Blackest Night Podcast

It was once again a great pleasure to be a part of the Raging Bullets podcast, joining hosts Sean Whelan and Jim Segulin in the last part of their Blackest Night coverage.

Sean and Jim are great ambassadors for the comics medium and if you don't already listen to their show, I highly recommend you give them a shot.  Raging Bullets goes very in depth into their discussions and they are always a lot of fun to listen to.  If you're not careful you'll find yourself getting sucked into buying more books that you already do, because you can't help but get caught up in their enthusiasm for the subject matter.  And that's I mean by being a comic ambassador - they always let you know what they found great in the books they are covering and spend more time talking about what they like than complaining about what they don't, which is refreshing giving all the negativity prevalent on the Internet from fans.

Their Blackest Night wrapup, their 202nd episode, was released last night and can be downloaded directly by clicking here, or you can visit their website to get it as well as subcribing to the show via your favorite podcast catcher.  I'll be joining Sean and Jim periodically as they start their coverage of Brightest Day and I'm looking forward to being a part of their show, and you can find them at most major conventions at a booth where you can meet them in person. 

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Hal's Uniform to be CG

One of the milestones that most Green Lantern fans are waiting for is the release of an image of Ryan Reynolds wearing the GL uniform.  All of us hoping for a leaked image will be in for a disappointment with the news that Reynolds isn't wearing one.

A fan made movie poster

No, he's not running around nude, but Warner Brothers is going a different route with Hal's uniform, one that will be either incredible awesome or incredibly lame.  The costume, according to Slashfilm, will be computer generated in post production.  According to their report, Reynolds is wearing a mocap suit similar to the one worn by Billy Crudup when he played Dr. Manhattan in the Watchmen film.

Oscar winning costume designer Ngila Dickson will be charting new territory with Green Lantern's uniform, which was given a thumbs up by Geoff Johns. In fact Johns responded via Twitter about the report, saying "The rumor is that Ryan's #GreenLantern uniform will be CGI -- hell, yeah it will be! Generated from his ring in Ivan Reis-like glory!! :)"   What is exciting about the idea is that Johns has been putting forth the notion that the Green Lantern uniform is made up of energy, and the thought the ring transforming Hal's wardrobe into the uniform could look amazing if it's done right.  At this point there's been no reason to doubt what Martin Campbell is doing with the movie, so I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope we see something really cool with the San Diego Comicon hits this summer.

Other information from Slashfilm's inside source is that Temura Morrison, Abin Sur in the film, looks great for his role.  Reynolds is apparently doing a knock out job in the movie, which is very reassuring.  The oft referred to first draft of the movie has been rewritten a lot and not only are some of the villain choices changing, so it the horrid ending to the film where Hal's ring is recharged by a kiss from Carol (THANK GOD!).  Not changing is of course the use of Hector Hammond and the screen test of his makeup looks amazing.

This IS Abin's ship

Slashfilm also confirms that the ship spotted last week is indeed Abin Sur's craft.  So either the footage shot was the ship being used for something other than the initial crash, or there's a tweaking to the origin.  Personally I don't have a problem with that kind of change, the bigger issue always that of Hollywood being true to the source material while still managing to work in the film medium.  So far it looks like we're getting that.

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Blackest Night - A Quick Look Back

The dust has just settled on the event that was Blackest Night so maybe it seems too fresh of a topic for retrospective so soon, but this event was so big for DC that it certainly deserves a look at in its entirety for what it tried to accomplish.

Certainly the true test of an even is how it is viewed in the years after it's originally published, but I have to say that, at least with fresh eyes, Blackest Night is among my top events of all time.  What Blackest Night achieved, in my mind, is a great balance between the summer action superhero/zombie movie and a personal philosophical exploration about the nature of life and how we each choose to use the gift we are given.  We had moments reminiscent of classic horror movies complete with creaking doors and monsters leaping out of the shadows and we had the revelation that in the DC Universe life began on Earth.

And from a certain standpoint, Blackest Night is perhaps one of the most well-rounded events in comics history, complete (or replete) with merchandising designed to keep readers' interests peaked during the whole time.  With nearly every issue of Blackest Night being the number one selling book of the month by any publisher, we can be pretty much assured that DC is going to look at this marketing strategy for how they promote other big stories down the road.

Kyle's "death" in Blackest Night

A common criticism is in the number of books and tie-ins that fans felt they had to buy to get the "whole story".  One very well known comics reviewer, Blair Butler, went so far as to say that she couldn't keep up with all the tie-ins from Blackest Night.  I contend that DC did a wonderful job with Blackest Night in this regard.  While it seems rather silly to think that someone would read the event and not pick up both Green Lantern books you certainly could have and still gotten the bulk of the story - but it does pale in comparison to the experience of reading all three of these titles.  However, at no point did I feel that I was missing out on anything by not getting the mini series and one shots outside of the three main books.  When I did pick them up there were things that added elements to the overall story, particularly the Titans mini - and even more importantly I found that any tie in I purchased felt like Blackest Night was an organic part of the story and not a case of shoehorning an event into a title so you could slap a banner on it an up the sales.  Did sales go up on those books, certainly they did and in particular those issues that allowed fans to get the free rings being given away.  But I have to applaud DC for making me feel that any purchase I decided to make was one worth making once I closed the book.

Beware their power!

Blackest Night was a story filled with jaw dropping moments and eye popping artwork.  Every person who worked on this event deserves a round of applause.  Blackest Night and the addition of the emotional spectrum to the Green Lantern mythos could easily have been rendered foolish if not for the efforts of the art team.  In terms of memorable moments both Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi really showed why they are two of the best writers in comics right now and their collaborative efforts really paid off for all of us.  The appearance of the Black Lanterns in issue one was a creepy stroke of fun and we had great moments like that, from Kyle's "death" and Guy's Red Lantern turn to John Stewart's battle on Xanshi to Hal Jordan's indomitable will to embrace the White Lantern power and create the Corps that brought Black Hand back to life.  

One last kiss before Parallax

I think it's important that each of the Earth Green Lanterns got moments to shine in Blackest Night.  Some early criticism back when Rebirth first came out was how any of these characters would shine brightly and get their moments.  But here each one faced demons from their past that illustrated for us that it's time for us to move on and remember the events that have made us who we are while not being chained to them.  John and Xanshi, Guy and his father, and Kyle's refrigerator flashback showing how all three men are stepping out from their own personal shadows and into the Brightest Day.  For Hal Jordan what greater moment than to be the one possessing Parallax of his own accord knowing what had happened years before when evil escaped  his sight.  While not a Green Lantern, certainly Barry Allen had wonderful moments where he showed why he finally deserves to be back from the dead.

What Geoff Johns continues to do is add more to the DC Universe without undoing the past.  From the original prophecy told to Abin Sur years ago to now, Johns has managed to take elements that were no intentionally connected and woven them into the fabric of the Green Lantern mythology, and subsequently into the great DC Universe.  A number of new characters, from the noble yet troubled Atrocitus to the humor laden comic relief / mass murderer Larfleeze, now join the pantheon of characters for writers to continue to play with.  And other characters either discarded or full of untapped potential from the Antimonitor to Mera have new leases on life and now seem full of story possibilities waiting to be written for them.  

Of course we can debate the "dead is dead" line quite a bit, but I tend to think that Blackest Night is the end of an era for DC, at least for a while.  I don't think we're going to see characters snuffed out without some forethought knowing that they will be off the playing field for some time.  Personally, if this means that we force writers to come up with compelling stories that don't use stunt deaths to shock us or sell the story, I'll be happy.  I don't think that any character should be killed off permanently and I don't take stock in the "dead is dead forever" mentality, but I do want death to have some story telling meaning otherwise we devalue life, death and resurrection as effective story telling devices and we cheat the reader out of what should be powerful experiences.  

The Brave and the bold

Buried beneath the zombies and the revelations of the Guardians' secrets is Geoff's philosophy that it's not life which gives us each meaning, but us who decides what meaning we create out of the life we are given.  We all get bogged down in the mundane and we all take our lives for granted and perhaps the best lesson we can walk away from Blackest Night is the notion that we should try to live our lives larger than we do, because Nekron is out there somewhere and sooner or later we will join him.  If we do that then surely Blackest Night succeeded.  So we should all challenge ourselves to embrace what we have and make each day the Brightest Day. 

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Reynolds' Jordan Gets a Daddy

The cast of the upcoming Green Lantern movie gets another addition as Jon Tenney, currently starring in "The Closer", has let Superhero Hype know that he'll be playing Martin Jordan in the film.

Jon Tenney is Martin Jordan

 According to his comments on the site, "The Closer" will shoot around him in June so that he can film his scenes as Hal Jordan's father.  Tenney has done a lot of television work, notably "The Closer", "CSI", and "The Division".

Superhero Hype asked Tenney about his role, but he really couldn't reveal anything beyond what we already know about Martin Jordan's appearance. "Well, it's under lock down, that script. It's very, very secretive. They’re only releasing sections of it, so they're keeping everybody in the dark," he said. "What I've read is amazing. And 'Green Lantern' was one of my favorite comic book characters as a kid." 

In other news, comic artist Jason Palmer has posted on his Deviant Art page that he's doing some work on both the Jonah Hex and Green Lantern films.

Palmer's art via DeviantArt

The art, at left, is not based on any images of the actual movie costume or shots provided to him by Warner Brothers.  According to the artist the image was meant to be used as a cover page for the submitted artwork, but was not included in the actual submission, thereby allowing him to share the image without violating any confidentiality agreements.

While it's very encouraging to see the white gloves in the image, again the reality is that this is not indicative of anything we'll see in the actual movie.

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GL Movie Update - Abin Sur's Ship!?

There's been quite a bit of information coming out of New Orleans where the upcoming Green Lantern film has been shooting for the past few weeks.  Some of the information is really amazing including a photo taken of a mysterious ship over the water that may very well belong to Abin Sur.

Carl Ferris

First off, we have confirmation on the role that Jay O. Saunders will be playing in the movie.  Saunders was spotted on the set in the middle of March when filming began and the Old Point Bar, rechristened "Broome's Bar" for the movie.  He will be portraying Carl Ferris in the movie, a role in the first draft of the script that didn't have much face time.  Given that he was shooting at the bar there must have been more screen time added for the character in the subsequent rewrites of the movie.

After filming at the bar, production shifted to the Second Line Stages and the on to campus at the University of New Orleans, specifically a science building which is probably doubling as the site where Hector Hammond encounters Abin Sur's corpse and develops his mental powers.  

This past weekend Geoff Johns was in attendance at WonderCon and he did talk about the movie for a few minutes during one of the panels, which was recorded and posted on YouTube.  He of course doesn't reveal anything, but does mention some of what we figured would be in the film in terms of some of the members of the Green Lantern Corps.  He also commented at the convention that there might be some really exciting news coming out during Comicon this summer with regards to the movie and a potential shared DC universe film continuity. 

Aaron Sims, character designer for the Green Lantern as well as the recently released Clash of the Titans remake, also confirmed that there will be a number of aliens in the movie since he designed a large number of aliens for the production. 

Abin Sur's ship?

But the most exciting piece of the puzzle appeared today over at the Comic Book Movie website, which has become the place to get information these days.  A resident of Madisonville stopped by the set and took a quick photo of an alien ship hovering over the water.  The picture at left has been enhanced a bit to try to pull out some of the detail.  

Of course the first thought is that this is Abin Sur's craft, but of course we all know that Hal Jordan's predecessor crashed in the desert, so this photo indicates that either the origin is being modified a bit, or this isn't Abin Sur's craft.  It could also have ties to Legion if he's still one of the threats that Green Lantern faces in the film, or perhaps even Hal's flight simulator.  Or, it could be something completely different that we aren't aware of. 

Mark Strong has made some encouraging comments to USA Today, (linked here to MTV's Splashpage), about how he interprets Sinestro, and he's pretty much right on other than thinking that Hal was inspired by Errol Flynn.  Gil Kane was actually inspired by Paul Newman for the look of Hal, but that's certainly a minor point, but knowing that Strong is looking to channel his inner David Niven and staying true to Sinestro's comic book appearance and, even more importantly, staying true to Sinestro's character.

All I know is that June 17, 2011 seems a long way off!

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Blackest Night 8 Review

The end is here....and so is a new beginning as Blackest Night comes to a close, ushering in the Brightest Day.  Like any great saga there are closures in this final issue but not without creating some new dynamics that will change the DCU going forward.  That's the nature of episodic fiction, creating tendrils that connect one story to the next.

We start this issue where we left of the last one, with White Lantern Sinestro about to confront Nekron.  Geoff Johns clearly understands Hal Jordan, his strengths, his weaknesses, and what drives him.  Having lost his father and seeing how his father's occupation affected the rest of his family it's no wonder why Hal appears shallow at times and a man-whore at others.  It's his coping mechanism for wanting to keep everyone at an arm's length so that he doesn't have to deal with the pain when they die.  It's been there all along, but now it's in black and white for anyone who didn't figure it out before. 

Coupled with that is Hal's realization that he can no longer be afraid of that unknown future.  It's a minor statement in an otherwise busy two page spread, but it marks a progression in Hal's character that needs to happen if he's going to evolve.  If anything about Blackest Night has disappointed me it's the notion that Hal didn't face his fear head on - he really could have benefited from a confrontation with a Black Lantern Martin Jordan and I thought we were going to get that moment after seeing his grave marker a few issues back.  I still maintain that such a confrontation would have been far more powerful and really put an exclamation point on the subject, but instead we'll have to settle a little for what we get.  But in my mind it will remain as the single greatest missed opportunity of the whole event.

Sinestro gets the best of Nekron...or does he?

Sinestro is really pissed and he's going to take out all his long held frustration over what happened to Abin Sur on Nekron, the symbol of Abin's downfall and tarnished reputation.  The battle between the two is over rather quickly, with Sinestro seemingly killing Nekron by ripping out his heart. 

It's way too early in the issue for that to happen and since Nekron is technically already dead, ripping his heart out is only a minor annoyance.  He's back again and starts taking it to Sinestro and Sinestro's ego and need to enforce order through control causes the entity to reject him at a most inopportune time.

Lex Luthor's greed for all the power interrupts the New Guardians, but he is felled by the most unlikely of beings....Larfleeze, who bashes Lex with his Orange Lantern before Black Lanterns start battling the New Guardians once again.

Lest we forget some of the stakes in this confrontation between the light and the dark, we see a glimpse of Hal's extended family, huddled in the home overlooking the horrific battler that envelopes all that they know.  It's a neat couple of panels reminding us how much Coast City has itself embraced the ideals of the Green Lantern Corps, and that, even faced with the ever encroaching hordes of the undead, Hal's niece and nephew stand there in defiance in the arms of the parents. 

Just in time to join the fray are the rest of the corps, fresh from their dealings with Xanshi in Green Lantern #46.  Just when you thought that Ivan Reis had possible hit tilt with how many characters he could cram into a two page spread, he blows it out of the water with some terrific imagery of just how intense and epic this event is.  I think he's managed to get every major player in there somewhere.  Just gorgeous!

As everyone with a power ring on focuses on Nekron, Deadman shares some crucial information with Hal by taking over Guy Gardner.  Nekron exists and will always exist because he is the the embodiment of blackness, and so long as there's any blackness from the gaps between molecules to the expanse of space he will exist.  When Black Hand committed suicide it allowed Nekron to use him as a connection between Nekron's reality and our own.  Get Hand off the playing field and you Nekron cannot have a foothold in the land of the living, and to do that you have to restore Black Hand to life.

Johns makes some philosophical statements using Hal and Barry to tell Nekron that in essence everyone has a connection to both life and death, but it's our choices that matter most.  While Nekron may have made it possible for people like Barry and Hal to return to life, they only did so because they chose to.  That life in itself has no purpose beyond the purpose we choose to give it.  If you could boil this event down to one statement, one idea that Johns is trying to talk about, that's it.  It's a profound one that deserves more exploration than what I can give it in this review and I'll probably tackle in an overall review of the whole Blackest Night saga in the coming days.

The short lived White Lantern Corps

Hal's realization that we are all connected and his will to live allows him and all the previously dead heroes that Nekron helped to gain access to the White Lantern and another epic two page spread.  Those that were Black Lanterns are restored as the newly formed White Lantern Corps confront Black Hand dead on (pun intended!).

The WLC choose life for Black Hand and we see the white entity restore William Hand to his former self and he begins spewing white rings from his mouth.  One rings flies through Nekron and to the Black Central Power Battery, restoring and freeing an Anti-Monitor who immediately starts taking Nekron to task.  While Nekron and the Anti-Monitor trade blows Black Hand continues puking white power rings which surround Nekron and ultimately cause him and the Black Lanterns to explode and dissipate as we see a White Lantern ring state "Let there be light". 

More White Lantern rings being stating the names of various dead characters from the DCU.  Amon Tomaz (Osiris), Jennie-Lynn Hayden (Jade), Digger Harkness (Captain Boomerang), Hall Hall (Hawk), Ronnie Raymond (Firestorm), Eobard Thawne (Professor Zoom), Maxwell Lord, Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall (the Hawks), J'onn J'onzz (Martian Manhunter), Arthur Curry (Aquaman), and Boston Brand (Deadman) all have their names called.  Opening up the four page gatefold:

They live again.  We knew that this event was going to bring back several dead characters since DC wanted to address the "revolving door of death" and make death have more impact on the DCU.  Before that door gets closed a little tighter Johns was going to have one last chance to get some of DC's toys back off the shelf and onto the playing field.  I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during the discussions that must have happened between Geoff and Dan Didio to hear who else might have been in consideration.

I'm sure that there are people not happy about who did and did not return.  I've purposely stayed off of any discussion boards and avoided reviews because I didn't want to have my own opinions affected by others.  I'm sure that many fans wanted to see the return of the Dibney's and Ted Kord.  Given the level of affection that fans have for those characters it is kind of a surprise to see Osiris, Deadman, and Jade back considering they don't hold nearly the same level fan support.  And the fact that it is Shiera who inhabits Hawkgirl's body I'm sure is both cause for heated debate amongst Hawk fans.

In the end though these choices are the ones made and they all have some interesting things to flavor the DCU going forward.  I'm not going to spend time debating anything because it's rather pointless to wast the energy over something that has already been decided. 

Having Deadman alive for one thing is very intriguing, and did you notice that he's the only resurrected character wearing a White Lantern ring? That Ronnie and Jason seem to be the new pairing for Firestorm is a change that will be explored in Brightest Day.  Of course having the Anti-Monitor and Max Lord back could lead to some really epic stories in the months to come and Jade's return will make Kyle Rayner's love life very complicated to say the least.  Professor Zoom's return is no surprise at all if you've read Flash: Rebirth, but it'll be great to see Digger's interactions with Barry and the Rogue's in the new Flash ongoing.

The fate of Black Hand

All of these newly returned characters have some face time as we learn a little about each.  Aquaman's reappearance nearly causes Mera to die when her love extinguishes the red power of rage that keeps her body alive.  Max Lord and the Anti-Monitor disappear to wreak havoc another day and Larfleeze turns Lex Luthor over to our heroes, demanding that he get his reward, a Guardian of his own.  Sayd and Ganthet, who's returned to his role as a Guardian of Hope, have an exchange that understates the cosmic shift that has to take place in light of recent events.  Sayd agrees to help Larfleeze and suddenly everyone realizes that Black Hand and the Indigo Tribe have gone AWOL.

I know that Geoff Johns has said that we won't be getting a translation of the Indigo language, making the next page and the last entry of the Book of Black infuriating since it's all in Indigo-speak!  Black Hand, enslaved and apparently addled in the custody of the Indigos, may perhaps yet find peace surrounded by beings driven by compassion.  I hope not, since he's much more fun as a twisted sociopath licking skulls and spewing twisted tales of murder and mayhem.

Jumping to Gotham and the denouement between Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, the Brave and the Bold.  I hope that Johns continues to create moments for these two characters going forward. Barry and Hal are two of the main reasons superhero comics have survived the "seduction of the innocent" phase of comic book history, their creation signalled the dawn of the Silver Age and deserve their places as icons in the DCU in equal footing to the Trinity.  It's good to see them together again with time spent by modern writers cementing this friendship beyond the tag teams and book sharing of years past.

The Brave and the Bold

Barry and Hal talk about life and death and encourage us all to find our own reasons for the meaning of our lives and focus on living the life we're given.  Amidst the philosophy is the statement that death in the DC Universe will be different from now on, that "dead is dead".  I hope so and I hope that this sticks so that we don't have event driven deaths and resurrections for the sake of sensationalism instead of using good writing to make the story a must-read.  The revolving door of death has over the years devalued the ramifications of losing someone, and in turn lowering the value of life.  I for one am glad to see a change in thinking.

As Hal and Barry stand there at the grave of Bruce Wayne they reiterate what we've all known since Final Crisis - that  Bruce is out there somewhere, somewhen, waiting to be found.  The White entity is out there, too, symbolically urging us all to stop living in the past and embrace today unafraid of the future we can make if we remember that we are all connected.  With that Blackest Night comes to a close with an image of a White Power Battery in the center of a newly formed crater, teasing us about Brightest Day.

I cannot commend the team on this series enough in terms of the magnitude of the story, the amazing artwork and all the elements that have brought Blackest Night to readers over the past year.  In a way I'm kind of saddened to realize it's over, but there's so much story potential going forward that I can't wait to see what's next.  This issue did everything it needed to and then some to bring this event to a satisfying conclusion.  It should be no shock that I give this issue 5 lanterns.

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