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)

MARTIAN MANHUNTER versus
GREEN LANTERN & FLASH
Only the Good Die Young (DC)
Where: Green Lantern #44 When: Late September 2009 Why: Geoff Johns How: Doug Mahnke

The Story So Far...
The birth of a yellow Corps of fear-wielding ring barers was the first step toward a prophecized war of light that would usher in the Blackest Night. This Sinestro Corps waged war on the Green Lanterns above the skies of Earth, but when their strongest ally, Anti-Monitor, was destroyed by Superboy-Prime, his powerful yet broken form was sent hurtling through space, toward Sector 666 and the fulfillment of the Blackest Night prophecy.

From the corpse of the Anti-Monitor arose an immense Black Lantern, feulled by the power of death. There it lay in silent wait, while across the galaxy, the spectrum of emotional powers was awoken in force, creating rings of Red, Blue, Orange, Violet, and Indigo, before finally William Hand sacrificed his own life in the pursuit of death, and was reborn as the first of a Corps of Black Lanterns.

Now the dead across the universe will rise as fallen Guardian of the Galaxy, Scar, and Black Hand, march a black plague of death and destruction to every corner of existence. Former allies will rise to strike out at their friends, devoid of emotion and intent only on recruiting them to their order of the dead. This is the fate of the noble Martian, J'onn J'onnz, who was laid to rest on his home world by friends shortly after his brutal murder at the hands of the Society of Super Villains.

The Martian Manhunter's grave is not the first to be disturbed, leading Flash and Green Lantern to investigate the descrated grave of a believed-dead Batman. Little do they know that the missing skull is now a symbol of death for Black Hand, and wielding a black energy ring, J'onn J'onnz is returning to Earth, ready to strike at his old friends! The Blackest Night begins...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: M. Manhunter 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Flash 5 (Professor)
Speed: Flash 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Green Lantern 6 (Generator)
Agility: M. Manhunter 6 (Rubber)
Fighting: Green Lantern 4 (Trained)
Energy: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic)


- Experiments with teleportation technology developed by one Dr. Erdel were, by accident, responsible for plucking J'onn J'onnz from his home on Mars. Traversing the gulf of space by unknown means, the unannounced arrival of a lurching Martian figure was enough to startle the aging scientist to his death. Alone in a strange world, the accident forced the Martian to at first adopt the scientist's identity by means of shapeshifting, before he absorbed enough understanding through the observation of television programming to assume his own identity.

Finding aspirational figures in the gumshoe detectives popular on television, the Martian adopts the fictitious identity of Detective John Jones. For a time he was to do as he had on Mars, delivering justice with unwavering moral and character, but eventually circumstances would force a reveal upon the Martian Manhunter.

Though resistant at first to expose himself to humanity's judgment, his unique Martian abilities quickly earned him status with the Justice League of America.
Along with the ability to transform his appearance and form, J'onn J'onnz also possesses fantastic super-human strength, speed, durability, energy vision, vast telepathic skill, and the ability to become invisible and intangible. While these many abilities quickly rank him among the most powerful figures in the DCU, the sole survivor of catastrophe on Mars has a single mundane weakness -- fire!

- Once little more than a carefree daredevil test-pilot; Hal Jordan was given a crash course in law and order when an alien from distant space, Abin Sur, landed in the desert during a test flight. Injured and dying, the alien's powerring found in Jordan the ability to possess great will and overcome great fear. Thus, he was unofficially inducted into a Corps of universe-spanning lawkeepers, replacing the deceased as the Green Lantern of Sector 2814!

As a police forensic scientist, Barry Allen's job required him to be methodical and deliberate, but even within the police force his reputation for being notoriously slow was the only extraordinary thing about him. That is, until once fateful night when he was struck by lightning and thrown into a shelf of chemicals! Granted the ability to move at superhuman speeds by the accident, he learns to innately tap into the pseudo-scientific phenomenon of the Speed Force, transforming him into a hero inspired by his boyhood idol, Jay Garrick -- The Flash!

Green Lantern and Flash are founding members of the Justice League of America and have worked extensively as friends and allies, two brave and bold heroes whose legendary status within the superhero community was only solidified by their legendary sacrifice which led to death. For Flash, the multi-dimensional threat of the Anti-Monitor led him to make the ultimate sacrifice, while Green Lantern, still under the influence of the fear-demon Parallax, sacrificed himself in a moment of retribution to reignite the Earth's sun. Each gained a second chance at life; Hal Jordan restored in-part by his connection to The Spectre, while Barry Allen's return remains more mysterious, coming during the defeat of Darkseid.

Math: Green Lantern/Flash (Ttl) M. Manhunter (Avg) Ranking: Flash (#15)

What Went Down...
The forensic scientiest and the space cop -- Flash and Green Lantern were natural choices to investigate what seemed to be the desecration of an unmarked grave belonging to believed-dead Bruce Wayne (aka; Batman). The duo are also natural choices for a Black Lantern Martian Manhunter to descend upon, seeking to return them to the grave they each escaped! "You should both be dead."

The Black Lantern sees each man bathed in the light of the energy he emits -- Green Lantern naturally exudes will, while the Flash glows blue in the eyes of Martian Manhunter, emitting hope. It is these emotions he hopes to corrupt, but while the Martian's shape-shifting abilities allow him to appear human, a similar scan by the Green Lantern's ring reveals his status as a lifeless shell.

The ruse of his reappearance undone, the Black Lantern is forced to engage!
A giant green energy-fist glides through the Black Lantern's body as it recalls the powers of intangibility used by Martian Manhunter. Intangibility equals invisibility and the BL Manhunter is able to swat both living heroes down, no doubt utilizing the powers of speed and strength the Martian Manhunter also used in his time as a living, breathing member of the Justice League of America.

Psychological warfare is as apparent as the physical manhandling the reanimated Martian intends to unleash upon his friends, declaring his intentions to "help" his former friends, whilst gripping the throat of the Green Lantern!

"Martian vision" gives Flash something to run from while the Manhunter analyzes the past of each once-dead hero. Yellow fear rips through Barry Allen as his mind is telepathically flooded with images of passing into the Speed Force, while the Green Lantern glows with green will, resisting flashbacks to his time as Parallax.

The flood of willpower into Hal Jordan's body appears to play into the Black Lantern's goals, but before he can make good on his threat to reach into his former ally's chest, the Flash goes airborne, vaulting off a makeshift ramp made from a fallen tombstone! The crackling speedster has little influence over he and his fellow's descent, however, forcing him to compell his friend back from the visions projected into his head!

A surrounding green light gives the pair a rough but safe landing into one of the buildings below, but it's not long before the building itself begins to quake with the Black Lantern Martian Manhunter's power. He brings the entire structure down with strength comparable to Superman -- a power he notes is all too often forgotten.

Fortunately, Green Lantern is again able to protect the innocent, housing himself, Flash, and the building's occupants in an impenetrable bubble of his ring's energy. It gives the heroes a chance to regroup and strategize.

Flash encounters an unseen Martian Manhunter first, unleashing a barrage of super-fast strikes whilst appealing to better days when the two discussed their lives as agents of law enforcement. With a super-fast twist of his limbs he blows a chemical tanker into his former ally, rocketting into a devestating follow-up left hook that provokes a whimpered appeal from his opponent, "B-Barry."

Unbeknownst to him, the Flash was the victim of Martian Manhunter's telepathic attack once more, actually unleashing his beating on Green Lantern! The Lantern uses his ring to try to lift the fog and free himself, only to be entangled in the metamorphic limbs of the decayed Martian Manhunter!

The Black Lantern chokes Green Lantern out and tosses him into the night sky, returning his focuses earthbound with a slingshot of his extented limb in the direction of the Flash! It is the final blow in this opening chapter of the battle, leaving Flash sinking in the Gotham waters, while GL floats aimlessly.

The Hammer...
We got the first inclination that this fight would occur in Blackest Night #1 and it's conclusion would have to wait until the second issue of the afforementioned series. However, as an autonomous depiction of the fight, I'm going to declare Martian Manhunter the victor under the logic of rounds. A long way of saying -- welcome back to The Comic Book Fight Club!

Our traditional examinations of superhero smackdown and comic book review has all but screeched to a hault since the slowdown of early 2009. A conspiracy of events has contributed to the necessity of this retroactive backlogging, one of the most significant being the somewhat appropriate struggles of experiencing the closest personal death of my short lifespan. In that respect, I suppose I can relate to the idea of these Blackest Night comics, even if I'm not inclined to read or discuss them with that perspective.

It bares repeating -- this is officially a backlog entry, written in 2010.
You future retronauts might like to know that, as I'm writing this portion of the review during a time when Blackest Night has finally finished, working around only notes from the time when this issue was actually written (and added to the Infinite Wars to-do pile).

It was tough not to be excited about this issue the minute the cover was leaked. It was a great way to immediately engage the longterm readers who, if you were anything like me, were probably anticipating Martian Manhunter's return during his death in Final Crisis [via the Requiem one-shot]. Such was the anticipation built by the Blackest Night teaser housed in the epilogue of Sinestro Corps War!

It was a wonderfully personalized way to get the message of the event across straight away, moreso than perhaps the deaths of Hawkman and Hawkgirl in Blackest Night #1. Martian Manhunter has long been the sentimental favourite of the JLA, engendering a fond following all the way to the naked uninformed of the cartoon audience. Besides, take a look at that cover! Amidst the speculation of who would be among the Black Lantern Corps' number, the image of MM with Flash on his back and GL pounded into the ground is a pretty big statement in the most primal terms! Exciting!

History will show that Black Hand was the first official Black Lantern to enter the fray after killing himself in the previous issue of Green Lantern -- the culmination of plot points explored throughout Geoff Johns' tenure on the title. It was in solicitations for action figures, however, that we first gleaned confirmation of a Black Lantern Martian Manhunter and Earth-2 Superman, which did little to reaffirm the scale of what was to unfold over the course of 2009. The speculation game was a small part of the Infinite Wars, but was quickly rendered moot by this gradual realization that the Black Lanterns would go far beyond the structure of the Yellow Lanterns that were the first of their kind introduced by Johns.

Those are the facts as they were.
Little did I know at the time that Green Lantern #44 would be the very narrow foundation upon which a goliath event would be erected. By the time big bad Nekron showed up, much of the excitement had begun to peter out. It was the sense of mystery in the early goings that really propelled Blackest Night as not only a story, but a monthly phenomenon that pushed DC to a controlling position of the top ten monthly sales chart. GL #44 played to that beautifully, adding a second glimpse at the emotion-vision colour treatment that became a trademark of the Black Lanterns throughout the many disconnected mini-series and one-shots.

This issue was also the first indication that this was very much a story with the newly returned Barry Allen Flash and Hal Jordan Green Lantern at the centre of it. This was something I certainly had not anticipated to such a total degree, but come 2010 have embraced to it's fullest. I had extreme reservations about the notion of permanently resurrecting a character [in Flash] that had contributed such an important legacy with his fictional death back in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Between the efforts of Final Crisis, Flash: Rebirth, Blackest Night, Blackest Night: Flash, and the odd blip elsewhere, it's become very easy to take the Flash of my youth for granted once more -- something I never expected. It's a credit to the nurturing of Geoff Johns, whose greatest triumph is almost always the respect he shows for concepts and characters created decades before his birth.

It's difficult to look back on this issue with the perspective of a typical review.
When the dust has well and truly settled, it'll be interesting to go back and try to reabsorb Blackest Night in a single download. I wonder if an issue like GL #44 will remain lost in the complexity and vastness of the story's eventual design, or if the personal undertones will take on a stronger meaning. To that end, I wonder where this issue will fall in the complicated shuffling of DC's Blackest Night trade paperback program. Both this and the previous issue have a curious disconnection about them, feeling like one-shot curio rather than part of the more elaborative storyline dotpoints that populated Green Lantern later in the event.

What remains true regardless of time is the success of Doug Mahnke's draft to the A-list. His pencils were a pleasure to behold come the conclusion of Final Crisis and I was very pleased to be reading a Green Lantern with his approach. There's a confidence in his line work that isn't always easy to describe. Clean lines and solid inks provided, in this issue, by the team of Christian Alamy, Tom Guyen, Rooney Ramos, and Mahnke himself, are always a feature of Mahnke's artwork, but there's a lot more to enjoy about his compositions and treatment of the superhero/human structure. He is a worthy successor to the hyper-realists that came before him. I'm not apt enough to really give him due credit.

Which probably makes this as good a time as any to cut the review.

I have a big stack of comics to my right that have accumulated each week throughout 2009 and 2010. They are the backlog I fully intend to contribute to the site as I find the time and energy. I've given consideration to other ways to keep the site bouyant with activity, but it's my feeling that this format of fight features and reviews is just too fundamental to the blog to supplement.

In that stack of backlog issues is plenty more Blackest Night, which I hope we can mine for some interesting retrospectives and statistics for this big game we call Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!

The Issue: 5.5 The Fight: 6
Winner: (Black Lantern) Martian Manhunter

Hardcover editions of the Blackest Night event spectacular are currently available from Amazon.com. By using purchase links on the site, you help sponsor future entries, with more recommendations available in the Online Store and featured in most posts found in the Secret Archives. For more information about the format of Blackest Night trades, visit DCcomics.com.

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!

QUICK FIX: SCAR vs LYSSA DRAK
Emerald Eclipse: Part Five (DC)
Where: Green Lantern Corps #37 When: August 2009 Why: Peter J. Tomasi How: Patrick Gleason

THE TAPE...
Strength: Scar 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Scar 7 (Infinite Wisdom)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Scar 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Lyssa Drak 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Lyssa Drak 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Scar 7 (Cosmic)

Math: Scar
Ranking: Scar (#441)

THE FIX...
At this point, we're so far behind on updates, we might as well just enjoy the content for what it is. This was the issue originally selected for what's become a weekly instalment of the Quick Fix, but at the time of updating, I felt I could not overlook Flash: Rebirth #3. The week of June 10 really served up a solid week of comics from both Marvel and DC, but GLC #37 takes pride of place for a moment that can be described as the unofficial beginning of Blackest Night!

I don't want to spend too much time on this, so you can consider it the first time the Quick Fix has actually lived up to the name. Fortunately for us, the moment key to our post took place over a mere three pages -- but what long anticipated and exciting pages they were!

Those new to the website might like clarification -- around here, we do things a little different to other review sites. "Secret Wars on Infinite Earths" not only refers to the two definitive comics crossovers of the mid-eighties, but also the endless battles undertaken by characters from different companies, mediums, and internal universes. It is a literal description of our "fight league" format that both ranks and records combatants and their battles in various comics.

While the prophecized "War of Light" spills over into the prison system of Oa's Sciencell holding facilities; one of the prisoners representing the Yellow Corps of fear slinks away to retrieve their sacred text -- The Book of Parallax.

Lyssa Drak, keeper of the book, uses her ring to tap into the unique energies of the scripts. It leads her deep beneath the planet Oa, into cavernous darkness not lit by the light of the Guardians or their Green Lantern Corps. There she discovers not the Book of Parallax, but rather, a black text brimming with the dark powers of death. This is the Book of the Black Lanterns, written with the oozing black tears spilled from the eyes of a fallen Guardian.
"She" is Scar -- tainted by the burning touch of the Anti-Monitor [Green Lantern #25], which left her both physically disfigured and emotionally unhinged.

As you might have gathered, the "fight" is brief.
Scar ambushes Lyssa Drak and forces her into the book, to a fate that we can only imagine at this point. Perhaps she is merely imprisoned, or perhaps she will rise at a later date, to join the army of Black Lanterns that will spread across the universe. Maybe hers is a fate even more esoteric in it's cosmic nature.

While the Green Lanterns fight to maintain order on Oa, Scar initiates the beginning of the Blackest Night from beneath the planet's surface. Spewing black energy that threatens to destroy the Central Power Battery and Oa itself!

When you consider that the first teaser for Blackest Night ran as an epilogue to Green Lantern #25 [in 2007], you can appreciate how such a seemingly small gesture can take on such huge significance! Scar has been influencing the course of the War of Light and the fate of the Guardians for the better part of twelve months, if not longer, culminating in this first specific act of defiance.

Blackest Night won't technically begin until July with the release of the first issue of the Geoff Johns/Ivan Reis mini-series. The Prelude, however, has been running for quite some time, both in Johns' Green Lantern, and the surpassing companion work of Peter Tomasi in this series, Green Lantern Corps. With Johns so heavily bogged down by the introduction of an entire spectrum of Lantern Corps, it's been an unremarkable surprise to see Tomasi and the secondary book take first place.

Multiple plot-lines have meant this is a book of both great quality, and also quantity, delivered beautifully with pencils from Patrick Gleason and complimentary inks and colours, in this issue, by the split duos of Rebecca Buchman & Tom Nguyen, and Randy Mayor & Gabe Eltaeb.

Mongul's coup within the Sinestro Corps; their invasion of Daxam; the self-sacrificing destruction of Sodam Yat; the secret search for Anti-Monitor's corpse; and other little details have been the complimentary storylines to the building Blackest Night sub-plot. It seems a travesty that we haven't been able to focus on more of it, but in those occasions where it might have been preferable, it has sometimes just been too vast in scope to be represented by our format.

I don't doubt that Blackest Night-proper will take a major role in our reviews as we move through the middle of the year. We already know Black Lantern versions of Martian Manhunter and Earth-2 Superman are set to send a shockwave through the DCU, but this is almost certainly only the tip of the iceberg. This is an event I'm actually concerned about, particularly with the DCU taking so many unlikely turns in recent years. I hope this is not to be the end of our generation of this universe, comparable to the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series that allowed DC Comics to rearrange it's properties and effectively start over.

Our Infinite Wars: Blackest Night speculation post has undergone some updates, but as noted on the page, I think we've quickly realised that Blackest Night is to have an effect far grander than initially thought. This isn't a mere confrontation between forces, ala; Sinestro Corps War, but rather, a catastrophic cosmic event!

The Fight: 3 The Issue: 5.5
Winner: Scar

Green Lantern Corps is currently available monthly from DC comics, but you can pre-order the collected edition of "Emerald Eclipse" -- including all the action describe in this review -- via Amazon.com! By using purchase links provided on the site, you help sponsor future entries of the Infinite Wars. You can find more items in our Gift Shoppe, where collections of almost all issues reviewed in the Secret Archives are available. You'll find stories like Green Lantern: Rebirth and Sinestro Corps War!

INFINITE WARS: ... IN BLACKEST NIGHT!
The Green Lanterns' might will truly be tested
when the rise of a new Corps fullfils an ancient
prophecy that will threaten everything they
represent! For in the Blackest Night the dead
will rise with the power of the Black Lantern!

Since 2004's Green Lantern: Rebirth; Geoff Johns vision of redemption and revival for Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern brand has been a veritable epic!

In absolving Hal Jordan of crimes commited in the mid-nineties, Johns offered the artful introduction of Parallax, not as an alias, but rather an all corrupting entity of fear, and in doing so, rewrites definition into the Green Lantern history!

The Rage of the Red Lanterns Final Crisis special introduces not just the crimson end of the spectrum, but also the first of the loving Blue Lanterns founded by Ganthet and Sayd, to which Jordan himself may be a recruit!

This multi-coloured mayhem is all supposedly leading to a prophecy delivered by Alan Moore, predicting a crescendo of doom that comes in the Blackest Night!
The dead will rise, and given the carnage of the past few years, there are plenty of corpses waiting in the wings for black powerrings. The Anti-Monitor could technically be described as the first to be claimed, rising as the powersource for the Black Lantern Corps after being hurled through space by Superboy-Prime.

There's a long list of deadheads that might rise in the coming months, but here we offer but a selection of the recently deceased, who may yet rise. This is speculation at it's purest and most uninformed, but despite Johns' worming of the new history through a new Hal Jordan/Sinestro origin, I'm not especially sure there are many clues to go on. Rest in peace with our selections!

NOTE: This entry has had additional material added at later dates. These extra instalments contain spoilers and specific references to Blackest Night material. Navigate beyoned the initial predictions at your own peril!

Black Hand (William Hand)
Year One: [1964] Final Year: [NA] Odds: [99.9%]
Win Percentage: [0%] Cumulative Rank: [#481]

The Oath:
Okay, we're pitching softballs to start things off.
Anyone who read DC Universe 0 knows the villainous Black Hand was scene spewing black bile beneath the dark moon of the Black Lantern base planet. His symbol, perhaps not coincidentally, bares uncanny resemblance to that of the Black Lanterns (hardly news), and he was seen right back at the beginning of Rebirth trying to obtain the powerring of then deceased, Hal Jordan.

Promotions have inferred that the Black Lantern Corps will be made up of the dead, but I suppose nothing really says that's an exclusive requisite for the group. As far as I know Black Hand is still very much alive, despite his little vomitting episode. Then again, if Johns is applying his trademarks guiles to the convention of the zombie story, then what's to say the Black Lanterns can't kill to recruit. It is, after all, the mathematical power of the zombie.

Sinestro
Year One: [1961] Final Year: [NA] Odds: [45%]
Win Percentage: [50%] Cumulative Rank: [#202]

The Oath:
Do I really think Sinestro is primadonna enough to abandon the band for another group? Not really, but that's not to say he doesn't have a lot to answer for, and a case as a Black Lantern in waiting.

It was Sinestro who galvanized the Yellow Corps and set about events that led to the Anti-Monitor's ultimate demise. It was also the actions of Sinestro that provoked lethal force from the Green Lantern Corps, perhaps fulfiling the final requirements of the Blackest Night prophecy. Afterall, if the Black Lanterns recruit the dead, then killing their enemies will surely only work against the GLC.

Having proficiently wielded both a green and yellow powerring, Sinestro has unique qualifications. His death sentence appears to hold great significance in the Red Lanterns special, which culminates with the protective aid of a heroic Blue Lantern. If what we've seen is anything to go by, there's a good chance the dead have no choice when the Black Lantern ring calls.

As the most wanted man in the galaxy right now, Sinestro might find staying alive difficult, but given his powers it may just be the most important mission Hal Jordan can have as the Blackest Night looms. It may simply be all part of his plan, but if not, Sinestro may prove a powerful adversary, alive; or an even deadlier nemesis, dead.

Amon Sur
Year One: [1964] Final Year: [2008] Odds: [75%]
Win Percentage: [NA] Cumulative Rank: [NA]

The Oath:
There'd be a delicious poetry if Abin Sur were to be among the first to rise to terrorize the galaxy as a Black Lantern. Having died swearing Hal Jordan into the fold, he's a crucial legend in the comic book history of the Green Lanterns. We don't know how decayed Black Lantern recruits need to be, but if the long dead are an option, then he's surely in the ballpark.

For more recently deceased poignant drafts there's always the disgruntled prodigal son: Amon Sur.

Amon returned recently to violently reclaim the legacy of his father from a resurrected Hal Jordan, and was a logical recruit for the Sinestro Corps. He was among the first to die upon the initiation of lethal force throughout the GLC, dying for his crimes as a Sinestro Corpsman, thus adding flourish to the BLC's prophetic construction as self-designed doom for the Green Lanterns.

For all we know it is only those who have died by the ring who will return.
Either way, it would be a suitably poetic resurrection for a Corps that will probably only have so many slots available for such relevant and familiar characters. Unless of course, Earth's revolving door death policy makes us especially suited to recruitment...

Dr. Light (Arthur Light)
Year One: [1962] Final Year: [2008] Odds: [70%]
Win Percentage: [50%] Cumulative Rank: [#70]

The Oath:
Unrepentent for his brutal attacks on the Justice League and their families; it was a long overdue penance that took the life of Dr. Arthur Light recently in Final Crisis: Revelations. The Spectre's ironic vengeance turned Light into a candle in the wind, whose flame burned quickly.

It's difficult not to think it terms of trying to anticipate characters Johns might have some connection to. While he wasn't responsible for the grim revamp in 2004's Identity Crisis, he did carry the flame through several series, including conceptual hotspot and a story referenced throughout this entry, Infinite Crisis.

Light has shown before that his powers have an aptitude for bending even the will of a Green Lantern. The light consructs emitted by powerrings have been suspceptible to the Doctor's powers, but does this give him any special edge as an undead Black Lantern? For the time being we don't really even know if the resurrected will retain the powers they held in life, or if any consciousness will remain. It has been discussed that the Black Lanterns will at least be devoid of emotion -- something Dr. Light can probably relate to, given his henious past.

Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onnz)
Year One: [1955] Final Year: [2008] Odds: [60%]
Win Percentage: [50%] Cumulative Rank: [#40]

The Oath:
The writers controlling the DCU have themselves in a unique position, and against all odds, it's actually quite thrilling. There are still two schools of thought that suppose the resurrection of beloved characters, and even though it technically continues to undermine the value of death in superhero fiction, these events seem pointed and unique enough to justify the situation.

It feels as though Martian Manhunter has been on the chopping block for the best part of a decade, but it wasn't until Libra united even the small time crooks that J'onn J'onnz met his firey demise.

One would expect some degree of intergalactic diversity in the Black Lanterns, and as one of the few suriviving Martians, J'onn J'onnz is as good a choice as any other. I wonder, however, if such a prominent and popular figure might not still be groomed for the rumored new generation of New Gods!

Jade (Jennifer-Lynn Hayden)
Year One: [1983] Final Year: [2006] Odds: [55%]
Win Percentage: [NA] Cumulative Rank: [NA]

The Oath:
Particularly after the Sinestro Corps War; there's a fairly long list of deceased Lanterns. Few green ghouls could have as much impact upon resurrection, however, as Kyle Rayner's ex-girlfriend and the daughter of Alan Scott!

Having died protecting the multi-verse from Alexander Luthor Jr's machinations of designer realities, Jade's starheart power was eventually absorbed into Kyle Rayner, who again transformed into the super-Lantern called Ion.
There's a question as to whether the dissipation of her physical form might disqualify her from the Black Lantern Corps. Afterall, reconsistuting a body might be a dramatic scene, but it lacks the flair of a triumphant fist bursting forth from beneath six feet of Earth!

Presumably this factor plays a part in Jade's absence from the Green Lantern Crypt watched over by Morro. Some eighty-seven corpses populate the crypt, all of which I'm sure are viable candidates for the Black Lanterns.

Captain Atom (Nathaniel Adam)
Year One: [1986] Final Year: [2008] Odds: [50%]
Win Percentage: [100%] Cumulative Rank: [#147]

The Oath:
Fifteen years after spoiled plot points changed the fate of a DC villain, Captain Atom survived travel through time and space [in Captain Atom: Armageddon] only to have his body breached, and to fulfil his destiny to become the menace called Monarch!

Atom tussled with Green Lanterns of different universes when he brought them together; along with heroes from across the multiverse; in his arena of gladiatorial combat. His paranoid desires to form an army to defeat the all-seeing Monitors proved semi-successful when an enraged Superboy-Prime exposed his internal quantum energies, inadvertently destroying Earth-51.

These events managed to intersect with Green Lantern plot lines in several different ways, but whether or not this provides any additional weight to Atom's return as a Black Lantern remains to be seen.

Dr. Polaris (Neal Emerson)
Year One: [1962] Final Year: [2006] Odds: [45%]
Win Percentage: [100%] Cumulative Rank: [#144]

The Oath:
There's something suitable about keeping Blackest Night in the family, and as a longtime foe of the Green Lantern, Dr. Polaris seems to fit that bill.

Another casualty of Infinite Crisis; Polaris held brief tenure with Alexander Luthor Jr's Society of Supervillains, before being destroyed by the Human Bomb in the slaughter of the Freedom Fighters.

The debut of a new Dr. Polaris, John Nicol, might have a potentially negative affect on the return of the original. We have seen, however, with the Sinestro Corps, that overlapping brands isn't necessary a deterrent to Geoff Johns, who numbers among the most respectful modern writers of classic ideals.

Major Force (Clifford Zmeck)
Year One: [1988] Final Year: [2006] Odds: [35%]
Win Percentage: [NA] Cumulative Rank: [NA]

The Oath:
Essentially a sinister mirror of Captain Atom there really isn't going to be a lot of use for both on the Black Lantern team, assuming the undead selection process is at all descriminatory.

Despite starting life as a go-too-far military goon opposite the free-thinking Captain Atom; Major Force left an indelible imprint on the history of Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, and the status of women in comics, when he infamously crammed Rayner's girlfriend into a refridgerator.

Force fumbled his way through obscurity after the controversy, eventually meeting his fate at the hands of his original foe, but not before sponsoring his transformation into Monarch! Presumed dead, Major Force might be another nice inclusion that's familiar to the Green Lantern mythos, and will have special undead chemistry with Kyle Rayner. Afterall, aren't all good zombie tales really about reflecting the darkness within humanity's heart?

Superman (Kal-L)
Year One: [1969] Final Year: [2006] Odds: [30%]
Win Percentage: [100%] Cumulative Rank: [#158]

The Oath:
When anticipating the line-up for the Sinestro Corps, I never imagined characters like Cyborg Superman and Superboy-Prime would cross over brands, let alone number on the same team. Consider it a pre-emptive strike, more than any real likelihood, that has Earth-2 Superman on our speculative list.

The Kingdom Come Superman currently appearing in Justice Society of America arguably filled the niche left behind by Earth-2 Supes' demise in Infinite Crisis, but since he's still alive, sucks to him!

As a Superman from a pre-Crisis alternate universe he's a very unique character of properties that could have any number of implications for those who could tap into them. What secrets lie within the body of a survivor of a dead reality?
Sounds more like an Anti-Monitor-esque premise for a new central power battery, but a resurrection clears that up pretty quick. It seems the "real" Superman has been battling versions of himself quite a lot lately, but it's been a while since we've had any of the undead variety!

The Earth-2 Superman almost seems like the perfect opportunity to ascend one of the most iconic heroes in comics to New Godhood, whilst still having the cake of our own universe's Superman. If a resurrection were to occur, somehow that seems more appropriate, even if the character's association with Jack Kirby is much less prominent than I want to imagine.

Phantom Lady (Dee Tyler)
Year One: [1989] Final Year: [2006] Odds: [25%]
Win Percentage: [0%] Cumulative Rank: [#444]

The Oath:
Another casualty of Infinite Crisis; Phantom Lady perished on the sword of Deathstroke in the same battle that claimed Dr. Polaris.

I'm not sure there's really an especially good argument here, but there's a sore need for female representation in this zombified Corps. With a history of light-based illusions one would imagine there's some sort of precedent, but if nothing else, it might mark a rare opportunity for Phantom Lady to pick-up an outfit suitable for the Winter months, and cold of space.

Flash (Bart Allen)
Year One: [1994] Final Year: [2008] Odds: [20%]
Win Percentage: [NA] Cumulative Rank: [NA]

The Oath:
Honestly, things turn a little flavourless from here.
As far as we know the Blackest Night won't be stretching across the DCU, and will not be affecting the Justice League. Bart Allen's death at the hands of the Rogues is more likely to bare weight in another Geoff Johns project - the official welcome back for Barry Allen - Flash: Rebirth.

It stands to reason if the theorised ascension of heroes to New Godhood were to take place, a Flash would be among them. This seemed like the most plausible means of return for Barry Allen, who famously died saving the multiverse from the Anti-Monitor in Crisis on Infinite Earths. It seems, however, that he was able to outrun death, arriving back in the present in the pages of Final Crisis.

Despite a fasttrack to maturity that marked but one of the bungles in Bart Allen's short lived Flash series, I still think of the character as too impetuous for any kind of representation in a superhero pantheon. What that means, I do not know, but it would be fun to have a super-fast Black Lantern.

Actually, we can probably mention a host of dead heroes who might have made the list. Blue Beetle, The Question, Aquaman, Sandman, Maxima, Black Mask, KGBeast, and a long list of others all sound nice enough, but are undermined by more popular successors, or a complete removal from the logic of Blackest Night. It isn't really Halloween themed enough for this month, but perhaps a New God speculation post is in our future.

Jonah Hex
Year One: [1972] Final Year: ["1904"] Odds: [5%]
Win Percentage: [NA] Cumulative Rank: [NA]

The Oath:
Technically he died decades before his first appearance in comics, but wouldn't it be fun to have an undead confederate gunslinger floating around space in a black leotard? C'mon!

EDIT JANUARY 5, 2009:
Batman
Year One: [1939] Final Year: [2008?] Odds: [30%]
Win Percentage: [71.05%] Cumulative Rank: [#1]

The Oath:
Y'know, at the time of writing this article I really toyed with forecasting the results of Batman RIP, but felt, by now, we would've had a more certain answer. An answer I expected to involve some other sort of shortcut out of actually seeing the last of Bruce Wayne.
We still don't actually know that he's dead, and honestly, I have my doubts. The biggest question for me remains whether or not Batman, or anyone else, is a part of those rumored plans to ascend various heroes to the status of New God (a void left by the New Gods who now inhabit human form in Final Crisis).

I imagine I was not the only person who noticed the fist on the right [in the Blackest Night teaser at the top of the post] looks suspiciously similar to the iconic Dark Knight Returns image. Was this a very early clue regarding Batman's mortality? A broader hint toward a Batman? Or just a coincidence?

As of the beginning of 2009 we have no clues, but having stewed on his status on this list for the past few months, I figured it was worth taking the plunge.

I don't doubt many other names will arise for candidacy on the list, but in the mean time, we observe the events surrounding the various Blackest Night prologues before the event kicks off in the American summer!

EDIT JANUARY 24, 2009:
Solomon Grundy
Year One: [1944] Final Year: ["1895"] Odds: [50%]
Win Percentage: [0%] Cumulative Rank: [#684]

The Oath:
If we're throwing out all our outsider picks, why not add Solomon?
The recent Faces of Evil one-shot ends with Phantom Stranger (accompanied by Grundy's original arch-nemesis, Alan Scott) all but confirming as much, "There is an unholy night approaching. As black as the undead's blood. And it's best if Solomon Grundy was not around for it."

The Stranger and Lantern have arrived to help Grundy cure himself of his perpetual reincarnations, so it stands to reason he might actually be specifically removed from the equation, (a nod to logic comparable to Batman and Scarecrow's brief candidacy for Sinestro Corps fear rings during the War).

The significance of Solomon Grundy? His never ending afterlife, one would assume. If the Black Lanterns are something comparable to a force of living-dead, then mastery over a creature whose afterlife is never ending could be a potentially powerful weapon for the Black Lanterns. Not to mention any more abstract powers that might be extracted from the lumbering deadite.

Scenarios like this probably hold a lot of ground during the Blackest Night.
We can assume many of the noted dead Green Lanterns (and other) will be prime candidates for resurrection with the Black Lanterns. Like any classic zombie scenario, they also have the benefit of assimilating any hero who might be defeated from the opposing side(s). This doubles back to the theory of Sinestro potentially finding himself in their number in a situation of significance (assuming the lives lived before death have baring on their ability as a Black Lantern).

EDIT JUNE 17, 2009:
DC solicitations and cover previews have been confirming for the past few months many of the suspected Black Lanterns. Now, in the lead-up to Green Lantern #43, the DC Source blog has revealed a double-page spread detailing an all-star line up of potential resurrectees.

The name checked are; Tula, Al Pratt, Sue Dibny, Ronnie Raymond (Firestorm), Digger Harkness (Captain Boomerang), Ted Kord (Blue Beetle), Maxwell Lord, Ryan Kendall, Dee Tyler, Roy Lincoln, Roger Hayden, Vic Sage (The Question), Ralph Dibny, Jean Loring, Arthur Light, J'onn J'onnz, Boston Brand, Tara Markov (Terra), Wesley Dodds, Jenny-Lynn Hayden (Jade), Arthur Curry, Jonathan "Pa" Kent, and Bruce Wayne.

The long list confirms suspicions that victims of Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis will feature, along with other recently deceased heroes. Perhaps the most telling thing about this scene is the sheer volume of Black Lanterns being served up.

I recall reading a quote from Geoff Johns (writer) who referred to a fundamental misunderstanding of what Blackest Night would actually be. It struck me, quite immediately, that the speculative cherry picking indulged by fans (myself included) might be overlooking the bredth of this phenomenon. It seems reasonable to expect that the Black Lanterns might be much more than the conventional Corps army many of us have assumed they would be. It seems entirely plausible that the Black Lanterns will be a veritable force of nature, perhaps prevelant across the universe to include the resurrection of all dead.

Feature characters will probably come from many of our picks, but on the whole, the heroes of the DC Universe might very well be fighting every skeleton in their secret costume closets.

One thing is certain -- we'll be finding out very soon exactly what the situation is! Last week's Green Lantern Corps #37 effectively brought about the beginning of Blackest Night proper, ending the Prelude issue with the corrupted Guardian, Scar, summoning the oozing darkness from the caverns within Oa. Blackest Night officially begins with Green Lantern #43, which includes the double-page promo, and is available July 8.

EDIT JULY 25, 2009:
Blackest Night is officially well under way!
Confirming every Black Lantern we predicated (and didn't) is just too big a task, but it might be nice to talk a little about a few theories. In the first issue of the core mini-series we've seen Elongated Man and Sue Dibny induct Hawkman and Hawkgirl into the Black Corps with a healthy dose of spiked-mace-to-the-head. The Black Lanterns have also claimed an army of deceased Green Lanterns, and a whole bunch of other dead folk, including the well telegraphed J'onn J'onnz, who did the tango with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, this week in GL #44.

Those are spoilers -- how about some more feeble attempts at prediction?

Way back in GL #25 we saw Anti-Monitor get a thrashing from the Green Lantern Corps (and Superboy-Prime), leading to our first big teaser of the Blackest Night event when the giant corpse landed to form the Black Lantern battery (in Sector 666). In Blackest Night #1, the fallen Guardian, Scar, revealed that the Anti-Monitor's attack on her gave her a taste of death, which started this Black Lantern Corps ball rolling. She also revealed intentions to resurrect Anti-Monitor.

When Hawkman and Hawkgirl receive their Black rings, the GL-style battery reading shows power increasing by .1%. Readings in GL #44 show the Black Lantern rings charging much higher levels, presumably related to the initiation of yet more characters into their undead army. It stands to reason that as more of the living are claimed, the power will bring Anti-Monitor closer to resurrection.

Details in the Blackest Night prophecy suggest something quite catastrophic, and back when we were entrenched in the doomsday of Final Crisis, those prophetic warnings created a sense of unease all too familiar. Hal Jordan's been racking up experience with the different emotional spectrums, with many pegging him as the likely hero to rally the forces of light against darkness. Fingers crossed he does, whether that involves becoming a hybrid White Lantern, or otherwise, because the alternate might very well be a universe-destroying crisis of infinite earths.

Other details you might like to know -- Black Hand was officially inducted into a position comparable to Ion (Green Lanterns) or Parallax (Sinestro Corps), as the spiritual embodiment of the Black Lantern power. You won't want to miss out on his story in GL #43, which might still be on shelves, or in second print, if you regrettably missed out. In the issue, he also dug up Bruce Wayne's skull, which he's been quite attached to, bringing it with him to visit Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

It's quite possible Batman's predicament post-Final Crisis has somehow made him an anamolous source of power for the Black Lanterns. In Final Crisis #6, Batman was struck down by Darkseid's Omega Sanction, which is described as the death that is life. We last saw him scrawling on a cave at the dawn of time (or on another Earth) at the end of Final Crisis, but despite his presence there, we also have a body. A body that might be a funky cosmic conduit.

So, there you have it. Another round of funky predictions and theories, for you.
You can stay abrest of Blackest Night with various resources, such as those provided by DCcomics.com, IGN, and maybe even here, if time permits.

Review updates have been severely delayed by technical difficulties and general distractions, but you will no doubt eventually find some of the Blackest Night battles and details here on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths. My stack already has issues of Green Lantern and Blackest Night in it, ready and waiting. Cheers!

EDIT DECEMBER 10, 2009:
I really haven't wanted to make any attempt to blog about the unfolding events of Blackest Night, but there are a few nagging thoughts that warranted a return.

Right now the Infinite Wars blog updates are on the verge of touching upon Blackest Night #1 [July 17], but I have been reading along week-to-week with the core mini, as well as key issues of Green Lantern and other series.

A lot of the bigger questions I've raised have yet to be put to rest. I find myself dwelling on the bigger conspiracy theory of Blackest Night, rather than the minutia of high concept zombie lanterns. The short-lived arrival of a Black Lantern Bruce Wayne -- emerging from the skull possessed by Black Hand -- leads me to wonder further how his fate in Final Crisis might tie-in to Blackest Night.

Today we learnt 2010 will see Grant Morrison dive into Bruce Wayne's Darkseid Omega Sanction sponsored displacement, presumably confirming he has fallen through time (ala; Sonny Sumo), rather than into one of the 52 Earths. We knew quite immediately that Batman wasn't quite dead, but there is the question of his his 'fate worse than death' relates to the discovery of a body by Superman in the key moments of Final Crisis #6. Relate that to the significance of the skull of that body, and I can't help but wonder what sort of death-related powers might be being drawn from the skull. As a corpse unrepresentative of a spirit, could it be that the Bruce Wayne skull connects to some sort of death-life loophole that allows Nekron, Black Hand, and the Black Lanterns to draw upon an infinite cycle of energy? Or is this the legacy of the New Gods, who were seemingly shunted into Earth-51, reallocated as a Kirby-Earth. Perhaps the "death" of Darkseid at Batman's hand (in Final Crisis #6) opened up the well of power related to the New Gods and Darkseid.

The other big question unanswered is what the Blackest Night will mean to the DC Universe. Right from the beginning I've been concerned about the prophecy as an end to the universe as we know it. In the months that have followed, I've had nothing to put my fears to rest, with perhaps the noted exception of a total lack of discussion about the matter in the community (from what little I've seen).

The personal squabbles of heroes battling deceased friends and enemies seems to have distracted from the fact that Blackest Night is a threat to the entire DC Universe, and by extention, the multiverse. If you take Alexander Luthor Jr's journey to battle Superboy-Prime in Adventure Comics as an indication of the possibilities, then it's quite literally a threat to multiple Earths. Keep in mind that the event also began with the Black Lantern Central Battery rising from the apparent corpse of the Anti-Monitor (who was seemingly killed by Superboy-Prime at the conclusion of the Sinestro Corps War).

What I'm saying, is, that this could be an event on the scale of Crisis of Infinite Earths. An event that is about trying to destroy all life in the universe with the intention, presumably, of starting over. Something that's been teased by Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis, but honestly, never struck me as a goal of those tales.

Really, I think I'm just indulging in the implied possibilities of Blackest Night, but I couldn't with 100% certainty bank on the survival of the DCU as we know it. At present; many future issues of DC comics currently carry blacked-out confidential covers, denying us specific clues as to the future of the DCU.

DC have also just announced a brand new version of the Batman and Superman mythos in Original Graphic Novel format. Effectively their belated answer to Marvel's Ultimate line; the two books promise to start a serialized version that reinvents the wheel of the classic heroes, without any of the baggage of decades of history and continuity. It's a "new reader" initiative, but with the branding Earth-One, might also be an indication of a new shuffle to the DC multiverse.

Food for thought as we end the year, and enter the second half of the event.

It really should also be noted that Geoff Johns has mentioned that Blackest Night will address the short-lived revolving door of death that's seen many of the top heroes and villains resurrected throughout the past twenty years. The arrival of Nekron apparently very subtly confirmed that intention with a very blunt piece of explanation from the villain in issue #5: "I put myself between you and everlasting death. I allowed your numerous resurrections. You will help me expose the Guardians' greatest secret and return this universe to a plce of quiet, dark order."

EDIT DECEMBER 12, 2009:
One of the really fun things about the various Corps sprung from the 'emotional spectrum' is the textured way their abilities reflect that emotion in some way.

Combine the mindless ferocity of Red Rage with the determination of Green Will, and you get a rare Red Lantern capable of using his vomit-power to create constructs. It's a simple concept that refers to the way rage can be used to constructive ends with a level mindset (or will).

Green Lantern #48 showed us more interesting ways the emotional spectrum can influence different powers, like Blue Hope curbing the undying hunger of Orange Avarice -- hope for better curtails greed. The ferocity of Red Rage was further emphasised when it broke through the chains of Yellow Fear, once again batted Green Will aside, and even managed to deny the promise of Hope. Saint Walker's common origins of loss nearly calmed Atrocitus, but it was the Violet light of Love that appeared the most intuitive, recognising those motivations first.

There's a whole lot of really fun ways to look at how emotions can influence a person's state of mind, right down to the quantities of the mix. That slight difference in the origins of the Blue and Red Lantern speaks to the subtle variance -- Saint Walker felt hope when his family was killed by the naturally manifesting threats of his home world [told in BN: Tales of the Corps #1], while Atrocitus felt rage toward those he held responsible for the murder of his.

I've found myself, on occasion, forced to rationalize through the thought that a feeling like sadness should be an emotion (as opposed to "will," which isn't).
It's interesting to consider that behind every misery there is an underlying drive of fear, rage, or love. I know after the recent loss of my dearest old friend of twenty years, my sadness was certainly motivated by love.

It's not all metatextual fun and games, however.
Blackest Night calls for a few superhero thought processes, and that brings me to Adventure Comics #5 and the plight of Superboy-Prime.

Faced with a small army of Black Lantern versions of the people he killed during his tour of the DC multiverse; Prime falls back on the old addage of, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. We saw the same fate befall the many heroes who had seemingly returned from the dead, in the pages of Blackest Night #5. If you assume that the logic between the two comics is to remain consistent, we might actually know how things turn around.

Possessing a Black Lantern ring, Superboy-Prime finds himself transforming into each of the various Lanterns with the passing of his emotions. He settles on Red Rage and sets about destroying the Black Lanterns with vomit-power, as already seen in the pages of Green Lantern. So, apparently, the power of Black Death is capable of tapping in to the powers of the emotional spectrum, potentially transforming any 'live' wearer of the Black ring into one of the other Corps.

Assuming heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Superboy are capable of channeling an emotion to such specific ends, this might be how they overcome their predicament as Black Lanterns in the next issue of Blackest Night. It might also suggest that this is how a hero can create the White light of Life, which was not achieved by the combined powers of each Corps in Blackest Night #5.

If Black rings are tapping in to the fundamental origins of the universe, then it's probably reasonable to assume that it would require the same type of connection to create life. Or perhaps the logic to be considered is still that it requires an individual capable of feeling each emotion to extensive lengths, bringing us back to the thought that Hal Jordan -- who possessed multiple rings in the lead-up to Blackest Night -- might become a White Lantern as a result of his emotional underpinnings. Could Superboy-Prime be destined to join the fight as a White power, like Dove who has already exhibited this ability (leaving Black Lanterns to crumble in her presence).

To end on a little healthy paranoia; here's hoping Prime doesn't harness that White power to inadvertently achieve the ends he started with -- giving birth to a new, "better" DC universe. Adventure Comics did promise him a happy ending...