By: Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi (writers), Ivan Reis, Aridan Syaf and Joe Prado (artists), Vicente Cifuentes (inker), Peter Steigerwald (colorist)
The Story: Aquaman and Mera are dealing with a BP-level oil rig disaster, but run into something really big from Mera’s past. Boston Brand is considering raising someone from the dead. He’s got some fair arguments on one side. His white ring has another idea. Hawkman and Hawkgirl have followed the tunnel of Hath-Set to another world…Hawkworld.
What’s Good: Everything between the covers. And the cover. First of all, the art in this book is beautiful. The faces are expressive, the poses and figure heroic, the layouts dynamic (without losing any understanding in the turbulent action), the dangers menacing and the color work brilliant. This art team turned Aquaman into a warrior bad-ass. Check him out at the bottom of page 3 as he gets called out. He’s seriously pissed and somebody’s gonna get it. And on page 8, they get it. Too bad they’re bad-asses too. In terms of textured art (which I love), take a look at the fingers around Aquaman’s neck, Mera’s hard-water constructs and the scratches on the figures and the environment. This is a world that is lived in, that is getting used and bruised and the artists are showing it. Steigerwald’s coloring really sets off the scenes, as the different settings are done with different palettes that change the mood as Johns and Tomasi move us from scene to scene.
On writing, it’s no surprise that Johns and Tomasi have delivered their typically dramatic and tense Act II problems for our favorite resurrected heroes. And they managed different moods as well, among different scenes. The Aquaman/Mera scenes were action-packed with a summer block-buster feel. The Hawkman/Hawkgirl scenes were poignant without getting sentimental, until everything was overrun by a wave of brutality. The Boston Brand/Hawk/Dove scenes were spooky and metaphysically, cosmically mysterious in an “Oh crap!” sort of way. It takes writers who know what they are doing to pull off different moods like that.
What’s Not So Good: Honestly, the art was inviting, the action moment-to-moment and the characters engaging.
Conclusion: Comic book readers have a lot of choices. Some other publishers are doing great things with different themes. In Brightest Day, DC has gotten to the core of the superhero adventures theme. This is a pure superhero adventure read and if superheroes are why you’re in the genre, you should be picking up Brightest Day.
Grade: A-
-DS Arsenault
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Conclusion