Embrace Your Nerd: The Dead Shall Rise

If you're not reading DC's Blackest Night, I pity you. It has two building blocks of nerd life: superheroes and zombies. After more than a year of setting up and depicting the War of Light in his regular Green Lantern spot, uber-writer Geoff Johns decided he'd outshine even himself. Blackest Night is the epic 8 month event that spread like the infection it depicts to nearly every other DC Universe title and at the end of this month, it ends.

What happens when you try to make an over-arcing continuity within the oldest comic book company in existence? You rack up a lot of dead. So many characters have died in DC's long history that there needed to be an outlet for them all. Enter Geoff Johns. What began as a new arc within Green Lantern was deemed such a good idea by DC brass that it became a company-wide event with Mr. Johns at the helm.He decided he'd find a reason to bring all of the dead characters back and they aren't happy. Some of the major characters who've shuffled loose this mortal coil include: Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Superman of Earth-Two, Firestorm, and most recently, Batman.

The story works like this: The Green Lantern Corps has just met members of the other lantern corps (Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Indigo, Violet) and none of them really seem to get along. Each color represents a different emotion where their power derives (Red=Rage, Orange=Avarice, Yellow=Fear, Green=Will, Blue=Hope, Indigo=Compassion, and Violet=Love). A mysterious creature called Nekron arrives and raises fallen heroes and villains from the dead to attack and eat their living counterparts. They feed on emotion, whichever that may be. Nearly every major character still living in the universe has had to fight against a Black Lantern version of their dead loved ones or worst foes. It even infects characters who are alive but have returned from the dead, such as Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and Superman. It is soon learned that the only thing that can sever the connection is by the different Lanterns working together, thus creating white light.

After all the offshoots and side-arcs, sometimes nearing a dozen extra titles per month, March has only three books: the core titles Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Blackest Night itself. I have been on board with this since it began all the way back in July after the Blackest Night panel at Comic-Con. Eight months of some of the best genre storytelling I've ever read. It's really a testament to Johns and all the other writers that these books are so much more than simple zombie apocalypse. They're about the pain of losing loved ones and the various things we might do if they suddenly started returning. Would you immediately fear them and try to kill them? Or would you react with the love and compassion you felt for them in life? Maybe even hope that these people could be with you again permanently, or the selfishness of thinking you deserve it. All of these issues are explored while the horror and action play out in the vibrant and beautiful artwork.

The collected editions of these books will be released in July and I would definitely suggest you check out at least Blackest Night proper if not the whole shebang.