Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #14

Literary & Artistic Credits

Writer: Geoff Johns

Penciller: Ivan Reis & Joe Prado

Colorist: Aspen MLT’s Peter Steigerwald

Letterer: Rob Clark Jr.

Cover Art: David Finch

Editor: Adam Schlagman & Eddie Berganza

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

Brightest Day has been a fantastic flop since issue one.  It wasn’t until two weeks ago when #13 was published when writer Johns and Tomasi finally delivered a quality issue.  Likewise, this edition of Brightest Day is so focused on a single plot line that we, as readers, can relax in the fact that we don’t have to make such mind-boggling transitions from plotline to plotline.

So much is going on in Brightest Day that it tends to have a DaVinci Code mentality; constantly pummeling through the massively confusing and hectic plot, never giving the readers a chance to comprehend what’s going on.  This issue allows us to focus in on a part of the story that hasn’t made much sense until now.  But even with that, I’m still up in the air as to what exactly is going on.

Deadman took the Bat signal as a sign that the prodigal “White Lantern” was in fact Batman.  Now, with all the work DC has put into bringing Bruce Wayne back from the dead, it was very unlikely that he would be permanently dubbed as the ring bearing hero. Johns was merely using the fact that Batman is such a hot topic within the DC titles right now, and it was simply convenient to do so.  The focus mainly deals with Deadman and his past as an acrobat and the terrible choices he made as such.  It’s obvious that Deadman isn’t the “chosen one,” but there is definitely something that connects him with the white light which will make a difference once the prodigal is revealed.

But even with this rather interesting flashback and emotional roller coaster ride into Boston Brand’s past, the issue really didn’t make sense of Deadman’s part in all this.  We learned that he was a selfish jerk face who made some bad decisions and treated everyone else like shit, but how this explains everything is beyond me.  I reckon this issue was the “character development” issue, delving more into the psyche of Boston Brand and to present a conflict of maintaining the burden of bearing the ring,  (Oh God, I made a Lord of the Rings reference.  Sorry everyone!) but that’s all.  Nothing helps to explain why Deadman is so important, and being halfway through this series, I would think something would have come to light.  But no dice.

Art wise, I can’t complain.  The duo of Reis and Prado works very well and leaves little too complain about.  Both have a knack for excellent muscular definition and wonderfully emotional expressions within the characters faces.  We all know Deadman is no longer dead thanks to the white light, but Reis finds it appropriate to maintain Brand’s dead looking face while jumping and leaping acrobatically through the night sky.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

In and of itself, this issue is great.  However, I’m confused at how this helps to push the Brightest Day story forward.  Fingers crossed that things will make sense sooner rather than later.

Rating: 8.33 out of 10 stars

Writing: 8

Art: 10

Themes: 7