Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps, Vol. 2

Blackest Night: Collected Editions

by Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Greg Rucka

Writers Geoff Johns, James Robinson and Greg Rucka are joined by artists Scott Kolins, Eddy Barrows and Nicola Scott for this essential BLACKEST NIGHT storyline tie-in title that features The Flash, Wonder Woman and the Justice Society of America dealing with their greatest villains and loved ones returning from the dead as evil Black Lanterns. The hardcover edition includes Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #'s 1-3, Blackest Night: JSA #'s 1-3 and Blackest Night: Flash # 's 1-3.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of repetitive zombie fighting in these tie-ins. The JSA story worked the best. When The Flash story focused on the Rogues it worked well. Captain Cold and Boomerang get some interesting moments. I think this could have been great if they just skipped the Barry Allen side of the equation and focused solely on the Rogues. The Wonder Woman arc was kind of "meh".

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story: This one takes the stories of Wonder Woman, JLA, and Flash while Blackest Night is going on. With the Flash you deal with the Rogue Gallery and Flash family trying to survive the outbreak of Black Lanterns. Then have JLA dealing with returning members saying goodbye or killing the new JLA. Last but not least is Wonder Woman and her story is really only 1 issue before the outbreak and then 2 during the event.

Art: Overall, pretty solid. Especially the shift of the JLA themes, looked dark but well done. I also enjoyed the violence as this event feels like a major zombie outbreak.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed some of the JLA story but even as I know a lot of DC characters, half of them here not too familiar with. but the fights were great. I also liked the Rogue stuff a lot, both sad, and well done. Flash family was solid too.

What didn't work: Wonder Woman story is okay at best. To easy to guess what will happen. Also, some of the JLA story was boring.

Overall, a pretty solid contributing chapter to a fun event. Volume 1 was better but this is a 3 out of 5.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit, I'm really liking the storyline now. This kinda kicks the whole Marvel Zombies in the ass. There's some real stories going on and it really warms the cockles. :)

I think it's a toss-up whether I like the Flash storyline better than the Wonder Woman.

Nah. It's Flash all the way, baby. :)

Gotta love those deputies.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the latest volume of the Blackest Night crossover for me as I continue my journey through all of Pre New-52 DC.

I will repeat some of what I have said before. Blackest Night is possibly the best crossover event in comics (at the very least it is the best I have read so far).

This volume focuses on the Earth heroes Wonder Woman, The Flash, and the JSA. So, this book does continues the more personal, Earth-bound perspective of the epic space war going on as part of the Blackest Night. Like the previous volume, it gets very personal and deeply emotional.

This volume includes some of the best battles in the non-space centered collections in Blackest Night. This one also leads into the amazing solution/conclusion of the event. There are lots of crazy surprises. In short, this is brilliant comic writing.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are three miniseries collected here, all tying into Blackest Night: Flash, JSA, and Wonder Woman. I'll get JSA out of the way: didn't care for it. This is probably because I had little to no background in these characters and the team in general, at least in part. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the Flash storyline, even though I'm on shaky ground there when it comes to backstory. Maybe it's because the Rogues, at least Captain Cold and Weather Wizard, are getting interesting to me, and the writing did a good job of juxtaposing Flash and Captain Cold. The Wonder Woman story was, of course, my favorite, even though the storyline was much more fragmented. This was probably out of necessity: Wonder Woman ended up playing a fairly prominent role in the main Blackest Night story, so Rucka ended up writing her scenes scattered throughout instead of one storyline, like the Flash and JSA books. But I really enjoy his take on Wonder Woman, so I still really liked it. As a whole, this collection rates 3.5 stars, and if the JSA part hadn't fallen so flat for me, it would be more like 4.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first volume, this one spends a little too much time rehashing the familiar without bringing anything new to the table. To some degree, Wonder Woman’s story is the exception (or maybe my bias for the character has placed rose tinted glasses over my face), but the exposition and repetitiveness of the other two mini-series almost overshadows Rucka’s efforts. An overall decent experience, there’s unfortunately a little too much boring text and not enough differing content to keep it interesting and fresh.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An improvement over volume one of Black Lantern Corps. Two of the three writers play to their strengths. Geoff Johns excels at dealing with the Flash's rouges gallery of villains, and they get some character expansion here. If anything Cold is slowly becoming a favorite character of mine when written by Johns, a villain with a code, still a villain but one with "ethics" that I can understand. James Robinson again delineates JSA characters, and in doing so give us nice small glimpses into each. While Greg Rucka remains a writer who's novels I tend to enjoy his Wonder Woman tale (and truthfully it seems a character he struggles to write) is the weakest entry here and part of the reason why this does not get 4 stars.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Flash story has a lot of the repetitive zombie fighting that makes up the BLC stories, but also has a nice reunion of both Flashes and Rogues [6/10]. The JSA story offers nice reminders of the team's origins and the Jesse Quick plotline is even quite touching, but beyond that there's the usual zombie fighting and a one-time deus ex machina [6.5/10]. Rucka's story of Wonder Woman starts off strong, but then gets badly fractured by moving in and out of the main Blackest Night storyline [5/10].

Better than its predecessor, but still mediocre.

[Nico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I liked some parts, I was bored through other parts. Quite a few parts. I admit I had to do some searching on some new faces for me and for some I had forgotten the details of. In general I just didn't get into this volume like I have through other collections from this event. There was very little adrenaline, I didn't have my emotions ripped out in the same way... This probably had something to with the fact that I haven't read much of Flash on his own and that I'm rather ambivalent about Wonder Woman as a character in general (sorry Sarah) so the foundation and love for the characters wasn't cemented in the same way it was when I read the Bats or Teen Titans story arcs.

Also I didn't give a single shit about The Rogues. They could've left out that entire plot line and I probably would've been happier. Just. Don't. Care.

I did enjoy reading more of Flash though. I like the mix of humour with the deep care for their family and friends they all exhibit. I've been meaning to give Barry and Wally the time they deserve and pick up some of their individual runs to delve deeper into those arcs, so this definitely pushes me forward towards that.

Overall though, this was a bit of a miss.

[Nicole Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tangential tales...that I would have been sad to have missed.

I know that some were less than impressed With the Flash/Rogues story arc...but, I enjoyed it. It was kind of fun having some old-school comic art via Scott Kolins. Also, since the main Blackest Night storyline...I've been converted to Flash-fandom.

I was particularly impressed with this scene: Geoff Johns juxtaposed Flash and Captain Cold - each reaching their own personal solid determination to continue the battle against the black lanterns, regardless of their past difficulties. One a villain. One a superhero. Completely different journeys...and yet, the came to the same place.

Kid Flash: "I'm a little scared to be honest."
Flash: "it's okay to be rattled...We've been fighting this all wrong...Tossing aside emotion like the guardians. Hiding what we feel. We reap what we sow. No matter what life throws at you --
Captain Cold: "or what way the road turns --
Flash: "You've got to put one foot in front of the other --
Cold: "and keep moving forward --
Flash: "with an open heart."

And, the Wonder Woman story arc? I only have two words: Greg Rucka. Nicola Scott's art? So so good. Greg Rucka with Wonder Woman...so so good.

WW: "I'm not afraid of the dark...Love is light...In darkness, love must survive."

[Paweł · Rating 4 out of 5]

Losy Wonder Woman, Flasha i JSA które rozgrywają się w międzyczasie tomów Blackest Night i Green Lantern Blackest Night. Warto ten event śledzić w tych trzech seriach.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this volume as much as the previous, but it was still above average. As I said in the prior review, the Blackest Night tie in series do seem much more relevant than most big even tie in comics. The stories do feel like an important part of the big picture, rather than just something tacked on for the sake of sales.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a good book it was made in to 3 diffrent stories. It is a super hero comic book and if you like that kind of stuff this is a good comic series to start. it has blood and Gore in the comic. it has a good story line too.
i would reccemend ot to people who like super hero and a little blood and Gore this is a great book to start readeing. i gave it 4 stares because it is a great book and good storyline but it is not the comic book i am in to but it was a great book.

[Roxanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I didn't think this volume was near as good as the first one. The stories just didn't have the same emotional weight to them and I found myself becoming very frustrated with the characters falling for their Black Lantern loved ones' lies. I mean, seriously. They look like damn zombies and they have on these black uniforms - I don't know, it was tedious.

The Flash/Rogues: The Flash's tie in focuses on both Barry and the Rogues. Unfortunately, I thought Barry's story was the weaker of the two. The whole point of it was to basically show how Barry ends up getting a Blue Lantern ring and how they separate Bart Allen from the Black Lantern ring. I thought the Reverse Flash would play a bigger role, but he didn't. I didn't really understand how the Reverse Flash was a Black Lantern and yet, alive in another location at the same time? Whatever, I guess that's just the Reverse Flash for you. I enjoyed the Rogues' stories way more. Captain Cold is always a bad ass and I loved Snart interact with his Black Lantern sister. I thought that Owen Mercer feeding people to the previous Captain Boomerang was a creepy touch as well. Then Snart throws Owen down into the pit to be killed by his own father. It was all very Walking Dead.

JSA: The JSA is one of the superhero groups in DC Comics that I know the least about. They just never interested me and I always thought their costumes looked silly as hell. This was my least favorite story and I mostly attribute that to me not knowing these characters, so when their lvoed ones become Black Lanterns - I didn't care. Earth-2 Lois and Kal-L do come back in this story, which was cool. I didn't quite understand the stuff with Jessie Quick and her father Johnny Quick. At no point does it seem like Black Lantern Johnny Quick is planning on turning on Jessie, so I was like, is he different from the others or what? It's also possible that he was destroyed before he turned on her, but it kinda bugged me.

Wonder Woman: Can I just say that Maxwell Lord is such a creep in this? I mean that in two ways: he's creeping because of the shit coming out of his mouth and his appearance. When Diana first encounters him and his head is still backwards from when she broke his neck, I was like "oh, man, that's creepy as hell." I liked how desperate sounding Diana was when the Black Lantern ring was controlling her body. It was heartbreaking - it was her just pleading with herself to not kill her friends. I was slightly disappointed when it is revealed that Diana killing Wonder Girl and Donna Troy was just a simulation by Aphrodite because I felt like it took away some of the stakes of Blackest Night. But overall, it was pretty good.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will serve as my review for all of the "Blackest Night" graphic novels as a collection.

I feel that someone needs to do a list of in what order to read all of this. Because . . . it's a lot. And when you read the individual stories from the various points of view, there are chapters missing that are filled in by reading a different story. Only when you've read the entire collection can you see how all the pieces fit together, and that wasn't super fun for me. But it's still a fun read. I almost decided to call these "comic books" but there was enough depth and commentary on the human condition that I think they qualify as "graphic novels." The idea that there are these 7 emotions present in basically all sentient life across the universe I find interesting, as well as the idea that combining the emotions all together is, in the end, the healthiest way to exist.

Of note were three individual stories that I found myself moved by:

1. The story of Saint Walker becoming the first blue lantern moved me quite a bit. The "religion" he espouses is a little cliche, but I was glad to see it represented. He may be a fictional character, but that attitude of "all will be well" is one that I still aspire to.

2. The story of Wonder Girl having to kill the Black Lantern versions of her dead husband and dead infant son was heartbreaking.

3. The story of Wonder Woman and the guardians at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington was pitch perfect. Those two soldiers, wearing dress uniforms and with no real weaponry, absolutely would stand up and continue to guard the Tomb against all of the risen Black Lanterns from the rest of Arlington National Cemetery and yes, would be pure will.

Enjoyed the series. Might enjoy a re-read now that I have all the parts (and I did go back to re-read some of it, and yes it made more sense with all the puzzle pieces). 4 stars overall.

[Rihards Husko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 2 of the Blackest Night tie-ins is, again, a mix of high highs and some underwhelming, occasionally confusing lows.

The Flash BN tie-in miniseries is an odd beast, combining some of the event’s most disturbing twists with its most uplifting, all wrapped in the cartooniest look of the entire imprint-spanning crossover. The Rogues (Captain Cold in particular) are as much a spotlight as Barry himself, and both get some powerful moments. Though perhaps the most shocking moment is also one that doesn't feel like it fits the timeline of events at all (just how much time passes between the end of Chapter 2 and the beginning of 3?). It’s a little uneven and seems to try to set up an awful lot for the future, but is solid overall.

I'm not going to lie, I barely know who the characters in JSA are. However, their three chapters are among the most visually impressive, and they do some clever stuff with the panelling and storytelling in the openings of issues 1 and 2. It also did a really good job of showing the deathly threat presented by the Black Lanterns outside the emotional (and physical) torment they cause, or their immortality. It was great to see some genuine tactical conflict. It was certainly the best of the three (possibly of all) tie-ins, I just wish I cared about the characters more.

Wonder Woman is a decent 3 issues, but suffers from some pretty glaring problems. First of all, as a collection on its own, the chronology of the story is pretty messy because it intertwines quite closely with the main BN line. Second, and this is the one that bothered me the most, the story tries to have its cake and eat it, too, in a way that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Yet great art, a compelling take on Wonder Woman, and a handful of real fist-pump moments end up lifting her mini-series above mediocrity.

Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 2 was really rather good.

P.S. Yup, Kindle formatting continues to be garbage.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is volume two of what I referred to as Blackest Night apocrypha in my review of the previous volume. Of the two, this is the far superior of the Black Lantern Corps collection focusing on the Flash, the Justice Society of America and Wonder Woman. The Flash and Wonder Woman stories both feed into the Blackest Night main story in that both the Flash and Wonder Woman become ring bearers (of the blue and purple rings respectively) and in the main narrative Wonder Woman becomes both a Black Lantern and a Star Sapphire. The Blackest Night: Wonder Woman series devotes an issue to both the Black Lantern and Star Sapphire sub plots and the result is somewhat disjointed. Blackest Night: The Flash is also available via The Flash by Geoff Johns Book Six (review forthcoming) and follows Barry's journey to becoming a member of the Blue Lantern Corps. The standout story here is James Robinson's Blackest Night: JSA which is a continuation of the Blackest Night: Superman story he penned that appeared in Volume 1. I enjoyed Robinson's work on Golden Age and Starman as well as on that Superman story and he doesn't disappoint here.

Again, the Black Lantern Corps is definitely the "deep cuts" when it comes to Blackest Night. Of course, this is why I am glad that libraries exist because if I was going to pay to get the whole Blackest Night story, my wallet would be light indeed...

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read the first volume, which focused on Batman, Superman, and the Titans, I thought I might enjoy this book equally or more. I've read the earlier Flash books more recently than almost anything else, and this was around the time where I found Wonder Woman the most interesting.

Alas, I thought all three of the stories were okay, but didn't rise to the level of their main series.

I understand it. Johns, who wrote The Flash section was writing the main Blackest Night book, plus Green Lantern, plus serving as overseer on the Green Lantern Corps and all of these side books. He was busy. And I believe the Flash book suffers because of it. Again, it's not terrible, it's just a dip in quality from his previous run, and not as fun as I remember Brightest Day being (but, oh, is it classic literature compared to Flashpoint).

I don't have any particular complaints against any of these stories, I just found them less interesting than some of the other side stories going on at the same time.

[Seth Abernethy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slight improvement over its predecessor, vol 2 of the direct tie-ins delivers. This due in part to the fact that 2/3 of the runs it contains take place immediately after the deputization of Wonder Woman and the Flash into the Star Sapphires and Blue Lantern Corps, respectively. The opportunity to take some time and flesh out what that means for these characters offers much welcome perspective on why they were chosen in particular, and expands upon the mythos of the different corps. The JSA Blackest Night tie-in, too, was not without merit, and contains some great moments. Jesse Quick's struggle to cope with her father's death is brought back to surface as he is resurrected, and Alan Scott's shining example of incredible leadership are just a few of the highlights across the 3 issues. This collection is absolutely worthwhile and a great addition to the Blackest Night saga.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of three Blackest Night tie-ins was a mixed bag. The Wonder Woman story, by all-star creators Rucka and Scott, was big a let down. It was three random issues that didn't really meld together. I almost felt like they could have been read in any order. The JSA tale was by far the best. Both art and story combined for a very good read. It makes since that the legacy team would have the most trauma with the deceased. The Flash was a decent story but Scot Kollins' art, which I usually enjoy was incredibly rushed. These tie-in books definitely vary in importance but this was good enough for what it was. Overall, a must read for the JSA tale alone but stick around for the others.

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of fantastic adventures with the Black Lanterns and their quest to conquer the universe by bringing fallen super heroes and villains back to life to do their evil bidding. My favorite chapters within the volume are those devoted to Wonder Woman. Greg Rucka presents a well written story. Nicola Scott and Eduard Pansica are responsible for the exciting, action-packed artwork. A team of talented inkers, Prentis Rollins, Jonathan Glapion, Walden Wong, Drew Geraci and Eber Ferreira use bright colors to highlight all of the Lanterns in their efforts to restore the peace to all of the affected worlds. This was a noteworthy addition to the Blackest Night saga.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

When you read all six miniseries, they're pretty redundant. Batman was okay. Superman a hair better. Titans a little less so. Flash the worst. JSA, hard to get invested in, as I don't know the characters at all. Wonder Woman, choppy, too caught up in the main event and various ring permutations Diana goes through.

The trick of seeing the characters in the emotional color spectrum was neat, but over-used.

[Russell Pearce of Sector 2814 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lesser of the two Volumes in my opinion. This focuses on less well known characters and has some trouble retaining cohesion with the rest of the event. I don't necessarily dislike this one just don't like it as much as Volume 1. The Donna Troy section specifically is a stand out for me. Most of it unfortunately is filler that likely isn't needed for Blackest Night unless you are a completionist like me.

[Graham Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this tie in, I personally perferred this volume to vol 1. These issues focus on The Flash, Rogues, JSA and Wonder Woman. You already know what's going to happen if you've gotten this far with Blackest Night but it's nice to know what's going on with the other characters during the event before it all coming together.
Loving the series overall probably one of the events DC has ever done. Happy to be corrected as it means I have more to read 😉

[Chad D'Cruze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flash story deserves 3-4 stars.

[Lewis Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

imagine how sick it would have been reading this at the time aye

[Richard Burley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disjointed. Meh.

[Lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review of Blackest Night event/storyline

[Christabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Patrick Selau · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read as part of the Blackest Night full reading order]