AQUAMAN, DOLPHIN & TULA versus MERA & TEMPEST

Blackest Night (DC)
Where: Blackest Night #2 When: October 2009
Why: Geoff Johns How: Ivan Reis

The Story So Far...
In the forbidden zone of Space Sector 666: the landing sight of the defeated Anti-Monitor has given rise to a mysterious black battery. This was the dawning of a War of Light prophesized by the Guardians of Oa!

The first sacrifice was William Hand: the death-obsessed villain known as Black Hand who willingly becomes the avatar of the coming Black Lantern Corps! Across the galaxy - the dead will join him as undead ranks consuming the living to charge their black battery!

Every hero who discovers this cosmic conspiracy risks being claimed! On the beach of Amnesty Bay, the new King of Atlantis follows Mera to seek the remains of his former mentor and king. Garth aims to strengthen his rule by returning Aquaman's remains to the tombs of Atlantis, but will soon find the dweller of the deep now walks the earth as an undead Black Lantern!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Aquaman 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Aquaman 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Tempest 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Aquaman 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Tula 2 (Average)
Fighting: Aquaman 4 (Trained)
Energy: Tempest 6 (Mass Destruction)
Total: Tempest 28 (Metahuman)

The dead are rising across the galaxy like a tidal wave of terror, but the Black Lantern Corps aren't your average zombies! They're an endlessly regenerating super-powered horde: cosmically charged by Black Lantern rings that're drawn to the emotional spectrum their shambling corpses inspire in the living!

Aquaman is recently deceased and perfectly poised to inspire intense emotions in his former wife Mera, and the new King of Atlantis: Tempest!

Emotional provocation adds an unexpected dimension to the battle, but Mera & Tempest are masters of hydrokinesis: techniques for manipulating water in a variety of states for offensive and defensive capabilities.

We saw Mera generate a hard water bubble to contain Ocean Master's explosive weaponry in Adventure Comics #444. The power of the pounding surf is one way they could keep their resurrected king at bay. Tempest also wields a vast array of magic powers. Things aren't necessarily as simple as that, though...

With every heart consumed, the Black Lantern Corps share an increased charge. Their rings allow them to regenerate from any injury, fly, and manifest solid structures similar to a Green Lantern. Aquaman arrives with the Black Lantern at a low charge, but can theoretically match any hydrokinetic creations with constructs of his own.

Aquaman can also still telepathically command marine life, albeit in the form of the ocean's dead! We saw him beat Sub-Mariner with the aid of a whale in the controversial crossover clash of Marvel versus DC #2. Imagine what he could do with an army of everything John West rejects! [They sell tinned fish, kids.]

Mera & Tempest will also have Dolphin and one-time Aquagirl Tula to contend with! Both had romantic ties to Tempest before they met their untimely demise, and both are making their Comic Book Fight Club debuts.

This early in the Blackest Night game nobody really knows what they're dealing with. Mera & Tempest are caught completely by surprise and their best bet may just be to use hard water to cut and run! Let's see how it went...

The Tape: Black Lantern Corps Ranking: Aquaman (#40)

What Went Down...
Arriving at the land grave of their former King: Atlantean soldiers are shocked to find his grave already disturbed! Through the thick fog emerges the greyed vision of Black Lantern Aquaman - his face twisted by decay and bitterness!

The former King drowns his subjects in vitriol and dark energy, claiming one of their fear-filled hearts to bring the Black Lantern charge to 2.63%!

Tempest reacts - sending the fresh bodies scattering as he rejects the former king as a fake. Molten red energy blasts Aquaman's body with accusation, magically igniting the air around him as his undead body refuses to burn!

The undead body's stubbornness is matched in voice as he questions Tempest's legitimacy as new King of Atlantis. Former Queen Mera intervenes - thrusting the points of her trident into her former lover's chest!

The unaffected corpse looms over his former wife and alludes to a romantic affair with the late heroine Dolphin. He stares blankly, offering mock apology for making Mera jealous as the Black Lantern Dolphin makes her presence known!

She reminds them all she found romance with Tempest after their fling, raking her fingers across his chest to draw blood! The young King finds himself caught between two former loves, as the Black Lantern Aquagirl claims him as well!

Tula clutches the shocked Tempest by the fabric of his uniform and hurls him towards the glass top of a nearby lighthouse! She chides him for her ill-fated career as Aquagirl and his promise of true love as he crashes uncontrollably!

On the rocky shores, Aquaman swats Mera away from her trident and demands she tell him if she misses their deceased son. She holds firm to the memory of the man he was, believing the real Arthur never demanded anything of her.

Surviving soldiers emerge from the chopping sea with weapons drawn. They race to Mera's aid in the name of Atlantis, but their bravery is short-lived. Aquaman declares he is still King - summon undead sharks to the slaughter!

Aquaman reaches for his Queen's heart, but she rejects him with the fury of the sea! His body is washed from her presence with great crashing waves!

Tempest struggles to rally his own counter-strike, magically unleashing the cold of the arctic sea in a focused blast! It freezes the lurching Dolphin at the head and shoulders for Mera to shatter with her reclaimed trident!

Triumph is short-lived as Tempest contends with Tula smashing him through more lighthouse glass -- and Mera finds the headless Dolphin reconstituting as its headless body continues to grapple with her weapon!

King Tempest radiates with hope that Tula can fight the darkness gripping her, but hope is his undoing. The intense emotion allows Aquagirl to plunge her hand deep into his chest and remove his heart. Garth of Earth is welcomed to the darkness with the darting arrival of a Black Lantern power ring.

Black energy engulfs Tempest's body and sends a shockwave that throws Mera helplessly flying inland! She crashes into a car in a parking lot as the undead Aquaman Family calls to her! Masked by fog, Mera has no choice but to run.

The Hammer...
Wow! The significance of Blackest Night warranted frequent reference in the years that followed, but I don't think I've seriously looked at Blackest Night #2 since it was released in 2009! I forgot just how dramatic the early issues were!

The Black Lantern return of Aquaman occupies a majority of this issue, but was easily overlooked, given the massive scale and mystery surrounding the DC-wide event, and the bitter state of the Aquaman property in the late 2000s.

The original Aquaman was finally killed off in 2007's Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #50, but not before he was mutated beyond recognition as the squid-faced "Orin, Dweller of the Depths". If you're picturing that guy from the Sega video game ComixZone - it wasn't anywhere near that fun.

It was some kind of misguided effort to clean the slate, and lean-in to a new era of sword & sorcery in the vein of Pirates of the Caribbean and World of Warcraft. Not a bad idea in and of itself, but riddled with unattractive propositions, not the least of which was a different almost identical Arthur Curry assuming the mantle of Aquaman. An utterly pointless and unnecessary move.

If this treatment of Aquaman all sounds pretty stupid in hindsight - it was. In fact, it was pretty stupid at the time! A handful of short-lived revamps, and hangover from the nineties hook-handed beardy era, had started to feed into a sense that there actually wasn't a place of relevance for Aquaman in the modern comics landscape. Which is ridiculous on a lot of levels.

Fortunately, Blackest Night #2 restores Aquaman to his classic self, with a lot of emphasis on calling him Arthur Curry. It was the first step in a restoration process begun by the great Geoff Johns, continued with a bona fide resurrection in Brightest Day. A needlessly circuitous route back to basics, but welcomed.

I don't have a lot of love for the New 52 or DCEU, but both efforts have kept the Aquaman ball in the air. The days of self-loathing jabs seem to be a thing of the past. We're going to get an Aquaman movie next month, and we're living in an age when even Mera is a starring character in her own right. Not bad! I'm still looking at mid-seventies Adventure Comics as the evergreen example of quality Aquaman comics, but it's all relative.

I don't have strong feelings about Dolphin and Tula, but I will be sure to make some time in the future to take a closer look at Tula's death. She was one of the less significant victims of Crisis on Infinite Earths, poisoned by Chemo in issue #9. One of many deepcuts found throughout Blackest Night, which managed to revive a lot of continuity, despite being all about death.

Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of Blackest Night. I'm sure we'll be talking more about that. If you can't wait until then, you can always pick yourself up a collected edition via the embedded Amazon link provided! Doing so will keep Secret Wars on Infinite Earths among the living at no extra cost to you!

You can also find plenty more Blackest Night, Aquaman, and Halloween horrors by diving into the Secret Archive! Resurrect your favourite battles of the past by referencing links indexed by publisher, series, and issue number.

Follow Secret Wars on Infinite Earths on Twitter and Facebook to get more daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day! A like, follow, share, or retweet are great ways to support out combat corner of the web!

Winners: Aquaman, Tula & Dolphin
#32 (+8) Aquaman [+4 kills]
#194 (new) Tula [+1 kill]
#316 (new) Dolphin
#549 (-10) Mera
#861 (new) Tempest (Garth)

ELONGATED MAN & SUE DIBNY versus
HAWKMAN & HAWKGIRL
Blackest Night (DC)
Where: Blackest Night #1 When: September 2009
Why: Geoff Johns How: Ivan Reis

The Story So Far...
As he had in life, the Anti-Monitor was to threaten the lives of all who know existence in death. Broken and defeated by Superboy-Prime in the Sinestro Corps War -- the cosmic villain was sent hurtling helplessly through space, to be claimed by cosmic conspiracy at his final resting place in the far lands of Space Sector 666. So was set into motion the forgotten Oan prophecy of the War of Light!

From the black battery that did rise from the Anti-Monitor's corpse, and through the Oan Guardian he had burned and corrupted, a dark force reaches out through space to grip it's death-obssessed avatar, the villain known as Black Hand. His is the sacrifice that gives birth to the first of a Corps of Black Lanterns who will rise from the grave, seeking to extinguish the light of life.

Summoned by black powerrings contrary to those that sprung forth from the fundamental energies of the emotional energy spectrum -- the dead will rise!

With their memories and abilities in the service of this wave of inescapable cosmic retribution, the Black Lantern will strike at the very hearts of their former friends and protectors of life. Ever hungered, they will be satisfied only by spreading their plague of death. The Blackest Night has begun!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Hawkman 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Elongated Man 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Hawkgirl 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Hawkman 4 (Marathon)
Agility: Elongated Man 6 (Rubber)
Fighting: Hawkman 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Hawkman 2 (Projectiles)


- Inspired by the famed contortionists he'd admired in his youth, Ralph Dibny set about investigating the chemistry behind a drink shared by the unusually agile performers, called Gingold. From the rare Mexican fruit used in the drink, Dibny was able to derive a highly concentrated formula which, upon being ingested, granted him a fantastic rubber-like elasticity!

As Elongated Man, Dibny uses his powers to fight crime, with a particular flair for solving mysterys with the aid of his sleuthing wife, Sue. Together the pair's crime-fighting skills even earned membership with the Justice League of America!

Additional: Sue Dibny was accidentally killed by the Atom's estranged wife, Jean Loring, during her attempts to reconcile their relationship in Identity Crisis.
Loring, having suffered a mental breakdown, attempted to provoke a reunion by staging threats to various other Justice League members' loved ones. She used her ex-husband's shrinking technology to enter [Sue] Dibny's brain, accidentally killing her in the process of causing a stroke.

After severall attempts to resurrect his wife in the pages of 52, Ralph Dibny became embroiled in a mystic plot hatched by the sorcerer, Felix Faust.
He was able to imprison Faust within the tower of Dr. Fate, but in doing so, garnered the ire of the bargaining demon, Neron. Neron killed Dibny, only to temporarily entrap himself within the enchanted walls as well, without Dibny to reverse the spell. In the afterlife, Ralph and Sue were reunited, gaining the ability to possess the bodies of the living via Rama Kushna -- the deity responsible for Boston Brand's similar spirit powers.

- There is much more than occupational curiosity that ties archaeologist, Carter Hall, to the ancient civilizations of Earth. In truth, the man who is also known as the gliding hero, Hawkman, has lived many heroic lives through the ages, dating back to the reign of Ramesses II in ancient Egypt.
It was then that alien "Nth metal" from the planet Thanagar bound his soul, as Prince Khufu, to an everlasting pact with the woman he loves, Chay-Ara -- forging a destiny to forever be reunited through reincarnation, and torn apart at the moment they find love. Just as they had been by the evil priest, Hath-Set.

In the modern age, the soul of Prince Khufu was forcefully reincarnated by the Thanagarians, granting Carter Hall the unique distinction of being aware of his constant resurrections. As Hawkman, he is reunited with the Justice Society of America, and Kendra Saunders, aka; Hawkgirl and the reincarnated Chay-Ara.

Both Hawkman and Hawkgirl possess enhanced abilities as a result of their exposure to Nth metal. Winged harnesses allow them the nimble flight of their namesake, which they use in tandem with a variety of medieval weaponry, most notably a fixed mace, but also spears, axes, and nets. Each possesses enhanced strength and durability beyond that of a human, and can heal non-lethal wounds with direct exposure to their Nth metal.

Math: Hawkman/Hawkgirl Ranking: Hawkman (#28)

What Went Down...
It is written on the pages of history that each time the betrothed souls of Prince Khufu and Chay-Ara admit their love for each other, they are to die before their time. Reborn in this modern age as Hawkman and Hawkgirl, the two heroes have remained distanced, the now aware soul of Khufu maddened by his beloved's refusal to explore their feelings. Though Hawkgirl had resisted for so long to preserve their time, she cannot fight fate. And so it would seem, fate is not without a sense of humor...

Finally Hawkgirl reveals her true love for Hawkman, only to suffer the killing blow promised hundreds of years prior by the curse that brought them together. It is impossible to seperate the truth of their endless cycle from the events begun in far-off space. Was it the ring of the Black Lantern that drove a spear through Hawkgirl's heart, the former friend who wears it, Sue Dibny, or their twisted fate?

It is undeniable that, with one of their own spears, Hawkgirl was impaled, and with his own fixed mace, Hawkman was smacked across the face. Even while the culprit stood far across the room with but an elongated limb.

Sadly, the forces behind the Blackest Night have chosen similarly kinred spirits in former JLA colleagues, Elongated Man and Sue Dibny, to execute the first in a checklist of heroes who are marked for death. As the first strike against the living heroes, it is an unchallenged ambush!

With a voice similar to a fallen friend's, the Black Lantern Elongated Man taunts an already bloodied Hawkman as it's twisted limbs snatch his helmet, and knock him through the air with the fixed mace, again.

Hawkman tries to strike at the Black Lantern's gut with his spiked gauntlet, but finds the same malleable resistance Ralph Dibny had in life, his stretchy body abosbing the blow with ease, only to reverse the fortunes of the close quarters exchange.

The Black Lantern denies Hawkgirl's aborted attempt to confess her love, even as he sees the violet energy of love emenating from her body. With rubber arms he charges the fixed mace with a whip of his extended arm, beating Hawkman's face to a bloody pulp. Despite this face, he does not give up on the woman he loves.

With her final words Hawkgirl ensures he knows she loved him. It is surely a hollow consolation for two star-crossed lovers so regularly torn apart.
Hawkman boils with rage, vowing to kill the creatures he cannot believe are his former allies. The Black Lanterns no doubt believe every word as they see the red of rage fill his very being.

The reincarnated hero can do little to fullfil his threats, but it is a warrior's death as the Black Lantern reaches into his chest and pulls his heart out. Black Lantern Sue does the same to Hawkgirl, registering the rising power level of 0.02%.

Black Hand is there to witness the handy work of his fellow Black Lanterns.
"You won't escape death this time." Perhaps it wasn't the curse, afterall.

The Hammer...
For the time being, we shall assume that this counts as a victory for Elongated Man and Sue Dibny. There is, of course, the possibility that there's more to these Black Lantern manifestations than simply the reanimation of corpses. I'm sure, regardless of the mysterys to be revealed, there will be an argument for culpability, but for the purposes of the Infinite Wars, we shall assume the abilities and presence of a character is enough to warrant their stat.

Which is to say, this is The Comic Book Fight Club, where we review and discuss superhero comics through the famous battles waged within. Each battle counts toward a greater tally as we gradually accumulate win/loss data, challenge the rank of the greatest fighting superheroes, and charge up our powerrings!

Proceedings have been sufficiently derailed throughout 2009, but still we remain steadfast in the review of issues collected and noted throughout the year. This is (ironically) the first year the Infinite Wars have actually made any conceited effort to reflect the releases of the week, so it's an overdue inevitability that we're finally here talking about one of the most eagerly anticipated events in comics history! A fact largely due to the teaser noted at the end of 2007's Green Lantern blockbuster event -- the Sinestro Corps War!

I suspect there will have been those that were outraged by the events of this first issue, particularly where the violent deaths of Hawkman and Hawkgirl are concerned. It's a trait some attribute as a trademark of writer Geoff Johns, who has made a habit of including the occasional brutality in his event comics.

The subject of brutality has been discussed in various facets previously on the site, as you might imagine. As noted during the review of Superman/Batman #15, I'm a great believer in accepting that there's some truth to acts such as these, and that while they might not be a requisite of the fiction, they should not be cause for disdain. The world of superheroes is bound to be a violent and unpleasant place, which is what seperates the titans of the DC and Marvel universes from average folk like you, or I. If there's a time to express that, I'm probably inclined to think "events" are a fair place to start.

It's also very hard to consider a high-concept event like Blackest Night without the expectation that death and resurrections will quickly follow. It is, afterall, an inherent property of the high concept of zombies -- which are essentially defined by being a mathematical principle of life and death. For every one we lose, they gain one, etc. Some will fall, but as comics have taught us, some will rise.
There's also still the distinct possibility that, come the end of Blackest Night, everybody gets to come back in a counter-balancing brightest day.

The Hawks apparently narrowly escaped death in the pages of Final Crisis, but have quickly followed up the fake-out with the real deal. They were apparently fair game, such is life (and death). Far be it from me to spend the entirety of this section offering concept-driven justifications for the writer and editorial staff.

Johns serves up his usual brand of traditional favourites and a general awareness of the many moving parts of the DC Universe, in this first issue. There'll be seven of them all up, so you can probably forgive the emphasis on set-up. For the most part, we already know what to expect of the Black Lantern heroes, and I suspect that will play out more thoroughly in other issues, like the forecasted BL Martian Manhunter return in GL #44, which is introduced in Blackest Night #1.

The recently resurrected Barry Allen looks to be a bigger part of things than might have been anticipated, which is bound to be double the case for anyone expecting a "Green Lantern" event. Blackest Night is definitely going DCU-wide and we get some great foreshadowing glimpses of that through memorial services for fallen heroes in the JSA and so on. That's not to say the GL's don't get a good amount of screen time. Fans receptive to quick recaps will absorb a lot of useful information for the coming months through recaps of the Green Lantern legacy of Women in Refridgerators, along with a glimpse of some of the War of Light occurring in conjunction with the Blackest Night. Scar finally makes her move, also, literally taking a bite out of her fellow Guardians.

Also acknowledged are the promos that teased Aquaman, which were quickly serviced with a glimpse of Mera and Tempest -- a couple of characters I certainly haven't seen in a while! Here's hoping that can lead to something, after Final Crisis provided another fake-out, this time alluding to a return of the deep sea JLAer. Light dressing for anyone eagerly awaiting the BL Firestorm, whose grave was visited by Professor Stein and current matrix wielder, Jason Rusch.

Long story short: plenty of excitement building, but we'll see how things shape-up as the series works it's way through. Plenty of Blackest Night issues on the way! I wouldn't be surprised to see a certain issue of Green Lantern mentioned earlier in this post, at some point in the future.

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 5

Blackest Night is an event maxi-series currently available monthly from DC comics. You can pre-order various collections featuring the spanning epic via Amazon. Be warned! The story is so large you may need to check the contents of each trade before ordering, to ensure you receive what you intend. You can find more collected editions based on the reviews in our Secret Archives, via the Amazon Online Store! By using purchase links provided around the site, you help sponsor future entries, as sporradic as they may be. All will be well!

GREEN LANTERN CORPS/JUSTICE LEAGUE versus SINESTRO CORPS
Birth of the Black Lantern (DC)
Where: Green Lantern #25 When: January 2008
Why: Geoff Johns How: Ivan Reis

The Story So Far...
The Anti-Monitor - a creature of immense power that once sought to destroy the multiverse - joins Sinestro in creating a new Corps of agents, with the intent to use them as heralds of his conquest over the positive realm. Harnessing the yellow power rings of Qward, the Sinestro Corps operate on a design of fear, using it to control their yellow energy the same way the Lanterns us willpower.

Tricked into believing the Sinestro Corps were to attack Oa, the designates of Sector 2814 soon find themselves four against an army, as the Anti-Monitor and his heralds emerge in the Milky Way. They launch their attack on Earth, but the rest of the Green Lanterns, along with heroes native to the planet, soon join the war. The Justice League, Justice Society, Titans, and more, rally to join the Green Lantern Corps in a stand against a force determined to seek the destruction of all.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Wonder Man 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Iron Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: The Sentry 6 (Mach-Speeds)
Stamina: Iron Man 6 (Generator)
Agility: Spider-man 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Ares 7 (Warrior)
Energy Power: The Sentry 7 (Cosmic)


- The Green Lantern Corps is: John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kilowog, Arisia, Breeon, Adam, Soranik Naru, Princess Iolande, Bzzd, Green Man, Torquemada, Voz, Apros, Brik, Tahr, Kraken, Chaselon, Sir Deeter, Leezle Pon, Lok Neboora, Raker Qarrigat, Salaak, Stel, Isamot Kol, Larvox, & Vath Sarn.
With: Superman, Powergirl, Hawkman, Alan Scott, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Metamorpho, Firestorm, Wonder Girl, Raven, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, Batman, Starman, Supergirl, Hawkgirl, Plastic Man, Starfire, Bulleteer, STRIPE, Black Lightning, Red Arrow, Firehawk, Miss Martian, Jay Garrick, Nightwing, Creeper, Cyborg, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Robin, & Steel.

Having succumbed to the effects of the Parallax entity; Earth's most famous Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, would lead a grief stricken rampage against his fellows in a bid to gain power enough to resurrect his obliterated city.
At the cost of the few survivors, the Guardians of the Universe would pool their energies to create one final, immensly powerful ring, which would be sent out into the universe with the last surviving Guardian from Oa; Ganthet.

The ring would come to be the inhereted by Kyle Rayner.
The young graphic artist's imagination would make him an ideal recipient, his creative mind opening up a realm of possibilities to the ring's powers of solid manifestation. These iconic Green Lantern powers would come to Rayner with the added responsibility of being the last of the Corpsman - a footnote that would continue to be a part of his education right until the return of the Corps.

- The Sinestro Corps is: Anti-Monitor, Cyborg Superman, Superboy-Prime, Karu-Sil, Haasp the Hunter, Snap Trap, Despotellis, & Yellow Lantern.

While imprisoned in the Central Battery of Oa; former Green Lantern, Sinestro, came in contact with a creature as old as time itself. Parallax, an entity born of fear, had been imprisoned by the Guardians of the Galaxy and consequently instilled in the rings of the Lanterns an impurity that left them vulnerable to objects of yellow -- the colour of fear in the cosmic emotional spectrum.

When Hal Jordan was able to excise the corruption of Parallax from his soul, a freed Sinestro opts to form a new army in the anti-matter universe of Qward. Armed with yellow rings inspired by fear, he summons the most frightening villains from across the universe, joining together to form the Sinestro Corps.

Among Sinestro's most famous early recruits: Superboy-Prime, Cyborg Superman, Amon Sur, Mongul, Fatality, Parallax, and the Anti-Monitor.

Math: Green Lantern Corps Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...
The Earth plays host to three cosmic armies as the Justice League and other heroes combine with the Green Lantern Corps to resist their fear-wielding counterparts, the Sinestro Corps. At the centre of the melee, the armored giant of destruction - the Anti-Monitor!

From a distance the war is abstracted, appearing as a mass of wills colliding, but on the frontlines the personal struggles make-up the bigger picture. Among the heralds of the Anti-Monitor is Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman that welcomes the lethal force initiated by the Guardians that oversee the Lantern Corps. He provokes their action, crushing the will of Lanterns beneath his cybernetic hand, while burning the wings of the courageous Hawkman.

John Stewart uses his ring to douse the flames as he and Guy Gardner arrive to join their comrades. They are immediately greeted by the venom of Karu-Sil, one of Sinestro's fear mongers. Gardner retaliates against her parallax constructs, generating a swarm of glowing green wolverines.

In the skies above, the Anti-Monitor looms over a city in chaos, plunging his fist into the street with the aim of sucking the planet dry. A wave of energy expands, positive matter turning to anti-matter, threatening to incinerate anything unable to flee it's path. The destruction forces Lanterns to redirect their attention to the innocents of New York City, to whom the wave is the most immediate threat.
Heroes such as Wonder Woman and Plastic Man join Lanterns, such as Arisia and Kilowog, in the desperate rescue.

Two brands of Manhunter collide as Hank Henshaw's cyborg meets the fist of the last lawman of Mars - J'onn J'onnz! His intervention aids John Stewart, who carries the ailing body of Guy Gardner. Yellow blood spits from the sickened Lantern -- a sign of Despotellis, the viral Sinestro, attacking him from within.

Meanwhile, heroes such as the Red Tornado, Starfire, Red Arrow, Black Lightning, and Firehawk do their bit to battle the swarming Sinestro Corps. They buzz and battle around the Anti-Monitor like insects, but each of their blows decides the fate of not only this Earth, but every parallel world that stems from it!

The Anti-Monitor's destructive conversion of energies goes unchallenged, until voices from the void recall the crisis incurred by his last attack on reality. A crisis of infinite Earths that went unchallenged by Oan Guardians in bondage.
Oan Guardians who will not stand idly by as he threatens existence anew!

The Guardians funnel their green energies at the impossible beast, confident in the knowledge that this Anti-Monitor is not yet fully developed beneath the armor that connects him to the old. Their will slams against the Anti-Monitor's shell and tears and shreds at the metal of his robotic heralds, the newest Manhunters. Their captain, Hank Henshaw, remains unphased by the Guardians' power.

Baring a grudge for their role in imprisoning him during Alexander Luthor's attempts to affect reality; Superboy-Prime blasts at the Guardians with his Kryptonian heat vision, while fighting off the advances of Alan Scott, Wonder Girl, and the Lanterns. Anti-Monitor lashes at the immortal Guardians also, trapping one in a giant fist that singes blue flesh with raw anti-power.

On the ground, John Stewart fends off the bizarre advances of the Yellow Lantern, while the increasingly weak Guy Gardner turns his attentions skyward. There, looming above the Earth, is the construct called "Warworld" affixed to the yellow central battery of the Sinestro Fear Corps. A power source big enough to destroy the Earth, or, if contained, one giant Anti-Monitor.

Even as his insides are plundered by the microscopic Despotellis; Guy Gardner pledges himself to the cause, flying into the sky with his ring blazing, forming chains with his fellow to drag the Warworld battery into position.

Other Lanterns rush to aid their brothers, fending off the opposition of Sinestro's agents. With the Guardians doing their part to rupture the Anti-Monitor's armor, the Lanterns toss Warworld toward the New York City streets below, and prepare themselves for the mammoth task of containing the explosion.

Kilowog, Apros, Brik, Salaak, Bzzd, Isamot Kol, Arisia, Torquemada, Sir Deeter, and many other Green Lanterns, all focus their energy into a giant dome over Warworld and the Anti-Monitor. Hank Henshaw is also encased within. With a cold metallic hand pressed to the edge of the translucent green dome, he whisper thanks to the Lanterns, poetically anticipating his long overdue death.

While the heroes of Earth fend off the advances of the Sinestro Corps; the City trembles as Warworld explodes, obliterating Hank Henshaw, and massive portions of New York, with it. The Anti-Monitor emerges, however, with his armor in tatters, but his resolve in tact. He lashes out at the unsuspecting Lanterns, but finally his undoing comes from an unlikely source, one of his allies, Superboy-Prime!

The impetuous youth pierces Anti-Monitor's armor and body with a torpedo-like dive. No longer interested in the Anti-Monitor's attempts at conquest, he puts an end to the creature's rampage, dragging the tattered armor into space, before tossing the smouldering corpse of the Anti-Monitor toward a dark destiny beyond the stars.

Spattered with blood, Superboy-Prime prepares a renewed assault against the heroes of the universe. His tantrum is but a precursor to the true end of the Sinestro Corps War...

The Hammer...
In the interest of clarity, this is technically part one of a two-part scenario. The battle strings out to include the suggested fight against Superboy-Prime, but to save time and my sanity, I've broken it up.

For defeating Anti-Monitor (and Hank Henshaw) we declare Superboy-Prime, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Green Lanterns mentioned who affected and contained Warworld's destruction. For their involvement in repelling the other Sinestro Corps forces, and contributing to varying degrees in the specifics of this fight, we also award a victory statistic to the Earth heroes identified in "the tape". Their involvement, while non-specific, is clearly vital to the victory of the Green Lantern Corps.

For a final piece of house keeping, we also acknowledge confirmed kill stats to Superboy-Prime and Anti-Monitor, who both claimed two lives. Other instances prove too uncertain to confirm a death. Whew.

As you might have noticed, we might be a few weeks behind, but we've assembled some epic battles for the last month of 2008! Following on from last week's symbiote bomb [New Avengers #36], we give you yet another early 2008 major battle you might have been unaware of! True to the name of the site, these epic secret wars involved the heavy hitters of both universes, but neither expanded line-wide like the lynchpin events - Secret Invasion and Final Crisis.

Despite occupying only GL-related titles, it's fair to say Sinestro Corps War went quite a bit larger than the brief symbiote plague in our other example. In fact, reflecting on the year that was 2008 is almost impossible to do without mentioning spillover from the Sinestro event. Even now, looking forward, we anticipate the event forecasted at the end of this issue - Blackest Night!

The upcoming Green Lantern event is but one of several key pieces making up the connective tissue that is the DC Universe. The heavy editorial direction cast across the company has earned criticism from fans and commentators alike, but has also ushered in an undisputed era of cohesion for the DCU. While the heady excitement of the 52-era seems to have passed, DC still manage a tight ship of concept and causality. Reading DC comics has become describable as an experience, distancing them from the hit-and-miss disconnection of Marvel's high selling, headlining events.

What this overly verbose assessment leads to is, Geoff Johns.
At first glance the writer appears to possess few special powers, but anyone reading DC comics knows how deceptive his approach can be. The Sinestro Corps War encapsulates the growth that the Green Lantern comics have experienced under the writer, benefitting not only from brand new contributions, but also the expert inclusion of ideas pulled from all the eras. It's a balance of ideals that has made DC the creative powerhouse -- competent in the face of adversity, creative while traditional.

The simplicity of the spectrum of emotion and colour to represent other Lanterns turns what could easily be a dismal concept, into something beautiful. The Rage of the Red Lanterns serves as one of the prologues to The Blackest Night, and is one of the beats we will hopefully talk more about in 2009.

I'd love to find the words to go deeper into this issue, but we're fast losing days in the year. Instead, let the this and the previous entry reveal where the Infinite Wars has come to rest at the end of the year. DC has been superb. In the new year I hope to talk more about Final Crisis, which has also been a series I've been quite impressed with, in stark contrast to Marvel's Skrull-event.

In case you missed it; be sure to check out our last review of this issue, detailing the personal battle between Sinestro, Hal Jordan, and Kyle Rayner. We will no doubt return to this epic issue at a later date for more of the Sinestro Corps War and the Superboy-Prime fight.

Next up, we tackle two of the major events that drove action on the Infinite Wars in 2008! First, I have to tag all these bloody Green Lanterns!

The Fight: 6 The Issue: 6

The complete Sinestro Corps War is available split across two Green Lantern trade paperbacks. You can pick them up at an affordable price via Amazon, and by using purchase links provided, also help sponsor the efforts of the Infinite Wars! Those, plus collected editions of most issues reviewed in the Secret Archive, are also available via the Infinite Wars Amazonian Gift Shoppe. Perfect for ringing in the new year!

SINESTRO versus HAL JORDAN/KYLE RAYNER
"Birth of the Black Lantern" (DC)
Where: Green Lantern #25 When: January 2008
Why: Geoff Johns How: Ivan Reis

The story so far...
In the wake of the crisis that saw Alexander Luthor Jr and his Society of supervillains rock the very fabric of reality; Sinestro's involvement becomes redefined. Having served as a super powered lackey under Luthor, Sinestro escapes from battle to the anti-matter universe, where he encounters a restored Anti-Monitor, who had reborn along with a new Multi-Verse.

The Anti-Monitor joins Sinestro in creating a new Corps of agents with the intent to use them as heralds of his conquest over the positive realm. Harnessing the yellow power rings of Qward; the antithesis to the Green Lantern's Oa; the Sinestro Corps operate on a design of fear, using it to control their yellow energy the same way the Lanterns us willpower.

Tricked into believing the Sinestro Corps were to attack Oa, the designates of Sector 2814 soon find themselves four against an army as the Anti-Monitor and his heralds emerge in the Milky Way. They launch their attack on Earth, central to the new multi-verse, but the rest of the Green Lanterns, along with the heroes of Earth, soon join the war. Amidst the chaos, more personal skirmishes break out, and in an intimate exchange, Sinestro finds himself facing off with his two greatest Earth-born rivals...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 2 (Average)
Intelligence: Sinestro 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Draw 2 (Average)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Sinestro 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Draw 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Draw 7 (Cosmic Power)


- The Green Lantern Corps are: Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner.

Having succumed to the effects of the Parallax entity; Earth's most famous Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, would lead a grief stricken rampage against his fellows in a bid to gain power enough to resurrect his obliterated city.
At the cost of the few survivors, the Guardians of the Universe would pool their energies to create one final, immensly powerful ring, which would be sent out into the universe with the last surviving Guardian from Oa; Ganthet.

The ring would come to be the inhereted by Kyle Rayner.
The young graphic artist's imagination would make him an ideal recipient, his creative mind opening up a realm of possibilities to the ring's powers of solid manifestation. These iconic Green Lantern powers would come to Rayner with the added responsibility of being the last of the Corpsman - a footnote that would continue to be a part of his education right until the return of the Corps.

- Born on the planet Korguar, the man called Sinestro was selected by the Guardians to become the Green Lantern of Sector 1147. Dedication to justice in the space region would soon see him excel to a revered status as one of the greatest Corpsman the Green Lanterns had ever seen.

Assigned to train a human designate, Hal Jordan, selected to succeed Abin Sur's duties over Sector 2814; Sinestro's path would be that of a fallen dictator. A reviled Jordan would aid his mentor in defending his homeworld against invasion, but when the Guardians are called to aid them, Sinestro's fascist methods are exposed.

While in exile in a parallel anti-matter Universe, Sinestro encounters the planet Qward, counterpart of the Guardian's homeworld, Oa. The inhabitants, the Weaponers of Qward, construct for Sinestro a yellow ring that harnesses the universal power of fear, and grants him a yellow version of the same adaptive powers of the Green Lanterns. Powers that chiefly allow him to physically manifest any construct he is able to fathom.

The Math: Sinestro (Avg) Green Lanterns (Ttl) Ranking: Hal Jordan (#51)

What Went Down...
Above the rebuilt Coast City, the Green Lanterns fight their cosmic war against the Sinestro Corps, now granted the powers of lethal force by their masters, the Guardians of the Universe. Claiming such provocation as his true motive, Sinestro charges on his mortal enemy, Hal Jordan, with the suggestion that he remains the greatest Lantern in history.


The nobility of Sinestro's plan is quickly lost as he summons the robotic Manhunters designed by Hank Henshaw with the purpose of draining a ring of it's power. Both Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner fall victim to the automatons' trick.

Stripped of their power, and without a battery to recharge, the two Green Lanterns make a tumbling landing atop one of the Coast City buildings below. Pursued still by Sinestro, the pair are forced to improvise, calling upon their physical prowess to maneuver in the absence of Lantern propelled acrobatics.

While the Sinestro Corps War rages on in the skies above them, the Cyborg Superman becomes a victim of the new killing powers of the Green Lantern, caught in a blast designed to destroy the Anti-Monitor and the yellow central battery. The apparent death results in mass malfunction of the Manhunters.

With the robotic scouts plummeting motionless from the sky, Hal Jordan is able to snatch one of their skulls whilst fleeing Sinestro. He soon turns the tables on the villain, using a yellow energy sapping Manhunter to strip the villain of his energy. Powerless, Sinestro finds himself on even terms, and all too happy to boldly challenge both Lanterns to unarmed combat.

The trio of powerless Corpsman tumble across the rooftop, before falling onto a construction site. All three are toppled in the harsh landing, but Sinestro fares well enough to turn an offensive, rapping the already shaken Kyle Rayner with a devestating left hook.

Taking advantage of the makeshift weapons strewn around the skyscraper construction, Jordan puts his willpower behind a 2x4 plank of wood!
The weapon shatters across Sinestro's head, taking a spray of blood with it.

Sinestro plays the psychological card, lamenting on Jordan's time possessed by the entity Parallax, and the things it made him do. Jordan spear tackles Sinestro through wall construction while the villain recounts tales of the death of Jordan's father. Jordan proves fatigued, but defiant, as Kyle Rayner reemerges.

Rayner dives at his inherited foe, putting his own body on the line in an effort to send the fear mongering Sinestro through a pane of glass. Pain is undoubtedly what the pair feel, as they each come to land on a lower level of construction.

Sinestro touts metaphorical victory over the pair, lording the initiation of lethality as a lasting tribute to the fear purveyed by the Sinestro Corps, and the destiny of the Green Lantern Corps as armed lawmen. Jordan silences him with a fist.

Outside, and across the country, the Sinestro Corps find themselves defeated by the united might of the entire Green Lantern Corps, Guardians, Justice League, and Justice Society. Inside, it is Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner who are victorious.

With Sinestro bloodied a fraction more than his green counterparts, Hal Jordan takes great pleasure in exercising restrain. Sinestro's fate is consolation.

The Hammer...
Your winners and inductees in to Season 2008: the Green Lanterns! They get no prize, but join the many superheroes and villains already vying for top spot in this year's rankings. Stay tuned Friday for more on the rankings, but in the meanwhile...

After talking about Annihilation, it was hard to just turn and run, so I really wanted to take the opportunity to not only feature another comic dated 2008, but also flash back to the Green Lantern side of things which only just started getting airplay toward the very end of 2007!

Dependent largely on where you were looking, Sinestro Corps War may just have been the biggest event rocking your reading as the previous year came to a close. For those of you following the story through to it's already promoted 2009 sequel, Blackest Night, there's still plenty to come, it would seem!
Hand-picked by Geoff Johns himself; Sterling Gates writes Green Lantern Corps where Mongul has been seen lurking with exciting prospects, while the master himself continues to plant seeds and explore the aftermath not only of the War itself, but also the connected ramifications.

I'm going to say this of Johns: he's earned his place at the top of the game.
Often we might express critical views of certain person(s) output, but that isn't always indicative of a broad view of that writer, penciller, or other.

If you're inclined to view the our menu [located right] you might have noticed a top ten creators tally. It rarely changes because, unlike our character stats, it isn't wiped periodically, which means Geoff Johns is going to be at the stack for quite some time. Being dependent on ratings values, Johns has actually amassed a lead over nearest rival [Jeph Loeb] worth approximately five must-reads.
These terms are all abstractions, but what I'm trying to illustrate is at least the tactile presence of Johns, and the constitent quality of his work.

Based on the issues I wound up with, I couldn't agree with those touting Sinestro Corps War as memorable and fantastic. Amidst the chaos, I tend to think Johns inevitably falls into the void of strong concepts, and solid logic, but a story that ultimately lacks any identifiable character.

Johns can clearly grapple with understanding some of DC's most maligned and vintaged characters, but the undeniable weakness in his arsenal remains the ability to convey characterization through subtlty; something many of his peers lord as an asset in a writer's market, still driven by the influence of early 2000's wordy fads.

In some ways I would describe the Sinestro Corps War as quite ambitious. Not only does it reorganize and root the Green Lantern mythos in a very specific style of science fiction concept, but also attempts to layer a sense of commentary beneath the strong overtones of a familiar superhero crossover epic. Again, this added layer lacks some subtlty, but with very few dull moments, the ratio of crossover to page is probably well worth it.

After events convenient, the Green Lanterns stand victorious over the successively toppled menaces of the Sinestro Corps, Anti-Monitor, and herald baddies; Superman-Prime, Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw), and Sinestro.
Fairly urban concepts of distrust for law enforcement become the most obvious concept explored as the Green Lanterns return to a universe that will now know them as lethal enforcers bound only by individual discretion.

The irony of combatting a man, Sinestro, who abused his Green Lantern powers in the past, is somewhat lost to the driving momentum of plot points that likely need wrap up during 2008. What we weren't able to talk about last time was the promise of a 2009 event which will introduce another of the spectrum of Lantern enforcers, rising from the corpse of the Anti-Monitor to be the undead Black Lanterns. Again, the prospects of the comic book overshadow any political commentaries designed to suggest versimilitude, but that's a matter of interest.

We could talk more about the potential of 'internal affairs' style sub-sections within the Lanterns, but without details, I do tend to feel that's a precipice to Sinestro's history as the league leading corrupt Green Lantern. Then again, that in itself suggests commentaries of super powers in times of fear, and Star Wars style depictions of a Bush-style assumption post 9-11. Not that I think Johns is trying to cast those aspertions, as much as he is telling a contemporary story that's inevitably associated with those sorts of allusions.

Last time [Green Lantern #24] we talked a bit about the potential to water down the entire concept with an excess of coloured Corps. That said, the lingering concept of a Black Lantern Corps composed entirely of the resurrected dead is a delicious spin on the otherwise over populated zombie genre in comics.
Even in the context of watching Infinte Wars-style combat in 2008's comics, it's going to be hard not to observe every perilous situation in DC comics and it's Final Crisis with suspicion for who might return in a Cyborg Superman style role.

If the dead are open fodder, I suppose that even opens the fanboy door to all kinds of skeletons. You almost dare not imagine the notion of a Bart Allen Black Lantern, although, a Black Flash would be entirely appropriate.
Even for those undermining dangers, I think you have to credit Johns for his penchant for grand design. In the fashion Annihilation reintroduced key characters and concepts from the cosmic Marvel Universe; Johns puts together an 'all in one' tour of what one should expect of a new Green Lantern universe.

Promises of prophecies, wars, and crisis are a sure way to keep fans watching, but as we roll on to the afforementioned Final Crisis, we once again consider that horrible thought. With the Spider-man reboot being the measure of precedence; Johns' ability to contribute, redefine, and reshap, without stripping away chunks of history in a haphazard slate-wipe, makes fear for what the Crisis means to on-going continuity all that more concerning.

Blackest Night may very well be a guarantee for the secured future of the DC Universe, or maybe that's just the perfect creacendo to the end of this world as we know. Let's hope, either way, it's a tad more artful than the house across the street.

The Fight: 5.5 The Issue: 6

While it might not go down in history as a "must read", the Sinestro Corps War is going to be on any Green Lantern fans reading list for years to come. If you're excited about the Green Lanterns, and missed out on this redefining event spectacular, it's the perfect jumping on point! You can jump right in with the trades, both available through Amazon! Amazon not only offers affordable prices, but by using the purchase links provided here, you sponsor future entries into the Infinite Wars themselves.