Brightest Day #24

Listen, anything that returns the Martian Manhunter to his normal status quo is ok by me, but this was on odd series. At no point throughout the book did I think the purpose for this title was to reintroduce Swamp Thing to the DCU. And heck, to make things even stranger, this isn't Alan Moore's Swampy. I've been reading those collections, and the core concept is that Swamp Thing is a tree that thinks its a man, but really, Alec Holland is dead. The Swamp Thing moving forward from Brightest Day actually is Alec Holland turned into a tree man.

The book makes a few other fairly obvious turns too. Deadman ends up... well, dead. That's honestly the only way the character could end up, although I do like that he seems to have maintained a bond with his gal pal Dove.

Hawkman is back to yelling and smashing, but Shiera is going to stay an air elemental? Why I don't see what good that does for either character.

Firestorm has a nice little plot that should require a mini-series to resolve. Somebody get Tony Bedard and Eddy Barrows on the line for a 6 part Firestorm series. (Any of the go-to DC teams will do!)

Martian Manhunter doesn't have anywhere to go, but he's got a smile on his face and I'd say he's ready to join either the JLA or JLI, whichever needs him more.

Aquaman also has a nice platform for a new book. I'm pretty optimistic, Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis have done a great job on the Aquaman chapters of this series.

The book ends with another "shocking" ending, the return of SPOILER ALERT (John Constantine). I always laugh that I'm not imprinted on DC right, because I'm not sure what the big deal is? I thought Constantine was a foul-mouthed Ennis-type from Vertigo? Was he ever in the DCU?

The art in this conclusion is pretty nice. There are a lot of splash pages, making this one quick read. At $4.99 I don't think I can say this is a good value. That shot of the big four popping out of Swampy's chest is pretty fun, though.

Fair

Brightest Day #23

My god, the sheer volume of civilian deaths in your average DC event is astounding. I mean, think about the last few years; you've got Imperiex, Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night, Monument Point, Prometheus' bombs, and now the world going mad and the slaughter in Star City. I mean, that's insane! The average life expectency must be tiny! (Marvel isn't innocent in this either, witness the mass carnage in Civil War and Siege.)

Anyway, I am a little surprised to see the big reveal for both the threat to life and the guardian of the white lantern. I mean, there wasn't really any use of these characters early in the series, so this is an interesting choice. I mean, I'm happy this character is back in the DCU, but a little more foreshadowing would have been nice.

I'm fine with the use of the DCU characters as new elementals of life, although some work better in this role than others. I have absolutely no idea what Captain Boomerang is doing, and why Hawk & Dove are still part of this is equally unclear to me. Should Osiris, Max Lord, and Jade be showing up next issue? I'd guess so.

The art is pretty strong in this issue, especially the segments by Ivan Reis. I love the Martian Manhunter/Earth elemental design. The stone body with a cloak of vegetation is awesome. Firestorm works well, as does Aquaman (check out the water trident!), but I thought the Hawks seem a bit silly as air elementals. They look too much like ghosts.

This whole series will be worth it if it puts all these great characters back in people's awareness, but man, the Hawks have taken a beating.

Brightest Day #22

Here we are, coming around to the home stretch. Firestorm never really grabbed me in this series, just when I'd start to care about him, he'd disappear for five or six issues. Now that the rest of the cast is dead, Firestorm can come back into the front of the title.

Firestorm bravely takes on the Anti-Monitor, Deathstorm, and the Black Lanterns, but it doesn't seem like he really has much of a chance (and that's right, he shouldn't). I love seeing the Anti-Montor's weird head, that guy NEVER takes off his helmet. He looks like a mix of a prune and Thanos.

I don't agree with the big-name Firestorm character who gets pasted here. I mean, of the four real choices, I guess it makes sense, but I'm going to miss what this character brings to the Firestorm matrix. Heck, the guy headlined his own series for a fair bit, and here he is turned into salt. At least he went down like a hero.

The art is decent, but Scott Clark is up against some tough competition, making Firestorm's chapters some of the weaker ones overall.

Average

Brightest Day #17

Will wonders never cease? This issue of Brightest Day actually focused on the worst storylines, and yet it was still entertaining. Deadman's go-nowhere plot was surprisingly heartwarming; I love the idea that the White Lantern battery is somehow powering up when Deadman helps people enjoy life. Very fun.

Firestorm arriving in the Anti-Matter universe is unexpected, but it might be cool to see more of the Qwardians. They've had a really rough run of it, especially if Deathstorm is lording it over them like all the other villains in the DCU have in the past. It's also good to get the reminder that the Firestorm duo's purpose is to protect the White Lantern entity. I had sort of forgotten what they're hanging around for.

And finally, the biggest surprise. There are a ton of pages dealing with the Hawk-plot, and they actually aren't bad! Hawkwoman's mother is upgraded into the new Predator, which seems like a good fit. I certainly couldn't remember her name before, but I think I can keep her straight as the new Predator. I also liked seeing Carol Ferris interact with the Hawks; they haven't had a lot of interaction that I can remember, but sometimes it's neat seeing these "friend of a friend" team-ups. (Maybe that should be a new series idea?)

The art is pretty solid throughout, with the Hawkman and Deadman segments being particularly well done. It's funny; when Hawkman smashes folks like he's meant to, he's still pretty awesome.

Fair

Brightest Day #16

Ah, I guess I got enough Martian Manhunter last issue. This issue keeps up the streak of improvement in the Brightest Day title. Aquaman gives Aqualad some background on his origins and ties to Mera's people, but there still isn't a lot to the new character. I don't know a lot about Mera, so maybe this fits in perfectly and Aqualad II will be a nice addition, but right now, what I like is how much he just wants to go back to his old life. I also notice that Aquaman is still calling dead creatures to help him; those electric eels didn't look so good.

The rest of the issue deals with Firestorm attempting to ratchet back his powers so he won't destroy the world. The JLA and JSA are trying to help, but Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch are a volatile combo, so things aren't looking good for a reconciliation. Meanwhile, Deathstorm is torturing Martin Stein and Jason's Dad, promising that he's going to kill off Firestorm in the most agonizing ways possible. Deathstorm is pretty easy to hate, but he's not quite as funny as he was during Blackest Night. I feel like Geoff Johns had his best dialogue for him in that title.

The art is pretty strong in this issue, with lots of goodness from Ivan Reis in the Aquaman pages. At this point, I do have to wonder if a slew of mini's about the different characters might have been easier to read. This jumping around is getting tedious. I'm also dreading a Hawkman issue in two weeks.

Fair

Brightest Day #12

When Brightest Day stars Martian Manhunter, I'm pretty much guaranteed to enjoy it. This issue has J'onn finally get facing down that gross, murdering green Martian from early in this series. Her name is D'Kay, and c'mon, when that is your name, you kind of have to end up evil, don't you?

D'Kay was a scientist on Mars who tried to cure any Martian who wasn't tied in to the telepathic collective, the only problem was that if she didn't cure her patients, they died in the attempt. The Martian authorities locked her up, then died, and she sat around for years before being pulled to Earth by Dr. Erdell. Then she lost herself as a human for years. This is all a long explanation and set up to explain why J'onn isn't the last green Martian anymore. There are some great moments as the two interact where D'Kay wants J'onn to accept her and start a new life on Mars with her, but J'onn is furious at her for being so evil and unrepentant. It's sad, J'onn has dreamed of finding another green for so long, and when he does, she's a maniac out to manipulate him.

There are a few nice moments with Firestorm going up against Deathstorm and the remaining Black Lanterns. I'm mostly intrigued with the idea that Firestorm is going to bring in the JLA. While I'm enjoying the featured time with this book's main star, I still think I'd like to see this book be a bit more of a spine in the DCU.

The art is always inconsistent in this title, and it is again here. I loved the Martian Manhunter sequences, but the others aren't quite as sharp.

Good

Brightest Day #11

My enjoyment of this title is in direct inverse to the amount of hawk-material it contains. That is, I hate every issue that the Hawks appear in. This issue focues on Aquaman and Firestorm, so naturally I found myself pretty interested. Firestorm has the big plot points, as that evil voice gets a new body in Deathstorm, and he's not alone. He wants to kill the universe and he's going to need help; he creates Black Lanterns for each of the returned characters. It's probably time for some greater plot involving that lantern to really kick off, and a small army of Black Lanterns should help, especially since it seems Deathstorm can pick up the White Lantern.

Aquaman has a nice fight with Black Manta, and those two always mix up well. They really hate each other, and while Aquaman does control himself a bit better than he normally does, it was still satisfying seeing these guys battle.

The art is stronger in the Ivan Reis-drawn Aquaman sections, but Firestorm's portions were fine. I do like seeing a limited number of Black Lanterns, it makes them a lot scarier.

Fair

Brightest Day #10

Geoff Johns does a much better job this issue (I'm now sure that Johns is handling Hawkman, Aquaman, and Firestorm). With the weak link of Hawkman's terrible new origin taken out, I'm interested in the happenings here. Let's just skip to these guys and Martian Manhunter, and I think this is a solid little series.

Professor Stein provides an updated origin for Firestorm, explaining that the Matrix is actually the force behind the Big Bang. So now that it is tied between Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch, they have the potential to blow up the universe and start over at any time. When they are happy, things are fine, but when they start getting "fired up," they risk blowing up everything. This is a little too cosmic for me, but the antagonist that's been egging the two on finally shows up, giving the story a boost. We knew Johns liked writing the evil Firestorm in Blackest Night, and now he can keep doing it with the newly formed Deathstorm. I'm fine with this split, giving Firestorm his own big bad makes a lot of sense.

Speaking of big bads, Black Manta shows up to try and snatch his son Aqualad. I was wincing through the entire sequence because I was sure that Aqualad's Step-Dad was going to die to give his son a decent origin. There are a couple close calls before the best one, when Aquaman shows up and reminds Manta just who's the top dog (or big fish). It's a cool scene, I really like seeing Aquaman in such a strong role.

The art is fairly solid, although the Aquaman sequences are definitely stronger than the Firestorm ones. I had to go with the Firestorm cover, he's a new favorite of mine, but that Aqualad cover is pretty nice too.

Good

Brightest Day #6

Huh, so all Brightest Day had to do was focus on the good storylines, and suddenly the book gets a lot better! Raise your hand if you are surprised.

This issue, the focus returns to Martian Manhunter. In addition to being my favorite hero in the DCU (maybe overall) his storyline has been one of the more interesting ones. There is some sort of gross, green-Martian killer out there, and J'onn is on the trail. The plot actually moves along nicely, with J'onn finding out that something about his touch is killing "the green." I agree with the BleedingCool rumor, I think Swamp Thing is on the way. J'onn also gets to show off what a nice guy he is, as he interacts with Oracle, Superboy, and heads off to check on Miss Martian. I'm looking forward to seeing him interact with his young namesake in the next few issues.

The Deadman story is still sort of dragging, having DM need a cheeseburger isn't exactly high drama.

I'm enjoying the Aquaman/Mera developments, because I think Geoff Johns is mostly adding and enriching their past, not really changing anything. I'm fine with the deep sea couple getting a few more rogues added to their normal guest list.

I really like the Firestorm story. Jason and Ronnie are so different, but at their core they are both good guys. They deserve a chance to try and make their weird bond work.

The art in this issue was solid. The Firestorm sequence had fantastic detail, especially on Jason Rusch. I also loved how casual Martian Manhunter looks most of the time. For the last survivor of his race, he's a laid back dude!

Good

Brightest Day #4

I don't know what it is, I'm just not feeling Brightest Day that much. It doesn't help that this issue doesn't have any focus on my buddy Martian Manhunter. His segments have been my favorites so far, so him sitting out this issue does dampen my excitement.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl walk through some weird portal of bones built by their immortal foe Hath-Set, only to find themselves on Pandora. I hope they get to fly around with those weird bird things with. How long till they meet the Navii?

There are some weird new aqua-people using hard water weapons, so I assume they are related to Mera somehow, but I have no idea who any of those folks are. The new Aqualad shows up briefly too, but he doesn't know how to swim. Isn't that like a new Ghost Rider who doesn't know how to ride a bike?

Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm is having some weird stuff happen to him involving evil voices, salt, and beer. That's honestly all I can figure out right now.

Deadman bounces into Dove's bedroom, and it seems she and Hawk can both see him. I'm intrigued at the idea of Deadman traveling around resurrecting more heroes, but I'm pretty sure the original Dove isn't actually going to come back next issue.

The art is mixed. I wonder if the bi-weekly deadlines are already starting to press? Hawkman and Hawkgirl in particular didn't look as dynamic as they did in the early issues.

Fair

Brightest Day #3

This issue of Brightest Day really feels like a middle chapter. The heroes are all getting sorted out with their own issues and problems, and they haven't had enough time to really resolve anything. Deadman's confrontation with the Anti-Monitor is interesting, and I certainly have no idea who the fairly conversational voice speaking through the ring could be. Ronnie Raymond, if he was in control while he was a Black Lantern, that might make things very awkward for Firestorm going forward. Martian Manhunter is the only returnee who's acting totally like himself. I love the mix of kindness and determination in his every act. The world's saddest Aquaman is still calling dead sea animals to life, I feel as sad as Mera about it. The Hawks are in trouble too, but things seem to be moving along quickly in their story. They may actually deal with Hath-Set pretty soon.

This book has a tremendous cast and I really am interested to see what happens to these guys. I still think it is ridiculous that there is a panel of a creature skinning a teenage girl while her younger brother's body is lying there impaled by drumsticks, but clearly my understanding of what is appropriate and necessary in a comic is different than what DC thinks.

I'm still chuckling about that orca chomping Aquaman's head. It's just so silly, I can't get any dramatic tension from something that ridiculous. I am entertained though!

I think the artists might already be feeling some pressure; the art in this looks a bit more rushed than the first two issues. The story telling is still clear enough, but the book isn't as stunning now as it was a couple issues ago. I also find it odd that David Finch decided to draw the core cast as little people on the cover. It's an unusual artistic choice.

Fair

Fury of Firestorm #8-15 (1982)

I'm continuing to "burn" through these old Firestorm back issues, and this time they're a bit more of a mixed bag.

The first villain for Ronnie Raymond in this batch was Typhoon. I've seen Typhoon before in other titles, but I liked just how messed up his origin is. This poor guy got lost under the sea in a submersible lab where he was transformed into an elemental. After returning to find he had been replaced as a husband and a father, he seeks revenge on those he blames for destroying his old life, including Dr. Martin Stein. There are some great sequences as the city is almost drowning (handled in a much better fashion than Ultimatum, I might add).

Next up was the Hyena, who happens to be the horribly-named sister of Ronnie's special lady Doreen. Summer Day suffers from the curse of Hyena, essentially a werewolf deal. She's spread the curse to her friend and doctor, and there is some mistaken identity hijinks as Firestorm attempts to halt the curse. He eventually stops the two Hyenas but not before he is infected with the curse himself. Ronnie and Dr. Stein can't split out of their now-furry form, so they head out to the Congo where a, ah, fairly stereotypical witch-doctor frees them from their curse.

The last couple issues in this stack have Dr. Stein's old assistant Multiplex return to torment Firestorm in an attempt to re-create the original accident that created Firestorm. I love the weird mix of origins with Firestorm, he's part Hulk and part Spider-Man. Multiplex is a kind of weakling, but since his genius is the real threat, the dupe-creating power is just kind of a bonus.

There's also a great fist-fight with nerd-rival Cliff Carmichael. Just like Peter Parker, Cliff is tougher than he appears and beats the snot out of Ronnie (although Ronnie was a tad out of it from other factors). I love that a guy so good in his heroic form has so many problems in his civilian ID.

The bulk of the art is by George Broderick, who has a nice classic style. I again find myself digging old 80s DC, an era I had written off. While I liked the first 7 issues more than this last stack, this is certainly good enough to keep me reading (and since I already bought through issue 60, I have to read them!) Any suggestions on other 80s DC books that hold up this well?

Fair

Justice League of America #35

I don't know if Len Wein's previous fill-in issue was written in a rush or what, but this held up much better than his Starbreaker origin story.

The issue opens with the Royal Flush Gang seizing a casino full of hostages to set up a fairly complicated scheme. The RFG are as big a group of jobbers (wrestling term for guys set up to lose) as you'll find in comics, so they aren't really much better than generic ninjas, robots, or zombies for the heroes to knock around. This time it is a bit different, since the JLA has essentially disbanded leaving a group of jobber heroes as the only folks answering a JLA distress call. Our team is Vixen, Firestorm, Dr. Light II, Red Tornado, and Plastic Man. Not exactly heavy-hitters. By putting such low-rent heroes up against low-rent villains, I actually thought the fight could go either way. (I'm not saying I don't like those heroes. I especially dig Firestorm and Dr. Light II, but they aren't exactly winners). The conflict ends up being pretty entertaining, if generic. I was happy to see the "surprise" villains revealed at the end. They make sense for a Las Vegas-style heist story, so I'll definitely be picking up the rest of Wein's issues. This is by no means a classic, but it is solid super-hero action featuring a bunch of folks who don't usually get the limelight.

Tom Derenick's professional pencils have never looked as astounding as his pin-up commission work, but he is a solid storyteller. I noticed he mixed up his facial expressions more than usual in this one. I wonder if this was a rush job, since Derenick wasn't solicited as the artist.

Fair

Fury of Firestorm #1-7 (1982)

I've recently been reading Essential Spider-Man and I was surprised how much I really found myself digging Gerry Conway's work. After being pleasantly surprised by Last Days of Animal Man #1, I decided to hunt down Conway's early Fury of Firestorm work at my local bookstore. I'm glad I did.

I had always figured Firestorm was a generic hero with a neat look, and with my only real exposure to Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein's fused hero being in John Ostrander's "fire elemental" days, I figured it was a boring concept. (Those aren't Ostrander and Mandrake's best comics.) What these early Firestorm books read like is a Spider-Man book if Peter Parker was carrying around Uncle Ben as a co-pilot. It's a great idea, seeing Ronnie Raymond's high school life, only Ronnie is a basketball jock getting the girls and his rival Carmichal is the brainiac who is constantly outsmarting and embarrassing him. It's a great twist on the normal outsider role in comics and it is one of my favorite parts of the book. Just as in early Spider-Man, the high school setting is integral to the story, with the first villain being Ronnie's transformed teacher who becomes Black Bison.

The other half of the Firestorm persona is Martin Stein, a physicist who sort of floats along with Ronnie, giving advice and appearing in panels as a floating transparent head. One of the neatest aspects of this relationship is that Stein can't remember most of what happens as Firestorm, but while he's there he can assist Ronnie with everything from life lessons to scientific observations. As they each disappear from wherever they were whenever the other wants to become Firestorm, there are some nice secret identity predicaments set up in these early issues, especially when Stein's absenteism becomes an issue at his job. After Black Bison, Killer Frost shows up to make things difficult for Firestorm, and he has to fight the JLA to get them to give him a chance to beat his own foe. After bringing in the Piper and Pan, we have a decent rogues gallery and some nice interpersonal drama with Ronnie caught between his "normal" girlfriend and the woman we know will become Firestom's lady; Firehawk.

Pat Broderick's detailed pencils work wonderfully with the subject matter. He has a talent for drawing faces, and I was surprised at how great his work looks with the Firestorm costume. I remember him from Captain Atom and Green Lantern, but these might be his best pencils.

I just picked up issues 8-15 (and cleaned out the bookstore) so after that, I'll have to hit a con or something to finish Conway's run.

Good