Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1 Writer: Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi / Artist: various

Anyone going into this mini series expecting an important tie-in to Blackest Night will be highly disappointed. In fact, this series doesn't look to have anything to do with Blackest Night. Tales of the Corps serves as back story material for some of the less talked-about characters in the Lantern Universe. Because of that, each issue is a mixed bag of stories depending entirely on how interesting the character being discussed is.

Of the three stories told in this issue, Saint Walker's is easily the best. Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi write a tale of great faith and tragedy. Some of the things Walker suffered through was truly saddening and his eventual rise was heartwarming. After reading it, I really felt like I had a better grasp of this character and cared more about him.

Mongul's story and the introduction of the Indigo Tribe don't fare so well. We don't learn anything in their respective parts. The only thing we find out about Mongul is that he was a prick as a kid and his father was a bad ass. The Indigo Tribe story was an introduction and nothing more. They show up, do some mysterious stuff, and leave. I feel we should know more about their powers by now. Even their lantern bio in the back of the issue still lists the Indigo Tribe's powers as unknown.

The art doesn't make things any better. Mongul's and the Indigo Tribe's background is bland and boring to look at. Most of the character work comes off a little under detailed too. Just like in story though, Saint Walker's art fares much better. We're treated to detailed backgrounds, such as a fire storm, a super flood, mountain sides, and riots. Also the tragic tone of the story is captured nicely and the imagery on the top of the mountain was a very nice touch.

After reading the first issue, Tales of the Corps looks like it will be a pretty useless series. I was hoping to find out more about the separate Lantern Corps and their powers, but it mostly serves as a character profile of some less important characters. If they can be as good as Saint Walker's, this series could succeed. However, my faith isn't as strong as his and I don't see Tales of the Corps being interesting or important.