After reading the latest issue of Green Lantern, the first Blackest Night crossover, I think my admittedly minor fears regarding this summers crossover are put to rest. We see the Flash and Hal Jordan confronted by the Martian Manhunter, now a Black Lantern, and there was no sign of J’onn simply wanting to eat their brains. In fact, he sounded like himself. Admittedly a dead and angry version of himself, but his personality shone through, reminiscent of his latest mini series, where we really saw the aspect of his anger.

The clue I want to look for is what goes on with the Elongated Man and Sue Dibny. They were doing the Deadman thing, possessing various married couples to assist the Outsiders in their missions (at least I assume it was them), yet we see their corpses as Black Lanterns. What I want to know is do the Black Rings co-opt the spirits of their bearers, or simply the bodies and the personality traces left in the brain? I hope Ralph and Sue will give me the answer.

My other recommendation for today is the Superman family of titles, especially including the World Of New Krypton. This is a one of the best returns of Krypton I have read, combining all of the elements of the various Superman origins over the years. The bright colours of the sixties, the sterility of the Byrne version, and the recent militaristic incarnation, all combined as the various Guilds.

The new President of Krypton, Allura, is hurting after the assassination of her husband, Zor-El. Lucy Lane appears to have been drawn into the battle, gained Kryptonian powers, and died. Talk about throwing the family into chaos. We all know that General Zod is a villain, but could it be that Sam Lane is worse?

What I would like to see is if Zor-El is worthy of the Black Rings attention. Now that would confuse the mix even further. More to the point, it would be illogical if Zor-El didn’t rise.

In the face of the dead rising; that will come for Superman, for they have promised; I wonder just how long it is that Zod will remain apparently on the side of the angels. It could be for a very long time indeed.

Well, Blackest Night #1 is out on the shelves, and as set up issues go, it was okay. As I feared however, it looks like the Blackest Night is going to swamp the War Of Light storyline in Green Lantern unless that carries on after this crossover is finished, which I doubt. It does run the risk so far of just being a zombie story I think, but I will refrain from criticism until we are at least three issues in.

Speaking of super-zombies however, the Super-Zombies title from Dynamite has sucked me in. A whole new universe of characters, politics and intrigue established from the get-go, and in four issues I have already begun to care about the characters. This has risen to the top of my must-read list, and if you haven’t seen it already, I advise picking the issues up and giving them a chance. Yes you will be confused as to who everyone is to start with, I still am and need to re-read it to check who’s who. However, I started reading the DC Universe with Crisis On Infinite Earths, and you can imagine how much back-reading I had to do to find out who everyone was there. My only regret is that with Super-Zombies, that back material is not available to dip into.

What has me really pumped however is how the return of the Milestone universe is rolling on, this week in The Brave And The Bold #25, starring Hardware and Blue Beetle. Hardware is his usual sociable self and we see the return of his age old adversaries The System. Oh yeah, and the new Blue Beetle was in it as well.

I adored the confrontation recently between the JLA and the Shadow Cabinet, culminating in Justice League Of America #34, where we learnt just how it is that the Milestone Earth is now part of the DCU. The mysterious Dharma used the power of Rift Fred Benson (from Worlds Collide) to merge his universe with the DCU.

(Erm, from pre Zero Hour to the New Multiverse, did he misfire and shoot past the post-Zero Hour earth? Hell of a pattern that, knit one, drop one, knit one. “Ma, I lost a universe, have you seen it anywhere?)

Anyway, for a geek like me that means for once, all the previously titles still stand in continuity. There was some really good stuff in the old Milestone, and I was very disappointed to see it go.

Now, we’ve seen Holocaust, but I can’t wait to see what’s left of the rest of the Blood Syndicate and what they are up to nowadays.

Of course nostalgia seems all the rage at the minute. Anyone else dig that updated sixties-vibe in Superman World Of New Krypton? And how about the latest revamp of the Red Circle characters? !mpact comics was a bit of a flop, although it too had some good stories. However, I am just old enough to remember some of the actual Red Circle comics themselves. The Crusaders, The Fly and Fly-Girl. Villains like the Brain-Emperor and Eterno.

I am pumped about these, and I look forward to seeing the latter four characters again. The legacy of The Fly with the legacy of Shazam – now that would be an interesting mix.

Oh and have you seen Octobers solicitations? The X-Babies are coming back, but get this, WITH PLANET TERRY! I was too old to read Planet Terry the first time round but that didn’t stop me then, and it won’t stop me now.

Recycling in the music industry is bad. But here in the comic world? It’s good to see all of these old friends again.

As long as they are not zombies.