Comic Reviews Week of 7/15/09

Okay, let's go:





Blackest Night #1 (of 8)
Written By Geoff "The Guilty Got Guiltier" Johns
Art By Ivan Reis

Fuck. This isn't good, this isn't good at all. But I can prove it.

First of all, the action of this issue takes place on what is essentially Super-Memorial Day, which is a day of mourning celebrated every year on the day that Superman died, except he came back pretty shortly thereafter, but whatever. That serves to give all of the main players not only a chance to talk about fallen comrades, but also a way of grouping them around the graves of super-heroes and villains, to the point where Green Lantern and Flash hang around a crypt of super-villains that the Justice League now apparently keeps in their basement. This part of the comic is dreary, preachy, and, most damningly, boring.

Meanwhile, Black Hand has decided, after snacking on Batman's corpse (no, really) that in order to bring death to the universe, he has to raise the dead, setting the stage for a super-zombie attack. Now, unfortunately, most of the better DC heroes are still alive, so it looks like the dead will be led by...Aquaman and Martian Manhunter....not exactly a strong starting line-up. Fuck, any comic that relies on Elongated Man, in any iteration, to be even mildly menacing has not thought this through.

Actually, this crossover could be called: DC Zombies: Cannon Fodder's Revenge.

The biggest problem with this comic is simply that it takes itself so fucking seriously. I mean, I guess Johns is trying to make a point about human resilience when he talks about how people moved back to Coast City even though it had once been completely destroyed, but the city had been completely rebuilt by magical forces, and death is cheap in a universe where everyone, given enough time, comes back to life. It's pretty easy to overcome death when it's not permanent.

Other Comics:

Agents of Atlas #8: Let's all enjoy this while we can.

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1: Every time I see the many Lantern Corps, I can't help but think of Captain Planet.

New Mutants #3: Actually not too terrible!