Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3 – Review

by Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Chris Samnee, Mike Mayhew (artists), John Kalisz, Andy Troy (colorist), Pat Brosseau (letterer)

What a jip! 2 stories only?! What the hell?! If DC’s gonna skimp out us on our expected Lantern stories, they could’ve at least given us 2 compelling stories related to the ongoing event; not two character profiles that read like annuals that you can pass on. And what’s with the Directory’s Commentary for Free Comic Book Day’s Blackest Night #0? That’s something I usually expect to find at the end of the trade.

So what are we really getting with Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3? 2 character histories (Kilowag’s and Arisia’s) that don’t reveal anything new about the characters, just the dead people in their lives– who we can expect to be in the background somewhere when all hell has broken loose and Johns has each respective character battling the ghosts from their pasts. I guess that’s supposed to be the point of these two stories– to expect and know who those Black Lanterns are.

But if you’ve already picked up the first two, you might as well swoop this one. The Kilowog story takes up most of the pages, and I guess I can say it’s all right. In this story, Tomasi gives us the history of how Kilowag came to be the hardass that he is. And although you may know where the story is going by the second page, it’s still somewhat entertaining to witness the half-assed character exploration behind Kilowog and how he got his ball-busting drill sergeant ways from Lantern Ermey (lame Full Metal Jacket reference by the way, Tomasi…). As for the Arisa story, it’s forgettable, unexciting, and reads as if the creative team thought it would be funny to forcefuly run an unfunny gag over and over…

There aren’t a lot of redeeming qualities with Tales of the Corps #3; but since it’s the 3 out of 3, you may as well get it. Read it once, slip it back in the bag and board, and marvel at it for a couple of seconds when you connect all three covers. Then pray that Blackest Night #2 comes out already.

Grade: D

-Ray Hilario

WCBR’s Top Picks

Ray’s Top Picks

Best of the Past Week: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #8 – I simply never wanted it to end.

Most Anticipated for this Week: Green Lantern: First Flight – Looks like a bland week for Blackest Night, but fear not, we’ve got the first animated GL feature ever coming out on DVD. Law and Order SVU’s Christopher Meloni FTW!

Other Top Picks: Blackest Night Tales of the Corps #3, Wednesday Comics #4, Wonder Woman, #34, Detective Comics #855, Madame Xanadu #13, Dark Reign Sinister Spider-Man #2, Dark X-Men Beginning #2, King of Pop Michael Jackson The Comic Book #1

Kyle’s Top Picks

Best of the Past Week: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #8 – If you haven’t been picking up Oz as a monthly, do yourself a favor and buy the hardcover collection the day it comes out.  I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Most Anticipated for this Week: Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man #2 & Detective Comics #855 – More Chris Bachalo and more J.H. Williams III. ’nuff said.

Other Top Picks for this Week: Wednesday Comics #4, Dark X-Men: The Beginning #2, New Avengers #55, Secret Warriors #6, Terror Inc. Apocalypse Soon #4, Thunderbolts #134, Ghost Rider Vol. 6 TPB (FINALLY!)

Rob G’s Picks

Pick of the Week: Amazing Spider-Man #600- Finally a “monumental” issue that lived up to its hype. Virtually every aspect of this comic was great and set up tons of interesting stuff for the future.

Most Anticipated: Fantastic Four #569- Mark Millar made me actually enjoy the Fantastic Four for the first time, um, ever. Now his awesome “Masters of Doom” arc comes to a close, unfortunately minus Hitch.

Other Picks: Detective Comics #855; Dark Tower the Fall of Gilead #3; War of Kings Ascension #4; Ultimatum #6.

Alex’s Top Picks

Best Of The PastWeek: Invincible #64 – For the second month in a row, Invincible had far and away one the most shocking event of the month.  It was also surprisingly feel good.  Anything that makes me watery eyed is an instant pick of the week!

Most Anticipated: Northlanders #19 – Brian Wood is on a hot streak as of late and last month’s Shield Maidens issue was amazing.  I can’t wait to see how it ends.  This is truly one of the best books out there and if you’re not reading it, you should be.  Really hard-hitting, smart stuff.  The fact I picked it over Detective Comics should indicate how good it is.

Other Top Picks for this Week: Detective Comics #855, New Avengers #55, Thunderbolts #134, Justice Society #29, Secret Warriors #6, Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3, Battlefields: Tankies #3

Tony’s Picks

Best of the Past Week: Incredible Hercules #131 – Any fears I had about this series losing its mojo were quickly squashed with this issue, which was funny as hell and a pure joy to read.  As long as they can keep up this kind of quality, they’ve got me hooked as a reader.

Most Anticipated for this Week: Lobster Johnson book 1: The Satan Factory – My pick of the week isn’t even a comic, but instead a pulp fiction book based on a comic character!  Dark Horse has a beautiful book on their hands here, with its retro pulp cover, and I’m excited to see if it’s as good a read as it looks to be.

Other Top Picks: Wednesday Comics #4, Invincible Iron Man vol 2: World’s Most Wanted, Ghost Rider: Last Stand