So...Blackest Night?

[Hawkman]

It remains the best event in recent memory from DC, I'd say. I would have liked it better, however, if its ending were more definitive, instead of immediately segueing into Brightest Day, which in turn had an even less definitive ending.

[DisneyBoy]

I was flipping through the 3 Wonder Woman tie-in issues of this event and wondering, if I wanted to grasp the basics of the story outside those 3 issues, which are the ones I'd need to read?

I have no clue why Mera wants to fight with her, for starters, or how the Black Lanterns become a thing and bring back Max Lord...or why Diana becomes a Black Lantern, or if Hippolyta and Cassie stay dead after she murders them in issue 2...or what happens to her Star Sapphire self after issue 3...

Without buying a dozen issues or trades, what issues will make her arc make more sense to me?

[Doctor Know]

I was flipping through the 3 Wonder Woman tie-in issues of this event and wondering, if I wanted to grasp the basics of the story outside those 3 issues, which are the ones I'd need to read?

I have no clue why Mera wants to fight with her, for starters, or how the Black Lanterns become a thing and bring back Max Lord...or why Diana becomes a Black Lantern, or if Hippolyta and Cassie stay dead after she murders them in issue 2...or what happens to her Star Sapphire self after issue 3...

Without buying a dozen issues or trades, what issues will make her arc make more sense to me?

Your best bet at this point is to buy the omnibus. It collects all the relevant issues of the main event, GL, GL Corps and major Justice League players. As well as puts the story in a readable order that you can understand and enjoy. Without having to flip back and forth between trades, and hardcovers. WW's story in the event is mainly told in her tie-ins and Blackest Night Green Lantern. As each of the rainbow Lantern recruits someone from Earth to help them for the big battle in that title.

Saint Walker - Blue Lantern Barry Allen
Atroticus - Red Lantern Mera
Larfleeze - Orange Lantern Lex Luthor
Sinestro - Yellow Lantern Scarecrow
Indigo-1 - Indigo Lantern Ray Palmer Atom
Carol Ferris - Star Sapphire Wonder Woman


The omnibus is still in print and accessible at many online retailers.

I would advise getting the Brightest Day omnibus as well. It recently saw a reprint and it ties up the GL and JL stories well. Mainly Aquaman, Mera, Aqualad Jackson Hyde, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Deadman and the reborn Anti-Monitor. After Blackest Night it was JMS' Wonder Woman Odyssey relaunch. Which lasted up to the New 52 reboot. So Blackest Night is her last hurrah before the line wide universal reset.

[Stanlos]

Just finished reading the whole Blackest Night event.

I didn't read every tie-in though, only GL, GL Corps, Wonder Woman, Superman, Tales of the Corps, and Hawkman/Atom

Here are what I liked about the series:

- The first issue is goddamn amazing, one of the best openings to an event I've read. The build-up was creepy and pitch-perfect
- Green Lantern #43 was crazy as well, Black Hand's story is classic DC stuff.
- Black Lantern Aquaman was great
- The dynamic between Hal and Barry was perfect
- Awesome variant covers
- The end with all the White Lanterns were some great panels
- Wonder Woman becoming Star Sapphire made sense
- Scarcrow becoming Yellow Lantern
- Lex becoming Orange Lantern
- Green Lantern Corps had some good issues
- The fight between Martian Manhunter, Barry, and Hal was awesome
- The book of the dead concept was good
- Saint Walker's origin was awesome
- Blume's story is also really funny and innovating
- Superman fighting Kal-L from Earth 2
- Firestorm's girlfriend getting killed
- The Atom/Hawkman story
- Some incredible panels with the mass of Black Lanterns traveling in space
- Flash traveling into the future to escape the Black Lantern ring
- Brightest Day looks very promising, and better than Blackest Night


What I hated:

- Nothing was as good as that first issue
- Nekron sucked as a villain, yeah he was kinda scary at first but he was just lame overall
- Black Hand just disappeared later on
- All the rainbow lanterns teaming up together, this made sense I guess...but come on....it's beyond cliche
- The series as a whole was very up and down, hit or miss
- When Batman become Black Lantern, I just mentally checked out...something about this seemed way wrong.
- Then everybody became Black Lanterns
- Shouldn't Black Lantern Superman just kill everyone??
- Sinestro becoming White Lantern
- Mera becoming Red Lantern wtf
- The stories became ultra-repetitive
- The Superman tie-in sucked
- The whole thing was one big battle that happens in one night
- Every issue was just Flash and Hal running around
- Bleez's origin sucked
- A lot of the Black Lanterns were destroyed too easily, it's just mindless zombie crap


But overall, it was a decent event, not good, but not complete garbage either, there were lots of good things about it. The final scenes with everyone becoming White Lanterns was just beautiful.

What are everyone's thoughts about the event?

I am glad that there are fans that enjoyed it. I just am not into the Rainbow Corps or casting the rings as mystical or metaphysical. Popular though it may be, they have completely lost the plot with the Lanterns IMHO.

I much prefer the sci-fi vibe of the Earth One series' GL entry. It is the only E1 book I enjoyed wholesale.

[Rightoya]

- Shouldn't Black Lantern Superman just kill everyone??

Why would Superman with merely better regeneration be able to kill everyone, it is not like he could have sat in the sun for a couple of days, and Black Lantern rings add new weaknesses anyway?

[DisneyBoy]

Your best bet at this point is to buy the omnibus.

I am not buying an omnibus I will buy 4 or 5 single issues to make sense of the events in the 3 Wonder Woman tie-in issues, but that's it. I'm not a big GL fan.

That's why I was asking which single issues are needed to sketch out the basics of the plot. Thanks for the (non-"buy everything!") suggestions LOL.

[John Venus]

It remains the best event in recent memory from DC, I'd say. I would have liked it better, however, if its ending were more definitive, instead of immediately segueing into Brightest Day, which in turn had an even less definitive ending.

My memories a little fuzzy but was Brightest Day and Flashpoint happening around the same time or did Flashpoint kick off right before BD had properly ended?

[Noodle]

My memories a little fuzzy but was Brightest Day and Flashpoint happening around the same time or did Flashpoint kick off right before BD had properly ended?

The main Brightest Day series ended in May of 2011, the same month Flashpoint started.

Flashpoint also wasn't originally supposed to reboot everything, though.

[DisneyBoy]

Flashpoint also wasn't originally supposed to reboot everything, though.

Interesting. I didn't know that.

What made them decide to shoehorn in a reboot?

[Doctor Know]

Too many tittles were underwater sales wise.

Going into the New 52, only the titles that were doing good got to keep their continuity. Geoff Johns' Green Lantern and the GL Corps books and Grant Morrison's Batman, Batman and Robin and Batman Incorporated.

DC taking a lesson from Marvel; that nothing sells better than a new number 1 for a title. So everything not Batman and GL got the hard reset.

The New 52 seemingly saved the comics industry. It saved DC from being canned by WB. Didio was pressured by executives to fix the low sales.

Marvel did their own soft-reboot/jumping on point for new readers in early 2012 with Marvel NOW.

Valiant rebooted their universe with fresh number ones in 2012 also.

IDW also began the new and still ongoing TMNT relaunch in late 2011 as well.

[married guy]

I enjoyed it well enough, although it was definitely padded out.
I enjoyed the Flash 3 issue tie-in, but the rest were average.

It definitely didn't reach the heights of the Sinestro Corps War which for me, that was absolutely the pinnacle of Geoff Johns' time on the GL franchise.

[HsssH]

Interesting. I didn't know that.

What made them decide to shoehorn in a reboot?

If I remember right Didio pushed for Final Crisis to reboot the universe but was vetoed by higher ups. As Doctor Know said, by the time Flashpoint was rolling out sales were getting real bad and they probably felt like they can't wait anymore.

Final Crisis rebooting the universe with, probably, Superman using Miracle Machine would likely have made more sense.

[DisneyBoy]

Huh.

So...which issues of Blackest Night best set up the Wonder Woman issues?

[Batgrayson]

Huh.

So...which issues of Blackest Night best set up the Wonder Woman issues?

If you want to know from where Black Lanterns came, like Max Lord, read Blackest Night #1 - #4.

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2 happens right after Blackest Night #5. spoilers:

I don't remember very well but I think most of the killings in #2 were illusions.

end of spoilers

BNWW#3 happens after BN#6

BN#7 and BN#8 happen after BNWW#3.

[Nomads1]

It remains the best event in recent memory from DC, I'd say. I would have liked it better, however, if its ending were more definitive, instead of immediately segueing into Brightest Day, which in turn had an even less definitive ending.

I agree. And, while I enjoyed the return of most of the heroes, I didn't care much for Brightest Day and the path it placed most of them in. Hawkman, for exemple, I was really curious to see where Jim Starlin wanted to take him in the Cosmic side of the DCU he was handling.
That said, I really enjoyed many of the tie-in mini-series, such as the Titans, the JSA, Superman, Batman and Robin, etc...

Peace