Comics' hottest writer Geoff Johns (JUSTICE LEAGUE, GREEN LANTERN joins with Peter J. Tomasi (BATMAN & ROBIN) in the follow-up to The New York Times best-selling graphic novel, BLACKEST NIGHT, BRIGHTEST DAY. Once dead, twelve heroes and villains were resurrected by a white light expelled deep within the center of the earth. Now, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Deadman, Jade, Osiris, Hawk, Captain Boomerang and Zoom must discover the mysterious reason behind their return and uncover the secret that binds them all. Featuring work from some of the hottest artists in the industry, including Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Fernando Pasarin and Ardian Syaf, the entire BRIGHTEST DAY storyline is now available in one complete hardcover omnibus.
Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.
His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.
Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.
I thought Mr. Johns did a great job expanding the Green Lantern Universe into the emotional spectrum. The Darkest Night saga was good (black lanterns = death), if not a little spread out too much (every title in DC had to be tied in? C'mon.) and so I thought The Brightest Day would be worth a read. Um, not so much.
My complaint that The Darkest Night had too much going on reared it's ugly head here, too. This collection is the "Main" story, but I missed so much by not reading the other titles. The White Lantern (white = life) brings back 12 heroes and villains to help find a new protector of life. But some of the 12 are barely mentioned. This plot focuses on Deadman mostly, which big swaths dedicated to Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Hawkman/Girl. I really do not like Martian Manhunter, so that wasn't fun for me. What's more, in a storyline born out of the Green Lantern mythos, they appeared in a page, maybe two. Very disappointing.
All that said, the twist at the end was actually really good. I was surprised but it didn't seem like a stretch. I would have preferred Mr. Johns got to that point faster.
Remember Darkest Night?? Weeeeell, say hello to Brightest Day!! I don't even know what to say here.. This might well be the best thing EVER from DC .. COIE and DN were already amazing, but this one beats 'em all! Although I have to be honest, the start is kind of confusing: you see all these different characters coming back, good AND bad, and you start wondering what is happening to all of them - Especially Boston Brand, aka Deadman. He gets shoved around by the white light and voice more than a volleyball gets hit during a match. But... with all the stories progressing - Aquaman, J'onn, Hawkman,... - the mission is becoming more and more clear: Earth has to be saved by all means necessary!!
But I won't go into detail too much, go check it out yourselves!! ;) Go get this omnibus and experience the best DC has to offer (imo)!!
Some of it definitely reached 4 stars territory but for the most part it was pretty mid 3. I really liked the focus on these characters, despite there being 12 revived by the white lantern this story is distinctly about Deadman, Firestorm, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman. Jumping back and forth between each character and each artist working on specific arcs gave it a nice diversity. I also liked that towards the end each character would get an entire issue that's just about them. However some of the dialogue is very jarring, I get that there's a lot needed to be explained but the development just isn't that interesting. I thought it even contradicted itself at times particularly everything with why Hawk (not to be confused with Hawkman) was brought back to life. The series had a really good team of cover artists but when it came to the interiors Ivan Reis on Aquaman was the clear highlight and it made me want to get the New 52 Aquaman. Overall it was a fun read and it adds some interesting lore, but it's kinda longer than it needs to be so only read it if you're really curious or like these characters.
Does not compare favorably to Sinestro Corps War or Blackest Night. Some neat stuff, but overall it takes far too long to get to the main event...which is cool, but it still feels like waiting 4 hours in line for a 90 second ride at the amusement park. I wonder if I would like the smaller collection better...
Well that petered out fast… not a single one of the threads in this massive crossover ended on the same page. I suspected it for a long time, but the last few issues (in Brightest Day, Generation Lost, and Green Arrow) made very clear that this event was essentially just a kicking off point for the last arcs before the end of Flashpoint.
If it illustrates my point any: • The Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Indigo Lanterns do not interact with any of the risen in any substantial way, nor does Larfleeze. Their story is essentially a standalone prelude to War of the Green Lanterns. And the Star Sapphires are only present because of their lore connections to Carter and Shiera. • Max Lord's assignment has absolutely nothing to do with Swamp Thing, leaving Generation Lost as a standalone prelude to the new JLI series. • Aquaman and Martian Manhunter are main characters in the maxiseries, but they both just get zapped out of their stories to join the fight against Swamp Thing. Why do neither of them care? I can't possibly read everything that follows this event, so why can't they give some resolution for Aqualad or Hawkgirl? • Osiris and Reverse Flash legitimately have nothing to do with anyone else. I can hardly remember what role they played because it was so incidental. • There's an Atom miniseries that was billed as part of the crossover but has absolutely no connection to anything. Ray appears in a few other places, especially helping Professor Stein with the Firestorm matrix, but nothing is acknowledged about his conflict with the colony, nor is Hawkman's role in helping Ray.
Also, the Constantine aftermath miniseries is genuinely horrible. It gives no insight into Swamp Thing's place in the big picture, has no resolution, and makes fools of Batman and Superman just to give Constantine a "cool guy" persona. Unfortunately disappointed in how this event chose to tie up loose ends (i.e. not at all).
Y tras La Noche más Oscura... llega El Día más Brillante. Argumento: "Al final de Blackest Night, 12 héroes y villanos fueron resucitados por algún motivo desconocido. Los eventos de Brightest Day siguen las hazañas de estos héroes y villanos mientras intentan descubrir el secreto detrás de su resurrección".
Weird event. Mostly felt like a distraction from the Green Lantern stuff that I cared more about. I do love Deadman being front and center! But ultimately Shiera over Kendra frustrates me, and several of these plotlines (Firestorm, Aquaman) were totally dull to me. It's okay! There's some good art. I didn't love it though.
Loved all of it. White lantern entity resurrects 12 heroes and villains and they have to complete their life mission so that they’re life force can be returned to the earth in an effort to defeat what is essentially a black lantern swamp thing
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Being a follow-up to Blackest Night, this is severely disappointing. Thought the Lanterns would be the center focus of this but that's not the case at all.
There’s something great about picking up a heavy, chunky volume and knowing that there will be lots of material to read. The scope here is epic (following from the also grandiose in vision Blackest Night), and while the story overall isn’t the tightest (it did meander in more than one occasion), it was more than made up by the sheer ambition of the volume overall (whatever one thinks of the ultimate ending).
Tho the Brughtest Day doesn´t shine as strong as the Darkness in Blackest Night. This is still a fine series for characters like Deadman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and Hawkman and Hawkgirl. My liking for Deadman came through in this book as well as the superb artwork by Ivan Reis.
Went in thinking it would be just okay but it was phenomenal. Ended abruptly due to editorial mandate of New 52 but still satisfying. A quick read with great art.