Most Praised "Organic" Planned Event...Blackest Night?

[jtd]

Blackest Night seems like it's 'generally' being praised as a great story and event (I'm using generally, as I know of course not all love it). But it seems from reading various boards, their has been mostly praise.

The story itself was built up for many years (certainly since the Sinestro Corps War). And it had a slow burn/build-up. Not feeling forced or too immediate. Again this approach seems to resonate well with comic fans.

Heck, even the recent announcement of the skip month & resurrecting the "dead" titles for a month is pretty much being hailed.

So, is Blackest Night pretty much "the way an event should be done"? Is this the new standard? What other planned events (emphasis on planned...not taking into account Sinestro Corps War. We all know that one was the underground/surprise/shocker non-event event masterpieces.. :) )

[CYOTI]

Nope it's just that given DC's list of dismal failures (Final Crisis and Countdown), everybody is happy that they manage to pull off an event without falling face flat in the mud.

[Will.S]

I think the build up itself for it was too much too fast. To try to get all of those lantern corps characters in place for Blackest Night will inevitably and unfortunately make it seem all the more rushed and that really lowered the quality of those books (specifically Green Lantern) since it had some poor art and it felt at times like it was spinning its wheels.

But outside of that, so far I think Blackest Night has been incredibly well built to be able to make the regular titles like GL and GLC still feel as relevant as the event itself given that we're seeing really important developments within those books or a real good fleshing out of the stories introduces in the main event book.

The tie ins even at their weakest are still relevant in that we're seeing how the main players like Batman and Superman deal with the villains of this story and even if the mini series sucks, it'll still dovetail back into the main book which is still going pretty strong. The next issue though is going to have to really speed things up and put a halt to all the zombie resurrections by moving the plot forward enough for the other future tie in books to not have to play catch up.

But I don't think that'll be the case, hopefully each writer will be able to follow with the event and not make the book feel behind or redundant. It seems like DC has taken a cue from recent failings in regards to coordinating events and are more following a model closer to Infinite Crisis and to a degree Secret Invasion but without some of their weaknesses.

[ryerye17]

The other lanterns was maybe a little bit fast but that's okay.

I think this has been built up waaaay on the first few issues of GL when Black Hand referred to "Death" as an emotion.

[Raharu]

I know this will come off as being 'that person', but honestly shouldn't we wait to see when the event is done before asking this? Even if there's mostly been praise it's not even halfway done yet, maybe we should at least see the finish before we start asking if it's the 'new standard'

[Will.S]

I know this will come off as being 'that person', but honestly shouldn't we wait to see when the event is done before asking this? Even if there's mostly been praise it's not even halfway done yet, maybe we should at least see the finish before we start asking if it's the 'new standard'
That's true, but so far so good.

[Desaad]

The thing is, you can't even really say that it's the formula that's working.

Look, World War Hulk had essentially the same formula -- it was an event that was birthed organically from a large story that had been building in an ongoing book to great critical and fan acclaim....

....and then it was really, really disappointing and mediocre.

If this crossover is successful, it will come down to an alignment of a lot of different elements - great timing, great writers, great artists, great editors, and a really strong, easily expandable (and understandable) central concept.

As a story, personally, I thought Final Crisis was much, much much stronger. And I think history will bear me out on that.

But as a 'crossover', with all the baggage and expectations and reverberations that they entail, there is no doubt that it failed and that Blackest Night is shaping up to be at least as successful in that regard as Infinite Crisis or Civil War. It looks like a 'post blackest night' universe will be coming into effect, with relaunched (and hopefully reinvigorated) titles and characters.

If we get something as creatively rich and original as "Blue Beetle", 52, and "Checkmate" out of this one, I'll certainly be happy.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Sinestro Corps War is the most naturalistic crossover 'event' that I've seen in a while, but it really only affected two titles.

Nope it's just that given DC's list of dismal failures (Final Crisis and Countdown), everybody is happy that they manage to pull off an event without falling face flat in the mud.

How was Final Crisis a dismal failure?

[CYOTI]

The delays caused by JG Jones that resulted in Pacheo and then later Mahnke to fill in for him.

[Will.S]

The delays caused by JG Jones and the fact that they had to call in Pacheo and then later Mahnke to fill in for him.
Yeah it kind of all just fell apart in the end art wise and I'd even go as far as saying story wise.

Still, it had a lot of great moments.

[noh-varr]

The build was rushed, especially since the war of light is the corps against the undead. I was wanting it to be more about the different corps fighting each other like the Sinestro War but bigger.

[Raker616]

BN pretty much has been the way events should be handled, the lead up to it with the ROTRL and AO story arcs were incredibly. Geoff really gave each corp their own voice and style and it all built up perfectly to what is to come when all of the corps will have to join together to stop the big bad. It really has put other events like FC to shame in all respects from the art, the writting and the actual story which is event worthy and not some thrown together ideas just to get more sales.

[Hawk_fan]

I haven't enjoyed a DC event as much as I have since Infinite Crisis. Blackest Night is awesome. However, the second half of Infinite Crisis was a big let down for me and the start of the mess and confusion that is today's DCU.

I'm really hoping Blackest Night doesn't follow IC's same path. Blackest Night surpasses Countdown and Final Crisis, which were disastrous events IMO.

[SquidSquod]

BTW, what's the next biggie after Blackest Night?

[Will.S]

BTW, what's the next biggie after Blackest Night?
I think it's a Superman event.

[Desaad]

Looks like a Superman/JLA/REBELS/Legion event, actually, some sort of intergalactic cosmic war, mostly between Earth and Krypton but with, I suspect, a sort of Rann/Thanagar aspect to it (each side drafts allies).

[Freakzeek]

we all now how Blackest night's gonna end any way:


http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss175/galateus/fanart/Cuz_it__s_the_MEISTER__by_ph1shf00d.png


that's right Music Miester saves the universe

[Freakzeek]

we all now how Blackest night's gonna end any way:


http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss175/galateus/fanart/Cuz_it__s_the_MEISTER__by_ph1shf00d.png


that's right Music Miester saves the universe

[dupersuper]

Don't forget its true draw...
ZOMBIES!!!

[Karl O'Neill]

Blackest Night has been awesome so far.

Even all the various mini series's have been excellent.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Yeah it kind of all just fell apart in the end art wise and I'd even go as far as saying story wise.

Still, it had a lot of great moments.

The second last issue was a mess, but Manhke pulled off the last issue no worries.

[jgiannantoni05]

Blackest Night is awesome so far. It and Sinestro Corps War are turning out to be the best execution of an event or event crossover.

I love Final Crisis (and when I say that I mean Morrison's stuff in the hardcover), but the execution of the event overall, considering the tie-ins and their success at being relevant, was not that good. Infinite Crisis too suffered in execution.

With BN and Sinestro Corps, I'm seeing more relevance, thematic continuity, and trade-conscious planning. On top of stellar the user-friendly writing.

By the way, Blackest Night is so much fun to read in the month of the October, the month of Halloween.