Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #4

Book Information

Written by Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi

Penciled by Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, Oclair Albert

Colored by Aspen MLT's Peter Steigerwald

Cover by David Finch, Scott Williams

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

Black Lantern Firestorm is at the center of attention in this issue! Or so the cover would have you think. Again Brightest Day brings a cover that resembles nadda of what is actually contain within as far as the story is concerned. That's not to say the cover art isn't an explosion of talent from Mr. Finch, Williams, and Steigerwald, but I'm not a big fan of being misled. False advertising is a no no in my book.

Other than that, Blackest Night #4 is a lot of fun. The overall scheme takes a different turn, or at least maximizes on developing the story for certain characters and leaving the others out. I had closed the issue and my first question was, “I wonder what happened to Martian Manhunter?” That was an intelligent move on Johns and Tomasi's part since this whole arc is so tightly compact that divulging into each character's story EVERY two weeks would be overbearing and would wear out the readers. If Tim Burton has taught us anything, it's that too many plot lines make for bad stories!

I am enjoying having Hawk and Dove apart of this arc, Hawk in particular. I didn't grow up with Hawk in my corner so I have a great opportunity to learn more about this Modern age predecessor. I would love to see Hawk and Hawkman go head to head and see who the tougher and more testosterone driven one is. Most people would probably vote for Hawkman because Hawk's outfit could be worn by an Olympic ice skater, but that was a choice made back in the day and the artists are simply continuing the attire from then.

Speaking of art (very corny transition, I know) I must say Ivan Reis and company give us a quality display of visuals huh? The different artist toggle throughout the book doesn't deter me in the least, which is a HUGE thing with me, but they pull it off quite nicely. And I think I'm going to put Dove in the “top ten hottest DC women” list! Thank you Ivan Reis, you rock!

My Profoundly Climactic Conclusion

Fun and worth the $2.99 price mark. This wont go down in history as one of DC's greatest issues, but it's fun all the same.

Ratings

Writing: 9

Themes: 9

Art: 9

Overall: 9