I won't spend too much time discussing a project that's still a year away, but it's too hard to resist mentioning Blackest Night. Geoff Johns has obviously been brushing up on his color theory, and that makes it simple enough to theorize about the new spectrum of Lanterns. I'm hardly the first to concoct most of these theories, but the fact that so many fans are reaching the same conclusion is a good sign.
According to color theory, all colors signify certain emotions. While the interpretation is a bit subjective, the Lantern Corps fall pretty much in line with the accepted standards. Red represents anger and rage. Yellow represents fear. Violet is love, and so on, so forth.
In color theory, black is the absence of all color and light. See where this is going? The Black Lanterns are such a fitting threat because they fall right in line with the idea of the Spectrum of Emotions. The Black Lanterns are corpses raised from the grave. They have no emotion. They shine no light.
After reading
DC Universe Zero, it seems obvious that Black Hand is being poised as the leader of the Black Lanterns. The Anti-Monitor's body provides the power for the battery. That may be only the very beginning in terms of familiar characters. Because the Black Lanterns are raised from the dead, any character who died and hasn't yet been resurrected is fair game. Many readers thought Barry Allen was a shoe-in, though we now know that won't be the case. Still, other deceased heroes like Martian Manhunter and Superboy (legal rights allowing) could conceivably return.
Johns could even dredge up deceased family members. Imagine if Martha and Thomas Wayne reappeared as Black Lantern zombies. Or, since Johns seems likely to kill off Pa Kent in
Action Comics, what about Superman's adoptive father? You can bet that Johns will choose whichever characters will elicit the strongest reaction from his heroes.
And then the White Lanterns come in. If black is the absence of all light and color, white is the presence of all colors in the spectrum. As we're seeing in the Green Lantern comics, focusing too heavily on any one emotion in the spectrum can be detrimental, even if it's one of the "good" emotions like willpower. This is a lesson he Guardians are learning the hard way. To counteract the threat of the Black Lanterns, one must master all emotions in the spectrum. In the process, they become a White Lantern.
I think you'll see several popular characters morph into White Lanterns in
Blackest Night. Not necessarily Hal Jordan, but side characters like John Stewart and Kyle Rayner are possible candidates. If you thought Kyle got a bum deal in
The Sinestro Corps War, this may be his chance to shine again.
One interesting theory I've heard concerns DC's mysterious chalkboards. One of the cryptic clues written on these boards read, "Superman = Red or Blue?" The theory goes that Superman will be faced with the choice of accepting either a Blue Lantern ring or a Red Lantern ring. With recent trauma in his life, including the possible deaths of Lois and his father, he may choose rage over hope. An interesting possibility, though it seems more likely at this point the clue was referring to the comic
DCU: Decisions and Superman's political leanings. Still, we'll know for sure next year.
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago
I won't spend too much time discussing a project that's still a year away, but it's too hard to resist mentioning
Blackest Night. Geoff Johns has obviously been brushing up on his color theory, and that makes it simple enough to theorize about the new spectrum of Lanterns. I'm hardly the first to concoct most of these theories, but the fact that so many fans are reaching the same conclusion is a good sign.
According to color theory, all colors signify certain emotions. While the interpretation is a bit subjective, the Lantern Corps fall pretty much in line with the accepted standards. Red represents anger and rage. Yellow represents fear. Violet is love, and so on, so forth.
In color theory, black is the absence of all color and light. See where this is going? The Black Lanterns are such a fitting threat because they fall right in line with the idea of the Spectrum of Emotions. The Black Lanterns are corpses raised from the grave. They have no emotion. They shine no light.
After reading
DC Universe Zero, it seems obvious that Black Hand is being poised as the leader of the Black Lanterns. The Anti-Monitor's body provides the power for the battery. That may be only the very beginning in terms of familiar characters. Because the Black Lanterns are raised from the dead, any character who died and hasn't yet been resurrected is fair game. Many readers thought Barry Allen was a shoe-in, though we now know that won't be the case. Still, other deceased heroes like Martian Manhunter and Superboy (legal rights allowing) could conceivably return.
Johns could even dredge up deceased family members. Imagine if Martha and Thomas Wayne reappeared as Black Lantern zombies. Or, since Johns seems likely to kill off Pa Kent in
Action Comics, what about Superman's adoptive father? You can bet that Johns will choose whichever characters will elicit the strongest reaction from his heroes.
And then the White Lanterns come in. If black is the absence of all light and color, white is the presence of all colors in the spectrum. As we're seeing in the Green Lantern comics, focusing too heavily on any one emotion in the spectrum can be detrimental, even if it's one of the "good" emotions like willpower. This is a lesson he Guardians are learning the hard way. To counteract the threat of the Black Lanterns, one must master all emotions in the spectrum. In the process, they become a White Lantern.
I think you'll see several popular characters morph into White Lanterns in
Blackest Night. Not necessarily Hal Jordan, but side characters like John Stewart and Kyle Rayner are possible candidates. If you thought Kyle got a bum deal in
The Sinestro Corps War, this may be his chance to shine again.
One interesting theory I've heard concerns DC's mysterious chalkboards. One of the cryptic clues written on these boards read, "Superman = Red or Blue?" The theory goes that Superman will be faced with the choice of accepting either a Blue Lantern ring or a Red Lantern ring. With recent trauma in his life, including the possible deaths of Lois and his father, he may choose rage over hope. An interesting possibility, though it seems more likely at this point the clue was referring to the comic
DCU: Decisions and Superman's political leanings. Still, we'll know for sure next year.
