By my Black Hand - -
There really is no getting away from hype.
I don't mean anticipation. That's one thing. Anticipation is that dryness in your mouth and on your lips of your first date. You really want to make a good first impression. You want to be liked. Accepted. You're eager to please. You're polite, courteous; eloquent. You open doors. Hold the chair, coat, purse - whatever Unless you're a fool, you don't tell the joke your buddy just told you the other day that was snorting milk through your nose funny. Nah, that's going steady material. That's sitting in your underwear drinking a beer on the weekend together after the honeymoon. That's anticipation.
Hype is more like anticipation on Viagra (tm) (R). Hype is excitement today that stretches through til next week.
I've found that hype leads to disappointment. It leads me to a letdown. Your results may vary.
I was looking forward to Free Comic Book Day 2009 specifically for Blackest Night 0. I tried not to pay too much attention to anything anyone said about it in advance. I didn't want to get my hopes up too high. I didn't want to be too disappointed or letdown. But, whether it's the spagetti or the comics, I still get a twitch on Wednesdays. This was the same feeling. Even though I wasn't following much of the lead-up to it, I was still excited about it.
Blackest Night 0, for me, was Geoff Johns next best step. I really enjoyed Green Lantern: Rebirth; and everything he's done so far with Hal Jordan and his world in Green Lantern. I'd argue that Green Lantern is the strongest thing that DC is doing right now. You might disagree, and I'd be more than willing to agree to disagree with you. I'm seeing in Green Lantern what drew me to James Robinson's Starman. A character that's interesting to me on a direction that I'm curious to follow along with. I want to say storytelling through the writing and art, but that's secondary. I could pick up what Robinson is doing with Superman. It's probably good writing and art, too. Is it interesting to me? Is Battle for the Cowl? Flash: Rebirth by the same people that were behind Green Lantern: Rebirth? Different strokes for different folks. As much of a Batman fan as I want to be, there's always room enough for Hal. Alan, John, Guy and Kyle are fine in my book, too. But there's something different, special about Hal.
Blackest Night 0 opens with Hal at Bruce Wayne's grave. Not Batman's, Bruce's. Hal muses about the differences he had with Batman and the similarities between himself and Bruce. Barry Allen is at his side in - well, y'know - and he compares memorials - or testimonials.
It is amazing to me to see how many of the silver and bronze age Justice League members are currently deceased. You might be amazed, too. You might see something that excites you like I did. Of all the headstones...well, I guess we'll see when the dead rise.
I'm wondering who's grave Black Hand disturbs; and who's skull he has.
Kudos to Geoff Johns on what he's doing. He's managed to come up with the coolest oaths for each spectrum.
This is a very awesome preview of the event to come. I've shied away from a number of them recently because of the natural burden they bring in their wake. I'm not sure I can bear the weight of everything on the checklist.
I'm definitely going to stick with Green Lantern and Blackest Night. We'll negotiate the rest.
My buddy Craig at my local comic book shop, Book Review, was nice enough to hold my copy behind the counter. He didn't put any copies out. Blackest Night 0 was reserved for the best customers. And he was nice enough not to stamp it with the store stamp. Can't say the same for The Avengers...
