The “Blackest Night” has arrived, the dead are rising as Black Lanterns, and the chief receptacle for new Black Rings is the skull of Bruce Wayne. So, as you can probably imagine, a Gotham related tie-in to DC's universe spanning miniseries was a foregone conclusion.
BLACKEST NIGHT: BATMAN, written by Peter Tomasi with art by newcomer Adrian Syaf, is a pretty fun read, especially as a companion piece to the main BLACKEST NIGHT series. Tomasi, already having written Dick Grayson for the last 14 issues of the NIGHTWING title, finds some comfortable ground revisiting Grayson as the new Batman. The first issue has almost everyone you'd expect of a current Batman title: Dick, Damian, Tim, along with a morbid appearance by Thomas and Martha Wayne (and no, not as Black Lanterns).
The issue starts with Dick and Damian standing over the desecrated graves of the Wayne family, Thomas, Martha, and Bruce. Alfred informed the JLA and the new Batman that someone had taken Bruce's skull. Meanwhile, Boston Brand, aka Deadman, is inundated with the cries of the rising dead due to the intervention of Black Hand and his Black Lantern Corps. Unable to stop a Black ring from raising his mortal remains, Deadman seeks out someone he knows he can trust: Batman. Deadman is frightened to learn that Bruce has since died, as he meets up with Dick and Damian, and as Black Lantern rings raid the remains of some deceased Batman villains, as well as the final resting places of Dick's and Tim Drake's parents.
The book keeps a steady pace and makes for a very quick read. The newcomer artist proves to be pretty impressive and I think would make a decent artist on an ongoing Batman title.
Regardless of how you feel about big events coming out of DC, the Green Lantern mythology being built for the last few years with Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi at the helm has proven consistently to be some of the best super hero material on the shelves of our comic book stores. BLACKEST NIGHT is no exception to that, and I'm pleased to say, that BLACKEST NIGHT: BATMAN looks to be a worthy companion exploring how these rising dead will affect the new Dark Knight, the new Boy Wonder, and quite possibly, Bruce Wayne himself.
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: "Deadman can't shut out the cries of the dead rising as he comes to the aid of the new Batman. It's just in time, too, as the duo face a circus of zombies including the Black Lantern Flying Graysons! BLACKEST NIGHT blankets Gotham City in this 3-issue miniseries from writer Peter J. Tomasi and hot new talent Adrian Saef!"
