Kent, Bart Allen, Oliver Queen. Hal tries to subdue The Black Lantern Bruce Wayne. Barry runs from the Black Ring as Nekron commands "Bruce Wayne" back to rest......... Interesting. Connection is severed. Nekron says the Light awaits as The 7 along with Donna are now Black Lanterns as Hal & Barry run away from The Black Rings.


Review : So The Big game changer issue is here ?? Well it was very good. The First 5 Pages were amazing, the opening sequence in Coast City was good and The Black Hand vs Flash part was absolutely cool. Seeing Superman and the rest was a badass moment but they really did not do much nor did they say much. Black Hand just randomly disappeared until the end. I wanted much more from Superman and Wonder Woman too. Barry Allen and The Flashes were great. The Rainbow Rodeo had their little moments here and there. I'm sure I will be seeing much more with them in The Issues to come back.

Very Pissed about the way Scar was treated. Anyone who read my Character Analysis knows that I really liked her character and there was tremendous potential in her and her motivations. I wish Geoff would have given more of a thought to these little gems in this event thats all.

Ivan Reis was out of the world . Amazing work. I have never seen better in 2009, when this hit the streets. Keep up the work. More On The Batman stuff in another blog soon....

Story : 9.4
Art : 9.6

The Nekrotic Eight

Next In Blackest Night : The Nekrotic Eight and what their purpose might be