The Batfamily Takes on the Black Lanterns
I'm a big fan of Geoff Johns and I usually dig most things Green Lantern-related, so as you can imagine, I'm all about Blackest Night. Quality of the main series aside, what surprised me the most about the crossover so far are the tie-ins. They're really good. Not all of them are exactly essential to understand the main storyline, but as a reviewer on CBR put it recently, the concept of the DCU vs. Undead Heroes/Villains/Relatives is good enough to carry these books.
This second issue of the Blackest Night: Batman mini proves this point perfectly. There's not much going on in terms of explaining the mystery of the Black Lanterns or furthering the overall plot, but you get Batman and Robin lighting up an army of lowgrade Bat-villain zombies with flamethrowers, Jim Gordon blowing up undeads with a shotgun, Deadman possessing Barbara Gordon and Tim Drake/Red Robin joining the fun just in time for a showdown with Black Lantern versions of he and Dick's dead parents. This is awesome.
To add to all of this, you have Peter J. Tomasi, who's one of the few writers right now to absolutely nail the chemistry between Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. The early scene where the new Dynamic Duo pick up their artillery and go back and forth about their oddball childhoods is just perfect. Dick is a younger, cockier Batman (Great, "Breakfast of the champions" brought to you by Talia al Ghul--Mom of the year. Loved this line!) and Damian is the baddest 10 year old to walk the face of this Earth (very much in line with Grant Morrisson's take on the character). The addition of Tim to the already explosive Dick/Damian relationship should bring nothing but more Bat-drama, which I'm all about.
If you've been liking Blackest Night so far and if you're a fan of the new Batman and Robin, you'll love this book.
