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The focus of GL 44 is the old Hal Jordan/Barry Allen team of Flash and Green Lantern. One of the best things about having those two back in their traditional roles is the chance to do that, and Geoff Johns is taking full advantage of it. One of the new Black Lanterns is another old friend and JLA teammate, J’onn J’onzz, Manhunter from Mars, and again, Johns makes better use of him than many other writers.  I loved the line, “I’m as powerful as Superman. Why does everyone forget that?” Meanwhile, the rest of the Corps is about to have lots more Black Lanterns to deal with.

BLACKEST NIGHT 2 again widens the focus to more characters trying to deal with other Black Lanterns, and as you might expect, none of them are having a good day. Arthur Curry: Aquaman is back, but the most impressive return is The Spectre’s. My favorite bit was, again, the team of Flash and Green Lantern, though.

The art on both books is accomplished and impressive, but what caught my eye in particular was this three-page diary of Black Hand. Very interesting approach, and chilling text in a well-designed font created with an ink brush, I think, probably by Ken Lopez.

The mix of character development and plot is much better in this crossover than the last one I tried to read, and I’m still enjoying it. We’ll see if it loses me when the other spinoff series that I don’t plan to read begin to impact the plot. Recommended so far!