It was this connection to death that drew the alien Atrocitus to him long ago. Believing that Hand would be the one to bring about the absolute darkness of Blackest Night, Atrocitus intended to Use a cosmic weapon to extract the dark power from within him. But before he could do so, the space policeman Green Lantern arrived to stop Atrocitus. Urged to flee by the dark voice, Hand grabbed Atrocitus's weapon and made off with it into the night.

Over time, William would grow increasingly obsessed with the Green Lantern. He believed that Hal Jordan intended to use his green light to snuff out the darkness he so craved. As it turns out, the stolen alien weapon was a cosmic divining rod of sorts, capable of absorbing the life energies of anything it was pointed at, including the light from a Green Lantern's energy ring. So, cloaking himself in a makeshift costume made from his mortuary's body bags, William Hand became the Black Hand and took a stand against the Lantern and his Corps.

Though each losing battle would win him some slight peace of mind and solace, his obsession would ultimately cost him dearly. His freedom. His family's support. Even his hand. But when another alien encounter brought his hand back to him, it also brought him closer than ever to Death. Now he could touch death, hear death, even see the death around him. So many had fallen. Their names called out to him from the earth which housed their corpses. But more importantly, some had cheated death. Somehow they'd been allowed to return. And William could tell - Death wanted them back. It wanted them all. But first, William had some final business to attend to.

He staggered up to his parent's house and knocked on the door. When his brother answered he wasted little time in killing him. Sending bursts of energy through the bodies of his loved ones, William Hand one by one picked off his family members before sitting down at the dinner table. He had one final life to take. His own.

After observing this final action, the Scarred Guardian finally makes her appearance. She too speaks with the darkness. And it likes what it sees.

She spews forth a fountain of black bile out of her mouth from which a Black Lantern ring is produced. As the viscous black fluid seeps into the exposed rotting brain matter inside Hand's skull, the ring finds its place on his finger. He is awakened, imbued with a great power akin to that of the Ion or Parallax creatures. He will become their herald - the very embodiment of the insatiable darkness that has given rise during the War of Light. The first Black Lantern is born.