Just Stay at Home

To put it simply, Blackest Night #1 was awesome.

Now before I go into more detail I would like to quickly address these were less than pleased by Blackest Night #1. Yes, most reviews I've seen have been overwhelmingly positive. But there are a few people who -- for whatever reason -- have taken a contrary opinion. I don't understand these people.

It's not that I don't recognize that some people have different tastes in comic books. I just can't see why some people can't accept Blackest Night for what it is: a fun super-hero story. Is the "Rainbow Corps" concept a little silly? Maybe so. But no more silly than anything else in comics.

Some of the detractors, I think, just don't like Geoff Johns. They don't like how he uses continuity or some such thing. Fine. Say that. Some people can't enjoy a comic unless reading it makes them feel smarter than other people. That's not cool, but whatever. Still others are upset about an imagined "rise in violence" and "overuse of death." I've addressed that before. Super-hero comics have always been that way.

For whatever reasons a few people haven't liked it. But it seems pretty clear that they're going to be in the minority. In my eyes Blackest Night is shaping up to be a far better event that Final Crisis ever was. Blackest Night contains the three most important elements of a good super-hero event. It's got emotion. It's got interesting characters. And it's got really nasty villains.

Is the conept of characters rising up as zombies to take revenge on the living unique? Not really. But there aren't really any new stories under the sun. Only how those stories play out. And there are shocks and surprises galore in the pages of Blackest Night.

I think the most succesful thing about Blackest Night (aside from Ivan Reis' art, which is stellar) is that it leaves you wanting more there are a few questions answered in Blackest Night. But there are even more questions to ask. What is the significance of the skull from Batman's grave? Who is Black Hand's mysterious master? What happens when the Black Lanterns' collective power levels hit 100%?

We'll get these answers as the story goes on, even as we're posed further questions. And all the while there will be fantastic fights, brutal acts of villainy, and heroism of the highest level. And if you don't want that, why are you reading super-hero comics at all?