Basement X

Ok, just like the main Blackest Night thread, I'll make this a constant for the BN: Superman mini series. I'll make one when I return for Titans and, hopefully if my issue comes in, Batman as well.

Issue #1:

Well, it was no secret that Earth-2 Superman (From here on as E2Supes or BL Supes) was going to return as a Black Lantern, and those who read up on BN launching and solicits knew he was going after the recently deceased Pa Kent to bring him back as well. So it's no surprise that page one is E2 rising from the grave, followed by a nice spread of Smallville residents talking and reminding us of the pleasentness of the town at sunset, where some think they see something in the setting sun but then discredit it to nothing.

So then, for a few pages we see residence caught off guard, and we see the final panel each time from the BL's point of view, with each resident coded in 'Fear', and power levels rising to 3.44%, then finally 3.82 after a police station, diner, and drive in theater.

Then, we're treated to Clark, Conner, and Ma all at dinner on the Kent Farm, with Lois supposedly on her way to join. We're reminded that Kryptonians are banned from Earth, except for Clark, and that Kyrpto's living with Conner and and Ma on the farm for those not reading Adventure Comics (And if you're not, fucking Read it), when suddenly both hear something and rush out in uniform to find it, when we see them both encoded with fear.

E2 Superman is there at Pa's grave, informing the two that they'll see their Pa soon enough, and as they engage in battle, E2 is calling Conner out on how he needs to return to the side of the BL's, and be one of them again. At that point we see Conner in both Will and Fear at the same time, the first we get a single person in various emotions from a BL, before we see Superman chasing them into the sky colored in Will, Fear, Rage, Hope, and Love.

Back in the house, Krypto senses something, goes outside, and is suddenly tossed back inside, where Ma calls out asking if it's Lois.

And it is. Black Lantern Lois. More on that Later.

Back to the various Supermen battling, now in Earth Orbit. E2 is still telling Conner to join them again, with his hand on his heart as if he's about to pull it out, when Superman finally comes in and in a very nice single page decks E2 enough to let Conner go, who falls to Earth. As he does, Clark asks the E2 Superman what he is, who reminds him that Conner is falling, and a Fear and Love colored Superman finally chases after him, catching him as E2 disappears.

Cut to Kandor, where Supergirl and her mother are discussing the loss of Zor-El, father and husband, respectively to the two. As Alura, Supergirl's mother, reminds us that she wishes she could see him once more, a black ring destroys his gravesite, and Black Lantern Zor-El rises to greet the two.

Clark and Conner return to the Farm to find the damage, and search for Ma, finding her heartbeat in Smallville, only to find the town entirely devoid of life, down to the last animal and insect (something Conner points out to Clark, rather than the other way around. I enjoyed that) similiar to how some places are before a massive natural disaster. Suddenly, a Will Superman and Rage Superboy spin around at the voice telling them their Ma is there, but that she won't be a widow for much longer.

Where we see at the end, E2 Superman and his wife, Black Lanter Lois (like I said, we'd get to it later. It was indeed Earth 2 Lois who appeared to Ma) Holding Ma Kent.


Overall, a fun issue. Robinson is a writer I'm coming to enjoy in good timing before he takes over JLA. And while I'm not reading his Superman books, he definitely has a good take on them here, and Eddy Barrows art here seems to be head and shoulders above what I recall from him on Teen Titans, though it could be due to the darker coloring scheme than his art was normally under. Either way, I enjoyed this much more than I anticipated to, and I'm looking forward to more.

Issue #2:

We open with a few scenes in Smallville from earlier that day. Man getting his hair cut, two kids in their own rooms working on projects and talking on the phone, and a soldier in a dinner getting food for free. This comes up later on.

Cut to Superman and Superboy still duking it out with Black Lantern Earth 2 Superman (E2 again) over the night sky, with Black Lantern Earth 2 Lois still holding Ma Kent. As onlookers try to figure out who they're fighting, we suddenly see them all colored with fear, meaning another Black Lantern is amongst the group.

Reveal a single page spread of Black Lantern Psycho Pirate! And this just makes the shit hit the fan. If you recall, Psycho Pirate can make people feel any emotion he desires, and with Black Lanterns feeding off of emotions, this will be a big deal. We see him making people in the streets become angry, fearful, lustful.

As the Supers battle it out in the sky, Ma and E2 Lois are looking on, and E2 Superman yells out to have Ma killed. So Conner swoops down and fries Lois' arm off, letting Ma go, and grabbing Pa Kent's casket. Ma heads for the nearest cornfield, and Lois' arm reattaches and follows after.

Superman and E2 are duking it out, destroying buildings and roads as E2 claims he'll take Ma, Pa, and everything that made Superman feel human away from him. As he does this, we see Clark coded with Fear, Hope, Rage, and Will.

We then get to see more of Psycho Pirates damage, as we see the barber from the begining filled with Rage, the soldier and other costumers in the dinner with Avarice and fighting, and the young boy working on a project with fear, having made a weapon. Superboy notices the disturbances, and when trying to figure out what caused it, Pyscho Pirate announces his presence to him. Filled with Will, Superboy charges at him demanding his town back.

Superman and E2 have started a fire, and while Clark tries to reason with E2, E2 mentions that Pyscho is there and has influenced the town to prevent firefighters from attending. Upon hearing this knowledge, Conner comes flying back in and attacks Superman.

We then see Conner colored with Rage and Avarice, and Clark with Fear, Hope, will, Compassion, and Love as Conner attacks him through the town.

Cut back to Kandor, where the newly risen father of Supergirl has dropped a number of Kryptonians and taunting Supergirl as he approaches her. He tells her that while Kandor needs to change, she needs the most changing. We see a crying Supergirl colored with Fear, Hope, Love and Compassion, trying to bargain with her Father.

But he tells her she's a disappointment, and that she always was both as a daughter and a Kryptonian, and she's the reason he's dead.

With that, Kara turns to Rage and Will, claiming he's not her father, and attacks him, destroying part of his head. But as it regrows, he continues his taunting.

Cut to a cornfield, as E2 Lois calls out to Martha, searching for her. We then see a match lit, and then taken to a torch. Martha begins saying that Lois hurt her dog, dug up her husband, and destoryed her home. And now she's not afraid. We get a final image of Martha, with a torch, saying that 'It's on!' as she prepares to confront Lois.


A good issue, and really moving the story along. But I won't lie, I would like some more with Supergirl but I'd rather have the Clark and Conner story. It just seems that Kara's is being really shortened, but I'm hoping it'll pick up somewhere else.

Issue #3:

We open with Krypto laying outfront of the Kent home, until something draws his attention and he takes off.

Then, we cut to Kara being attacked by her now risen father, again taunting her. But it's taunts only send her from Will to Rage, plunging her fist through him. We also see the Pyscho Pirate continuing to influence the residents of Smallville.

Cut to an awesome image of Superman holding Conner back, who's heat vision is firing off, while he fires off his own heat vision destroying the head of the BL Earth 2 Superman. As he does, he continues to try to talk sense into Conner, as he's filled with Will and the 'Good' emotions and Conner is filled with the 'Bad' emotions. While he continues to try talking sense into him, E2 returns and slams into him, causing him to lose his grip on Conner.

We see E2 Lois marching through the cornfield, searching for Martha as Martha sets a ring of fire around Lois. But E2 Lois claims that fire can't stop her as she burns, boasting that her ring keeps her body together. With that, Marth calls out to the now arrived Krypto to get the Ring, and he rushes E2, tearing her arm off. As he does, the body begins to burn away, but while he flies high (apparently now over what looks like the Grand Canyon) the body seems to reform from the arm, and pulls it from Krypto's mouth. He turns and blasts her with Heat Vision, and the body falls into the canyon. He rushes back to Martha, who sends him to the boys.

We see Alura, Kara's mother, with a science advisor who claims to have found a way to repel the Black Lanterns by counteracting the ring's signal. But what it will do will prevent any Black Lantern from entering the planet by the forcefield it will create, and at the same time keep everyone on the planet stuck there. Alura makes the decision to let it happen, stranding Clark on Earth, and goes to help Kara push her Black Lantern husband into range to be blocked.

We see Superman being attacked by both Conner and E2 Superman, who begins the process of pulling Clark's heart out. He's incapacitated, and Conner prepares to attack, fueled by the 'Bad' emotions of Rage, Fear, and Avarice, and slowly shifts to Fear, then Fear and Love, and adds Hope as well as he attacks E2 to save Clark. In a great page, we see him uses his tactile telekinesis to seemingly explode E2 from the inside out, saving Clark. .

Alura saves Kara just as she's about to have her heart ripped out.

Conner and Clark talk about how Conner's been trying to not use Tactile Telekinesis so he can be more like Clark, but Clark tells him he needs to use his powers because villains won't be holding back and neither should he. The two split, Conner to take on Psycho Pirate and Clark to take on E2.

Conner attacks Psycho Pirate, and steals the Medusa Mask, and flies above the town and uses it to fill the people in the streets with Will, Hope, Compassion, and Love, calming them down. He then chases after Pirate demanding him to look at him now.

We see Alura and Kara battling above New Kandor, where Alura manages to separate the two, and flies down with Kara back in, just as the forcefield starts forming up, severing off Zor-El's hand, and he 's now trapped out in space around New Krypton.

While the two Superman battle in the sky above Smallville, Superboy flies in, holding the Medusa Mask (which also has a Black ring hovering in front of it now) and gets E2 to look at him. With all seven emotions radiating out, E2's ring flies off at the mask, which shatters as E2 falls to the ground.

The two discuss the results and how both E2 Superman and Psycho Pirate are finally defeated, and that the rings were switched off by the mask. Clark realizes they need to contact the Guardians and Lanterns, but before that they need to save Smallville. Clark says he feels partially responsible for the damage, and demands answers as the two fly off to put out fires and rescue members of the town.


Overall, I really liked this series more than I expected, and more than the Batman mini. The Superman and Superboy story was fantastic, and we got a LOT more of the Supergirl one in this issue, so her story didn't feel really restricted. Though it was probably because it was spread over the entire book rather than all in one spot. And it seems we have about 2 ways now to stop the Lanterns, the Medusa Mask and emotional control, and the device the Kryptonians created. Add that to the Ice/heart freezing in Batman and we're learning how these things function by the end of each mini. I'd highly recomend this one to anyone who's been wanting a good Superman Story, or to see all the Super-Characters in one book again.

I'm not as interested in the BL Superman story as the others but sounds as dramatic as the Batman story. Also, since its a Superman story, you can count on some great action.

I wasn't very interested in the Superman story either, but to me it was better than the Batman one, and having Conner in it was a huge boost for me. And yea, TONS of action compared to the other two.

Okay fill me in on something: How and when did Conner come back after he died in Infinite Crisis?

Mr Wallstreet wrote:Okay fill me in on something: How and when did Conner come back after he died in Infinite Crisis?

Pretty sure he went to the future with the Legion, then got sent back.

During the Legion of 3 Worlds storyline, Brainiac 5 resurrects Conner in the 31st Century after arranging for him to spend 1000 years in the Kryptonian regeneration chamber that revived Superman after his battle with Doomsday and introducing into it a living hair from Lex Luthor.[47] In the aftermath of Legion of 3 Worlds, Conner is back in the present, living with Martha Kent and Krypto in Smallville.[33] Currently, Superboy stars in his own feature in the revival of Adventure Comics, which began publication in August 2009.

Pretty much yea. Turns out Starman's mission was to place Conner's body in the reguvination chamber, but it only worked 50% since Conner's half Kryptonian and half Human. So another team was sent back to the day Luthor started losing his hair to collect the aforementioned sample and take it back to the Legion's time.

They dug up the Rejuvination chamber, put the hair in for the other half of the DNA rejuvination needed, and Conner was fully restored, just in time to take on Superboy Prime for round 3.

And let's just say that's the abridged version of part of that story.