Green Lantern---Blackest Night (Spoilers)

[Darth Snoopy]

If you guys have that much self control I'm going to start putting in fake stuff just to keep you guys guessing

And I still can't believe we can't say D ick Grayson without it getting censored

I can see it now..."WHAT?!? G'Nort was the evil mastermind behind the War of Light?!?"

man, you guys are killing me. I cant get my books until tomorrow morning. so, im not reading any posts.

extremely envious of you all. I havent geeked out like this over a story, in a long time

Ditto! I think I may have achieved level 10 Geekness!

 

[cr0w]

Spoilers. Plot speculation based on what happened in BN #2 and Batman.

Ok, so we see thanks to Deadman that Black Lanterns take control of the dead bodies, but not their spirits. And, if the spirit tries to take back its body, it has to endure an incredible amount of both physical and mental pain.

So this got me to thinking. Based on how the Black Lanterns act, i.e. being incredibly evil and negative, their bodies might be being reanimated by negative energy, or hate, which uses anything negative or violent that happened to them in life to power their rings, much like how the other Corps use the other emotions to power theirs. Everyone who has come back thus far has died a violent death, and we see with the attempted resurrection of the ultimate pacifist, Dove, a.k.a. Don Hall, that those who are at peace cannot be raised. The Black Lanterns go after those who were close to them in life, and bring up the negative aspects of their relationships while they're attempting to kill them and turn them.

Showing that Deadman's body and spirit are separate caused me to wonder...where are the spirits of those whose bodies are being used by the BLC? We see in this issue that BLs can't be physically hurt. We see that the spirit can attempt to take its body back, but in doing so it has to endure the previously mentioned pain. What if the spirits of those who have been reanimated somehow come back to fight what is possessing their bodies and causing them to do horrific things? Since the BLs can't be physically harmed, it will have to be done spiritually. And, with all the speculation about White Lanterns eventually showing up, what if those who died and are at peace somehow come back as White Lanterns, led by Dove, and use peace as their power source to destroy whatever negativity is powering the BLs?

It would come down to body vs. soul, light vs. dark, life vs. death. It's been previously said that Deadman would play a large role in this series, and I think with what we saw in issue #2, we're starting to get hints as to how it's going to play out.

 

[The Mike]

Just finished the three books this week. They didn't disappoint. The funny thing is when I got to the LCS there were guys in different Lantern shirts all around, Orange, Red, Blue, Black. I felt compelled to represent so I got the new Green Lantern Power symbol shirt, the logo with the green light logo embossed over it.

First, Deadman's body is a Black Lantern, but not Deadman himself. Confused yet? He tried to reunite with his body, but he couldn't stand the pain.

Not really. Deadman is a ghost remember? Which means he never had control of his body, its still dead hence the name. He survived by "phasing" in and out of the bodies of others. What happened is that the power ring found Boston Brand's body, its seeking of the body is what kept dragging Deadman back to the grave. He tried to repossess the dead body only to be hit with severe physical and psychic energy that he couldn't hold it. So Deadman is still Deadman operating just like he has in the comic books. Boston Brand's bones which were buried in the suit from his performing days is the Black Lantern.

Second, ^^^^ Grayson is Batman now, in case you hadn't heard. So no info about Bruce yet.

Deadman said that he saw Black Hand licking Bruce's skull and that Black Hand had to put a veil of energy over it. I think Bruce is more of a key of getting to the core of the Black Lanterns than we think.

Fourth, the Graysons and Drakes are back as Black Lanterns now! Very interesting, especially since Thomas and Martha Wayne haven't... at least yet.

The Black Lanterns seem to be on a set schedule, they were hunting superpowered individuals. Now they are moving on to regular individuals with the Graysons and the Drakes (I don't count Sue Dibny because she was buried next to Ralph). I'm thinking they just haven't gotten to the Waynes yet and thinking that they were able to break through the crypt on OA, I would say that putting their bodies underneath Wayne Tower was a mistake on ol' Richard Grayson's part.

Once again, BN and its crossovers do not disappoint. The highlights include the BL rings invading the GL crypt on Oa, Jade as a BL freaking out Kyle Rayner, Abin Sur's grave being visited by a black ring, the Graysons and the Drakes being resurrected, a lonely, confused Ray Palmer walking into a death trap (pardon the pun) and Arthur Curry and crew taking out Mera who is tossed like a rag doll on to a car's roof and Garth (Tempest) being turned into a BL by the love of his life. DAMN! Three fine issues and an epilogue by the Black Hand in BN#2 which further explores his twisted mind! Oh yeah, the Spectre wants Hal Jordan back!

I love that Abin Sur, Tomar Re and JACK T. CHANCE!!! are now BLs. They will definitely give the GLs a run for their money. I'm enjoying the love angles too with Jade and Garth being attacked by two different loves...what I find interesting is that their weaknesses in the living realm aren't working. Fire had no effect on Manhunter which means that Kryptonite is useless on E2 Superman. The army is becoming so massive on the Black Lantern side I don't see how this won't end with heroes getting rings of their own even temporarily. I also found it interesting that during the attack on OA that Kyle and Killowog were glowing Green with "will" and Guy was glowing Red with "rage"....

 

[The Mike]

It would come down to body vs. soul, light vs. dark, life vs. death. It's been previously said that Deadman would play a large role in this series, and I think with what we saw in issue #2, we're starting to get hints as to how it's going to play out.

I agree, I think Deadman will be the key to showing where the souls of the dead are while the Black Power Rings are controlling their bodies and that will have something to do with turning the tide. I'm also wondering with Dove how he couldn't be raised by the Ring and it looked like Hawk pulled him out of the grave hence disturbing his peace that putting them to rest, handling the reasons why they were killed might be a key in putting them down. That whole guiding them to the otherside with a twist.

 

[Buttmunch]

I think Martha and Thomas Wayne not coming back yet is quite significant. If they were going to come back, wouldn't Black Hand have woken them up when he was there digging up Bruce? They certainly died a violent death, so they aren't at peace like Dove (if they were, would Bruce still need to be Batman?). Perhaps they will go the route that they aren't really dead. Not sure why they'd do that, but I'm getting that feeling since they didn't rise with the Drakes and Graysons. Hmmm...

 

[Darth Snoopy]

I can't wait to read my books! I'm getting giddy like a fatman in McDonald's!

 

[cr0w]

I think Martha and Thomas Wayne not coming back yet is quite significant. If they were going to come back, wouldn't Black Hand have woken them up when he was there digging up Bruce? They certainly died a violent death, so they aren't at peace like Dove (if they were, would Bruce still need to be Batman?). Perhaps they will go the route that they aren't really dead. Not sure why they'd do that, but I'm getting that feeling since they didn't rise with the Drakes and Graysons. Hmmm...

Given that the Black Lanterns go right after the people they were closely connected with in life, what purpose would Thomas and Martha serve since Bruce is currently "dead"? It's becoming increasingly obvious that the BLs have to feed of certain emotions created in people they were close to before they turn them, and since Thomas and Martha have no connections to anyone besides Bruce, and he's unavailable, maybe they can't be raised.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

A preview of Blackest Night #'s 3 & 4... ​

Blackest Night #3

Written by Geoff Johns; Art and cover by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert; variant cover by Ethan Van Sciver; Cover by Ivan Reis
As the dead attack in full force, Green Lantern is faced with an impossible decision and the scattered remains of the Justice League suffer a terrible loss. Who can stop the Black Lanterns? Why are they rising? And how can the Spectre help?

Blackest Night #4

Written by Geoff Johns; Art and cover by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert; Variant cover by Ethan Van Sciver; Sketch variant cover by Ivan Reis
Summer's hottest event explodes in this critical issue! Hold on to your power rings, because the secrets behind the Blackest Night finally stand revealed! While Earth is evacuated, Hal Jordan embarks on a brave journey to the darkest depths to uncover the truth behind the Black Lanterns! You won't believe what he uncovers!

Continuing the best-selling epic from superstars Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis!

 

[Buttmunch]

Given that the Black Lanterns go right after the people they were closely connected with in life, what purpose would Thomas and Martha serve since Bruce is currently "dead"? It's becoming increasingly obvious that the BLs have to feed of certain emotions created in people they were close to before they turn them, and since Thomas and Martha have no connections to anyone besides Bruce, and he's unavailable, maybe they can't be raised.

What about Alfred? He is still around (right? And if not, then why isn't he rising?). I could see Martha and Thomas coming back to haunt him and through him Batman and Robin. But I do see your point.

But the question still remains: why go after Bruce's skull?

 

[The Mike]

Alfred is still around he found the grave disturbed originally and called Hal. The thing is that would the one pulling strings know about Alfred's serious connection to Bruce? It would know who he was but on paper it'd just look like Alfred was an employee, only those close to Bruce would know that he was like a father to him. The Black Rings wouldn't know the emotional connection and the connections via parents is a no-brainer. Since Bruce is dead, Thomas and Martha Wayne wouldn't be needed.

As for Bruce's Skull, without the body intact, it can't be raised. It seriously seems that they are trying to keep Bruce away from the fray especially with Black Hand putting a veil of dark energy, in the shape of the bat cowl strangely enough, to keep it close by. If they raised Bruce he'd be headless. It couldn't function really because there wouldn't be a "brain", and we see like Marvel's Zombies these are sentient beings. I'm wondering though since the final pages of Final Crisis showed him watching Antho pass if like Deadman, he has been separated spirit from physical body...

 

[cr0w]

On the first page of Blackest Night #1, when Black Hand is digging up Bruce's body, he says, "Some things are worse than death. Some things..like me. My father said, "Everyone dies, William." He said, "Death is the only thing you can count on in this universe." I killed him to prove his point. Death compels us because powerful or weak, loved or hated, noone escapes death. That includes you. The dead will rise. And you are connected to them all." Then he licks Bruce's skull.

If you remember a story in the JLA series called Tower of Babel, everything Bruce had on the other members of the JLA was used against them by Prometheus. He took out almost every member of the team. Bruce knew anything and everything there was to know about the DCU...who was friends with whom, lovers with whom, who were enemies, etc. etc. So, it would make sense that, assuming that it is in fact his power battery, Black Hand would use the skull of the man who had every bit of information one could possibly imagine about the DCU. If that's his power battery, I'm assuming everything in Bruce's mind is accessible to him.

Of course, there's also some dialogue that suggests the skull is talking back to him while he's giving the speech, and I have a pet theory that when Scar says, in Green Lantern #44, "The Black Lanterns are collecting hearts full of the splintered light, and soon it will be his turn to rise.", he's referring to Bruce Wayne. It just seems so far out there and unbelievable that I would not be surprised at all if, after getting trapped in the Omega Sanction and whatever the hell it was that happened at the end of Final Crisis, something happened to Bruce and he is the one behind the Black Lanterns. Maybe he instructed Black Hand to find his corpse and use the skull as his power battery, and once it hits 100%, he'll reanimate or something. I don't know, it's too early to come up with anything beyond that. Maybe the reason Thomas and Martha weren't raised is because he forbade it. Everyone else is fair game.

That's just my pet theory, though. I think it would be friggin' awesome though.

Of course, my other theory is that, like Mike just said, his spirit is separate from his body and he'll be leading the souls of those who have been reanimated against whatever force it is behind the Lanterns.

 

[The Mike]

It'd be a huge bombshell if Bruce being trapped in Cro-Magnon times somehow because part of the Guardians' Black Lantern scenario. I don't think the skull is the Power Battery because they referred to the enormous Black Battery in space but I wouldn't put it past they using the skull as a way for information in the least. The implications could be fantastic! I can't wait for Issue 3!!!

 

[cr0w]

I don't think it's the power battery, but with Black Hand being the avatar of whatever the hell is behind the BLs, he could be using the skull as his own personal battery. The one in space is obviously the one the BLs are powering up, but maybe Black Hand is drawing both power and information from the skull.

 

[The Mike]

Ah, I see its Black Hand's personal battery kind of thing, it'd make sense why he holds it so close....of course it makes you wonder what the others are using. The whole Aqua scene with all ones coming around Arthur was so fantastic I had to re-read it.

 

[cr0w]

I'm guessing the others are connected to the huge one out in space, as whomever they kill increases its power, while we've seen no indication that what BH does has any effect on it. Hell, he hasn't actually killed anybody, he's just been masterminding everything.

 

[Avfin]

Darn you guys know your DC history---If the ring is seeking flesh and does not find ,does it keep seeking or does it just stop?

 

[Buttmunch]

I think they keep looking. Still too early to really know for sure though.

 

[The Mike]

The rings are seeking specific flesh. They have found flesh like the pilots in the planes with the villains or even the GLs that were heading back to OA. It killed the pilots and attacked the GLs but continued searching for the specific flesh.

 

[cr0w]

I'm growing increasingly convinced Bruce is the one behind the Black Lanterns. With the Omega Sanction being a series of increasingly horrible lives, what if the BLC scenario is his latest life, the culmination of an incredible amount of horrible ^^^^ that made him determined to get his "real" life back, and the only way to do it is through the Black Lanterns. Once they get enough power to overcome the Omega Sanction and get the battery to 100%, maybe it will be enough to break him out and allow him to become flesh and blood again.

 

[cr0w]

And I completely missed this interview, which blows my Bruce theory all to hell.

"In an interview with IGN, Johns revealed that Nekron is the "mastermind" behind Blackest Night. He is also described as being the reason behind the Guardians swearing to protect the universe. Claiming that Nekron's involvement "was never a question," Johns was interested in reimagining the character in the same way as Black Hand, Sinestro, and Hector Hammond. Preferring to remain vague, he ranks Nekron above Scar and Black Hand in the echelon of the Black Lantern Corps, stating that "[all] you need to know about Nekron is that he is one of the most powerful dark forces in the universe… if not the most powerful. He is the darkness. He's someone I've wanted to explore for a while. But you'll learn more and more about him as the series goes on. It'll all become clear as you read more… but he's not really a villain. Nekron is existence.""