Brightest Day #19 Review

Deadman demands to know the reason behind the deaths of the Hawks, and Aquaman tries to head off an invasion of the surface world.

Written by: Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi
Art by: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, & Rob Hunter
Color by: Peter Steigerwald
Letters by: Rob Clark Jr.
Cover by: David Finch, Scott Williams & Steigerwald
Publisher: DC Comics

The issue opens with Boston Brand, just after the death of the Hawks in the last issue. He lashes out at the White Lantern Entity, demanding to know what purpose their deaths caused. The answers he receives are cryptic – but you get a general idea that it is supposed to be part of a long-term plan to save the Earth’s “soul.” We also learn that Boston Brand’s love of life is supplying the entity with power. The narrative then shifts to the Atlantic Ocean. Aquaman and Aqualad talk about his ability to control only dead animals, and race to prevent Siren from landing her army on the surface and attacking. They arrive just ahead of Siren’s army, and fight to defend the civilians, until Black Manta joins the fray, and Aquaman is forced to endure a familiar condition at his hands…

After blowing up the Hawks, this issue is completely anticlimactic. The ending is something of an oomph, but it feels more like a gimmick than serious development. But then, maybe this series is all about restoring the status quo? Something of a reboot? Who’s to say. There’s some potential value here, but this issue felt like a holding pattern. We got a little action at the end when things picked up, and a bit of exposition between the White Lantern and Deadman at the beginning was interesting, but that was kind of it.

I appreciate a good mystery. And the mystery behind what the White Lantern is doing and why has potential. But at this point in the series, we should be more clued in about what impact the actions of the resurrected will have. To still get “wait and see” at this point in the series is a little iffy. And launching Aquawar, we aren’t getting anything we haven’t seen before. Something’s happened to Geoff Johns over the past couple years – I know he still has devout following, and his fans will argue with me, but this issue is a great example of how I perceive his work to be these days – a little dull with some heavy-handed violence and “major changes” thrown in just for the heck of it – because that is what has worked for him so well in the past. If you are still enjoying Johns’ work, you will get a lot more out of this issue than I did. In this case I can’t tell if it is Johns, or if it is the long-expected event fatigue setting in – when you are constantly exposed to “This will change EVERYTHING!” for so long, you eventually run out of good ideas and everything just feels so ho-hum. That’s what this issue felt like.

The art was probably the best part of this issue. With the number of artists in the credits, I expected this issue to be a lot more chaotic. It was more consistent than I imagined it could be – and the key scenes looked solid. The art certainly helped the story along in this instance.

If you are digging Brightest Day so far, you will likely enjoy this issue as well (especially if you are an Aquaman fan). I wouldn’t recommend it for someone who isn’t really following this event though.

Story:

Art:

Overall:

Support cxPulp and buy Brightest Day Volume 1 from Amazon.com!