You could trace the roots ofBlackest Nightto a whole lot of place . Obviously , there’sGreen Lantern : Rebirth and Sinestro Corps War , Geoff Johns ’s two old epics that both laid important groundwork for what ’s go to toy out over the next eight month . There ’s also “ Tygers ” , Alan Moore ’s 1986 story from Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual # 2 , which prophesied much of what Geoff Johns bestow to pass in Sinestro Corps War and has provided ( with some minor revisions ) one of Blackest Night ’s major opponent . But , for my money , all of this really goes back to the death of Superman .
1992 ’s yearlong saga of Superman ’s death and ultimate return had one rather obvious effect on the earth of Green Lantern , as the villainous Cyborg Superman destroyed Hal Jordan ’s native Coast City as part of the original Mongul ’s program to turn Earth into the young Warworld . That tragedy was the impetus for Hal Jordan ’s descent into madness and villainy , as he arrogate the young identity element Parallax . To make a long story forgetful , Parallax wiped out the entire Green Lantern Corps and all but one of the Guardians , tried to rewrite sentence in Zero Hour , operate as a villain for a while , heroically sacrificed himself by reigniting the Sunday in Final Night , languished in purgatory , and then became the fresh host for the Spectre , God ’s Spirit of Vengeance , which he tried to re-explain as a Spirit of Redemption .
Whatever the aesthetic merit of any of these decisions , they were widely vituperate by fans of Hal Jordan , and Green Lantern : Rebirth seek to undo the terms with one of the more intrepid retcons in comic strip history ( which , view the temerity of your mean comic book retcon , is really say something ) . It turned out that Hal Jordan had been possess for years by the cosmic shape of awe , a yellow entity sleep together as Parallax . It had withdraw Parallax years to tunnel its path into Jordan ’s consciousness – even his stress - induced graying temple were pointed to as grounds of the national struggle – and the destruction of Coast City was what finally countenance it to take hold .
Beyond allow for a just about reasonable way to get Hal Jordan off the hook for some pretty unforgivable crimes , the intromission of Parallax also recast the larger cosmogeny of the Green Lantern mythos . Previously , icteric had but been a coloring against which Green Lantern rings did not work . Sinestro , Hal Jordan ’s former mentor turn mortal enemy , was yield a yellow baron ring after his expulsion from the Green Lantern Corps , but this ring had been unparalleled , a gift from the anti - matter universe Weaponers of Qward . Now , icteric was the colour of veneration just as green was the color of willpower , and Sinestro ’s ring was the footing for an entire corporation .
The bloody , brutal war between the Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps was terrible enough in its own right , but its specific events suggested far worse was to get along . Alan Moore ’s 1986 report “ Tygers ” featured Hal Jordan ’s forerunner Abin Sur traveling to the hellish prison major planet Ysmault , where he learned of the future of the Green Lantern Corps from the demoic Qull of the Five Inversions . What Qull foretold in “ Tygers ” come to pass in Sinestro Corps War , although the Green Lanterns escaped what was supposed to be their ultimate devastation . However , it ’s late been discover that Abin Sur repay to the planet several times , attempting to determine more of the Corps ’s future tense .
He eventually learn of the prophecy of the Blackest Night , which bear on a chaotic War of Light between several different Corps that would leave the universe too badly fractured to defend against the coming of the Blackest Night . The Guardians of the Universe have attempt to prevent this from coming to lapse by enacting a numeral of Modern laws for Green Lanterns to follow . These new rules , which include enable lethal force and proscribe wild-eyed entanglement between Green Lanterns , have seemingly had the paired effect , seed discord and distrust between the Guardians and some of their most trusted Lanterns . And , for all their effort , all the other Corps have come into existence , each with their own docket and their own persona to play , which is discuss here . It look like the final prophecy is coming to kick the bucket after all .
That ’s the long road connecting the Death of Superman and Blackest Night , but there ’s something much more basic at piece of work here . Superman ’s revitalisation was just the first of many , many resurrection in the DC universe of discourse , something that has been much criticize . Several writers have actually seek to treat this , if only obliquely , by hint Superman ’s heaven-sent return break down part of the boundary between life and death , enable what has become a revolving door of resurrected heroes . Green Lantern # 43 , last week ’s prologue for Blackest Night , suggest the drive force behind the Black Lantern Corps is expiry itself , and it wants its escapees back . ( So yes , the premise of Blackest Night is essentially that of Final Destination , except the protagonists are cosmic warrior instead of stupefied adolescent and Death will use undead superheroes alternatively of preposterously roundabout , carefully choreographed fortuity . I ’d say that ’s a trade up . )
Blackest NightComicsDC ComicsGreen Lantern
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