Prime Time Geek

Arguably, “The Blackest Night” storyline, beginning this summer in Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and presumably a number of tie-in issues, is THE most eagerly anticipated story of 2009 for DC Comics fans. Written by fan (and PTG) favorite Geoff Johns, “Blackest Night” is the culmination of the story that truly began with “Green Lantern: Rebirth” in 2004, with the return of Hal Jordan. The story was teased at the end of the runaway hit series “Sinestro Corps War”; both Green Lantern titles have featured stories all building up to the prophesied “War of Light” among many ring-bearing intergalactic corps, including the Green Lanterns and their enemies, the Sinestro Corps., leading to the apocalyptic “Blackest Night”, when the Black Lanterns, composed of legions of corpses from many worlds, re-animated by the energy of the Anti-Monitor, would rise and threaten everyone across the galaxy.

The question of WHO exactly would be re-animated and turned into an evil “Black Lantern” has been the subject of much speculation, and it would have continued to build, no doubt, right up until the story began this summer. BUT the folks at DC Direct who write their solicitations, well, they must have figured, “Why not let the cat out of the bag NOW and drum up some orders??”

And so today, all over the web by now, I’m sure, the image above, and its description, has ruined what could have been a gut-wrenching reveal in the course of “The Blackest Night,” the identity of the first of Black Lanterns to be revealed, and who no doubt would lead the others in their attack on the energies of life itself. Of course, it makes perfect sense, the identity of this fallen hero, considering who is writing the story, and maybe many had already expected it. But GEEZ, couldn’t they just have kept the identity of this ONE figure from the wave a secret? Call it the “mystery” Black Lantern figure in the assortment? They went ahead and blacked out the images detail, turned it into a silhouette, why not keep the identity a secret, too? But no, no, no, no, those spoil-sports in DC Marketing must have thought they could sell more cases of the figures this way.

Unbelievable.

(And yes, I DIDN’T give the name away, because I won’t contribute to the spoilerific nonsense.)