Conner loves Cassie and Kara
Like most people I was worried that with the departure of Johns and Manapul the quality of this title would suffer.With this issue at least those concerns have proved to be unfounded.Tony Bedard is a very talented writer who has been doing great work on R.E.B.E.L.S. and is tipped to replace Tomasi on Green Lantern Corps,Travis Moore doesn't disappoint either with his pencils.There's no doubt the distinctive art style of Manapul was a big draw but Moore,although very different, renders his pages with equal skill.there's plenty of movement and emotion in the panels and nice splash pages of the battle with Nekron in Coast City and Connor using the one Kryptonian power he was unable to master before.
The story concentrates on Conners' struggle with the black ring that now controls him,as it did the other heroes who had returned from the dead,we see his internal battle as he loses himself to the darkness and we see his black lantern counterpart as it attacks Cassie.Although there is lots of internal monologue it's never dull and Bedard even hints that some of the darker things the black lantern Conner says have some basis in truth.We do learn things about Connor here which add some depth to the character,he learns to use a new power and the resolution is fairly clever.
If you were thinking of dropping this title because of the departure of the original creative team then I'd advise against it and at least give this issue a try.It doesn't add much to the story of Blackest Night but it is a well told story that serious Conner Kent fans won't want to miss.