After the events of the last
BATMAN tie-in issue, things have gotten
worse. More time passing means more Black Lantern rings meeting the cold
fingers of the dead, and the city is being overrun. The main thing
standing in the way of total anarchy in Gotham, since the Green Lanterns
are all occupied elsewhere, is the new Batman and Robin, and for good
measure, Boston Brand and Red Robin. This issue deals more with the
emotional tidal wave the characters feel as they see some of their
oldest friends, family, and colleagues return to them in the worst way
imaginable. Going off of information Dick received straight from Hal
Jordan, he and Damian head to the National Guard's Gotham armory -- a
place Dick acknowledges neither he nor his mentor would ever have gone
-- and stock up on flamethrowers in an attempt to at least slow down the
Black Lantern onslaught.
Checking in from a moment in issue #2 of the main series, Barbara and
Commissioner Gordon head into police headquarters after Hal Jordan was
thrown into the Batsignal by the Martian Manhunter. Heeding Jordan's
warning, Gordon prepares to defend his daughter and what's left of his
police force by any means necessary. And in this issue, we get to see
how good a shot Gordon really is.
Tomasi continues to flex his muscles when it comes to writing Dick
Grayson. After having written him for the last year of the NIGHTWING
ongoing (as stated before), he continues to show that he completely
understands what Dick values, as well as how he truly does take after
Bruce Wayne. One of the great things about the BLACKEST NIGHT and it's
tie-in series is that through "Black Lantern vision," we get to see what
the characters feel. Whenever we see Hal Jordan, he never feels anything
but the green force of will. When we see Dick and Damian turn on the
Lanterns with the flamethrowers, Dick is seeped in will and rage. Damian
only feels fear. Dick even says he wants nothing more than to make sure
that the graves of his parents remain undisturbed, but he understands
that innocent lives are at stake, overcomes his fear, and feels nothing
but the will to accomplish the task at hand and the rage for the
irrational and horrible violence the Black Lanterns are perpetrating.
The only character I feel Tomasi is not that well suited for is Damian.
He writes him as intelligent and a little mouthy, but that arrogant
insolence that I've grown used to with Damian is absent in the first two
issues of BLACKEST NIGHT: BATMAN. Granted, Geoff Johns said at his
spotlight panel in San Diego that BLACKEST NIGHT is the last thing that
happens in the DCU year (meaning that the current events of BATMAN AND
ROBIN and other books like THE FLASH: REBIRTH take place before BN), so maybe we have yet to see Damian become more respectful. As of now,
Damian is a little more complacent than I'm used to seeing.
This is a cool angle on the overall BLACKEST NIGHT story and has plenty of fun Batman fanboy moments by showing old villains that it seemed everyone had forgotten about back as Black Lanterns. (The Trigger Twins, anyone?) Overall, this is a
worthy tie-in and a rigorous test for the new Dark Knight and Batman's new status quo, although it still makes you wonder...
...how much Black Lantern ass would Bruce Wayne be kicking if he were there? Probably more than the DC censors would approve of.
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: "The Dark Knight continues his journey into BLACKEST NIGHT! Will the new Batman join his predecessor in the grave? Will Red Robin's reunion with his father be bitter and bloody? Can anyone escape the horror of the Black Lanterns? Find out in this new installment of the 3-issue miniseries from writer Peter J. Tomasi and up-and-comer Adrian Syaf!"
