Blackest Night: Superman #3 – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Eddy Barrows with Allan Goldman (pencils), Ruy José with Eber Ferreira (inks)

The Story: Superman is getting the stuffing beat out of him by Black Lantern Kal-L and Superboy. Ma Kent is being stalked by Black Lantern Lois Lane. Psycho-Pirate is turning Smallville into a warzone. Welcome to the final issue of this miniseries.

What’s Good: I mentioned in my last review that James Robinson had let the tension slip in issue #2. He brought it back. The last issue is wall-to-wall action with people we care about and villains we desperately want to see getting their just desserts. The dialogue is sharp now that we don’t have those clunky Norman Rockwell moments out of Smallville. On the plot, there are a lot of ways this could have gone wrong, considering the scope of the event and how it has been built up. Robinson pulled this off well, because (this isn’t really a spoiler) in this issue the heroes discover two weaknesses of the Black Lanterns. Also, I was wondering why Robinson included Supergirl and New Krypton in this miniseries. I now see why he did and it works. I expect that we’ll see the results of this issue brought back to the larger Blackest Night series, hopefully in issue #4 next week. It also makes me wonder if the other Blackest Night minis will be discovering similar vulnerabilities. All that being said, great story, satisfying conclusion.
On the minor players, Geoff Johns seems to have been conspiring to make Krypto cool. James Robinson helped out big time here. Krypto is awesome. All dog. All super. He’s like lassie…with a cape…and he’s indestructible…and he chews zombie arms right off…oh, and he’s got heat vision. The art team was critical in making Krypto work. A lot of books deliver solid heroes-in-tights moments, but Barrows and company brought dog expressions to the DC zombie apocalypse and that’s what made Krypto cool….along with heat vision. I’ve also got to give kudos to the art team for the color work on the different emotional states, some brilliant action sequences, a burning naked old zombie Lois Lane (trust me, she’s no Red Sonja), and some larger-than-life heroism.

What’s Not So Good: The first big splash page with Kal-El was so busy that I had a bit of trouble figuring out what was happening. Otherwise, nothing but nit-picking.

Conclusion: Robinson, Barrows and team brought this miniseries to a satisfying conclusion that will tie effectively into the larger Blackest Night book. A lot of fun. I’m looking forward to the other Blackest Night minis, especially Wonder Woman’s.

Grade: B

-DS Arsenault

Blackest Night: Superman #2 – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Eddy Barrows (artist), Ruy Jose with Julio Ferreira (inkers), Rod Reis (colorist)

The Story: Black Lantern Kal-L (the original Superman from Earth-2) is looking to paint Smallville black, and he brought some post-living help in the form of Psycho-Pirate and the original Lois Lane. Standing for truth, justice and a speedy end to DC’s zombie apocalypse are Kal-El (our Superman), Superboy and Ma Kent.

What’s Good: I can’t say enough good things about the art. Every face is expressive, every hero expertly muscled and every Black Lantern is scary as sadistic zombie superheroes can be. The color work by Reis was also brilliantly done, especially in all those unlined glowing effects, as well as the color cuts across people showing their emotions. If you want a really nice piece of art, color and all, check out the shards of ice on page ten. I also loved watching the Black Lanterns almost drool over the emotions they were producing. The art team produced an effect that was really creepy. Rage, avarice, fear, hope, will, compassion, love: each with their own color and mood, all being sucked up by the foot soldiers of the zombie apocalypse.

What’s Not So Good: A lot of this issue felt really flat in the writing department. Blackest Night: Superman #1 built up a great head of steam and set all the pieces in play, but this second issue didn’t move them very far. The balance between Kal-L, Kal-El, and Conner has shifted a bit, but really, the fist fight they were in the last issue is dragging on.

The minor Norman Rockwell dialogue flaws I pointed out last issue also reappear in this one, stronger than before and at times, incoherent. The over-smiley barber in Smallville in the morning is told “Thanks for staying open,” which in the morning makes no sense at all (leave me a comment if you think I missed something). Through some problem in the lines around the dialogue bubbles, some kid called Simon says his own lines and his mother’s. And unfortunately, the small panel with the Army vet had me reaching for my insulin. The shame is, none of that first set up page was necessary. Robinson could have thrown us into some substantive action. Given how I think the plot didn’t advance very far, and how disconnected the subplot feels with Supergirl, I’m wondering if there just wasn’t enough story material to fill the three issues of this series.

Another problem was that the dialogue was doing extra duty as exposition, like when Psycho-Pirate says “…me, Roger Hayden, the Psycho-Pirate! I steal people’s emotions.” Some villains are talky, but that’s a bit over the top. It’s an example of why text boxes should probably make a comeback. And even dialogue that wasn’t being saddled with exposition felt a little uninspired, like Conner’s “No way, you sick weirdo! Give me back my town!” Too bad.

Conclusion: The Blackest Night storyline has a lot of potential, so it’s unfortunate that this story was so average. It was drawn by an extraordinary art team, though.

Grade: B-

-DS Arsenault

Blackest Night: Superman #1 – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Eddy Barrows (penciller), Ruy Jose with Julio Ferreira (inker), Rod Reis (colorist)

The Story: Kal-L, the original Superman, the one born on pre-crisis Earth-2, rises from the dead. Kal-El (the current Superman) and Conner (Superboy) are in Smallville on the anniversary of Pa Kent’s death. Just imagine how things gets bad.

What’s Good: The Art, it blew me away. I haven’t run into Barrows with Jose, Ferreira and Reis before. This art team is brilliant. The ‘camera’ angles run from ant-point-of-view (splash page), bird’s-eye view (page 2), pedestrian point-of-view, to ceiling-fan-point-of-view, to out-of-the-pit-point-of-view. It sounds like a lot of contortions, but visually, Barrows keeps approaching every scene, and even panels within scenes, from different angles, making every view fresh. And the level of realistic detail is sharp, from the cracks in a headstone, to the lettering on the general store, to textured hair and clothing. Colorwise, Reis does an amazing job. Robinson shows us Smallville frequently through the eyes of Black Lantern Kal-L and he runs across the Blackest Night colors and emotions: purple for love, yellow for fear, etc. It’s not only well-done visually, but it fits perfectly with the writing.

What about the writing? With only a few dialogue issues, it’s top notch. Robinson evokes small town America in Smallville. At the diner, they talk about the guy who cut his hand in a band-saw. Kal-El and Conner are natural and real, while Kal-L is probably the creepiest Black Lantern. He keeps on making promises that inspire more and more fear. He belittles Connor and manipulates Kal-El’s emotions. He’s really, really powerful. There’s no reason for me to think that he won’t win. He’s simply a great villain.

As a side note, I think another great example of how good Robinson’s writing is would be to look at Krypto. The concept of Krypto is frankly stupid. He’s an early-silver age DC creation pandering to the juvenile audiences of that time. In 2009, it’s really easy to not hit the right note with him and have him come off like the Jar Jar Binx of the Superman mythos. Robinson handles Krypto deftly: the reader likes him, as they want him to protect Ma Kent. He definitely has grown to be a character that readers can’t easily get annoyed with.

What’s Not So Good: This was almost a flawless performance. The failings were minor and are mentioned now only because I’m picky: I thought the dialogue of some of the residents of Smallville came off as cliche or a little too Norman Rockwell. I think Robinson overdid it in those moments, but it doesn’t detract much.

Conclusion: Buy this book now! You’ll love it. I did.

Grade: A

-DS Arsenault