By: Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi (writrs), Ivan Reis, Pat Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark and Joe Prado (artists), Vicente Cifuentes, Mark Irwin, Oclair Albert, and David Beatty (inkers)
The Story: The issue opens with Green Lantern and Star Sapphire with Sinestro, trying to figuree out the white lantern. At the same time, Boston Brand is trying to figure out his own predicament. Why does he have a white ring? What force keeps him invisible and moving from trouble to trouble? Also, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Hawkwoman, and Aquaman and Mera all have weird things happen to them, creepy things reminiscent of blackest night.
What’s Good: Johns and Tomasi have us on the trail of a mystery. The twelve resurrectees – why were they resurrected? Why no one else? Who will be the one to claim the white lantern? Why is Boston Brand, alone among the resurrectees, wearing a white ring? And what is the relationship of these resurectees to the creepiness of the blackest night? Johns and Tomasi approach this with tight writing and crisp, natural dialogue.
The art team delivers some brilliant landscapes (you’ve got to see the mountain of ice being dropped on Mars), some great power effects (check out the white lantern versus the power of Green Lantern), some evocative expressions (see Mera and Aquaman when they discover he can summon dead sea animals), and dynamic action (Hawkman kicking ass and taking names). The color work makes the panels jump out and heightens to moods of mystery with darkness, blazing day and hidden shadows.
What’s Not So Good: On writing, I was surprised that this issue came off as a bit episodic. I know this series is going to be held together by the questions I posed above, but this issue didn’t make the case that it is a cohesive story yet. The characters are on the move and asking questions, but it felt like a bunch of different stories because none of their actions seemed to affect each other. Johns and Tomasi didn’t wow me with the story, because it seems we’re still in build-up mode. Oh well. I’ve said before that it takes a long time for Johns to tell a story, but that it’s worth the wait. So I’ll wait.
On art, there were some strong moments, but also some disconcerting gear shifts. Check out the credits. There are five artists and four inkers. This meant that, although individually, the artists and inkers have styles and skills good enough to tell this story, their mixing of efforts led to a product that wasn’t visually cohesive. This detracted from the reading experience as well.
Conclusion: The mystery questions are strong enough to propel the Brightest Day event, but I’m wondering if the writers and artists have enough time to do their work right. Some pinch-hitting seems to have been going on here and that made this issue an average read.
Grade: C
-DS Arsenault
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Conclusion