Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #20

Written By: Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi

Artist: Ivan Reis & Joe Prado

Inker: Julio Ferreira, Oclair Albert, Norm Rapmund, Marlo Alquiza, & Andy Owens

Colorist: Aspen MLT’s Peter Steigerwald & Nathan Eyring

Cover Artist: Gary Frank & Nathan Eyring

Letterer: Rob Clark Jr.

Editor: Adam Schlagman & Eddie Berganza

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

Aquawar comes to an end with a lifespan of only two issues!  A little disappointing if you ask me.  I guess DC should have called it “Aqua Crisis” in order feel justified in stretching it out further huh?  Never-the-less, many resolutions happen in this issue; Mera and Aquaman come to terms with each other, Aqualad and Aquagirl have a very strange “brother-sister” moment, the Aquawar (or Beach battle) is wiped out with a huge splash of a finish, and as a reward for completing his mission Aquaman is put to death.

Huh?

That’s basically what I asked myself with almost every page turn of issue #20.  Not only is there a confusing twist at the end, but everything in this issue makes me do a double-turn; mostly because this White Lantern and his moralistic ramblings just aren’t making any sense.  This, in turn, causes me to think that Brightest Day is one of the more contrived miniseries I’ve ever read from DC.

To start off, was the purpose of Aquawar purely to help Aquaman get the truth from Mera?  Is that all?  The White Lantern really thought that putting everyone’s lives in danger only to help Arthur discover the truth was the best course of action?  Yeah, it worked – the two lovers got back together in a loving embrace, very romantic I must say.  But how does this event do any good when the White Lantern kills Aquaman off at the very last moment, only causing more pain and anguish for Mera?  If it was Aquaman who needed to learn something, why create this whole scene when the purpose was to have him die immediately after?  With only four issues to go, Johns and Tomasi had better make some sense of killing everyone off after they’ve completed these “tasks” the White Lantern has secretly given them.  Right now, I feel like I’m reading a series by Grant Morrison.

The White Lantern seems like it’s on crack, or high on meth doesn’t it?  It tells Boston Brand to eat hamburgers, open up the Bermuda Triangle where all Hell breaks loose, and seems to be stringing everyone along on this wild goose chase.  I’m all about waiting for a mystery to make sense, but good grief, how much plot twisting chaos can a person put into a story until it becomes a pile of incoherent jargon? 

This issue isn’t without its bright sides however; the clever (flirty) interaction that Aqualad and Aquagirl have did put a smile on my face.  But most of the better moments stem from the visual aspects; Mera’s powerful water wipe-out, with nothing but clean and incredibly beautiful blues and whites to give the water that colorful, yet destructive personality is almost perfect.  It’s also very difficult to draw people as if they are in the water, floating and swimming about; another reason why Reis and Prado are masters at their craft and career.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

While this issue held my interest, it left me disappointed and wondering what happened to the great momentum built up by issue #19.  Resolutions to problems are being lost in confusion and flow of story transitions are dying out as fast as the characters are.  Johns and Tomasi, please help me to understand what’s going sooner rather than later!

4 out of 10 Stars

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #19

Written By: Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi

Artist: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert& Rob Hunter

Colorist: Peter Steigerwald

Cover Artist: David Finch, Scott Williams & Steigerwald

Letterer: Rob Clark Jr.

Editor: Adam Schlagman & Eddie Berganza

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

Now we’re talkin’!  Two weeks ago Brightest Day presented a much more focused storyline in issue #18.  Now, two weeks later, #19 revs up with an even better installment, wrapping up a few unsolved questions and presenting some new ideas to help keep the story interesting.  But with only a few issues left to go, can Johns and Tomasi really wrap this miniseries up without pushing some aspects aside?

Much like hit TV show “Lost,” Brightest Day is so compact and filled so many mysteries and plot devices that it’s hard to think everything is going to be resolved in the end.  The Hawks are disintegrated, with an explanation of why, (Even though we still aren’t sure of some things right?) and now we’ve moved on to Aquaman and the Aquawar. While no new answers were given during the whole beach battle, some clues are thrown our way which might help wrap up Aquaman’s purpose.  I don’t want to give much away – just keep in mind that this issue is one you can’t skip over.

And of course we’ve all been wondering about the Dark Avatar, what it will look like, and how it will be utilized in the story.  A teaser image is thrown at us, with a very exciting series of images that will get your blood pumping for the duration of this series!

I was looking at the credits and it shows four artists working on this issue…right?  I’ve looked…and looked…and looked…and looked and everything seems to be done by one artist.  Well, I should say TWO artists since Steigerwald obviously took charge of coloring every page.  So unless I’m mistaken, this must mean that all four artists took a lot of time to hone in on one artist’s style and mimic it.  My guess?  Ivan Reis was the model for the other four.  And check out pages 12 and 13 for a breathtaking two page spread.  In the words of Dan Woodward from “It’s A Dan’s World”…Now THAT”S a splash page!

Now, back to the faults.  Brightest Day certainly is making a mad to get everything resolved by the end.  The hawk’s part in the story is complete, and Aquaman’s purpose is beginning to see an end.  One can only assume this means the other aspects of the story will begin to climax.  But in this haste, will some minor details that we saw in the beginning of the series be push aside in order to make sure things come to a successful conclusion?  The white ring hinted at this when in conversation with Boston Brand…

“The twelve that I gave life to each plays a role in saving the soul of your homeworld. Some have already prevented further destruction to it and given us more time…while others are more significant to my purpose.”

With this being said, it makes me think that something established in the beginning is going to be left out because Johns and Tomasi just don’t have the time to address it.  It happened with “Lost”, I’m sure it’s going to happen here.

My biggest complaint…and this is a doozey…is Aquaman losing his hand once again.  I’ll be honest, the moment Manta slices it off is pretty intense and will get grab your attention very quickly, but it’s revisiting a time in Aquaman’s life that I had hoped wouldn’t come back to rear its ugly head.  I never felt like it was a good idea before Arthur died, and now that he had a second chance, Johns throws it right back in my face.  Ugh, whoa is me!

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

So for all you haters of Brightest Day (me being one of them) your hopes and dreams have been met.  The series is finally getting good.  But I think we should all knock on wood this very instant because having two successful issues doesn’t necessarily mean all is well.  Keep your fingers crossed, throw the salt over your shoulder, partake in whatever superstitious ritual you can think of because Brightest Day is far from over.

9 out of 10 

Brightest Day #18 Review

Written By: Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi

Artist: Ivan Reis, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, Joe Prado

Inker: Vicente Cifuentes, David Beaty

Colorist: Aspen MLT’s Peter Steigerwald, Beth Sotelo

Cover Artist: David Finch

Letterer: Rob Clark Jr.

Editor: Adam Schlagman, Eddie Berganza

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

And here we are, eight issues into the finale of Brightest Day and things are beginning to make sense…while still being confusing as hell!  This series has been plagued with confusion ever since issue #1, with nothing making any more sense than me playing a game of basketball completely in the nude outside of my neighbor’s house.  Johns and Tomasi have finally figured out where to start giving this story its main pile of gumption, and what better way to do that than by killing off two of DC’s more popular characters?

Now for those of you who have actually read #18, you may or may not be shocked at the death of the Hawks.  I mean, good grief, Comic companies kill off enough characters consistently enough that sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever be surprised at another heroes death ever again.  But in any case, this turn of events is pretty epic, especially how Deadman is left in a dusty cloud of despair, allowing the ashes of the Hawks to trinkle between his fingers.

But of course this issue is a nightmare for the fan of the pure and unadulterated action story that feel a good storyline has no place amongst all the testosterone, punching, explosions, and what not right?  It’s all about love and how the power of love will conquer all.  Sound cheesy right?  Well…it is.  Up until that point where we think we can sit back, relax, and enjoy the fact that Hawkman and Hawkgirl can at long last be together with their curse finally lifted.  Johns and Tomasi certainly pulled out the ultimate cliffhanger as the white ring upon Deadman’s hand interrupts the Hawks moment of embrace and tears them apart, once again causing us to question if the two lovers will ever be happy.

Enhancing the story is of course the ever crowded room of toggling artists, with Ivan Reis heading the team and Peter Steigerwald taking over the coloring duties.  And one thing I am completely sure of, Blackest Night and Brightest Day has been a colorist’s dream boat.  One thing I am ALSO certain of is that the Star Sapphire’s color scheme can do a real number on the eyeballs if not careful.  And I completely echo Mr. Paul Mallory and his inability to look at pinks and purples without thinking of the toy isle bearing Barbie dolls. 

Now this isn’t a criticism, I for one enjoy the clever way the colors were displayed on every page.  But for those of you with weaker eyes…or at least the ones who feel their manhood has been put into question because you’re reading a comic book filled with pretty little colors and all about love…you might want to put on some sun shades.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

No doubt this is the best issue of Brightest Day thus far, but it hasn’t had too much competition to begin with.  But offing the Hawks was definitely a story addition that is going to keep me interested until eight issues from now.  (knock on wood.)

But then again, could this death be another rouse?  Will the Hawks come back from the dead?  Tune in next month when we will, more than likely, be confused and start wondering why the hell we are reading this series to begin with.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

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

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #13

Literary & Artistic Credits

Writer: Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi

Penciller: Ardian Syaf, Ivan Reis, & Joe Prado

Colorist: Peter Steigerwald, John Starr & Ray Dillon

Letterer: Rob Clark Jr.

Cover Art: David Finch, Ryan Winn & Steigerwald

Editor: Eddie Berganza

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

I haven’t completely given up on Brightest Day as of yet, it’s still keeping my interests going.  But as of late, I’ve been moving closer and closer to dropping this title completely.  I want to remain loyal to Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi, but the lack lustering feel of this series has left me very unimpressed.  #13 however brings us a much more solid storyline, focusing almost solely on the Hawks and not jumping around from different story to story that doesn’t seem connected in the least.

Both Hawkman and Hawkgirl are at their wits end!  Hawkman brings in an army of Lionmanes and Lizardkons to save his beloved Shiera whose tied up to the gate which has been the bane of both heroes existence since they first become lovers.  But Shiera is not your typical damsel in distress; hands tied and completely hindered, she was still able to crack the neck of Hath-set, theoretically ending the curse that plagues the Hawks.  But now Hawkgirl’s mother has taken her daughter and Hawkman, chained up, to the Star Sapphire’s home planet, where her dreams could very well become a reality.

I’m really not sure how Hawkman and Hawkgirl’s story connects with Brightest Day, but in and of itself, this issue is the best Brightest Day installment thus far.  It was smart on Johns and Tomasi’s part to single out one story and lay the other plots to rest for two weeks.  This particular story with the Hawks has been one of the more confusing story additions to this series and needed to be fleshed out a little more.

With Hath-Set dead now, the big question now remains, is the curse actually broken?  This could be a great lead-in to a new Hawkman solo series huh?

I’m not sure what Hawkgirl’s mother hopes to accomplish on Zamaron.  The planet is full Star Sapphires and the entity is right there, ready to protect everyone.  Sure, she’s powerful, but can she fight an entire corps of Violet Lanterns?

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you already know my feelings on the art right?  With that in mind, it isn’t anywhere NEAR as bad as it has been.  I don’t know who’s consistently penciling everything out, but it was nice to have the bulk of this issue maintained by one artist.  Plus, it seems like this issue used artists whose style’s mimic each other a little better and more consistently.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

Half way through the series and things are still as confusing as ever.  But now there seems to be a real conscious effort in trying to wrap up the individual stories to help make sense of this whole ordeal.  I’m not sure what I think of Batman being a possible candidate for the chosen one, but I doubt anything will be truly revealed at this point as far as who the White Lantern will be.

Rating: 7.33 out of 10

Writing: 7

Art: 7

Themes: 8 

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #11

Literary & Artistic Credits

Writer: Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi

Penciller: Ivan Reis, Scott Clark, Patrick Gleason, Joe Prado

Inker: David Beaty, Oclair Albert, Keith Champagne, Tom Nguyen

Colorist: Aspen MLT’s Peter Steigerwald

Letterer: Rob Clark Jr.

Cover Art: David Finch

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

New things continually come to light every two weeks with Brightest Day.  This is always an intelligent plot device as “shock and alarm” typically keep readers invested in the story.  My fear, however, with Brightest Day is that it’s falling will be right in line with the hit series Lost; the more complicated you make the story, the harder it will be to wrap it up with a successful conclusion.

Brightest Day has certainly been having trouble keeping on its feat ever since it began.  There seems to be less focus with this series than there was with its predecessor, Blackest night.  With #11 however, I had something to really grab onto with every page turn as Johns and Tomasi focus all their efforts almost 100% on Aquaman and Firestorm, providing some fasinating new developments in both stories.

DC really is trying to give Firestorm the ultimate comeback from its recent dark days that slowly dwindled into nothing.  While the plot surrounding Firestorm is a bit strange, I’m most definitely intrigued by what’s transpiring.  I did find the return of Black Lantern Firestorm (AKA, Deathstorm…gag!) to be a little out of place, but it seems to have a huge role in the overall story.  Who knew that both Ronnie and Jason had the capabilities of CREATING an evil counterpart to themselves?  But this Deathstorm seems to know the entire plan of this phantom voice calling out for the white lantern.  Very weird, but I’m all ready to for the unveiling of this mystery!

Aquaman has never really been given decent enough storylines worthy of his character; they were always corny or poorly written.  But here in Brightest Day, I think Aquaman is going to be giving a story that will finally equal that of the other top dog DC heroes.  But sadly, based on images and rumors I’ve heard, this could be the story that kills him off……again!   Rather than focusing on the “missions” that Johns and Tomasi have created for every character, this addition to the story reveals some interesting facts surrounding the history and mythos of Aquaman and the ties it has to Lighting Lad and Black Manta.  This is all very promising and I can only hope this quality boost in the story continues through the rest of the series.

I must say I am confused as to why Black Lantern Aquaman and Martian Manhunter have re-risen even though both said heroes are alive, kickin’, and off on their own quest to solve this mystery.  I guess my initial question “What exactly IS a Black Lantern?” wasn’t really answered in Blackest Night huh?

In addition to the improvement in literary qualities, the art seems to have taken an even BIGGER jump towards the positive.  Every Firestorm section of this book was mind-bogglingly good.  I don’t really know which of the multiple artists worked the Firestorm sections, but whoever it was did an amazing job with the definition and colorization all-throughout.  But even in Ivan Reis’ Aquaman sections, the art seemed to improved drastically in color quality and emotional impact.  Are you people savoring this moment?  I’m praising an artist toggle in a comic.  This does not happen!

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

In comparison to the other ten issues published thus far, this comic was exciting to read.  There are still many problems, but it was fun to read and look at.  Fingers crossed for the rest of the run…

Rating: 8.2 out of 10

Writing: 8

Art: 10

Themes: 6.5

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #8

Literary & Artistic Credits

Writers: Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi

Pencillers: Patrick Gleeson, Ivan Reis & Ardian Syaf

Inkers: Vicente Cifuentes, Rebecca Buchman, Mark Irwin & Ivan Reis

Colorists: Aspen MLT’s Peter Steigerwald with John Starr

Letterer: Rob Clark Jr.

Cover Art: David Finch, Scott Williams & Steigerwald

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

I’ve decided that this story is so compact that, no matter how it ends, I’m going to be so overwhelmed that I’ll never want to read it again.  There’s enough mystery and enough at stake to keep me interested, but I’ll never understand why Johns and Tomasi felt it so necessary to make Brightest Day so busy to begin with.  What a relief it was for me to find that the focus of this issue was more on Hawkworld that our two winged avengers have found themselves trapped on.  Martian Manhunter is given a spotlight, but truly, this issue gave us a chance to slow down, breathe, and take in one story without worrying about everything else going on.

Martian Manhunter sees a glimpse of what happened to M’Gann and who her attacker was.  But at the center of this whole fiasco is, of course, (We all saw it coming!) the forested Star City.  But nothing more is revealed other than the red eyed, bald-headed, poorly dressed alien flying downwards into the heart of the forest itself.

Hawkman goes on the search for Hawkgirl but runs into what seems like a religious calling in the eyes of the Hawkworld inhabitants.  But Hawkman need not worry about his beloved too much since she’s drop kicking everyone’s ass that gets in her way of escaping.  That is until her (gasp) mother shows up!  Despite a mere distraction on her part which caused her to not mind her surroundings, Hawkgirl just showed us that the “girl” portion of her name really doesn’t apply to her womanly personality.  If Hawkgirl ever gets her own series, sign me up as a regular subscriber!

I won’t go to heavily into the art as most of you who read my blog consistently already know what my thoughts are.  But I’ll give it to DC, this issue was tremendously smoother in the artist transition.  If my scanner didn’t FINALLY kill over, I would have scanned in Hawkgirl’s triumphant and exciting burst towards us, the readers.  The intensity in that scene, along with all of the other events happening on Hawkworld was spectacular.  If only Syaf could have stayed out of this issue, I would have given the art a 10!

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

Brightest Day is slowly kicking off into a much more solid and comprehensive story, enough so to keep me reading it to the very end.  But to be honest, I don’t know how in the world the series is going to end without giving all of its readers an aneurism.  There’s way too much going on and I don’t think this series is going to be as successful as Johns and Tomasi hope it to be.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Writing: 8

Art: 8

Themes: 8

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #7

Book Information

Written by Geoff Johns & Peter Tomasi
Penciled by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, Joe Prado
Colors by Aspen MLT’s Peter Steigerwald with John Starr
Lettered by Rob Clark Jr.
Cover by David Finch, Scott Williams, & Steigerwald

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion
Alright, now we’re getting somewhere. Finally, things are starting to make sense, and just when I was ready to call it quits with this comic. Johns and Tomasi have definitely raised the bar this week with the promised and much anticipated revelation in this issue. While the bulk of the story is still a mystery, we’ve been given some angst to hold onto for two weeks to help boost our confidence that Brightest Day is actually going somewhere.

Each character gets their time in the spotlight, but none like Deadman. One of the questions at the forefront of my mind dealt with the King Arthur figure and who would actually be able to lift the white lantern from the ground. I don’t want to call it too soon however, it’s still fairly early in the story, but finally we can be certain of Deadman’s importance within Brightest Day.

The artist toggle didn’t work for me as much this time through; there was a lot more bumpy transitions from style to style that I wish would have felt more seamless. I just have a REALLY hard time going from this…

To this…

However, the artistry of each separate unit was executed quite well. Some parts of the toggling were actually very interesting, especially during the revelational two paged spread where each character is given a specific task to perform. And while the artistic finality of the two pager spread is quite ingenious, the whole idea that the white lantern entity is setting destiny in motion seems rather contrived to me. I felt the entity was very helpless against Nekron; being displayed as very innocent, ignorant, and like an infant unable to understand the world around him. (Or is it a her?) But this is part of the overarching mystery I suppose, I shouldn’t knock it quite yet.

Is it just me, or does Aquaman’s dilemma seem a bit TOO odd? First he can only control dead sea creatures, now he can bring them to life? I would really like to know where Johns and Tomasi are going with this. I understood the connection with death since he is, after all, a retired Black Lantern. But now, all of the sudden whatever he touches comes to life? Maybe this falls into place somewhere that I’m not seeing, but I would very much like this to resolve sooner rather than later.

My Awesomely Climactic Conclusion
Nicely done. I truly was ready to give up on this series. I was afraid the Morrison disease was spreading into Johns and Tomasi writing a story with a confusion lead up to a eventual poor ending. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Ratings
Writing: 8
Themes: 8
Art: 6
Overall: 7.33 out of 10

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #6

Book Information
Written by Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi
Art by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleeson, Scott Clark, Joe Prado
Colored by Peter Steigerwald, John Starr
Inked By Vicente Cifuentes, David Beaty, Mark Irwin, Christian Alamy
Lettered by Rob Clark Jr.
Cover by David Finch, Scott Williams, Steigerwald

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion
We all know Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi are incredible writers, both collaborating their efforts on the two Green Lantern titles to make sure the Blackest Night event made sense. They’ve done such a great job you’d think that putting the two together on one title would be a match made in Heaven. But as Brightest Day has reached its sixth issue, three months in, I’m beginning to wonder if this writing team-up was a good idea to begin with.

The problem with Brightest Day first starts with its compact nature. Every two weeks we get no less than four storylines in each issue, all of which further the mystery in little increments. This issue is no exception. Hawk and Dove are still at the graveyard with Deadman, Firestorm is still trying to cope with everything post Blackest Night and deal with a pissed off boyfriend, Martian Manhunter discovers he can’t touch plant life without it withering up and dying, and Aquaman listens to Mera explain why she was supposed to kill him. The mysteries each character is dealing with have been the same with each issue and become quite cumbersome. I’m wondering if, like Blackest Night, having the main title along with BD tie-ins would have been a better route to go; with its compact nature, Brightest Day is becoming a lot more boring then exciting.

#6 isn’t without its good points though. Ronnie Raymond seems to be having issues with alcohol, which I don’t blame him. If I could remember being a risen corpse and killing the girlfriend of the person who shares the Firestorm Matrix with me, I’d probably take up some type of vice to keep from going insane too. But most intriguing is the phantom voice that seems to be lurking within the minds of Both Ronnie and Jason; it focuses in on Ronnie, scolding him for past actions and the content of his character, but Jason is very much aware of this voice as well. This is probably one of the more interesting things that have popped out in Brightest Day.

DC had enlisted a tag team of artists whose styles are quite similar, which keep the flow of the book surprisingly fluid and easy to look at. The two page flashback spread of Mera and Aquaman’s past together was incredibly beautiful. But I don’t think anything will beat the awesomely creepy cover by Finch, Williams, and Steigerwald.

My Profoundly Climactic Conclusion
Overall, this issue is quite bad with a few high points here and there. This story really needs to start making some sense or I’m going to blow up!

Ratings
Writing: 3
Themes: 4
Art: 8
Overall: 5 out of 10

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #5

Book Information
Written by Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi
Penciled by Ivan Reis, Ardian Syaf, Joe Prado
Colored by Peter Steigerwald
Inked by Vicente Cifuentes
Lettered by Rob Clark Jr
Cover by David Finch

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion
I was wondering when Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi were going to catapult this series into the more interesting aspects of Brightest Day. While the majority of the series has been, for the most part, fun to read, it has been carrying around a weight that makes the story drag, never really giving us that literary boost needed to stay interested. Nothing incredibly earth shattering is revealed in issue #5, but the underlying potential in each storyline should not be discarded.

The revelation of Hawkworld was a strange yet interesting addition to the story. Having never truly followed Hawkman or Hawkgirl in my more youthful days, I haven’t a clue as to whether or not this was a consistent aspect in their storylines. But from the shock and awe that come from the two Birds of Prey, (Sorry Gail Simone, I couldn’t resist) I can only assume that this is a brand new idea created by Mr. Johns and/or Mr. Tomasi. I’m still trying to decide if I like it, and if this will be a good or bad thing for the overall story. And I highly doubt that Hawkgirl is dead.

I was confused to discover that Mera’s purpose is to kill Aquaman. “I was sent here to kill you,” as she states so dramatically. When was she sent “here” and by whom? I can presume that the “sending” was done or has something to do with the band of aquatic desperadoes, but how long has this task of Mera’s been in place? Did something happen during Blackest Night or has this been Mera’s task since before I even discovered comics? The fight scenes are quite epic and well done, Thanks to the artistic talents of Ivan Reis, but I’m not sure I fully understand where the writing duo is going with this last minute twist. But I guess that will be explained in two weeks huh? (C’mon Jimmy, don’t get ahead of yourself.)

I’m beginning to wonder if this series’ is going to have an ending just like that of the hit show, “Lost.” It’s becoming so complicated and compact with plot and storyline that the potential of a bad ending is ENORMOUS! Each character’s part in this story is so separated from everyone else that the connection is almost nonexistent within the context of Brightest Day. Each hero has their own objective that somehow is connected to Blackest Night, but each seems to be straying so far off that any ending Johns is looking for will need to start making sense REAL soon.

Ivan Reis can do no wrong. I love his close up scenes so much, but he is equally talented in bringing out the distance shots just as much. I couldn’t be happier with Mr. Finch’s cover art; if only it could be in 3D right? But the versatility Reis and company display in this issue is top notch. We are given dark scenes, bright scenes, fiery scenes, and watery scenes, all of which display a wide range of color and definition that keep the emotional impact strong and appropriate for the mood.

My Profoundly Climactic Conclusion
The art is amazing, the story is fun but leaves you wondering about the future of the DC Universe.

Ratings
Writing: 8
Themes: 6
Art: 10
Overall: 8 out of 10

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #3

Written by Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi

Art by Ivan Reis, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, Joe Prado

Inked by Vicente Cifuentes, David Beaty, Mark Irwin

Colored by MLT staff

Cover by David Finch, Scott Williams

Assistant Editor: Rex Ogle

Associate Editor: Adam Schlagam

Editor: Eddie Berganza

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

#3 is certainly a vast improvement in storytelling from what was presented two weeks ago.  The plot(s) seems to be pushing forward very nicely leaving us with a lot of mystery to swim around in our minds.  You can tell Geoff Johns has put a lot of work into this entire event, Blackest Night and Brightest Day combined that is.  But while we are only three issues into this series, and the different storylines are presenting new problems for the characters to deal with, there seems to be a lack of aggressive expansion within Brightest Day.

As I’m sure we all know, Aquaman is having issues with calling upon dead sea creatures instead of the living ones.  Likewise, Martian Manhunter is unable to locate a mysterious creature, Deadman still can’t figure out why his white ring is causing him so much confusion and frustration, and Ronnie and Jason are still at odds with one another.  While this is all great for creating tension and drama, I have to ask this one simple question…How is this different from the previous two chapters? 

The characters are dealing with these issues in new ways of course, but the problems they face have not built upon themselves and don’t give us anything new to work with.  The only thing new that helped to keep my interest was the skeletal portal the two hawks discovered and the relational development between the current and former Firestorms.  Other than that, absolutely nothing seems to lend itself to the momentum of the story.  The mystery was established in issue #1, and nothing more has been revealed since then.

This is mainly due to the complexity of the series.  The reason why Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher’s Batman films were as successful as they could have been is largely due to the multiple plot lines that never truly made sense, or were way over the top and never came together as one cohesive story.  The same thing is happening here as Johns and Tomasi are having to five completely separate story arcs into one comic bi-weekly story.  Perhaps this is why Blackest Night had separate character stories that were both apart of and segregated from the main title.  I’m sure both writers have an ultimate plan, but currently Brightest Day isn’t measuring up to its predecessor.

As I’m sure most of you know, my approval of toggling artists in the same comic has never been high, it just creates too many distractions for me.  However, DC has made some good choices in allowing their free lance artists some less stressful work assignments while keeping the art styles similar.  I actually didn’t realize that the styles were different until I finished the book and flipped to the front page and saw the multiple artists working on this issue.  If only this type of decision making could continue, I would be a happy camper.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

The art is what’s winning me over here.  I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone except for those who appreciate good artwork.  Johns and Tomasi, I’m sure, are faced with writing this incredibly epic story while struggling with the decisions of the DC hierarchs.

Writing: 5

Themes: 0

Art: 10

Overall: 5 out of 10 

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #2

Book Information

Written by Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi

Penciled by Scott Clark, Joe Prado

Colored by Aspen MLT

Inked by David Beaty

Lettered by Rob Clark Jr.

Cover by David Finch, Scott Williams

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

Thank you Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi, David Finch and Scott Clark for letting me know exactly who the focal point of this issue is.  I can only imagine what new realizations Aquaman will have about his unexplained connection with dead sea creatures.  Just look at that cover, it screams a mighty echo to its readers; it calls out to their notion of intrigue and excitement with the mystery revolving around Aquaman!  Oh what a joyful time, to know that DC has thought ahead so well that they know exactly how to make their loyal fans want more!  DC is a master at making covers that truly define the essence of a story and how it relates to the coming events. Let’s turn to the first page and find out what our King of the sea has to discover.

Let’s see, oh hears the first page…

Oh well, it’s just the start. Let’s see, hhmmm, oh yes here we go…

No, that wasn’t what I was looking for, hold on let’s keep looking, maybe here?

Damn, maybe if I continue on…

Ok, what the hell?  Where is the story involving Aquaman as the cover suggests?  Oh, here we go.

Wait…that’s it?

Yes indeed.  DC Comics brings us one of the best forms of false advertising.  All you have to do is stick a popular hero on the front cover of a highly anticipated comic that will excite readers about the story so much that they won’t be able to contain themselves!  The next step (and this is the best part) is to put that hero in only one panel of the book and call it good!  DC makes no mistakes right?

Ok, on a serious note, I do find it a little annoying when comics print a cover that has nothing to do with what’s inside.  The story focuses all of its energy on pushing forward with Martian Manhunter’s story (which seems to do very little in helping this issue’s over arching theme) and a mysteriously rampaging, murderous wife.  I understand the necessity of toggling back and forth to each character’s story, but I see no central focus.  Brightest Day seems to have taken a huge step backward into more of a bloody horror story than an intelligently written thriller comic like it started out as.  Is this what Johns is going for?  I’m not sure I approve.  I’ll keep following this series but I certainly hope we don’t get anymore Brightest Day’s like this one.

I love the art as a whole but would love to have Ivan Reis do everything.  The last two page spread of this issue is nothing short of spectacular.  As idiotic as I find having the Anti-Monitor back so soon, and in this story, I must say that is an impressive piece of work.  It only goes to show you that even a poorly written comic can still have its good points.

My Profoundly Climactic Conclusion

Maybe I’m being harsh and allowing my pre-conceived notions about Brightest Day to dictate my reaction to #2, but I’m having trouble accepting this issue as a satisfactory addition to the series.  Johns and Tomasi have set such an amazing precedent with Blackest Night that to have something like this really detracts from the story.  Everything was scrambled, unfocused and too concerned with bringing in that damned Anti-Monitor.  Ugh!

Ratings

Writing: 2

Themes: 1

Art: 9

Overall: 4 out of 10 stars