I want to give this book more just because I love these characters so much, but Bendis is just too prolific these days, as is Romita, and the quality of the work being produced by both is plummeting. Having a small core of creators steering entire lines has worked well for both DC and Marvel over the last few years but I think it's time to let some fresh blood tackle the meat of the books while the likes of Bendis take more of an editorial and plotting role, and less of a hands-on approach. That said I will be picking up the next issue, if only to find out exactly what the Hulks role in all this pans out to be!

In the last few years Geoff Johns has brought a coherency to the DCU that was sorely needed, and Blackest night has brought the same coherency to the GL pocket of the DCU while also building on the established mythos in a very major way. So I'm very interested in staying on-board to see where he goes with this. Doug Mahnkes pencils are solid, and there's enough drama and history between all the characters appearing in this book to make it a fun read. Overall though, not much happens in this issue. I will say the back-up story telling the origin of Dex-Starr is a sweet little piece. Ok he's a cat, it seems ludicrous that anyone could tell any kind of story about a super-powered cat that travels through the cosmos as a member of an anger-wielding space corps, but I definitely had something in my eye when I read the line I good kitty, plus it was nice to find out Atrocius is apparently a cat person.

While it seemed obvious how this was going to play out once Malchemical found out about Auntie Sis' secret phobia of underpants I still found myself exhilerated and terrified reading this issue; it's good to know Garth Ennis can still feint to the left while jabbing with the right!

Issue number 1 is a good read, not for the faint of heart, The Darkness is known for the brutality of his stories, but if you can see past that I think this mini-series will be well worth a read.