SPOILERS ABOUND.
Something that we first caught wind of via Schwapp!!! . . . A friendly word of warning to those wishing to avoid any and all spoilers related to the forthcoming Blackest Night. Avoid like a Zombie Apocalypse any DC Direct product listings for September or October 2009. You may have noticed that we ran the solicitations for April 2009; this includes a DC Direct assortment for four Blackest Night figures.
Here’s the version that we ran (after the jump . . .) AGAIN, SPOILERS. NO COMPLAINING IF YOU GO ON.
Okay, excellent. Three visible characters, and one blacked out. That’s what you saw here. Not so the print version of Previews, or the listing for DC’s April 2009 products at Diamond Comics.com. As you can see, the fourth figure is revealed in the ordering information as the Black Lantern Earth-2 Superman.
In fact, in the print version, not only is the figure completely visible, so is the NEXT assortment of Blackest Night figures, which features GL John Stewart, Sinestro Corps horroshow Kryb, one of the as-yet-unseen-in-action Indigo Lanterns, and ANOTHER Black Lantern, Martian Manhunter.
While we understand the necessity of listing the figures for order many months in advance, a regular practice for DC Direct, this would seem to be a big blow to the element of suspense being cultivated in the run-up to Blackest Night itself. Granted, theories have already been flying around due to convention panels and what-have-you regarding the oft-repeated statement “The Dead Will Rise”, but having photos show up well ahead of the actual appearance has to blunt some of the effect. A casual reader flipping through Previews could be very annoyed by this. Thoughts?
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:12 am
I agree but Johns (or was it Didio…) even stated in an interview who most of the Black Lanterns were gonna be, Martian Manhunter is no surprise but Kal-L is :X
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:41 am
I love the look of these.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:46 am
I’m honestly looking forward to Blackest Night. But since I’m not much of a fan, I’m not that mad. However, I can see why some fans are complaining. Anyway, that was something to be expected. Johns had showed E-2 Superman coming back from the dead in that JSA preview from a while ago.
Also, this substantiates that our Superman could very well be wearing a blue ring during Blackest Night. And that’s REALLY cool.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:48 am
In a world where the toys and licensed products come out the same time as the movies and shows and comics they’re based on, and those items must be solicited MONTHS ahead of time, things like this happen all the time.
Yes, they could have blacked out the figure on all solicitations, but almost certainly some store owners would complain that they didn’t know what they were buying.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:51 am
Why did they have to stop making Heroclix! These need to be Heroclix! Damn economy!
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:55 am
Well, when Infinite Crisis # 1 arrived and there were Kal-L, Lois and Alexander Luthor, they’d done a pretty good job keeping that surprise under wraps. Probably too much to expect that they could pull it off twice with the same character!
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:03 am
This again!! Although this time feels a little more heinous, since the series hasn’t even STARTED! I’m referring to the Infinite Crisis DC Direct Toys that showed off Superboy Primes’ infamous Anti-Monitor solar suit MONTHS before the armor debuted (also, i think Superboy Prime was ‘gone’ in that point of the mini that they decided to unveil his as-yet unseen form). Oh well. I gave in and looked. Now I’m a little worried about all these Black Lanterns! I was hoping they’d not be so zombie-tacular, but that’s (I guess) what you get with dead people. Oh well.
Also, EvolutionAngel is right on the money. I’m pretty sure Didio came right out and said that Earth-2 Superman and Aquaman (and he might have mentioned Martian Manhunter) would be in Blackest Night). So while this isn’t a complete spoil, it does snag a little mystery from it. ah well, thank you guys (newsarama) for running the “blacked”-out (bwahaha) version on the site!
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:14 am
Kal-L and Martian Manhunter are not surprises to me. Eventually we were going to get some kind of confirmation that they were black lanterns, either by conversation with Geoff, or a solicitation, or seeing a cover. Geoff has said everyone is going to be a black lantern, and I’m not taking it as some kind of joke. I really do think that every dead character will be a dead lantern.
And for those people who didn’t think of Kal-L, I don’t really see what the big deal is. It’s still a surprise isn’t it? You were surprised when the Kal-L figure was listed right?
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
Why do all the Black Lanterns have to be superheroes? I think dead celebrities would be better.
“Look out! It’s Black Lantern John Candy!” “Black Lantern Anna Nichole Smith just killed Booster Gold!”
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:54 am
Normally I hate spoilers like these, but I can’t be mad about this: the Black Lanterns look awesome!! Hopefully we see what Black Lantern Aquaman looks like soon.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:58 am
I would say that if a person doesn’t want to be spoiled, they shouldn’t be looking through the previews at all! It is common knowledge that you are getting a glimpse into what will happen by doing so, more so with DC Direct products. If you don’t want to know, don’t read the previews or look at advanced solicitations!
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
OR this could be very deliberate misdirection. Kal-L was the second obvious candidate next to Martian Manhunter (who might not have been spoiled at all… he died in his new costume, which didn’t have the high collar. No idea who else it might be, but might not be him). So the question is… who are the Black Lanterns we’re not paying attention to? My vote is Sam Lane!
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Me? I’m just glad we’re getting Atrocitus and Kryb figures. Now we just need an Arkillo figure, Mr. Didio!
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Why do all the Black Lanterns have to be superheroes? I think dead celebrities would be better.
“Look out! It’s Black Lantern John Candy!” “Black Lantern Anna Nichole Smith just killed Booster Gold!”
While a cute idea, their estates still own their images. Just because they are dead doesn’t mean their image can be used in any willy nilly way.
ANYONE who has died can be a Black Lantern - so there’s Jonathon Kent, Conner Kent (hoping at any rate), Bart Allen (ditto), heck even Uberfraulein.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
OK, we’ve got the pre-Crisis Earth-2 Superman & Martian Manhunter revealed to be Black Lanterns. Who’s next? Will we see a Black Lantern Batman? (since he’s pretty much dead after Final Crisis #6 & Batman: RIP)
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I am really looking forward to Blackest Night, but I wasn’t surprised by E-2 Supes coming back as a black lantern. I want to see bart allen, kon-el.. hell. I want all of those characters back as Black Lanterns.
If anything this MILD spoiler should just wet the appetites of everyone who is looking forward to this story.
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Normally I don’t like spoilers, but with all the anticipation around Blackest night, it’s nice get a little glimpse at what’s to come. Superman looks pretty f’ed up!
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Seems sort of hypocritical to condemn Marvels order policy on the Obama/Spidey exclusive and then get mad at DC Direct for soliciting their product in time for retailers to actually, you know, have them in stores to capitalize on the heat of Blackest Night.
You can’t have it both ways folks!
If you don’t want to be spoiled, stop going to sites like these and just pick up the comics each Wednesday! Problem solved!
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Normally i dont like spoilers either, however this was all pretty much a certian since geoff killed off kal-l and people all over the message boards complained about it. also, its perfect misdirection since it was hinted at during the JSA previews section of the first issue and then shown as a dream sequence…
so we have kal-l and M.M.
i think that bruce wayne, conner kent, bart allen, hell even aquaman are sure
i wouldnt put it past johns to include max lord since we all know that the villans that have died in the dc universe can easily be used
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:19 pm
So I wonder what will happen to all these heroes that come back from the dead after Blackest Night? Will they go back to being dead? Seems kind of like spitting on the kick @ss Requiem one shot to have Manhunter come back as one….
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I saw this as I perused through the NRAMA post and shrugged it off. However, that Previews page was cool looking. I wonder if this was an oversight on DC Direct’s part or this was planned as a leak. I also wonder what Geoff Johns thinks of this.
All this being said, I am so stoked for GL in the coming moths. As a fairly new reader to the GL mythos I love the direction Johns is going with this.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:42 pm
This has got me totally pumped to read DC Zombies- err, I mean Blackest Night.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:54 pm
It would seem pretty short stretch to consider that Batman may now be amongst the Black Lanterns. Hmmm… Superman, MM, Aquaman, possibly Batman, kinda shaping up like a Zombie Justice League maybe?
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:14 pm
All this has done is made me even more excited for Blackest Night.
If this is just a taste, I can not wait for the full meal!
January 23rd, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Grendelspyce, I can appreciate what you’re saying, but I think the mere existence of BLACKEST NIGHT toys will mean they’d be ordered. It’s doubtful that revealing who the characters are will substantially change the numbers.
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:25 pm
In a related note, if you ever find DCUC Wave 5 keep them sealed. Even if they look like the body parts are going to pop off. The whole set is going for $200 on Ebay. Absolutely insane.
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:45 pm
I know there’s some Didio-mandate that the Vertigo and “Main” DC Universes are essentially discrete but since Dream had an affair with Killala of the Glow (I imagine she must’ve been the “source” of the GL energy), does that mean the Black Lanters are agents of Death of the Endless?
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:58 pm
The GLC is becoming very Power Rangers…
January 24th, 2009 at 1:17 am
I think comparing the Obama issue (which isn’t one involving the spoiling of a story) to this is a little weak, personally.
January 24th, 2009 at 11:22 am
What an extreme example of bad taste - Turning Kal-L, the first super-hero, the original Superman, the character upon which DC built its empire, into a zombie! Just goes to show how creative bankrupt these mainstream guys are. The things they do for money…
January 24th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I’m not a huge fan of characters I like coming back as ring-wielding zombies, but if the endgame sees them returning to life and rejoining the ranks of DC’s greatest heroes, I can deal with it. J’onn and Aquaman need to come back and rejoin the League already.
January 24th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Is it just me, or does Atrocitus have his symbol (and Lantern for that matter) UPSIDE DOWN?
I was waiting for this action figure since Final Crisis RofTRL, but Im also a perfectionist and if his symbol’s wrong that totally ruins the the action figure for me!
January 24th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
so all dead heroes that wore a cape will be black lanterns?
January 25th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Is there a link to the Black Lantern figures? All I’ve been able to find is that one with the silhouette of Kal-L.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:37 am
Well i was afraid that the black lantern designs were gonna be conventional zombies with tattered versions of their old costumes. but these look great! can’t wait for the series.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Supes Earth -2 and Martian Manhunter - Check.
Odds on Bart Allen.
Longshots: Jon Kent, Conner Kent, Batman, Darkseid
February 2nd, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Alright, since it is wish list time how about a Watchmen tie-in and give us Black Lantern Rorschach and Comedian? And, how about Kingdom Come Joker and Captain Marvel, too?
June 19th, 2009 at 2:38 am
E2 Supes, Aquaman, MM, the original Firestorm, Terra, Ralph and Sue Dibny, and Katma Tui are all confirmed through various interviews to be BLs. Connor Kent and Bart Allen will not be seeing as they were resurrected in Johns’ other book Legion of 3 Worlds.