Okay, so if you follow Geoff Johnns' work, you will know that he is one of the best writers out there. As proven in the Spike Scream Awards, 09'. You will also know that he has made, arguably, the best stories ever of the green lantern corps and it's enforcers, the green lanterns. He is the one that brought us "Green Lantern: Rebirth", as well as many other mega-selling titles. Now, he brings us "Green Lantern: Blackest Night".
Recently there have been many new spectrums looked into by different beings for different purposus in the DC Universe. The most Recent, and apparently, relentless of them, is Black.
As we know, (or should, given we paid attention in art class) when you combine all the colors of the spectrum, you get black. This is the concept coming about in Blackest Night. The mysterious black rings take power from all the other rings, (among other things, like the life force that gives humans and heroes alike in the DC Universe a soul) and converts it into its own usable, devestating energy.
quoted from DCComics.com:
"Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis raise the dead in the most anticipated comics story of the year! Throughout the decades, death has plagued the DC Universe and taken the lives of heroes and villains alike. But to what end? As the War of Light rages on, the prophecy of the Blackest Night descends upon us, with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps at the center of it all.
Don't miss this 8-issue epic taking the DCU beyond the grave!"
As stated above, these "Black Lanterns" also have the strange abilitie to partially remove the effects of death, "bringing back to life" many of the most beloved and respected heroes in all time of the DC Universe.
the catch is, though, that when they come back they are not in control of thier..."hunger", i guess you could call it. instead of coming back as the heroes they once were, they come back as basically zombies, completely concious of the fact that they're killing thier allies, but also completely un-able to do anything about it.
According to geoff johns, this is the "big-bang" of the DC Universe. This story should jump start the universe in such a way that the effects will be recussive for quite some time, similair to marvel's "civil war".