Aris Iliopoulos: Blackest Night has begun. This means we are late with this review.
Brian Knippenberg: It certainly has…*cue spooky music*
BK: oopsie.
AI: Ok that’s out of the way
AI: ;)
AI: Green Lantern #43
BK: The prelude to Blackest Night!
AI: And Mahnke’s first issue as artist for GL.
BK: Yesiree!
AI: Let it be known Doug Mahnke is my favorite artist. He really hit a grand slam here.
BK: He’s up there for me too.
AI: He’s Greek you know.
BK: Probably one of his best looking books.
AI: No probably about it.
BK: Ohhh, it all makes sense now!
AI: Makes sense that a Greek be the best artist. Yes it makes perfect sense.
BK: Between the profiles as seen in the FCBD issue of Blackest Night #0 and now GL #43, his work is so polished…unbelievably good!
AI: Um…the inker is Greek too.
BK: Also, thanks to inker Christian Alamy.
AI: Yes Christian is Greek. How awesome is that?
AI: People reading this are like.. Enough with the Greeks already. Well…If you were Greek you’d understand (right Manolis?)
Manolis: I had no idea about Christian Alamy. I feel a sense of Greek Pride overwhelming me even as I type these words!
BK: I feel like doing a Thracian dance!
AI: I’m doing as we speak
AI: While eating Baklava!
BK: No, not my good china!!!
BK: *Crash*
BK: Nevermind.
BK: Great work from some great artists!
AI: I think what really worked was how Mahnke presented what amounts to a “tales from the crypt”, EC comics style origin for Black Hand
AI: I mean obviously the monstrous and macabre stuff was brilliant. But so was how Mahnke handled William Hands history and family life.
BK: Very. The page with Black Hand lying in his grave is utterly chilling.
AI: And the splash page in the grave was beautiful.
AI: You read my mind.
BK: Exactly!
AI: I loved pacing too. When Black Hand visits his family home
AI: And
AI: Well
AI: Kills every one
AI: It was beautiful. Great emotion and expression. I mean it was gory without being vulgar.
BK: Mahnke did nail that scene beautifully! I thought it was interesting that Black Hand’s “symbol” was taken from his family’s business, the Hand Mortuary.
AI: Very nice touch
AI: Which brings us to Johns story
AI: Amazing. The telling of William Hands fascination with death was amazing. Eerie. It works so well. I loved the touch with the mother
BK: Yes…Geoff Johns does what he does best. An intricate portrait of the early years of a super-villain and how deep their mental illness or hang-ups run. It’s worked many times for the Rogue’s origins in FLASH. And how their illnesses or hang-ups truly define what type of villain they become.
AI: Yes. Exactly. He was born to be Death’s avatar.
AI: I love how Scar(?) threw up the ring and brought Hand back after he sacrificed himself for the Black Corps.
AI: Great end scene.
BK: The scene where the psychiatrist makes the observation that William is not comfortable around people and he corrects him by saying, “People that move”, was bone-chilling!
AI: And there was so much there.
BK: Yes, the scene with Scar, like the Red Lanterns is very visceral.
AI: You get an origin and history for hand. Motivation. And a real tone setter for what is going to be a very visceral story
AI: What do you think of Black Hand being the avatar for the Black Lantern Corps?
BK: Again, Geoff John’s strength is taking what many think as a throwaway character and making them into a force to be reckoned with!
AI: Well I’m certainly scared of him. Did you see that last page ?
BK: I peed myself a little.
BK: Oh, and that page scared me too!
AI: That’s what that smell is?
BK: *shuffles*
AI: who do you think is the power behind the Black Corps? Anti-monitor or Nekron?
BK: That’s a very good question…
AI: I can’t see it being Anti-monitor.
AI: He already had a corpse.
AI: Corps.
AI: Oops.
BK: Wasn’t the Anti-Monitor transformed into the Black Lantern Power Battery by “the one behind it all”?
AI: I think so.
BK: Or am I misremembering?
AI: That leaves who?
AI: Nekron.
AI: Certainly fits the bill.
BK: Then a force who can do that and convert a Guardian of the Universe is powerful indeed!
AI: Demon Lord of a death dimension.
BK: Nekron would make sense.
AI: I called it from the beginning by the way. And I new it was Black Hand too. Johns owes me dinner.
BK: He did first appear in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #2 (1981).
BK: I’m your witness!
AI: The issue was pretty flawless if you ask me. The perfect compliment of art and story. You rarely see that kind of perfection from a creative team.
BK: I agree, this issue was a gem!
AI: What do you think of the over all Blackest Night event?
BK: Truly held my interest and makes me eager for the event instead of fatigued.
AI: I think its going to amazing. We read the first issue of Blackest Night.
AI: Which we will tag-team this week right?
BK: Absolutely!!!
AI: My hope is though we don’t have an obligatory Hal Jordan tries on a Black Ring issue. I’m over that already.
BK: I hope not.
AI: So what’s the end game here? White Lanterns?
BK: Or the combined forces of the others…
AI: I don’t see the Reds teaming up with Sinestro. I wonder if Mongul will be involved?
BK: When Red, Green, and Blue lights overlap…it intensifies to make white.
BK: I’m sure Mongul will be in GL Corps.
AI: Heh. Him and Sinestro are gonna need some alone time.
BK: So, probably the Green Lanterns, Blue Lanterns, and Red Lanterns combine their power.
BK: Oh yeah!
AI: I think the whole Blackest Night run up has been great.
BK: I do too!
AI: And the creative team for the event is well, perfect. Now that Mahnke is on board it’s going to hit a whole other level.
BK: They’ve got it down pat!
AI: Mahnke and Gleason make a GL artistic one-two combo!
BK: Mahnke was the perfect choice for a space opera like Green Lantern.
BK: Another win for DC Comics!
AI: Yeah, and he’s Greek.
AI: They need a Greek Lantern
BK: Greek Lantern! I like it! Write it up!
AI: Lol.
AI: Any final Thoughts on GL #43?
AI: I just think every one needs to be buying this book. It’s consistently a great read.
BK: Even if you’re not a fan of GL in particular, give this issue a try. Truly great writing, spellbinding art, and a macabre story of a disturbed villain’s beginnings. How could you go wrong?
BK: But, Aris is right. Green Lantern is a great book!
AI: And so is Green Lantern Corps. What Tomasi and Gleason do there month in, month out is amazing.
BK: Agreed!
AI: Oh. On a side note
BK: Yes?
AI: If you haven’t read the Last Resort by Palmiotti and Gray
AI: I suggest you get it it’s a great read.
BK: I haven’t. Really? That good?
AI: Definitely.
AI: See you in a few days we get to do this again…What book are doing this week?
BK: Till then, and when I buy new china…
BK: Umm…
BK: Should we just dive into Blackest Night #1?
BK: 2 in one week?
AI: Hell yeah.
