Brightest Day #5

Brightest Day continues to be a bit uneven. I'm just not that interested in most of the stories we're getting right now. Martian Manhunter and Firestorm, the two characters I'm most interested in, are absent from this issue leaving the rest of the cast with a lot of pages, but not a lot to say.

Deadman, Hawk, and Dove hang out in a graveyard and try to resurrect the original Dove. When that doesn't work, they move onto the new (dead) Hawk. Whatever entity is powering the White Lantern ring starts asking Deadman just what he's doing.

Aquaman and Mera are trying to plug an oil spill (timely!) when some hard-water wielding folk show up to attack Aquaman. There is no sign of the dead sea animals or Black Manta, the two plot points we've seen so far for the Aqua-family. I'm moderately interested in this, mostly because I like Orin and Mera as a couple. I never like it when someone's power set becomes commonplace, though, so I'm worried about all these folks outshining Mera.

I love Hawkman. I love Hawkwoman. But I have no interest in the new, generic Hawkworld they find themselves in. The monsters alternate between looking silly and gross. I like Hawkman's casual bashing of those panther dudes, but they hardly seem tough enough to take out the Thanagarian heroes. I'm not feeling this storyline at all.

The art is once again a mixed bag. Some panels look impressive, mostly the Aquaman work. The Hawkman sequences aren't anywhere near as pretty.

In all, this series isn't blowing me away like I thought it would. I think the most interesting storyline split off into the Generation Lost title. I mean, what is happening in this book that really matters?

Average