Blackest Night Detective: GLC Recharge #4-5

If you missed the last installment, it's at THIS LINK. Otherwise, let's jump right into it, because a MAJOR clue was on the very first page of "Green Lantern Corps.: Recharge #4"...

GLC: Recharge #4 -- One of the hunters: "The lanterns are doomed. Wherever they turn, only death waits for them in Vega!" This hunter could have been talking about the skirmish in Vega he was having with the Corps, or foreshadowing "Agent Orange," or foreshadowing "Blackest Night." a Three-fer!

Unfortunately, that's all there was to speak of in this issue, other than a little more Kyle Rayner/Sorenik interaction that may point to their eventual coupling.

That's right, I used the term "Coupling." Classier than "Hooking Up."

GLC: Recharge #5 -- Other than more anti-Vega talk, there was very little to speak of here ... which, I suppose, I should be happy about, since this probably means I'll be missing very few clues while not reading anymore GLC until the "Sinestro Corps. War."

However, there was one speech by Sorenik Natu that I did find interesting... "Oa and the corps are only wounded. Like you, they will heal. Maybe not in a few days, but soon the scars will fade. And then, like you, the corps will be stronger than ever." I only am intrigued by this speech because of inclusion of a key word of ours -- scars. As in, the evil Guardian who is helping bring "Blackest Night" along, Scar. The only difference is, clearly in Scar's case, those marks did not heal, helping push the little blue traitor over the edge. So I doubt this was meant to mean anything, but you never know.

This week's video game release list

"Punch-Out!!" for Wii. Need I say more? OK, I do. Check out THIS LINK for the full list of what you can get your grubby little hands on this week.

Advance look at Wii MotionPlus

The Associated Press gave us an advance look at Wii MotionPlus at THIS LINK.

"600th issue" milestones

I don't point this out because of my reputation as a slight DC fanboy, I point it out because it was only a few weeks ago that I called out Marvel for their convenient numbering of so many #600 issues lately. THIS LINK takes you to a Newsarama interview with DC chief Dan Didio, where you will find this tidbit:

NRAMA: We’re out of questions for this time, but there was an interesting fact was pointed out in the thread, and we have to admit that we haven’t double-checked the math, so we’re not sure if this is correct or not, but according to one reader, issue #45 of the current Wonder Woman series will be the 600th issue of Wonder Woman published by DC. Anything special planned for it?

DD: Well, since it’s not the actual number of the book, and we have no plans to re-number books just for an “event,” so no, nothing at this particular time, but I do hope that the Wonder Woman story going on right now has the feeling of being worthy of such an auspicious achievement.

Blackest Night Detective: GLC Recharge #1-3; PLUS: spoilers on a yet-to-be-mentioned Black Lantern

Although I don't have many of the pre-"Sinestro Corps. War" issues of "Green Lantern Corps.," what I do have I'll be re-reading for this little detective project. So without further ado, we dive into "Green Lantern Corps.: Recharge."

GLC Recharge #1 -- When Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner first go back to Oa, they meet other veteran lanterns and speak somewhat cryptically about the Vega System and the Controllers, something that would have pointed toward it's Orange Lantern involvement later on.

Wanting to leave the Corps. Soranik is told there are only three ways to leave: Failure (leaving), death or honorable death. Could Miss Soranik be dying before "Blackest Night" is said and done? How about this one -- a few panels later, Guy calls her "angry." Kyle quickly corrects him and says she is afraid, but when anger means so much to the Corps nowadays, you never know what could be a clue...

Another mention of the Vega system comes later when the Guardians mention a review of their pact grows necessary.

In the last page, Kilowog says "According to the Guardians, the whole damn universe is about to change." Now, I don't remember this story as well as I could, so maybe this makes sense in the context of the immediate story, but could this have been a mammoth clue for the future? And if so, I don't remember the Guardians ever acknowledging they knew the prophecy would come to pass, especially to a lantern. Oh well, guess I will read on and see what this line meant.

GLC Recharge #2 -- Nothing much of note here, other than another reminder that the Vega System is off-limits. Apparently it played a much bigger role in this storyline than I remember.

Also, another reminder which I know has been beaten to death already, Kyle "saw" his dead girlfriend Alex here, which, of course, makes me wonder if we'll be seeing her corpse in a matter of months.

GLC Recharge #3 -- This issue was also light on clues (as should really be expected out of the books only co-written by Geoff Johns), but we get a nice big chunk of the Vega System here. And while the hunters we meet live by a code of sharing their prey, one of the hunters -- Fatality -- uses one of our keywords often here when talking about wanting to kill Kyle Rayner herself: "MINE!" It's enough to make me wonder if Larfleeze isn't the only Orange Lantern we're going to meet.

On a side note, though, right after writing this post I spotted a preview look at the Superman titles for August on Newsarama, and at THIS LINK you will see a major "Blackest Night" spoiler...

You ready for this?

Sure you want to be spoiled?

"Black Lantern Alexander Luthor."

Buy Pile Report

Well, after a week off, I am back. Did you miss me?

Don't answer that.

Anyway, I'm sure you didn't need my Tuesday night look at this week's comic book releases to know how slow a week it is, so you likely also don't need me to tell you this report will have to be brief. After all, I only picked up four issues today, and one of them was the either-you're-reading-by-now-or-you're-not "Trinity." Is that too many words to hyphenate into one sentence? Screw it, I've been off for a week, we're playing by my rules tonight.

Green Lantern Corps. #36 was without a doubt the best book of this slow week, even if a good half of it was just a couple of talking heads. Sinestro tells us all a story which will doubtlessly pay dividends once "Blackest Night" rolls around, the story of how Soranik is actually Sinestro's daughter (which, strangely, I wasn't surprised in the least to find out). And while I am looking forward to new-boyfriend Kyle Rayner's reaction to this news, the most intriguing part of this story was Sinestro's insistence that Father and Daughter would be fighting on the same side (and he said the same Corps.) very soon (presumably in "Blackest Night"), which just adds to the speculation that Sinestro will become a Green Lantern ally or a flat-out Green Lantern once again.

While the prison riot continued on Oa, we also took a trip back to Daxam, where Sodam Yat attempted to take down Mongol mano-a-mano but was denied access to the "Ion power." Which leads me to my one problem with this issue and my main problem with the Green Lantern books of late — what the heck are the rules of using these emotion-Gods like Ion and Parallax and why the heck are we bothering with them? I can only hope next's issue answers some of my questions as Sodam/Ion take on Mongol again.

Action Comics #877 was a slight step down from Greg Rucka's brilliant beginning on the book — and that doesn't even begin to worry about the fact that this issue's cover has absolutely nothing to do with the story, and I still can't make sense of what it's supposed to be. While last issue was a wall-to-wall action brawl between Thara, Chris and Chris' biological mommy, we get a lot more talking and storyline here, but not all of it is good. For one, Chris and Lois have a tearful reunion, only for as short a time as child Chris spent with Lois before he was aged, I just didn't buy all that emotion. And later, when Chris goes back to talk to his biological mother, he suddenly has a plan on how to deal with her non-violently, the likes of which would make Superman proud. As I said before, I just didn't buy it.

The rest of the issue is spent watching General Lane track the Kryptonian activity on Earth, and frankly, for the amount of commotion as Chris was making, I don't blame Lane at all for finding him and shooting him out of the sky. Heck, Lois was dumb enough to leave Thara out on her roof resting out in the open.

Greg Rucka's issues have all been examples of good, intelligent writing with not as well known characters, up until this point. Instead, this felt like he was doing anything he could to advance the story to where the Superman line as a whole needed it to be, and the book consequently suffered.

That's about it for the abbreviated Buy Pile Report. Now that my break is over, expect the next installment of the "Blackest Night Detective" coming real soon.

Buy Pile Report

Believe it or not, for as much as needed to be done today, it's been slow here in the office for hours. Believe it or not, that's the bad news, since the only thing I dislike more than work is boredom.

The good news is, I didn't have to be bored for long with all of today's comics just sitting on my desk waiting to be read. Which, leads me to another good news/bad news situation. Nothing was particularly spectacular today. And nothing was very bad either. Am I middle of the road enough for you?

Cable #14 continued the "Messiah War" crossover with "X-Force," and after a action-packed but story-light issue last time around, we finally got the plot moving a little bit here. A good portion of the issue is spent in Stryfe's chamber as he interrogates Warpath. The story takes a turn, though when Bishop has to slightly double-cross Stryfe in order to try and kill Hope. And yes, Bishop did take that shot without much moral trouble, continuing the character's now pretty much irredeemable downward spiral. The highlight of the issue, though, comes with the implications the final page may create, a reveal that I don't care to spoil for any of you, and no, it's not that Stryfe is Cable's clone.

There was also an interesting side-story with Archangel and Apocalypse that didn't amount to anything ... yet. Frankly, this crossover has started to lose a little luster for me, as there just hasn't been enough of a plot. Apocalypse is my hope to be that monkey wrench needed to let this crossover fulfill the weighty promise the first couple of issues had.

Also from Marvel, War of Kings #3 was also pretty good. And again, it was mainly due to the promise for the future. We spend a lot of this issue on Attilian discussing the previously-undiscussed "Uplift Program," a promise Black Bolt apparently made to Ronan to use the Terrigen Mists to evolve all of the Kree. Talk about an idea that could change the landscape of the Marvel Universe ... if Maximus were able to get it to work. And while there is an emphasis here that maybe the Inhumans are not looking out for the Kree's best interest, Maximus drops a side clue as to where this story could be going, saying if the Inhumans can't beat the Shi'ar they could "join them or change them." Emphasis on change. Hmm.

Want more promise for the future? It seems Gladiator may be looking to change teams (finally!). And if that weren't enough for you, this issue is worth buying if only for the teamwork between Marvel Girl and Rocket Raccoon. Yes, a more perfect pair could not be conceived.

Now, I'm sure many of you out there are thinking that if there was only one spectacular book this week, it was going to be Flash: Rebirth #2. Not so fast. (Get it?) There is plenty to like in this issue, don't get me wrong. For one, Ethan Van Sciver's art is absolutely brilliant. Geoff Johns could have let every word balloon blank, and I think Van Sciver's art was good enough and descriptive enough that this issue would still be readable and enjoyable. And there are also a collection of strong moments here, from another cold conversation between Hal Jordan and Barry Allen to a look back at when Barry first met his wife to a look at his previous life as a forensic scientist.

And there was also plenty to be intrigued by. So far, Johns has emphasized the fate of Barry's parents as an unresolved demon in his closet, and we see again how rattled the situation makes him. We also again watched as Barry seemed almost annoyed by Wonder Woman's setting up an alibi with the FBI for his past few years, as if Barry feels he won't be around long enough to use the alibi.

The problem is, so far this all just feels like ground we all have covered before, similar to Johns' "Secret Origins" arc on "Green Lantern." It's entertaining stuff, but where's the payoff? Even the big "reveal" at the end of this issue (and yes, this too makes me intrigued for the future) was entirely too predictable. And so, this issue is just pretty good, not great. But we're still hopeful for the future of the Scarlet Speedsters.

Remember when I said how slow it is in the office? Well, that was four hours ago, when I started writing this post, and then all hell broke loose. That's what I get for taunting a good thing. So where was I?

I'm noticing something disturbing thanks to Superman: World of New Krypton #3. For as much as Superman was an outsider among his own people throughout the "New Krypton" crossover, in these past couple of issues of "S:WofNK" it seems like Kal-El's Earthly ways are suddenly the latest trend on Krypton. Last issue we watched Kal teach his team how to handle beasts without slaughtering them. In this issue, he teaches all of New Krypton the value of discussion over violence and harsh reactions. Heck, even General Zod seems to be coming around to the value of the Clark Kent side to Kal-El.

And while I have no problem with the message that Ma and Pa Kent have a lot to teach people of any planet, it just doesn't feel like this is the same situation we are dealing with outside of this series. Here, Alura seems level-headed and isn't constantly berating her daughter (who played a nice role in this issue too). Here, General Zod doesn't seem like such a power-monger. It all just seems too neat; too reverent to Superman. I am really hoping writers James Robinson and Greg Rucka have a worthwhile reason for all of this seeming lack of characterization, and I trust both enough to stay optimistic.

Speaking of Superman, we end with Mark Waid's tale of Superman ... er ... excuse me "The Plutonian" gone bad. Irredeemable #2 again showed why you have to start buying this series. While Waid's debut issue was heavy on shock value to wrangle as many readers as possible, this second issue gives us a taste of what this ongoing series will be like, and it's tastier than popcorn chicken. And no, I don't know why popcorn chicken was the first food to come to mind.

Waid is telling this story through a series of flashbacks, as the Plutonian's allies are trying to look through the past and uncover information with which to end his reign of terror. As such we again get to see several different sides to the ex-hero. In one page we watch the Plutonian selflessly help out a teammate and then bolster her fledgling confidence. In the next page we get a good view of an entire city he destroyed. In one page we watch the Plutonian charm, wine and dine his own version of Lois Lane. In the next page we get to see just how far he was willing to go to protect his self-interests.

I think the thing that I am most impressed by here is Waid's ability to hold back from going too over the top too fast. Whenever we've seen a flashback in which the Plutonian loses control, we first see a reason and a slight moment of weakness before he overreacts. And where we watched him use his powers to go too far in the last issue, lobotomizing his former sidekick, here we see an even worse side of the Plutonian when he emotionally coerces a group of people into frightened suicide. I'm starting to think Waid is going to be able to find new and creative ways to do this in every issue he writes -- and if so, we're going to have a real classic run on our hands.

This week's comic book expectations

It's late, I'm tired and I've a long day ahead of me, so this is going to be short and sweet. THIS LINK will take you to this week's comic releases.

There is a lot going on this week, though, so you should really know that Flash: Rebirth #2, Superman: World of New Krypton #3 and War of Kings #3 are all out this week, plus the latest installment of "Messiah War" in Cable #14.

But, that's not all. There are also a pair of very promising first issues, Power Girl #1 and New Mutants #1, which will tell all-new stories in modern Marvel times using the old cast (including Illyana Rasputin, so don't confuse this series with "X-Men: Forever."

And if that weren't enough, there are also a pair of books that are outside of normal continuity but should really be on your radar, DC's The Mighty #4 and BOOM Comics' Irredeemable #2, Mark Waid's story of what happens when a character much like Superman goes off the deep end. I highly recommend both series.

It's a very big week, but I'm very tired, so that's all you get out of me tonight.

Blackest Night Detective: GL Rebirth 4-6

It's another installment of our series re-reading Geoff Johns' tenure (and some of the last few years of the "Green Lantern Corps") on "Green Lantern," combing the desert for clues leading up to "Blackest Night." For the previous (and first) entry, CLICK HERE.

Rebirth #4 -- Sinestro dropped a clue we should have picked up leading up to the "Sinestro Corps War," as he tells Kyle Rayner that his yellow ring taps into sentient fear.

Ganthet dropped a whopper of a clue, though, when he tells Parallax, "Emotions are more powerful than you could possibly imagine, Parallax. A creature such as yourself should know that." This wasn't only a clue that the entire emotional spectrum would be utilized by Johns in his run, but also a clue that Ganthet wasn't such an unfeeling bastard as the other Guardians, who have made it their life's work lately to suppress emotions.

Meanwhile, there was also a possible piece of foreshadowing for "Blackest Night" ... Sinestro tells Kyle, "You were never supposed to be a Green Lantern." Sure, Sinestro is the master of knowing just the right piece of trash talk to say and this was likely what he was doing in this fight scene, but you never know ... maybe Kyle ends "Blackest Night" with a different ring on his finger?

Rebirth #5 -- Hal Jordan has a quote characterizing Sinestro that has both already come to pass and could come to pass again. "Sinestro wants complete control. Over everything and everybody. And what Sinestro can't control, he destroys." This quote gets me wondering ... what if during the course of this "War of Light," Sinestro loses control of his own Corps? He's always been riding that line of pushing the GL Corps to be better and trying to kill them...

For those of you who have been anticipating a need for Hal and Sinestro to team up for the greater good, I spotted a couple of panels that should interest you. When fighting, the pair get so close that their rings touch -- and White Light emanates everywhere.

There was another set of scenes that I would bet originally were foreshadowing, but due to the current state of the DCU, none of this will likely come to pass more than it already has. Parallax, while inside of Ganthet, says in Batman's general direction, "I sense a worshipper. A Disciple." Later in the issue, Bats, clearly acting out of fear, tries to stop Hal from acting against Parallax, saying, "As long as I'm standing, you're not doing anything." But I wonder what could have been if Bruce Wayne weren't dead. May he have somehow become a Yellow Lantern (gasp!)?

Rebirth #6 -- One Ethan Van Sciver easter egg I spotted: As Parallax is being destroyed, yellow fire takes shape in the form of the Sinestro Corps. symbol.

And finally, apparently Hector Hammond spilled the beans for us all along near the end of this issue. In his one-page cameo, he has a lot to say. First he says, "I've listened to all of them across the globe. Rage. Sorrow. Depression. Fear. Though I never knew you had it in you, Mr. Rayner." Could this be an ENORMOUS clue that Kyle may become that White Lantern and not Hal?

But Hector was not finished talking. "And Captain Jordan. My precious, precious Jordan. You've found your way here. And won't it be ever so delicious and exciting when they find their way back, too." This one isn't so hard to read at this point, Mr. Hammond is clearly telling us the dead will rise pretty soon. Anyone that caught that the first time around gets a Gold Star from Brainiac-5.

P.S. Sinestro comes up a lot on spell check.

Blackest Night Detective: GL Rebirth 1-3

We're still a couple of months away from this summer's biggest comic event, "Blackest Night." Still, Free Comic Book Day's "Blackest Night #0" got me impatient. And since writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver said they've been laying the groundwork for this event, with little hints and clues, all along, I decided it was time to play Sherlock Holmes and re-read every issue looking for foreshadowing.

So, as I go along, I'll be posting what I find.

Rebirth #1 — Surprisingly, I found very little to report in the first issue of Johns' run, except, of course, for the fact that Black Hand gets his right hand burned off by Spectre Hal Jordan. The Spectre tells him his hand will now match his charcoal heart ... though I don't know if that means anything.

Also, I had forgotten ... the title of this first issue was "Blackest Night."

Rebirth #2 — A theme is introduced when Hal explains to Carol Ferris that watching his Dad taught him to question authority. And while this is a central part of Hal's character, and a part of his "Rebirth" story arc, it still should be noted for "Blackest Night" purposes that Johns' Hal Jordan surely doesn't mind bucking authority.

Another moment with Hal and Carol saw Hal telling her, "If anyone could've made me settle down, it would've been you." Could this mean Violet Lantern Carol Ferris will play a part in stopping Hal from doing something?

But the biggest "Blackest Night" clue of the issue: Batman says to Superman, "Hoping is what you do best, Clark." Blue Lantern Supes, anyone?

Rebirth #3 — Ganthet (who is still a GL Guardian here) tells Kyle, "Hope is meaningless against fear ... Willpower is our only weapon." This smells to me like it was foreshadowing to the stengths and weaknesses of both blue and yellow light.

This issue also gave us all an enormous clue that there would be Lanterns of other colors and emotions. Kyle Rayner explains to Oliver Queen, "The power that flows through our rings — it's not just light, Oliver. The Central Battery the Guardians made, it collects willpower from every living being in the universe. Raw emotional willpower converted into energy. Amplified by our own a million times over. There's an emotional electromagnetic spectrum out there that can be harnessed and used. Green willpower is the most pure..." Which is where Ollie cuts Kyle off. If he doesn't, Kyle likely goes on to say other colors, other emotions, blah blah blah.

Kyle also explains Parallax's goals: "Fear leads to violence, Violence leads to fear. Like an endless loop of destruction that would keep feeding parallax." Now, I know this idea was central to "Rebirth," but given we'll soon have Zombie Heroes running around everywhere, is it crazy to think this quote could mean all that fear of Black Lanterns will make Yellow Lanterns that much stronger?


That's all I have for now (give me a break, I only thought this idea up at 2 a.m. last night!), but tune in again VERY soon for more detective work.

Tiger and Tennis earlier than expected

Good News Everyone!

The first e-mail in my inbox when I walked into the office today was from EA Sports, letting the world know that both "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10" and "EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis" Will be shipping out a week earlier than previously advertised, June 8.

Of course, the Wii version of both games will utilize the Wii MotionPlus add-on, and "Tiger" will be sold both packaged with the accessory ($59.99) and without it ($49.99).

This could be the first year I actually play two different versions of "Tiger" consistently throughout the year. Normally I am a hardcore Xbox 360 fan of the game (and PS and PS2 before it), but I am awfully curious about the Wii MotionPlus...

This week's video game releases

Nothing much to speak of this week, including a tie-in game for... "Night at the Museum?" Really? Check out the list of new video games HERE.

Fantastic Mark Waid Interview

I just read a fantastic interview with Mark Waid, who has done just about everything you can think of in the comics industry. Check it out at THIS LINK. The interview is heavy on history, with several interesting stories like this one that shocked me:

EIC Dan Didio, who first championed the concept, hated what we were doing. H-A-T-E-D 52. Would storm up and down the halls telling everyone how much he hated it. And Steve, God bless him, kept us out of the loop on that particular drama. Siglain, having less seniority, was less able to do so, and there's one issue of 52 near the end that was written almost totally by Dan and Keith Giffen because none of the writers could plot it to Dan's satisfaction. Which was and is his prerogative as EIC, but man, there's little more demoralizing than taking the ball down to the one-yard line and then being benched by the guy who kept referring to COUNTDOWN as "52 done right."

Buy Pile Report: Blackest Night #0

Whew! Now that Free Comic Book Day is here, I can finally talk about Blackest Night #0, after holding in what I saw in advance for several agonizing days.

So, I hope EVERYONE picked up this primer for DC's big summer event. It was free, so you have no excuse for not at least giving it a shot. So what did you think? For me, it was a bit of a mixed bag, and here's why:

As a fan of the DC Universe who's read pretty much every semi-significant book the publisher put out for the last few years, this served as a tremendous prologue, a calm before the storm. I understand the context in which Hal Jordan and Barry Allen are speaking throughout this issue, and, as a well-read DCU fan, seeing some of the names and clues of who will be a Black Lantern whetted my anticipation for this event, which is still several months away. Also, as Geoff Johns writes both characters, I was intrigued by the other little touches of foreshadowing from his main characters here, like how Barry looked genuinely lost and concerned when Hal brought up Tim Drake and how Hal brought up the dichotomy of his and Barry's deaths as a sinner and saint, respectively (isn't this the second or third time he's brought this up? Interesting...) It's also pretty obvious Johns is planning to return to an idea he's played with often, death's "open door."

Most importantly, we're given a strong hint as to how the Black Lanterns may work. Holding a skull, Black Hand's ring begins to shine, making Bruce Wayne's skull glow. Could it be that these rings simply reanimate and reconstruct corpses? If so, would the long-rumored White Lantern be able to restore these corpses to normal non-zombie forms? I guess we'll have to wait for more.

So, for us longtime DC fans, Johns' short prologue, combined with the Color-by-Color splash pages of the different Lanterns which were already released online, makes this the perfect appetizer to July's main course.

But, DC did not release "Blackest Night #0" on Free Comic Book Day to serve its fans. DC wanted this book to be free because Marvel doubled DC's sales in March, continuing a distressing trend. So how does this free issue work as a lure for new readers, is the real question.

I have to admit, I think Johns failed in this respect. For as hard as the scribe tries to walk readers through the key moments they would need to know heading into "Blackest Night" proper, I feel like to an uninitiated reader the result will simply be a continuity-heavy feeling. Johns attempts to gloss over the lives of Barry and Hal, as well as Batman and Aquaman, but in doing so the lack of details make the stories feel a little unnecessary and confusing. I wonder if a blanket setting the stage of who's dead and who's not might have been better, or simply a refresher course on each Lantern and what they're doing in this War of Light, because the different lanterns are not even mentioned in the pages of the story. I mean, really, would Ronnie Raymond's name on a gravestone intrigue new readers?

All that said, I have to say the part of this issue I enjoyed most was Johns' short letter on why he is writing "Blackest Night." To me, the whole thing reads like he's throwing down the gauntlet, both with Marvel and with his own company. While inviting readers who have left the company in recent years to give this event a shot, he at the same time is admitting that DC has royally screwed up with every event it's tried to pull off since "52." "Amazon's Attack" was a waste of time and money. "Countdown to Final Crisis" was an embarrassment. And for as much as Grant Morrision loved his own "Final Crisis," it turned off more readers than a hooker with an adam's apple. I, for one, am hoping this event does achieve that goal Johns speaks of here, showing readers DC has many more good stories to tell than those sub-par efforts.

But enough of all that, let's talk Zombies. So who does this issue point toward as a Black Lantern? Well, we've already seen toys of Earth-2 Superman and J'onn J'onzz. We're shown the gravestones of Aquaman, Firestorm, Ralph and Sue Dibny (say it ain't so!) and even Thomas and Martha Wayne. Mention of Batman's parents and Hal Jordan's dad are also made, while three characters, Hawkman and Hawkgirl (who, of course, are known for reincarnation) and The Atom (Jean Loring? Is she dead?) are shown for seemingly no good reason.

And then we have that final-page splash of Black Lanterns, seen right. Who do you see rising from the ground? Some are pretty obvious. Far left is the Earth-2 Superman, center with the green glove is Aquaman, Far right is the Martian Manhuner. Then it gets a little tricky. Way in the back, to the left of Aquaman, I'm guessing Abin-Sur makes an appearance. In between Aquaman and J'onn J'onzz the two next to each other look like Trickster and Mirror Master (the original). From there, I'm stumped. Could that brown-gloved hand belong to Jim Corrigan?

Either way, I think I can say without argument that "Blackest Night #0" was the biggest Free Comic Book Day title ever. For the sake of DC Comics, let's hope it reached enough people.

Free Comic Book Day coming Saturday

There are more reasons to be excited for Saturday's Free Comic Book Day than simply "Blackest Night #1" ... even if that is likely going to be the biggest headline (trust me, I've seen the book, I know!) For instance, around the area we're about to be invaded by comic book talent, just waiting to sign their names. Here's a rundown:

Alterniverse (in Salt Point) will have a couple of local boys to sign and illustrate sketches for fans, Mark Holmes and Luke Mierisch.

Upstate Comics (in Freedom Plains) is hosting a few of the top names in the biz, Cliff Chiang ("Green Arrow/Black Canary"), Ivan Brandon ("Secret Invasion," "Faces of Evil," "NYC Mech Viking") and Andy MacDonald ("NYC Mech Viking," "Punisher War Journal").

Dragon's Den (in Poughkeepsie) will host the creators of "The Entophilezzz," a Web comic you can check out at THIS LINK.

And while October Country Comics (in New Paltz) will not have any guests, the store will be giving away much more than the average list of company-supplied free comics, there will also be free comics from the stock, free books, free toys and free videos.

If you're outside the mid-Hudson Valley area, THIS LINK will take you to a list of other creator signings on a state-by-state, store-by-store basis.

Speaking of the full list of company-supplied comics, here it is:

ALIENS PREDATOR
APE CARTOONAPALOOZA #2
ARCANA STUDIO PRESENTS
ARCHIE PRESENTS MIGHTY ARCHIE ART PLAYERS
ATTACK O/T ALTERNA ZOMBIES
ATOMIC ROBO & FRIENDS
AVENGERS
BONGO COMICS FREE FOR ALL
CARS
COMICS FESTIVAL
CONTRACT SPECIAL
CYBERFORCE / HUNTER-KILLER PREVIEW
DABEL BROTHES SHOWCASE
DC KIDS MEGA SAMPLER
EC SAMPLER
FCHS (MR)
FIST OF JUSTICE #1
GOLD DIGGER #101 SPECIAL
GREEN LANTERN BLACKEST NIGHT #0
GUMBY TWO IN ONE ED
IMPACT UNIVERSITY VOL 05
LANYARDS
LIFE & TIMES SCROOGE MCDUCK MICKEY & GANG
LOVE & CAPES
LOVE & ROCKETS
MERCY SPARKS UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
NASCAR HEROES ORIGINS #1
NANCY & MELVIN MONSTER
OWLY & FRIENDS
RADICAL COMICS PREVIEW
RESURRECTION #0
SAVAGE DRAGON #148
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