Green Lantern Issue 43

Well it’s finally here!  After five or six issues of “Preludes” to The Blackest Night running in both the Green Lantern and Green Lantern: Corps titles we now have the official Prologue to Blackest Night.  The events in this issues all take place before Blackest Night #0 (which was given away on free comic book day some weeks ago.)  In this story narrated by William “Black” Hand we finally see the origin of the first Black Lantern.

We learn that young William Hand is the middle child of a man who runs the Hand Mortuary.  Williams first memories are of his father at “work” and since that day William has had a disturbing fascination with death that makes him very misunderstood by his family.  After killing and stuffing the family dog William is forced into therapy.  After working with half a dozen therapist William finally learns what these shrinks want to hear and creates a facade to mask enough of the twisted thoughts inside him to make him known simply as the “Black Sheep” of the Hand family.

As a young adult William receives the Cosmic Diving Rod from Atrocitus during a battle with Hal Jordan and Sinestro.  With a device in hand that has the ability to absorb the emerald energy from the Green Lantern ring William’s obsession with extinguishing green light begins.  Obsessed with putting out the green light that keeps him awake William fashions a uniform out of a body bag from his fathers mortuary and so is born Black Hand.

We get a summary of Black Hand’s rise to power and his seemingly never ending battles with multiple Green Lanterns.  And how one day he begins to see death everywhere and can hear it calling his name.  Brining us back to the present; Death leads him to the unmarked grave of none other than Bruce Wayne.  Leaving the grave yard Black Hand returns to his family home where he promptly uses the Cosmic Diving Rod to obliterate his entire family.  Sitting at the family dinner table with the slaughtered bodies of his family all lying around Death speaks to William, “You’re not finished.  One more Death.”  Placing the rod to right temple William Hand blows his brains out with emerald energy.

As Black Hand is laying in a pool of blood next to his family Scar appears saying that this act pleases HIM.  A Black Ring emerges from the black bile inside Scar and William Hand of Earth is ordered to Rise.  Like Ion is to the emerald light, Parallax to the yellow and Predator to the Violet; Black Hand is the embodiment of power for the Black Lanterns.  In a truly disturbing final full page pane Black Hand proclaims, “With this power I will finally extinguish the light.”

I thought this issue was amazing kickoff to the highly anticipated summer event.  It was also a great way to bridge stories between the previous story arch and the Blackest Night arch.  The backgrounds are all in place, the first Black Lantern has been born and Death seems to be running the show!  Next issue we are to see the return of J’onn J’onzz of Mars.

• Issue: 43
• Story Arch: Tale of the Black Lantern
• Writer: Geoff Johns
• Pencils: Doug Mahnke
• Inks: Christian Alamy
• Color: Randy Mayor
• Letters: Rob Leigh