Brightest Day #0 – Review

By: Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi (writers), Fernando Pasarin (penciller), Fernando Pasarin, John Dell, Cam Smith, Prentis Rollins, Dexter Vines and Art Thibert (inkers)

The Story: In Blackest Night #8, Aquaman, the Reverse-Flash, Captain Boomerang, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Deadman and others (12 in all) were resurrected. They were resurrected for a reason. The mystery of Brightest Day starts now.

What’s Good: First of all, the art was great. The images are crisp, clear and the story, even in its most crowded moments, is propelled by the art. Pasarin and his army of inkers have chosen dramatic camera angles and found the dynamism in each of the characters, even when they are standing still. Some particular points that really drove this home for me was the dead bird sequence on the first page, Boston Brand’s shattering of the gravestone, the juxtaposition of Ronnie and Jason at the funeral, and the incredible eyecandy of the green lanterns’ trip to Mars. Last bit on the art: I *loved* the appearance of the Flash and the image of him walking through a wall! The artists have created a textured world that makes you want to pore over the art again and again.

Johns and Tomasi have also delivered some poignant writing. They have made a mood come to life with the dead bird sequence, Boston Brand’s miserable musings, Captain Boomerang’s conversation with the Flash and especially the moments between Hawkman and Hawkgirl, the eternal lovers. This book is filled with moments of deep emotion: gratitude, love, guilt and pain.

What’s Not So Good: On the art, the facial expressions were a bit dodgy at times and brilliant in others. It was obvious that a platoon of inkers worked on this book. Check out the difference in sensitivity and expression on Jade’s face compared to Boston Brand’s on page 3. That’s a lot of change for one book and it detracted a bit from my reading. The editor should probably pick a single, solid inker and introduce more artistic consistency.

Conclusion: An issue #0 is a prologue. It has to lay the groundwork to effectively launch the first issue. You don’t always need one, if the plot is more compelling, but I think DC made the right choice in posing the major event question in this issue. I’ll be around for this series and probably most of the cross-overs to see why these twelve were resurrected.

Grade: B+

-DS Arsenault