Review: Blackest Night #1

Ever since the Marvel Zombies thing started, I've gotten a chuckle out of it. Way back when in the dimly remembered early 80s, when I worked at a comic shop, "Marvel Zombies" was a disparaging term we had for those drooling fanboys who bought nothing but Marvel. The guys who couldn't stop slavering over the first Secret Wars...those sorts. It's funny to see the term used "in house".

It could be even worse... DC could be copying the Marvel Apes one-shots... If you don't like zombies I like monkeys even less.

It's funny because when me and my friends first saw the teaser images for this we immediately thought "DC is ripping off Marvel Zombies". (They did the same thing with Cold Steel in that case they ripped off Mighty Morphs.)

It's ok though, despite my friends hatred of Marvel Zombies and what's currently going on in Blackest Night he's still buying/reading...is this how all hardcore comic fans are? It's like being trapped in an abusive relationship....

Thank god, someone else that doesn't "get" zombies. I was beginning to think I was the only one, the sole survivor!

I hated the Marvel Zombies as well, I think Michael Jackson's Thriller scarred me as a child, lol. I never imagined Blackest Night would lead up to DC Zombies, what a bummer.

So, Marvel is copying a storyline of DC's which is copying a storyline of Marvel? In the end, will the Marvel Dead line up on one side, the DC on the other, Michael Jackson in the center and they do the "Thriller" dance? Ooh, that actually sounds pretty good...

This actually brought up something else for me. Remember a time when the CCA had firm control over comics and the term "Zombie" couldn't be used? Weird, huh.

I completely agree--I don't get why people LOVE zombies so much! I don't think they're funny or scary--just pathetic and a stupid, lazy story device. I hated it when Ultimate Fantastic Four met the zombies, and I've been assiduously avoiding anything remotely related to the Marvel Zombies. Now DC Zombies?! Arrgh. I thought the whole "taste the rainbow" of Lanterns might be interesting, but no more!

Don't feel bad Brad, I've been off the DCU koolaid since countdown started. I'm waiting for someone to kill.... umh replace Dan Didio and slam their hand down on the cosmic reset button. heck at this point I think they need a complete reboot a la Batman Begins.

I also got off the Marvel Ultimates koolaid during Ultimatum when it became apperent, to me at least, that Joe Quesada was getting tired of people saying "But why did you have to frack up Spider-Man when you have ultimate Spider-Man with the young unattached Peter Parker"

It's never easy as a fan when something starts to rot. We hold out hope that it could turn around with the next storyline... .and then we get Red She-Hulk..... feh....

Apparently, I'm gonna be the only dissenter here (sorry Brad), but I think Blackest Night is going to go in a lot of different directions, and it's far from a Marvel Zombies clone. MZ took place in its own Universe, and it was pretty much just an excuse to have zombies tearing into each other and the humans around them. The Black rings don't just create zombies... they draw on the person they animate's memories and personalities to create emotional states that they then feed upon... and this is just one aspect of the War of Light that is driving the entire series. I'm not a zombie fan, and I stopped reading Marvel Zombies pretty early on, but I trust Geoff Johns to create a real story with powerful emotional drive for the characters involved... it's what he's good at, and I'm not going to give up on it just because of a vague similarity to a Marvel cash cow. This isn't Grant Morrison we're talking about... it's Geoff Johns, a man who still has real talent and knows what makes comics great.

I see things like this and I'm reminded why I stopped reading comics.

I don't know if I'd tag you "silly" for only now realizing that "Blackest Night" was "DC Zombies". I admit I thought that was obvious months ago. It IS why I refuse to bother with it. "House of STALE Ideas" is more truthful.

different subject: Has any explanation been proposed for why Hal-possessed-by-Parallax was considered a proper host for the Spectre? or why parallax didn't surface and usurp the Spectre's power?

I'm holding out hope that DC will use this opportunity to bring back these undead characters to full health, thus bringing things back to the way they were before killing off beloved characters became 'cool' in comics.

Parallax did upsurp the Spectre's powers back when the Joker was jokerizing all the villians in the DCU.
It was in that issue of that series "The Spectre" that starred Hal Jordan and the 'ghost' of Abin Sur...I'm sure you can find it in the back issue bin at your local comic shop... no one ever read that series....well, except me...

Brad, I love zombies- as a metaphor for consumerism, as a statement on the increasing isolation of the human condition and in terms of horror nothing beats your love ones becoming flesh craving mindless eating machines. That being said let me also say I hated Marvel Zombies, and as for Blackest Night. It stinks and I don't like it.
Both completely miss what make Zombies so interesting, that they have no personalities, it never matters what the zombie was before it became a zombie because now everything is food.
I think Kirkman hit the mark with his Walking Dead series, his zombies as environmental hazard take is very refreshing. I recommend you give Walking Dead a shot if you haven't already that is.
My first post YEAH!

Man, Brad, I don't even read Green Lantern...and you had gotten me so EXCITED for this storyline. And now, Zombies. Meh.

I've never found zombies all that interesting, but I found the idea of Marvel Zombies funny.

Mind you, I've had no temptation to actually read it.

There's something about the idea of everyone being devoured by mindless hordes that makes me want to go read something with a little more hope.

With any luck, Blackest Night will turn out to be something more.