The quality of the Blackest Night tie-in books continues to surprise me. While not necessary reading, they add a layer of complexity to Geoff Johns’ mega-event. Blackest Night: Superman is no exception. The story is heavily steeped in recent Superman continuity and follows the typical Blackest Night path: deceased heroes and villains have risen from the dead to torment those closest to them. Who has recently died in the Super line of books: Superman and Lois Lane of Earth 2, Jor-El, Pa Kent… they wouldn’t, would they?
This issue reads like a zombie epilogue to Geoff Johns’ 2006 event, Infinite Crisis. The Psycho Pirate is back from the dead and doling out his brand of emotional chaos over the citizens of Smallville. The fictional Kansas town becomes a literal war zone with its inhabitants running wild as a result of the Pyscho Pirate’s manipulations. Meanwhile, Superman and Superboy are engaged in all out fight with the Black Lantern Earth-2 Superman. Robinson paints Smallville as a quaint Kansas town and then juxtaposes it with the town in the throes of chaos as a result of the Black Lantern invasion. This technique works really well and amps up the horror of the issue.
Anyone who has read a Super book in the last year knows that the bottled city of Kandor has recently been freed and its citizens have formed the planet New Krypton. The Black Lanterns have infiltrated this Kryptonian sanctuary as well. The issue jumps from Earth to New Krypton and back again. The effect is jarring as the two story elements are seemingly unrelated. Both stories are interesting but the disconnect is noticeable. It is unclear if Robinson is going to connect these disparate plot threads in the third and final issue.
Artistically, this issue is on par with the last. Eddy Barrows handles the big fight sequences well and he fits a lot of action into his panels. His splash pages are fantastic and they do not feel like filler material.
Blackest Night: Superman does not add much to the overall Blackest Night storyline. Yet, it is still a fun and rewarding comic book, especially for those who have read Infinite Crisis and have been following the recent line of Super books. If you have not read Infinite Crisis or have been bored with the current Super books, you may want to pass on this series.
