Comic Book Review: Blackest Night #3 (of 8)

Written by Geoff Johns

Art and cover by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert

Plot: Hal Jordan and The Flash are in a battle with deceased JLA members, most notably Firestorm.  In the meantime, the current, living Firestorm looses someone near and dear to his heart due to the dead, Black Lantern Firestorm.  And when all hope seemed lost, we are finally introduced to the much talked about Indigo Tribe.

My Thoughts: A fellow comic book buddy told me this after reading Blackest Night #3, “This mini-series will go down as the greatest comic story of all time as long as it finishes well.”  And I very much agree with that statement.  The complexity of this story is mind-boggling.  Johns has done something that Marvel comics failed to do with “Marvel Zombies.”  Everyone loves a story about mindless, brain-eating zombies right?  Marvel comics did attempted this and, while still entertaining, failed miserable as a good story.  Johns has put a lot of heart into Blackest Night by making this story emotional and terrifying.

Firestorm is without a doubt creepier than any of the heroes that have risen thus far.  He has a lot of one-liners that will make your skin crawl.  However, that shouldn’t discredit the fear factor that all the risen heroes bring to the story.  Black Lantern Martian Manhunter scares the crap out of me!

Now, I was beginning to wonder when the story was truly going to push forward in the plot seeing as how it was seeming to focus more on bringing people back from the dead rather than on the plot itself.  But #3 certainly does bring some things to light that helps us to understand things a little better.  Two questions come to mind...
1.     Are these risen heroes the actual heroes, or have the rings just taken over the empty shell?  As we learned in Blackest Night: Batman #1, (review coming soon) Deadman’s body was taken, while his soul was not.  Is Deadman different because of his power or are all of the risen dead bodies souls floating around wondering what the heck is going on?
2.     Why are the Black Lantern rings so different as far as how they are made from all the other lantern rings?  They seem to be embedded into the Black Lantern bodies which, while still revealing a huge part of the mystery, still causes more questions to arise.

It was fun to see the Indigo Tribe finally make their presence known.  And what an entrance they make!  Not only do they come in pounding away at the Black Lanterns, they seem to know more about what’s going on than anyone else.  It makes me wonder if the Indigo Tribe was the very first corps to exist, and the Guardians of the universe only thought they were the beginning.

The art of course is fantastic as always.  While Reis doesn’t rival Ed Benes, he’s still up there as one of the best comic book artists in the biz.

Overall, virtually flawless as an issue.  It was exciting, disturbing and full of angst.  (Has anyone figured out I love the word ANGST?)  Worthy of one of the top spots for this month.

5 out of 5 stars.

Next Month: Blackest Night #4 (of 8)

Summer's hottest event explodes in this critical issue! Hold on to your power rings, because the secrets behind the Blackest Night finally stand revealed! While Earth is evacuated, Hal Jordan embarks on a brave journey to the darkest depths to uncover the truth behind the Black Lanterns! You won't believe what he uncovers!