Well, I finally decided to buy the Blackest Night collections today. When I'll actually have time to read them is another matter entirely... But I've heard some pretty good stuff about the series, and I also bought a couple of the other Green Lantern tie-ins. BN is basically about the War of Light, with a number of new Lantern Corps being introduced and fighting against Nekron. Nekron had been introduced during the Silver Age as one of Green Lantern's adversaries, and was initially shown to be an incarnation of death. BN seems to modify this somewhat by showing that while Nekron does have control over death and aspects of it, he is symbolic of the empty void which existed before life dawned in the universe. Nekron occupies a dimension which the spirits of the dead pass through on their way to the afterlife, and seems to need a tether of some sort to operate in the normal DC universe. He views all living things as "invaders" and the Blackest Night is his attempt to restore the universe to the void that originally existed.
I move in silence with each step taken, snow falling round me like angels in flight.
Far in the distance is my wish under moonlight.
On my way home, I remember only good days.
On my way home, I remember all the best days.
I haven't been reading either Marvel or DC for several years now; everything they were producing was just absolutely horrible, and my loyalty finally came to an end. I'm vaguely aware of what's been going on with the Lanterns. It seems that there is now a Lantern Corp for every color in the rainbow, with each representing a different emotion or something. It doesn't strike me as the greatest idea ever....
I don't read that many comics myself, but some of the stuff is still good. The idea of the different Corps being powered by emotions has been around a while, and the infamous Emerald Twilight storyline resulted in the formal introduction of Parallax, the fear entity which powers Sinestro's Corps. Parallax was responsible for the "yellow impurity" which has since been removed as the major GL weakness (snicker), though fear can still be a powerful weapon against the Green Lantern Corps' willpower. The Star Sapphires were also given their own corps, based on the emotion of love. Like the Red Lanterns, they represent a more extreme and militant form of love because they're further on the end of the spectrum. The other new Corps that have been introduced are:
Red Lantern Corps
"With blood and rage of crimson red,
Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead,
Together with our hellish hate,
We'll burn you all - that is your fate!"
Millennia ago, before the Guardians created the GLC, they used the robotic Manhunters to police the galaxy. Over time the Manhunters' central programming became corrupted to the point where they believed that wiping out life was the best way to preserve order. One sector was completely decimated by the Manhunters, with only five beings (the Inversions) able to escape. Fueled by hatred for the Guardians, whom they blamed for the massacre, the Inversions attempted to destroy the Guardians but were defeated and imprisoned. They did however manage to peer into the future and gain knowledge of the Blackest Night prophecy. One of the inversions, Atrocitus, later murdered the other four to forge his red power battery and began building the RLC in preparation for the Blackest Night.
Red power rings operate on the same principles as other rings, but are somewhat selective in their selection as they only target individuals who are prone to great rage or hate. The ring effectively replaces the wearer's heart and taints their blood, making it poisonous and corrosive, and also reduces their frame of mind to a somewhat feral level. Most Red Lanterns therefore can't create constructs as other Lanterns do, but Atrocitus and a few other strong willed individuals (Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner, when they were under the influence of red rings) could do so. The red ring cannot be removed directly from a host without potentially killing them, due to the blood taint, and has also been shown to disrupt the effects caused by other rings, by penetrating constructs and energy shields and draining the energy of those rings. Red Lantern blood is highly toxic to Black Lanterns, even more so than to others.
Despite his centuries-old hatred, Atrocitus does not hate all life or wish to destroy it. His rage is reserved for the Guardians, whom he feels deserve to die for allowing the Manhunters to massacre Sector 666. He states a desire to preserve life during BN, excluding the Guardians and those who interfere with his Corps.
Agent Orange
"MINE!"
There is no Orange Lantern Corps per se, but the alien Larfleeze might be said to be a Corps all his own. Millions of years ago, even before the debacle with the Manhunters, he was part of an alien gang of thieves who stole several artifacts from a planet the Guardians managed. One of these was a sealed box, and the Guardians promptly sent the Manhunters after them. After fleeing into the Vega system, they discovered a planet with an orange battery symbolizing greed, and promptly began to battle each other for it. When the Guardians and Manhunters caught up, only two were still alive: Larfleeze and Blooch. Realizing the potential threat the orange battery represented, they struck a deal: in return for the sealed box, which contained the trapped Parallax, they would leave the orange battery alone so long as it stayed in the Vega system. But only one thief could possess it, and Larfleeze ultimately won the ensuing fight. The Guardians honored the arrangement and left him alone for millenia, with his life span apparently far improved by the orange light. When a group of Controllers stumbled onto the planet, Larfleeze angrily thought the Guardians had broken their word.
As Agent Orange, Larfleeze was tormented by an insatiable hunger which he could never satisfy. He was completely unwilling to share the orange power with anyone, but did have the power to steal the identity of anyone killed by an orange ring; the orange battery would then create a construct of that person which Larfleeze could control and produce an orange ring. These constructs seem to retain the abilities the person had in life, though their physical bodies were also vulnerable to resurrection by the Black Lanterns. In addition, green energy does not work against the light of avarice and is absorbed, but blue and violet light are both effective against Orange Lantern constructs. Larfleeze absorbed so much energy from the orange battery that he could create and maintain constructs even when separated from it.
The only other living person to wield the orange power (temporarily and over Larfleeze's strenuous objections) was Lex Luthor, who was deputized by Ganthet during Blackest Night. It's debatable whether that offered any real advantage, as Larfleeze and Luthor spent more time battling each other than trying to help revive The Entity. Larfleeze turned Luthor over to the heroes afterward (Sinestro remarks that this is the only altruistic act he performs) and leaves with Sayd, who agreed to become his personal Guardian in return for his participation against the Black Lanterns. She felt the Guardians owed a debt for their own mistakes.
Following Blackest Night, Larfleeze lost possession of the avarice entity, Ophidian, which bonded to another of GL's enemies, Hector Hammond. Ophidian claimed that it did not like Larfleeze because he retained enough self-control to subdue and use the orange battery, and that it now wanted to truly possess him in retaliation. He still possesses an orange ring and the ability to spawn constructs, even without Ophidian's help.
Blue Lantern Corps
"In fearful day, in raging night
With strong hearts full, our souls ignite.
When all seems lost in the War of Light,
Look to the stars, for hope burns bright!"
Blue is the color of hope. Originally formed by the Guardians Ganthet and Sayd as a weapon against the BN, it has since touched several other alien members as well. When near a Green Lantern, the blue rings can display a wide range of abilities:
[*] supercharge a green ring to twice its normal maximum, and also heal wounds while in the presence of a Green Lantern;
[*] neutralize the corrupting effects of a red ring, and block an orange ring's energy stealing powers;
[*] drain a yellow ring's energy, making it useless against an allied Green Lantern or others.
The blue ring's power can be supplemented by drawing on hope from other beings, but it cannot create any projections or constructs in the absence of a Green Lantern. Without willpower to enact it, hope is weak. The Blue Lanterns also showed the ability to restore aging suns on the verge of going nova, by attracting the hope of the nearby planets. The sun would turn blue and no charge would be drained from the ring.
The Indigo Tribe
"Tor lorek san, bor nakka mur,
Natromo faan tornek wot ur,
Ter lantern ker lo Abin Sur,
Taan lek lek nok -- Formorrow Sur!"
The most enigmatic of the newly discovered Corps, not much is known about the Indigo Tribe and its members. They wield the light of compassion, and use staffs to recharge their rings in place of the power batteries common to the other Corps. Members can duplicate the powers of any other color within a certain range of a member of that Corps, and can use this ability to reflect such powers if need be. Thus if a Sinestro Corps member tries to use a fear-based construct against a Tribe member, they can reflect that construct back on the SC member. The Tribe has also been shown to be able to instill compassion in others, and even force it on those who don't feel it (similar to how the power of love works for the Star Sapphires), as well as making individuals see the pain they've caused others. The Indigo Tribe can teleport across vast distances, but this ability is used very rarely because it places a high drain on their rings. Members cannot feel any emotions other than compassion, though whether this compassion is necessarily forced on all of them is not yet clear.
The Tribe's leader, who refers to herself as Indigo-1, implies that relatively few individuals understand how to truly use compassion. Becoming a member of the Tribe means giving up selfish and individualistic desires, and her original name hasn't been revealed. Indigo-1 at some point met Abin Sur, the Green Lantern whose ring eventually bonded with Hal Jordan, and credits him with being her "savior." She and other members of the Tribe are often shown speaking in their own unique language, which can't be translated by the green power rings for some reason. She can also speak at least English and states the other members can as well, if necessary; how they translate other languages is unknown.
White Lantern Corps
When life first appeared in the galaxy, it took the form of The Entity which later separated into the colors of the emotional spectrum. At the climax of the Blackest Night, Nekron managed to revive The Entity in the hope of killing it, thereby destroying all life. Sinestro became its host and battled Nekron, but Hal Jordan later replaced him when Nekron separated Sinestro from The Entity. While merged, Sinestro's ego unbalanced it somewhat. As the second host, Hal was able to banish Nekron to his own realm and revived some of the heroes and villains who'd been corrupted, making them temporary members of the White Lantern Corps. Only Deadman is still a member, with a new group of heroes becoming White Lanterns and tasked with specific labors to truly complete their resurrections. This group includes Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Jade, Aquaman, Firestorm I (Ronnie Raymond), Martian Manhunter, Osiris, Hawk I (Hank Hall) Professor Zoom, Captain Boomerang, and Maxwell Lord.
Due to the unique nature of the Firestorm Matrix, a portion of Nekron's energy somehow lingered and manifested as a separate entity. This entity called itself Deathstorm and behaved like the Black Lantern version of Firestorm, albeit with no ring. Deathstorm captured the white power battery and took it to Qward, where the Anti-Monitor hoped to tap into its life-creating abilities to feed on and thereby empower himself. Deathstorm created Black Lantern duplicates of the other chosen heroes as support, but his theft was apparently part of the lantern's plan to gain unknown information on the Anti-Monitor. It destroyed the Black Lanterns while helping Firestorm complete his labor and transporting them back to Earth.
After some prodding from a reluctant Deadman, who wasn't comfortable with being used by the Entity for unclear purposes, it revealed the next stage. The twelve were revived because Earth's life-web, the natural world, had been slowly poisoned by humanity over the centuries. Nekron's assault only hastened the corruption, and the web was in danger of turning against its inhabitants. Five heros (Hawkgirl and Hawkman, Aquaman, Firestorm, and Martian Manhunter) were key because they embodied extensions of the four elements, and the Entity forced Deadman to reabsorb their life essences so that it could empower a champion: a new incarnation of Swamp Thing, to battle a corrupted version of the original. Hawkgirl was the only hero not restored afterward, to the infuriation of Hawkman, and her status is unclear.
Black Lantern Corps
"The Blackest Night falls from the skies,
The darkness grows as all light dies,
We crave your hearts and your demise,
By my black hand--The dead shall rise!"
Nekron resurrected a large number of heroes and villains who had been killed off previously, empowering them with black rings. It seems the rings themselves are the controlling force, with the bodies being more like the equivalent of a construct than a truly revived individual. Black Lanterns have shown the ability to access memories and familiar knowledge, but are incapable of true emotional responses. The rings can repair any physical damage, making the Black Lanterns difficult to kill, and they can detect emotions in most other people (though characters like Scarecrow, who are emotionally dead, are immune) and there are a few factors that can fool this detection. The black rings initially had no power, but gained a percentage while living characters were killed and recruited into the Corps. They generate the basic ring powers like flight and constructs, and additionally the host retains any powers they had in life. The Anti-Monitor was turned into a black power battery by Nekron.
Nekron revealed that he was responsible for the resurrection of certain heroes who had died before, such as Superman and Wonder Woman, so that he could create ties of death to them and control them via the black rings. These corrupted heroes still retained awareness of what their physical bodies were doing as Black Lanterns, and in some cases (particularly Wonder Woman, who became a brevet Star Sapphire) this eventually helped them resist the control. Light based powers can destroy Black Lanterns permanently, as could the combined light spectrum and the combination of green light with another light. The regeneration of a Black Lantern does have a limit, and some were destroyed by taking damage they couldn't regenerate fast enough from.
I move in silence with each step taken, snow falling round me like angels in flight.
Far in the distance is my wish under moonlight.
On my way home, I remember only good days.
On my way home, I remember all the best days.
These aren't bad ideas-- some of them are pretty good-- but I don't if I like them taking it this far. It seems like too much, like the multi-colored Hulks.
I think if you give it a try, you might enjoy it. Here is a recommended read order in terms of collections and compilations. One minor gripe I have with the BN collections is that the issues are not in true chronological order. They're split between the different volumes, whereas some of the tie-ins have a very clear chronology.
[*]Green Lantern: Secret Origin. This is a basic retelling of Hal Jordan's recruitment into the GLC and his early friendship with Sinestro, but also contains some of the seeds for the BN prophecy. It gives the origin of the Five Inversions and Abin Sur's quest to find out what the prophecy meant.
[*]Tales of the Sinestro Corps. More of a supplement to the Sinestro Corps War, this profiles some of the hgh-ranking Sinestro Corps members and also contains a dossier on both the Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps, the Guardians, and supplementary information.
[*]The Sinestro Corps War. This follows the SC's assault on the GLC and sets up some of the events in BN, in relation to the Sinestro Corps. Several SC members were captured by the Star Sapphires to be converted, and they appear in the later tie-ins as well as BN. The only member specifically shown to be successfully converted is Fatality, who appears as a Star Sapphire in Rage of the Red Lanterns.
[*]Sins of the Star Sapphire. This chronicles issues between the Star Sapphires and the Green Lanterns, not least their attempted conversion of some of the captured Sinestro Corps members.
[*]Rage of the Red Lanterns. Introduces the Red and Blue Corps as major players in the upcoming War of Light. The Red Lanterns want to kill Sinestro for actions he took during his time as a Green Lantern, which are shown in Secret Origin.
[*]Agent Orange. This picks up immediately after Rage leaves off and introduces Agent Orange.
[*]Emerald Eclipse. Although many Sinestro Corps members were captured after the Sinestro Corps War and the Green Lanterns also managed to imprison the Red Lantern Vice, the corrupted Guardian Scar is setting in motion the beginnings of the Blackest Night. She arranges for both Vice and the captive Sinestro members to be freed, while elsewhere the villain Mongul is ready to usurp the free members of the Corps from Sinestro's grasp. Kryb is also shown to have been captured by the Star Sapphires at the end of Sins of the Star Sapphire, and is later among the SC members freed by Sinestro during Blackest Night.
[*]Blackest Night. Blackest Night #0-8, which take place at specific key points in the saga.
[*]Blackest Night: Green Lantern. Green Lantern V4, issues 43-52.
[*]Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps. Green Lantern Corps V2, issues 39-47.
[*]Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps The 3-issue TotC describes the individual Corps in a bit more detail, and also included are Green Lantern issue #45 and Adventures Comics #1-3.
[*]Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps. Split into two volumes, dealing mainly with some of the crossovers with other DC titles. V1 includes Batman #1-3, Superman #1-3, and Teen Titans #1-3. V2 includes Wonder Woman #1-3, JSA #1-3, and Flash #1-3.
[*]Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns collects other tie-ins and BL characters, including: Shazam #48, Catwoman #83, Question 37, Phantom Stranger #42, Weird Western Tales #71, Atom/Hawkman #46, Adventures Comic #7, Green Arrow #30 and Starman #81.
There are a few tie-in issues which are not part of the main collections, due to being fairly minor and only introducing a few extra Black Lanterns (although the collections do include profiles on all of the major Black Lanterns, including these, as well as a few unused character concepts). These include JSA V2 #39-40, Solomon Grundy #7, Booster Gold V2 #26, Doom Patrol V4 #5, Outsiders V4 #24 and Suicide Squad V1 #71.
I move in silence with each step taken, snow falling round me like angels in flight.
Far in the distance is my wish under moonlight.
On my way home, I remember only good days.
On my way home, I remember all the best days.
In looking around the net a bit, here is the suggested chronology for how the various tie-ins and issues are supposed to go. More than a few readers have said they enjoyed the bulk of the work but dislike the lack of chronological order in the hardback collections.
Titans #15 Tempest returns. BN: Prelude
Green Lantern #43 Prologue
Blackest Night #0
Blackest Night #1 Power Levels 0.01% to 0.02%
Green Lantern Corps #39 Issue happens side-by-side with BN #1.
Green Lantern #44 Power Levels 0.75% to 1.20%
Blackest Night #2 Power Levels 2.63% to 3.43%
Starman #81
The Power of Shazam #48
Blackest Night: Batman #1 No power levels but the Bat Symbol is destroyed
Blackest Night: Superman #1 Power Levels 3.44% to 3.82%
Blackest Night: Titans #1 No power level's but Hawk is out of his grave
Green Lantern #45 Power Levels 45.43%
Green Lantern Corps #40 Power Levels 45.96% to 46.31%
Blackest Night: Batman #2 Power Levels 46.65% to 47.01%
The Question #37 before BN #3 because when Jason touches Ronnie in BN #3, he sees Vic Sage's empty grave
Blackest Night #3 Power Levels 50.32% to 56.59%
Adventure Comics #4
Adventure Comics #5
Justice League of America #38
Blackest Night: Superman #2
Suicide Squad #67 Power Level's 57.01%
Blackest Night: Titans #2 Power Level's 57.03%
Green Lantern #46 Power Level's 75.25%
Blackest Night: Batman #3
The Phantom Stranger #42 takes place after BN: Batman #3 Deadman's involvement.
Catwoman #83 The blackout in Gotham is mentioned.
Green Lantern Corps #41 Power Level's 85.26%
Blackest Night: Superman #3 Power Levels 93.01%
Blackest Night: Titans #3
Outsiders #23
Outsiders #24
Outsiders #25
Justice League of America #39
Justice League of America #40
Teen Titans #77
Teen Titans #78
Weird Western Tales #71
Solomon Grundy #7 after BN: Batman, Etrigan has been involved in S/B 66 & 67
Superman/Batman #66 the blackout may be a BN: Batman reference.
Superman/Batman #67
Green Lantern #47
Blackest Night #4 100%. Nekron Rises.
Blackest Night: Flash #1
Secret Six #17 Continuing from Suicide Squad #67
Secret Six #18
Doom Patrol #4
Doom Patrol #5
Booster Gold #26
Booster Gold #27
R.E.B.E.L.S. #10
R.E.B.E.L.S. #11
R.E.B.E.L.S. #12
Blackest Night: JSA #1
Blackest Night: JSA #2
Blackest Night: JSA #3
Green Lantern Corps #42 Power Levels 100%, and "100% Power Level Exceeded."
Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1
Green Lantern #48
Blackest Night #5
Green Lantern Corps #43
Green Lantern #49
Blackest Night #6
Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2
Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3 Takes place in-between pages at the end of BN #6.
Blackest Night: Flash #2
Green Arrow #30- after BN #6 but before Adventure Comics #7.
Green Lantern Corps #44
Blackest Night: Flash #3 At the end everyone races toward the Spectre.
Green Lantern #50 - Parallax Rebirth. The Spectre is fought.
The Atom and Hawkman #46 the other Corps' are fighting the Spectre as seen in GL #50.
Adventure Comics #7 BL Superboy is freed. before GL #51 since BL Superboy is not seen with the rest of the BL's
Green Lantern #51 The Spectre is defeated and Parallax is taken away.
Green Lantern Corps #45 The GLC appear to transport to Earth
Blackest Night #7 Sinestro as White Lantern
Green Lantern Corps #46
Green Lantern #52
BLACKEST NIGHT #8
I move in silence with each step taken, snow falling round me like angels in flight.
Far in the distance is my wish under moonlight.
On my way home, I remember only good days.
On my way home, I remember all the best days.
Yeah, I don't understand the logic in not having chronological order in the collections, especially given the expense. Plus some issues actually take place simultaneously or lead directly into each other. As far as the excluded tie-in issues go, such as Suicide Squadron, it's seemed to me from what I've read that they're only marginal contributions and exist mainly to have a few extra Black Lanterns around. It's up to the reader to decide how completist to be, but if you only get the major collections you won't miss anything.
I move in silence with each step taken, snow falling round me like angels in flight.
Far in the distance is my wish under moonlight.
On my way home, I remember only good days.
On my way home, I remember all the best days.
I got Brightest Day not too long ago, which is a smaller collection of volumes, and I'm wondering if they might do TPBs for the War of the Green Lanterns arc since it essentially builds up to that. The BD collections are in the correct sequential order, but they still omitted several tie-in issues that occurred in other DC titles (JLA for example). * grumbles *
I finally got around to seeing the live action GL movie recently, and it was kind of meh. Not the worst one I've seen, but not the best either. There was a lot of potential that could have been exploited.
I move in silence with each step taken, snow falling round me like angels in flight.
Far in the distance is my wish under moonlight.
On my way home, I remember only good days.
On my way home, I remember all the best days.
But I've heard some pretty good stuff about the series, and I also bought a couple of the other Green Lantern tie-ins. BN is basically about the War of Light, with a number of new Lantern Corps being introduced and fighting against Nekron. Nekron had been introduced during the Silver Age as one of Green Lantern's adversaries, and was initially shown to be an incarnation of death. BN seems to modify this somewhat by showing that while Nekron does have control over death and aspects of it, he is symbolic of the empty void which existed before life dawned in the universe. Nekron occupies a dimension which the spirits of the dead pass through on their way to the afterlife, and seems to need a tether of some sort to operate in the normal DC universe. He views all living things as "invaders" and the Blackest Night is his attempt to restore the universe to the void that originally existed.
And read 
Here is a recommended read order in terms of collections and compilations. One minor gripe I have with the BN collections is that the issues are not in true chronological order. They're split between the different volumes, whereas some of the tie-ins have a very clear chronology.