When I stop to think about it, DC's 8-issue event series of 2009/10, Blackest Night, was pretty amazing. I'm not just talking about the story elements of it - although those were rather exceptional in their own right - but also how few delays there were in its publication (possibly none, at least that I can remember), how high the quality of writing and artwork remained throughout, and how tightly integrated the various miniseries were to the main title. Those are not the sorts of attributes we've come to expect from wide-ranging comic book events.The conclusion of the series (out today) opened a door that was somewhat expected, but brought a few people through it that probably weren't. I doubt anyone reading this blog cares about having the ending spoiled, but just in case, I'll leave it a little vague: some dead DC characters were brought back to life ("permanently" or at least what passes for that in comics), as part of the evolving story in Blackest Night, and a few of them were fairly surprising to me. As a story beat itself, the absence of a couple of deceased folks among that group was also commented on, perhaps as a tip of the hat to the readers who expected to see them.
I suspect that Blackest Night is destined to become one of the mainstay trade paperbacks from DC in the future, in the same way that Crisis on Infinite Earths and The Death of Superman are. It's likely going to become "required reading" for new fans of the mythology, in order to truly understand where the stories are coming from over the next few years. Fortunately, it's a very, very good tale, with outstanding artwork, and therefore it'll almost certainly deliver on its promise as Blackest Night is experienced anew each time.
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