Green Lantern #48 / Blackest Night #5 (of 8)

You know, if DC is going to release two comics in the same week, but one takes place before the other, it would be nice if they'd post one of those "Hey, be sure to read Green Lantern #48 before you read Blackest Night #5" notes.

Naturally, I read the mega-event first - and then found myself wondering how I'd missed certain plot points that occurred between BN #4 and BN #5. Ah well.

For today's double review (catching up on the holdays here), let's take the books in chronological order, starting with GL.

Here we see the gathering of the fellowship - uh, I mean, an alliance of the spectrum of the rings (which includes Gollum - uh, Larfleeze).

Of course, since many of the rings don't exactly get along with others, it's an uneasy alliance at best, and one that has to face some Black Lantern challenges first.

Still, it's a good story from Geoff Johns, again giving us a little more background on the characters and setting up the main event in Blackest Night.

The art by Doug Mahnke continues to be outstanding, with amazing detail, stunning splash pages and clear storytelling.

Johns is weaving an epic story here, and setting up future stories for years to come - it's quite impressive to watch.

Grade: B+

So as soon as you're done with that issue, move over to Blackest Night #5 (of 8).

Here we see the ring alliance taking on the Black Lantern menace with surprising results. We see Earth's heroes take on Nekron with surprising results. We see the newest Black Lantern - also a surprise. We see the introduction of something called an "emotional tether," which plays some kind of role in all this, though we don't know what.

This issue is the literary equivalent of "Act II," wherein all kinds of bad things happen, and you're left to wonder how the good guys are going to get out of this one.

Heck if I know - and that's a good thing. Blackest Night seemed to be set up for an easy solution, and writer Geoff Johns wisely takes that off the board quickly - so the heroes are in a tough spot indeed.

Give Johns credit, he's playing a courageous game here, and one plot point near the end tiptoes close to the "Mopee" line, wherein impossible things receive one, central, impossible-to-swallow explanation - but he manages to make it work. So far.

Kudos also to penciller Ivan Reis, who continues to show why he's one of DC's best - his art is powerful, detailed and memorable. And wow, that final two-page spread.

There's a good reason why this series has become such a hit - it promises to be the genuine game-changing series DC has needed for a long time, but always been too timid to tackle.

Perhaps this time, the change will stick.

Grade: A-