Blackest Night: Superman #2
Written By: James Robinson
Illustrated By: Eddy Barrows
It only took one night for all hell to break loose on the quiet town of Smallville. Resurrected as Black Lanterns, Kal-L, The Earth 2 Superman, and his wife Lois Lane have attacked the quiet suburb and have set their sights on Superman and his family. Digging up the coffin of Jonathan Kent and kidnapping his wife Martha, the undead couple intend to reunite the two in death. Fortunately, Superman and Superboy are able to stop the unholy process from occurring, only to have a more grueling battle waiting for them in the form of the newly resurrected Psycho Pirate. While Superman's hometown suffers from provoked emotional frenzy, New Krypton's fate lies in the balance, as Supergirl has to do the unthinkable: take down her undead father, Zor-El.
Lately, I've been enjoying the Blackest Night tie-ins more and more, as each issue delves into other people affected by the event at an emotional scale. It's no surprise that the major players of the Crisis Of Infinite Earths saga are "reborn" as Black Lanterns since many of them are dead, but what I AM surprised about is their new and radical ways of thinking. Recently revealed in Blackest Night #3, Black Lanterns feed off the emotions inside every individual and use it as a homing beacon to stalk their prey, in a manner most similar to Sharks attracted to the blood of their victims in the open sea. It's quite obvious that Kal-L and Lois Lane are perverse versions of their former selves, but I can't quite say the same for the Psycho Pirate. After getting his face blown to bits by Black Adam in the pages of Infinite Crisis, the manipulator of emotions is back, and his power has probably tripled after his resurrection, instilling every kind of twisted emotion on the helpless inhabitants of Smallville. To say that things just got worse is an understatement, this guy has made Supes' hometown his playground, and he's loving every second of it.
On the story itself, James Robinson's writing capabilities are enjoyable enough. It's neat, fresh, and straightforward action and terror all around. You won't find anything that you'll have to dig through other than some back issues pertaining to some of the undead faces involved. His take on Supes has some flaws though. Personally, I would think that Clark has enough experience as a hero to take charge when the situation looks intense, but here he feels a little too confused and naive at what's happening, and probably it makes sense since he and the rest of the world are dealing with the Black Lanterns for the very first time. I do enjoy his futile efforts to reach out to Kal-L, since it makes the latter look so powerful and manipulative at the same time. Those reading Adventure Comics and Supergirl may be more familiar with what's happening to the boy and girl of steel, but as someone who hasn't touched on recent facts related to them aside from wikipedia, I only have this book to follow and bring me up to speed. Still, everything's fleshed out and going so smoothly. The bad guys are kicking ass, and the good guys are on the way to getting retribution... hopefully.
Art is without a doubt one of the book's highlights. Eddy Barrows does his magic and shows just how pretty and ugly Smallville is during the events of BN, and for his take on Superman and company, I can't think of a better artist to handle the story other than him. Probably the most eyecatching scene for this issue is the triumphant return of the Psycho Pirate. Barrows illustrates how deadly his powers of emotion manipulation can be, from the moment one person clips his neighbor to the time Superboy falls under his spell and attacks his mentor. The only drawback I can think of is how Kara is portrayed when she confronts her dead dad. Her teary-eyed demeanor is understandable, but did that have to tie in with that dreadful looking "emo-punch" she landed to her parental unit? That didn't look good there at all, but that aside, the pencils are all good here, especially if you're one to look for explosive art and visuals.
With a month to go before this series wraps up, BN: Superman's second issue is a strong follow to the previous book and a good tie-in for those hungry for more Blackest Night goodness. Like I mentioned with the first issue's review, it may alienate those not familiar with the Crisis Characters, but follow the narrative enough and you won't even have to research on these guys. The book can stand on its own, and it just presents itself as another sticky situation the Man Of Steel and his allies have to get out of before they end up dead meat. Sure enough, something bad's gonna happen later and beyond this book, and I'm keeping the suspense up for the climactic battle between good and evil (dead). The price tag alone is not bad at all, and it has enough action and drama to keep you interested, especially if you're a Superman fan.
Score - 8/10
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