Blackest Night #6 vs. Siege #1!

Since the two mega events from the top two comic book companies in the world arrived at my home at the same time today, I figured I'd review the both of them in one post and see which company comes out on top. So, in one corner we have the 6th part of the Blackest Night x-over, written by Geoff Johns, arguably DC's top writer. In the other corner stands the first installment of Marvel's Siege, which is written by Marvel's golden boy, Brian Michael BENDIS. Both events(supposedly)have been in the works for several years now, and both should greatly shake up both companies status quo. So, who wins round one? Let's find out.

Blackest Night #6(of 8): Writer: Geoff Johns. Pencils: Ivan Reis.
We begin this issue with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen managing to outrun the black power rings that were trying to turn them into Black Lanterns. Upon returning to the battle in Coast City, Hal meets up with Ganthet, former Guardian of the Universe with the Green Lanterns and current head honcho of the Blue Lanterns. Ganthet uses a fail safe that was built into the power rings long ago to force Hal's ring to duplicate itself. Ganthet takes the second green ring and joins the Green Lantern Corp. From there, Ganthet gathers the heads of the other Corps(Hal, Sinestro, Indigo-1, Atrocitus, Saint Walker, Carol Ferris and Larfleeze)and uses his powers to make their rings duplicate and search out somebody on Earth who embodies each rings emotion. The orange ring of greed latches on to Lex Luthor, the yellow ring of fear goes to the Scarecrow(YEAH!), the red ring of rage connects to Mera, the violet ring of love breaks Wonder Woman free of her enslavement to the black ring, the indigo ring of compassion finds the Atom, and the blue ring of hope joins with Barry Allen. This issue ends with the new members of each Corps arriving at the battle in Coast City to take on the forces of Nekron.

Umm, that was it? Huh... I was expecting A LOT more... Basically, the only thing that happened here was Barry and Hal outrunning their designated black rings, and Ganthet duplicating each Corps power rings and giving those rings out for a period of 24 hours. I've got to say, this issue was a MAJOR disappointment to me... Granted, there were a few cool moments such as Scarecrow FINALLY becoming a member of the Sinestro Corps(even if it is only for 24 hours), Black Lantern Kid Flash attacking Barry and Ganthet welcoming himself to the Green Lantern Corps, but a few cool moments do not make a great comic book. This issue felt like a placeholder for the climatic battle yet to come between the combined Corps and Nekron, and I for one expected better here. Oh well, here's hoping the final two issues of Blackest Night make up for this one.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.I'm sorry, but Ganthet welcoming himself to the Green Lantern Corps is awesome on SO many levels!

Siege #1(of 4): Writer: Brian Michael BENDIS. Pencils: Olivier Coipel.
This issue begins with Loki and Norman Osborn tricking the Asgardian Volstagg into destroying Soldier Field in Chicago during a battle with the U-Foes. With that, Osborn has reason to invade Asgard(which is hovering over Oklahoma)and throw the Asgardians out of the United States, which is something both Osborn and Loki want. Osborn assembles his Avengers and the entire Initiative, and under the command of Ares, Osborn launches a major military offensive against Asgard, against the wishes of the President of the United States. Thor, who was caring for the injured Tony Stark in Oklahoma, witnesses the battle on Asgard, and goes to defend his home. Upon arriving on Asgard, Thor is promptly knocked a country mile by the Sentry. Thor and the Sentry engage in battle, and the Sentry is joined by Osborn, the U-Foes, Moonstone and a few others. This issue ends with Thor being defeated, while Captain America(Steve Rogers!)watches from the edge of his seat at the Avengers hideout.

OK, now THIS is the way to do a major company-wide crossover! Before I get to the good, allow me to get something off my chest first. I'm really sick and tired of Marvel constantly resorting to terrorist attacks as the rational behind many of their major x-overs... I didn't like it during Civil War, and I didn't like it here. However, that was pretty much the only thing I didn't like about this comic! The story was fast paced, the dialogue was perfectly done(I especially loved Ares war speech to Osborn's gathered forces prior to the battle for Asgard)and the artwork was beautiful. Man, BENDIS was firing on all cylinders for the first time in a long time with this one! Great first issue that has me salivating at the thought of the next issue!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.(By the way, I'd have given this comic a 10 out of 10 if not for the destruction of Soldier Field.)I know the Bears were lousy this year, but come on, they didn't deserve this!

Well, in the battle of the mega events, Marvel's Siege soundly thrashed DC's Blackest Night this month. Will Blackest Night be able to make a comeback in round 2? I guess we'll find out in two months time.