Blackest Night: Batman #1(of 3)

This mini-series should be very interesting. I'm really not sure what to expect here, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this comic is nearly as good as the phenomenal Blackest Night #2 was. The writer is Peter Tomasi while Ardian Syaf provides the pencils.

-This issue opens with Batman(Dick Grayson)and Robin(Damian Wayne)investigating the grave site of Bruce Wayne. Due to the battle in Blackest Night #1, the graveyard is pretty torn up and Dick decides to take Bruce's decapitated remains, along with the bodies of Bruce's parents(Damian's grandparents)back to the Bunker at Wayne Tower.

-Deadman, who is being tormented by the voices of the dead crying out to him, heads to the final resting place of his body, only to find a black ring affix itself to his corpse. Deadman tries to jump into his corpse, but is forced out by a tremendous wave of pain. His body then flies away, leaving Deadman alone and in need of someone he can trust with the information about the Black Lantern Corps he gleaned from his corpse.

-A small army of dead c-list Batman villains get Black Lantern rings and head towards Gotham to run amok.

-Dick and Damian are out on patrol in the Batmobile when Deadman jumps in Dick's body mistaking him for Bruce. Damian, completely confused by Dick's sudden possession proceeds to beat Dick in the head, causing the Batmobile to crash off-road. In an effort to halt Damian's attack, Deadman jumps into his body, leaving Dick to sort through all of the information he just learned from Deadman about the Black Lantern Corps.

-Deadman tells Dick that the BL Corps are taking over the bodies of both powered and non-powered individuals, which causes Dick to make a bee-line to a cemetery in Gotham, where he discovers the empty graves of Jack and Janet Drake, the parents of the former Robin(and current Red Robin)Tim Drake. Dick immediately calls Tim and tells him to get back to Gotham ASAP, explaining what he had just discovered. Besides this(and unknown to Dick)Dick's own dead parents have become Black Lanterns as well. This issue ends with Dick, Damian and Deadman looking into the Gotham City sky and finding the shattered Bat-signal shining with several silhouetted bodies laying across it.

I really enjoyed this comic. I wasn't sure what to expect here, but Peter(as usual)delivered a very good BN x-over issue. I find it kind of interesting that after the events of this issue Dick knows more about the Black Lantern Corps(thanks to Deadman)then Hal Jordan does! As much as I did enjoy this comic, I have to say I'm at a bit of a loss as to how Peter is going to finish this mini in only 2 issues... Already we have a plethora of BL Bat-foes attacking Gotham, as well as the reanimation of both Dick and Tim's dead folks. While I have no idea as to how Peter is going to wrap this mini up in just two more issues, I know I'll be eagerly reading along to find out. For a score, I think I'll give this comic a 9 1/2 out of 10. As the score should indicate, I really enjoyed reading this comic. Is it essential that you read this issue to understand what's going on in the main BN series? No, probably not, but I'd still give this mini a strong recommendation.Dick isn't going to like this...