Does this feel wrong to anyone else?

After happily finishing the fourth issue of the Terra mini series that I enjoyed partly for how relatively light it was. Regardless of what it was about or what happened, there was an over all feeling that just came off as not overly heavy. Great taste, less filling I guess. I am a bit of a fan of that, if it isn't already obvious to you. I can certainly handle heavy and serious stuff, but I don't think everything needs to be that way.

Here is Dan Didio's piece from the last page of the comic. You may have seen it in another comic, but for me it was in Terra #4 as i said.

"The dead shall rise."

Well, at least that's what Geoff Johns keeps telling me. And since I've seen some of his plans for next year's epic, BLACKEST NIGHT, I have to say this will easily be one of the most anticipated events in comics for 2009. The story has been building and building since the Sinestro Corps War helped define everything we knew about Green Lantern, and Blackest Night promises to do the same for the entire DC Universe.

Starting in July, Blackest Night will rip through the DCU as the different color Corps are faced with the onslaught of the Black Lanterns. Our heroes such as the JLA, JSA, Titans and more are forced to defend Earth against some very familiar faces. As a matter of fact, any character who has died in the DCU is eligible to be a Black Lantern (and you know how many have died in the last couple of years). Geoff answered a couple of fans from several DC Nation panels at conventions this year when fans would ask about the status of certain deceased members of our universe, and the answer was always the same. It would go something like this:

Fan #1: Are there any plans to bring back Martian Manhunter?
Geoff: Yes…Black Lantern.
Fan #2: Will we see Aquaman this year?
Geoff: Black Lantern.
Fan #3: How about Pantha?
Geoff: Black Lantern.
Fan #4: I'd like to see the return of Max Lord, Solovar, and Airwave…
Geoff: Black Lantern. Black Lantern. Black Lantern.

Now, we can't say exactly who comes back wielding a black ring this summer, but we can tell you for sure to expect the unexpected. I know July seems like a long way away now, so we have plenty of action going on in Green Lantern (Red Lanterns and Agent Orange) and Green Lantern Corps (Star Sapphire and the Sinestro Corps) to keep you occupied. And in February the Origins & Omens event sweeps through the DCU featuring a certain narrator who is a central figure in Blackest Night. It's all adding up to be one of the biggest and best events in the history of the DCU, so get ready.

I'll be back next week to fill you in on the Titans (both regular and teen) and give you an update on a certain villain and a certain crossover that will turn teammates into enemies and change the status quo of every character involved. Sound serious? Welcome to the DCU in 2009.

To be continued...

DD

I was bugged by the parenthetical up there. I realize that this is a guy plugging the big event to presumably an audience that is hungry for it, but It just feels like winking and smiling about all of the characters that have been killed off, and that doesn't sit right with me.

I am really not a fan of gratuitously killing off characters. I know that characters have been dying or seeming to die, or being announced as dead for as long as there have been hero comics. I generally don't care for it. Have characters die, only if it makes sense and is essential to the story. Worse than most of the ridiculous temporary deaths that big named heroes seem to have every now and again are the deaths of underutilized characters. They are usually brought in just long enough to make them interesting and show their potential before being offed, etc.

Is it something to be proud of that you have amassed a great stable of dead heroes and their friends and loved ones? Is dragging them out of their graves to use them as villains really something that needs to be done as a company wide event?

It's probably not something to actually be bothered by, I guess. From some of the searching around I did about this, there are at least some folks excitedly banking on their favorite dead hero coming back evil. I guess the key to anything like this is good writing and plotting, etc. With good enough writing anything is possible.