‘Blackest Night’ #8 Recalled: Production Error Changed Story In Non-variant Editions
In one of the most stunning mistakes in comics, Blackest Night #8, which came out yesterday and was supposed to end the series, is being recalled due to a production error that caused the wrong pages to be run in most copies of the issue, changing the story heavily.
DC Comics is asking retailers to remove the issue from shelves immediately, and to issue refunds on the issue. A corrected version of Blackest Night #8 will be available in stores next week, with a new cover to distinguish between versions. No word has yet come down on how DC will be reprinting the variant cover editions, or if they had the same errors across all editions.
This is not without precedent: I worked in DC’s production department during “A Death In The Family”, the let’s-use-a-900-number-to-see-if-Jason-Todd-lives-or-dies event. What was not widely known at the time was that different versions were prepared in advance, depending on the voting. I had a xerox of the page where Jason lived for years, just to prove to people that it could’ve gone either way. Also, when The Simpsons did “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” different results were animated. It just seems that in this case, the wrong pages ended up getting printed, with one version showing up in the regular issue and another showing up in at least some of the variants.
Action is already beginning to heat up on eBay, as various versions are already beginning to get traffic. And I can’t imagine that a lot of retailers are going to turn all their copies in, although that may be the only way they get their replacement issues.
So what actually happens? What are the differences? MAJOR SPOILERS after the jump…
We’ll assume you’ve already read the misprinted Blackest Night #8. Here are the big differences:
Sinestro will stay a White Lantern.
Additional people come back to life, including:
- Arthur Curry Jr. (or is it the 3rd nowadays? Aquaman and Mera’s baby boy.)
- Alec Holland
- Don Hall
- Ferro Lad
- Jonathan Kent
- Karate Kid
- Kent Nelson
- Ralph & Sue Dibny
- The Top
And most impressive, all of the New Gods return, led by their new connection to the Source, Ambush Bug. Since Ambush Bug is the only one who knows that this is all is comics, this becomes his connection.
Nice one, Glenn….but you sort of tipped your hand by even mentioning Ambush Bug. But nicely amusing anyway.And a happy April Fools' to one and all.
We had to tip people off somewhere. I didn't want stores being innundated.
You know, it's sad to think that you needed to tip your hand at all – the headline of the article should have been sufficient. In fact, for significnat news events on this date, I think you have to call out that, yes, it's 4/1, and no, this one is *not* a joke….
You'd think so, wouldn't you? On the other hand, two of the stories we did last April 1st were true, so…