What Happened: What didn't happen?!? Wait, let me start this review over again, a little bit more professionally this time. Ahem... We begin this issue with Flash(Barry Allen), Mera and the Atom trying to deal with the Black Lantern Justice League in the Hall of Justice. Unfortunately for the trio of heroes, they become horribly outnumbered when all of the dead enemies of the League join the fight. Atom realizes trying to fight off the dead heroes and villains of the League is suicide and he manages to transport himself, Flash and Mera through a telephone and to a 911 call center for a quick breather. From there we head to Gotham City where we find the Scarecrow wandering the streets of Gotham trying to figure out what was causing so much fear amongst the populace. Scarecrow discovers Black Lantern Azrael and BL Azrael tries to evoke a strong emotion of fear out of Scarecrow, but fails since Scarecrow can't feel fear(unless Batman is involved). Since Scarecrow is showing no emotion, and is therefore not worth killing, BL Azrael leaves him alone. Next the scene shifts to one of the secret laboratories of Lex Luthor. The Calculator(on a computer screen)begins to tell Lex what was going on, and seems to want Lex to take a leadership role for the super-villains of the DCU. Lex however tells Calculator he doesn't want anything to do with anybody and that as far as he's concerned it's every man for himself. With that, Lex hangs up on the Calculator and locks down his lab. Back at the 911 call center, Flash rallies Mera and Atom and tells them to find Alan Scott to see if his ring has any effect on the Black Lanterns since Hal Jordan's Green Lantern ring was able to damage them. While Mera and Atom head to New York to find the Justice Society, Flash begins to travel the world telling his fellow heroes what he knows thus far about the Black Lanterns and their apparent weakness to light in general and the light of power rings in particular. In New York, Mera and Atom find the JSA in a pitched battle with several Black Lanterns. Alan tries to use his ring to stop the BL's, but to no avail. Eventually the original Atom, Black Lantern Al Pratt, arrives to attack his son, Damage. Atom assists Damage against BL Pratt, tearing BL Pratt apart from the inside out. This action fills Damage with intense hope, which leads to the Atom's dead wife, Black Lantern Jean Loring, tearing Damage's heart out from behind. Damage's death powers the Black Lantern's power battery to 100% and Black Hand heads to Coast City where he summons the black power battery along with Scar and the captive Guardians of the Universe. Flash, sensing a massive disturbance emanating from Coast City races over just in time to witness Black Hand announcing the arrival of his master, and the leader of the Black Lanterns, Nekron. This issue ends with Nekron ordering the dead of Coast City to rise, much to the horror of Barry Allen.
What I Thought: What did I think? I thought this issue was flat out, completely and totally AWESOME!!! There's not one single area of this comic I can find a single fault. Barry Allen was tremendous here, and I'm ever so slowly beginning to warm to him. The cameos by Lex Luthor and Scarecrow(two of my favorite DC villains by the way)were just amazingly well done. Geoff's characterization of Lex Luthor was once again dead on here. Damn does he write a great Lex Luthor... So now we know for sure that Nekron is the driving force behind the Black Lanterns. Well, most of comicdom knew this before hand because Geoff leaked that news a few months back, but his appearance here makes it official. Now I'm going to have to see if I can find some old issues of Green Lantern where Nekron has appeared so I can get some feel for the character. What more can I even say? This issue was everything I was hoping it would be and more. Before I finish this post though, I have to laugh a bit about Damage getting killed off here. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not laughing about Damage's death, because I actually like the character a lot and I was pretty bummed to see that he was the one to get the axe here. No, I had to laugh because he is one of my sister's favorite characters. So far it seems Geoff is targeting the characters my sister likes the most(Damage, Hawkman, Hawkgirl). I'll get this comic to her tomorrow and then I'll await her wraith after she reads about yet another one of her favorites getting killed off. Hey, better her favorite characters get killed off then mine!
Score: 10 out of 10.
I can't even begin to express how well done the graveyard scene where Nekron makes his long awaited appearance was. What a great comic this was...
1. Awesome stuff, indeed.
ReplyDelete2. Poor Damage.
3. The Spectre is going to make a comeback!
Huh, that's right, I forgot all about the Spectre. It would be great if he was the driving force behind defeating Nekron. Power-level wise I don't think anybody has any hope against Nekron EXCEPT for the Spectre.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, definitely a 10/10. I loved the line about Mera and Atom being Wonder Woman and Superman. As well as Barry running through scenes in what I can only guess are other BN Crossovers.
ReplyDeleteThis comic was really just all sorts of awesome. I remember being a little disappointed with the last issue, but this one REALLY made up for last issue.
ReplyDeleteNow if I could only read the other BN minis. Would you believe that I have BN Titans #3 and BN Supes #3, but I don't have BN Supes #2 or BN Titans #1 & 2 because they're still lost in the mail!!! Gah!!!
You haven't been able to handle that yet? Ahh that sucks. So would the comic place resend them or would it be a Post Office matter?
ReplyDeleteWell, the post office contacted me via e-mail and asked me to describe my lost package... So I was like, "Well, it's a cardboard box, weighs a few pounds and has comic books in it." What kind of description were they looking for exactly? I will say I'm kind of surprised anybody even responded to my e-mail to the usps in the first place, I never expected them to get back to me.
ReplyDeleteAccording to my comic book shop, when the package gets to the Mail Recovery Center in Atlanta, they open the package looking for something to identify who sent the package/where it was headed. That's good because there's always a bill/invoice with my order that has my address as well as the address of the CB shop. After they identify who sent the package(the CB shop)they send it back to them, and then the CB shop sends the package back out to me. In theory that all sounds good and dandy, but who knows how long that entire process is going to take... By the time I FINALLY get my comics they'll probably be like 2-3 months old!
Lol @ Describe your package. It's a friggin package, don't they ALL look the same for the most part?
ReplyDeleteBut that really sucks, which is weird because the ones from this week came to you without a hitch. So are you gonna wait until you get BN Titans 2 to read 3?
Yeah, exactly! It's a package!!! What more do you want me to say!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I NEVER read comics out of order, so I'm going to wait(for however long it takes)before I read the few comics that are missing parts. That means I can't read BN Titans #3, BN Supes #3, Teen Titans #76, The entire Hunt for Reactron x-over, REBELS #9, a few dark Reign The List books, Avengers The Initiative #29, Gotham City Sirens #5, Guardians of the Galaxy #19, Nova #30, and Superman Secret Origin #2... I think you can imagine just how much that sucks!
That's quite possibly the dumbest thing I've heard this year. Describe it...wow. That's just...mind boggling.
ReplyDeleteOuch...Thats alot of stuff. So wait, would that delay your whole BN reading? Because one of those may indirectly lead to something in BN 5.
Nah, nothing will stop me from reading BN #5 when it drops. Even if I wind up missing out on some of the story, I'll still be ordering/reading BN #5 ASAP.
ReplyDeleteI feel you on that, Hell I was gonna say I'd be scared to order from your comic place again but that's more of a post office problem than theirs.
ReplyDeleteWell, I've been ordering comics from this place for like 4 years now, and this is the first time something like this happened, so I'm not going to blame them or anything like that. I don't even really blame the post office, I've probably received hundreds of comic packages in the mail from various sources, and I've never had a problem, so I'm just chalking this whole situation up to a very unfortunate freak accident.
ReplyDeleteThat's a hell of a freak accident though. Any word from them yet on what's up with your package since you sent them that "description?"
ReplyDeleteNope, sadly I haven't heard a peep... My poor comics... :(
ReplyDeleteMan...thats the lamest thing I've heard. You got me afraid to order stuff now. Was the package insured or anything?
ReplyDeleteNope, it wasn't insured. But I'm still hopeful that I'll be getting my poor lamented comics soon. I figure it's going to take the Mail Recovery Center a little bit of time before they send the package back to the CB shop. I'll prob drop the CB shop a line towards the end of the week to see if they've heard anything.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty good idea. Hope all goes well, and keep me updated on the fate of your poor comics.
ReplyDeleteOh, don't you worry, once my comics FINALLY arrive, I'll be sure to write a celebratory post on the blog!
ReplyDeleteWooooo, Par-Tay! With Pepsi and pizza of course. Random question, Im guessing you're more of a pepsi than coke guy correct?
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I'm def a Pepsi man. On top of that, I only drink diet Pepsi, the regular version just tastes too syrupy to me. And just to throw in some more random Pepsi stuff, my favorite type of Pepsi is diet Vanilla Pepsi. I could literally drink an entire 12 pack of that in a single night.
ReplyDeleteI love Diet Pepsi. I don't know why but its so much better than regular pepsi. I've never had Vanilla Pepsi/or vanilla diet. Is it really that good?
ReplyDeleteWooooo-boy, you don't know what you're missing! I loves me some Vanilla Pepsi! Vanilla, Cherry, Lime, hell, I love all the assorted Pepsi flavors!
ReplyDeleteThe only soda besides Pepsi that I drink is diet Dr. Pepper, and I only started drinking that recently, for the longest time I wouldn't drink it because of it's name. Who wants to drink a soda called Dr. "Pepper"???
Lol I love Cherry pepsi, so i had some root beer today and HATED it...I may have strayed away from Pop..and that saddens me.
ReplyDeleteLmao...so my friend and I did a skit about an old blues musician and his band called the Fizzles, on youtube. He played Blind Lemon Lime and my dude's name was Dr. Pepper. Because he has his Doctorate's in Fizzy-ology (a play on physiology) and his arch nemesis was Mr. Pibb because people always got them confused. I know it probably sounds asinine but it's pretty funny.
Ugh, I hate root beer too. I don't know how people drink that.
ReplyDeleteDude, if I could get a doctorate at my school in Fizzyology, I totally would!
I usually like it but it was so frigging strong. It was like drinking acid with little ice shards.
ReplyDeleteLol I'm afraid that class would probably be hard as hell, having to know every ingredient that goes in like every kind of pop. I'd go insane.
Trust me dude, next to Accounting, Fizzyology is probably cake! Accounting is just crazy tough. ONE HW problem usually takes me a minimum of an hour and a half to complete. Seriously! If I can deal with that, I be willing to take a stab at Fizzyology.
ReplyDeleteOuch, that sounds brutal. I'm not a big math guy so I'd probably be there for days. What's your major?
ReplyDeleteStrangely my major is Liberal Arts, but I'm also going for a minor Accounting degree, so that explains the Accounting class. I've always been pretty good with numbers and math, so I figured I'd give Accounting a shot(it seems like a useful skill)but damn, it's like learning a different language!
ReplyDeleteI can't say I blame ya, plus there's money to be made in accounting. Hell I suck at math so I'll gladly pay you to do my taxes for me.
ReplyDeleteSo what exactly would Liberal Arts include?
Woo-hoo, I've got myself my first customer, and I haven't even graduated yet!
ReplyDeleteLiberal Arts is basically a well-rounded major. It doesn't really focus on any one area, it's like a hodgepodge. An LA degree is usually used for teaching or writing, stuff like that(although I can't say I'm interested in doing either of those things). Basically a LA degree should say that I've got some skill/experience in a number of areas. I was a Computer Science Major up until last semester, but I HATED all of my computer classes, which is weird, 'cause I've always been pretty good with computers, so I switched over to LA.
Lol when I sign up to your accounting firm do I get some kinda awesome gift or something now? Promotional Giveaways = highly awesome.
ReplyDeleteSounds cool, any idea what you wanna do after you finish up with school?
Hmm, promotional gifts, eh? Well, I could always give away Yost or BENDIS comic books, but I doubt people would ever come back if I did that to them.
ReplyDeleteNope, no clue. My advisor/mentor REALLY wants me to become a college professor, but I just don't think that's for me, although the hours are pretty sweet. You get off all the school holidays, plus you really only work for like 6 hours a day tops. I'm still about a year away from graduation, so I still have some time to make up my mind, but whatever I do, I'm sure it will be better then some of the really crappy jobs I've had so far in my life!
I'd never let you do my taxes again sir. unless you pulled a bendis and wrote my name in all CAPITALS!
ReplyDeleteAhh a college professor. Professor X-Man, teaching liberal arts with comics as props. If I may pry, what are some past jobs you've had? I've worked in two CD/Game stores and as a camera man for a cancelled Local TV show.
Hell, I'd do anything for my customers JASON, you want all capitals, you've got them!
ReplyDeleteYou know if I was a college professor, I'd find a way to work comic books into practically any lesson I taught!
Let's see, my first real job was loading and unloading boxes of cookies at various grocery stores. Be at work at 5 in the morning, load the truck with boxes, and bring 'em to the stores and stock 'em. Next up was stock position at a grocery store, which wasn't terrible, but paid practically nothing, and had LONG hours. Then came the worst job EVER, right out of High School I wound up working as a janitor at one of the worst elementary schools in all of Queens NY. The hours sucked(be at work at 6 AM), the kids were frigging horrors(nothing like cleaning puke at 8 in the morning...), the neighborhood was really bad(you wouldn't believe how many used syringes and broken beer bottles I'd have to clean up in the playground every morning)and to top it all off, my boss was one of the dumbest men I have ever had the misfortune of meeting, plus he was a raging drunk! I wound up sticking it out there for a good 5 years, soley due to the money, which was like double that of any of my prior jobs. The way I see it, ANYTHING has to be better then that last job!
Lol that made me laugh just seeing JASON all huge looks insane. Poor bendis in all his captial glory.
ReplyDeleteThat'd be quite an awesome class, I think I'd be the same way but I'd integrate comics or movies as well.
Really? How do you get a job unloading cookies? Did you work for like a cookie company? Wow @ The Janitor job. All the syringes and stuff, that's crazy. Sounds like pure hell.
You know BENDIS prob loves seeing his name in all capitals. "I AM BENDIS!!! The most important man in comic book history! BWA-HAHAHAHA!!!"
ReplyDeleteI'd prob get fired 'cause all I'd be teaching would be about comics. It would be a History class and I'd be debating the finer points of Superman vs. Thor.
I had the cookie job during vacations from school when I was 15-16 yrs old. My mom knew a woman who knew a guy who worked for a cookie company, and he wanted somebody to help him with loading and unloading the cookie boxes from the trucks(trust me, those big boxes of cookies were heavy!), so enter me.
Yeah, that janitor job was the frigging pits. It wasn't just the job either, it was the neighborhood I was working in that really sucked as well. In the 5 years I worked there, there were three shootings in the schoolyard(one fatal), there were several bullet holes in the upper floor windows of the school(the school was right next door to a 20+ story project building)and practically once every two weeks or so I'd have to head outside with a scrub brush and a bucket of bleach to try to wash away the blood that would be dotting the areas around the school, as well as all the drug paraphernalia I'd have to clean up before the kids arrived. I used to hop the bus at 5:15 in the morning(my insurance rates were WAY too high so I wound up selling my car and taking the bus)so in the winter months, I'd be walking to that school before the sun rose, which was always a somewhat scary situation, considering the stuff I knew went on around that building at night. On the plus side though, I did meet some pretty cool people around there and made a few friends(unfortunately none of them were comic book fans, although a few of the lunch ladies were HUGE wrestling fans), earned some good money and most of all, after working there I became REALLY hungry to get back into college!
Then of course he hears Grant Morrison banging on the cave wall they share to "Shut up, he's trying to write Damien and Batman...I mean Batman & Robin!!"
ReplyDeleteLol you could always teach Greek Mythology and compare Supes to Hercules. His parents couldn't keep him, had foster parents, Super Strength...etc.
Hm...So you were the official Cookie delieverer guy. Sounds like a hard job but at least you still had your days free to do stuff.
Wow sounds like a hell of an awful job. Im surprised about the Lunch Ladies being wrestling fans though. So just being around students made you wanna go back to school? Or did you just wanna go back so you could get a better job later.
I'd totally watch a sitcom where Grant and BENDIS were forced to share a cave. "Can these two deranged comic book writers continue to write their stories without killing each other caveman style??? Tune in Tueasdays at 9 to find out!"
ReplyDeleteHmm, all I'd need to do from there is find a way to link comic books to every historical figure. "OK class, now we're going to talk about the time Namor and Captain America rescued FDR from some Nazi's!" Nope, I'd definitely be fired in no time!
The funniest thing was the old dude I was working with on the cookie truck originally wanted to pay me in cookies! I was like, "Um I'm 15, not 5, I'll take the money instead." He did let me take a few boxes of cookies home after work every day though(along with my money!). Just for the record, the cookie brand was Archway. I'm not sure if you guys have them up your way, but those were the cookies I used to deliver.
Yeah, I used to love hanging out with the lunch ladies. Two of them, along with the school fireman(the guy who puts on the boilers, etc)were huge wrestling fans. At the time I was able to get all of the PPV's, I'm not going to say how though ;) So I'd record every PPV then lend the tape out to the fireman and the lunch ladies. Yeah, we were rabid into wrestling. I used to get a 15 minute breakfast break at 9AM, and after every PPV the lunch ladies and the fireman would be hanging all around me begging to know what happened.
Nah man, after 5 years of working in that hellhole, all I wanted to do was get myself a college degree and get a better job! After like the second year there I started working all the overtime and extra hours I could, squirling away every cent I could with the hopes of putting enough money away so I could pay for school and get out of that place!
Lol of course it would ONLY be better if Gordon Ramsay was added to the mix as a wildcard.
ReplyDeleteLol and of course FDR pushed Cap outta the way of a bullet from Red Skull that paralyzed him which explains why he needed a wheelchair. See...it works.
Lmao @ Im 15, not 5. I wish someone would pay me in cookies. I'd sell em right to those stores for less money. Never heard of Archway cookies though.
Man that's awesome, If it's one thing I love it's talking wrestling/or comics with someone. Thats why we have like 20 different threads of comments going. And you know how I watch my PPV's so I can't comment lol.
I don't blame you at all man. So now you're back in college and that's working out great right? Man I feel like I'm interviewing you.
That would automatically be THE BEST SHOW EVER!!! The thought of Ramsay calling BENDIS a donkey before cursing him out brings a huge smile to my face!
ReplyDeleteI'll tell ya, the best thing that ever happened to me was dropping out of college the first time and getting stuck in that dead-end, go nowhere job. When I graduated HS I went right to college, but looking back, I can honestly say I wasn't mature enough/ready for college yet. As a kid I was a VERY lazy student, I'd do as little work possible to pass, nothing more, nothing less. After spending 5 years doing something I absolutely hated, I'm SO motivated to not just graduate college, but to graduate with a really high GPA. Anytime my old laziness begins to creep back into my schoolwork, I just remind myself of my 5 years of hell, and that always helps me rededicate myself to my educational goals.
Lol I immediately pictured Ramsay saying "shut your fat mouth you f'ing cow and get back down there and write some f'ing comix!!!" to bendis. I don't know why but comics with an "x" just sounds Ramsay-ish.
ReplyDeleteThat's a hell of a good wake up call to remember. I'd say being extra motivated was well worth working in the GHETTO (take THAT bendis) if it's got ya over achieving.
"shut your fat mouth you f'ing cow and get back down there and write some f'ing comix!!!" Ha!!! That sounds exactly like something Ramsay would say too!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for the new KN season now, I haven't seen the commercial yet but I'm SURE he was spazzing out right?
ReplyDeleteThe commercial I saw was just basically a bunch of scenes of Ramsay yelling at people from the past seasons, nothing new. 2 weeks this Wednesday and we finally get a new Ramsay fix!
ReplyDeleteI Can't wait!!! When does Hell's Kitchen generally start with new seasons?
ReplyDeleteUsually in the summer... Which is a LONG time to wait.
ReplyDeleteArgh!!! I didn't know if they did two seasons per year or something. Man.. that's gonna take forever. I should get Hell's Kitchen on DVD for X-Mas.
ReplyDeleteWell, the first two HK seasons are for sale, so that might be a good way to deal with HK withdrawl. I have season #1, I'm still waiting to pick up season #2 though.
ReplyDeleteOh their on sale? Awesome I gotta check that out. I may have some money soon for once. Sucks being unemployed and having a bad comic habit, lol.
ReplyDeleteA lack of money is always tough, especially when you have a habit to support, like CB collecting!
ReplyDeleteIf it's bad for me who buys an average of maybe twenty comics a month it's gonna be brutal for guys like yourself.
ReplyDelete