Murderfest aught nine
Go figure that the "auxiliary" title for Green Lantern would deliver on the promises made for Blackest Night.
This issue is hardcore.
When I say it was Murderfest I'm not even coming close to the carnage that was displayed. And to further heighten the dread building up on each page Peter Tomasi manages to put some weight and depth into each death that occurs. Not one death is wasted like some are in numerous zombie movies. Through the eyes of these Black Lanterns we see the fear and complicated emotions boiling within each Green Lantern before they die and it really left an impact on me. Some Green Lanterns are completely nameless but when we see the fear they are giving off before their hearts are ripped from their chests I can't help but feel some dread.
The gimmick (which is being used to great effect) is this "emotional spectrum vision" that each Black Lantern uses to see. Much like how the Predator can see in Infrared we find that a Black Lantern perceives things as hollow unless a creature is producing an emotion within the spectrum, sometimes multiple emotions. It's something we've seen in almost every Blackest Night issue but I think it was used to it's full effect here.
Kyle's encounter with Jade was pretty interesting as well as Arisia's encounter with her undead family. I was surprised to see that some of the Black Lanterns appear to be without decay or physical trauma. Is that by choice? Or is it the ring's choice? Can any Black Lantern switch between looking decomposed and looking fresh? it's something worth thinking about.
This title also consistently shows that it's just as important as the main title Green Lantern.
In this issue we find that the Guardians might be dead, but for now all we know is that they aren't around to run the show. Salaak reveals a contingency plan the Guardians had established where if anything should happen to them the next in command would be the Clarissi who is Salaak followed by their two Illustres which happen to be Guy and Kyle. How cool is that?
Salaak puts the Alpha Lanterns in their place and makes a command decision that prevents the reissuing of power rings upon a Green Lantern's death. Smart call.
There's also some stuff between a Star Sapphire and Kryb from the Sinestro Corps and that was kinda fun.
I'm giving this one five stars because like I mentioned above is delivers on the promises that Blackest Night has made so far. I enjoyed this far more than I have the last two issues of Blackest Night title...
Pick this up!
