Rating: ***

I’m a bit disappointed in this issue. After the first three issues blew me away and I proclaimed that this series was a future classic in the making, writer Geoff Johns stumbles a bit with this month’s issue of Blackest Night. For me, some of Black Lantern Firestorm’s dialogue was written poorly in the opening pages. We also jump to Gotham City for no reason other to see Jean Paul Valley aka Azrael resurrected as a Black Lantern while The Scarecrow whines about admiring the fear that the Black Lanterns are able to invoke (he can’t get scared because he’s used too much of his fear gas). Poor baby. He does have one fear of course - The Batman (cue dramatic Batman music).

This issue mostly focuses on Barry Allen - the Flash and his quest to take the reigns and try to “hold down the fort” here on Earth against the Black Lanterns. He’s with the Atom and Mera of Atlantis and he gives them a good pep talk to try to get them to step up and fight back against the Black Lanterns. The Flash then runs across the Earth continuing his pep talk and informing the other heroes of the situation. He tells them that Green Lantern is off trying to destroy the source of the Black Lanterns’ power and they have to keep fighting until that happens. 

In a very cool and powerful scene, the Atom meets up with the other members of the “Atom family” in Atom Smasher and Damage. They battle against the resurrected Black Lantern of their forefather Al Pratt, the original Atom. They are able to defeat him, but Damage is killed by the Atom’s deceased wife - now a Black Lantern Jean Loring. I’m sure he’ll probably get resurrected into a Black Lantern like Hawkman and the others.

Since the beginning of the series, we’ve been seeing the power levels of the Black Lanterns increasing. But what happens when it reaches 100%? Well we find out here as the levels have reached 100% and now the true leader of the Black Lanterns stands revealed. The leader rises in Coast City - the sight of Hal Jordan’s home town. The leader is Nekron. I wasn’t familiar with Nekron, so I had to do some research. It seems appropriate and fitting that this is the villain behind it all considering his history with the Green Lanterns. 

Since he first discovered the land of the living, the demon Nekron has wanted to conquer and reshape the land of the living similar to what Hal Jordan wanted to do when he was Paralax. There should be a tie-in down the road between Nekron and Paralax as the cover of Green Lantern #50 shows Hal Jordan possessed by Paralax once again.

Now the real fun should begin with Nekron at full power and ready to do battle with the DC universe. Black Hand is also there still carrying Bruce Wayne’s skull. Nekron is angry that Superman, Green Arrow, and the Flash have all cheated death. Maybe since Bruce Wayne has also “cheated” death and is off somewhere in the universe, having his skull is a way of trying to get him to truly die. Maybe when Nekron is defeated, Bruce will be resurrected.

Great art work by Ivan Reis as always. A good story with some cool moments. Still great fun.