We begin with a brief moment of avarice and comedy, as Lex Luthor is bound and determined to add Superman to his little orange bag of tricks. Larfleeze is literally hanging onto the battery and won't let go, which is driving Lex nuts.
Then of course we get to Hal, possessed by Parallax in the last issue, who is all in the Black Lantern Spectre's face. Parallax is awfully happy to be where he is, and even happier to be taunting the Spectre. He REALLY hates the Spectre, and his taunting is pretty much guaranteed to hurt. A lot. Carol is busy fretting about Hal, while Ganthet is telling her to relax and let Hal do what it is that he does best. Mera is chasing a Black Lanterned Garth, while Atrocitus is convinced that the Spectre is more than he seems, he's ALSO holding the Rage entity. Or so Atrocitus thinks, anyway.
So, the Spectre and Parallax are going at it, and there is a simply exquisite full page picture of Hal/Parallax peering into the interior of the Spectre and what remains of his essence. Doug Mahnke really knocks it out of the part, artwise...as usual. After a bit more taunting, Parallax finds the black ring, and severs the connection. Woohoo! The Spectre is back to his old self...and pissed as hell. So that's a good thing.
Too bad that Parallax is really enjoying taking a spin in Hal's body, and isn't planning on giving it up. Sinestro goes after Hal, while Atrocitus is trying to free the embodiment of Rage, that he is convinced is within the Spectre. The Spectre turns red, vomits some blood, and then tells Atrocitus...no dice.
Well, bummer.
While Parallax is distracted, egged on by Ganthet, Carol grabs ahold of him and starts showing the power of love.
And Hal is free! Double woohoo! Sinestro is all set to reclaim Parallax, who gives him the slip...much to his surprise and hightails it to Belle Reve prison, and the cell of a certain Hector Hammond.
Uh oh.
So, anyway, they are all happy that the Spectre is in his right mind, and he's going to help them defeat Nekron. Except that Nekron has other ideas, and the Spectre is pretty much powerless against him. Well crap. Sometimes Hal, you really should take a minute to try and think things through.
To be continued in Blackest Night next week!
I'm on the edge of my seat.
