Zombies are hot. For whatever reason, every scary movie out of Hollywood has a distinct desire for brains. Which begs the question, what is the only thing better than zombies? Superpowered zombies, of course. The undead now walk in our funny books. This is an introduction to DC’s Blackest Night.

Blackest Night is a DC-wide crisis that spiraled out of the Green Lantern books. Green Lanterns are basically space cops who all sport a green ring limited only by the ringslinger’s willpower. Recent events have pitted the Green Lantern against a rainbow coalition of other Lanterns–Red powered be rage, Yellow powered by fear, Orange powered by greed, Blue powered by hope, Indigo powered by compassion, and Violet powered by love. Yes, I’m getting to the zombies, or rather the Black Lanterns, who are powered by death and feed off the emotional spectrum of all the colored rings.

This isn’t the first DC Universe crisis, bad things happen to these characters all the time and they die…and come back often. I think that is what Blackest Night is meant to set straight. In comics death has lost some of its meaning along with its permanence. Spoilers for the past 30 years of comics include the death and return of Superman, Superboy, the Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and a baker’s dozen of C-list heroes and villains. These “spoilers” hold no weight because when you read about a character dying, you just assume they’ll be back. I’m hoping Blackest Night will wrap up in an explanation for these reincarnations and make death matter again.

Why should you read this? It is the biggest mainstream horror comic I can think of with characters you know. You should read this to see Superman fight a zombie Superman. You should read this to see zombie Hawkman and Martian Manhunter head up the Black Lantern Justice League. Even Aquaman as an undead is pretty badass. If you like action packed comics with a solid mystery back-up written by DC’s best man on deck–Geoff Johns, pick up these books. But, um, parental advisory. There will be blood.

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