The lead-in to DCs Blackest Night event was arguably the biggest and best run-up to a major event in comic book history. Not only did we discover that there were DIFFERENT COLOURED LANTERN CORPS (which, Power Rangers jokes aside, was pretty freakin awesome), we also learned that cosmic events were being manipulated by death itself so that the end of days was finally arriving. In all probability, there were sections of the fanbase that genuinely felt that the universe was teetering on the brink of naked annihilation, so high were the stakes at this point. By the time The Blackest Night finally arrived, as the dead rose from their graves to consume the universe, Geoff Johns marathon run on Green Lantern was already being celebrated as a contemporary classic. Green Lantern was a must read book at the time and this story was the payoff for years of build-up. Blackest Night set out with the (rather too ambitious) task of ensuring that death would now be permanent within the DCU. With the companys biggest rivals seemingly unable to go four issues without killing off a major character, it made good business sense. Sadly, they are unlikely to stick to it.