Review: Brightest Day

            After the universe altering events of the Green Lantern-centric Blackest Night, numerous heroes from the DC Universe were resurrected and tasked with missions by a mysterious white light in order to 'earn' their existence. This follow-up was known as Brightest Day.

            Brightest Day was an ambitious series that spanned the course of 24 issues and focused on several characters in vaguely interrelated narratives. At its core, it was an anthology run that retold and rewrote the origins of its protagonists. Blackest Night’s runaway star Mera received the most notable overhaul. The revelations made about her past as a sleeper agent in the Atlantean ranks is unique and her decision to abandon her mission for the man she loves is especially touching. As one would expect, her past comes back to haunt her and is largely responsible for the conflict within Aquaman’s narrative. Though she may only play a supporting role in Brightest Day, Mera is presented as tremendously powerful and she steals every single scene she’s in. Aquaman himself is written spectacularly and the introduction of the new Aqualad is nothing short of genius. As such, Aquaman’s story within the anthology becomes the most captivating of the bunch. Hawkman and Hawkgirl’s narrative also stands out. Their plot revolves around the curse that the villainous Hath-Set placed on them eons ago and deals with the notions of everlasting love as well as with tireless ambition. Hawkgirl comes across as a true warrior with a spit-fire temper but there’s also a remarkable softness about her that endears her to the reader. Deadman, meanwhile, operates as the link between each character involved in Brightest Day. He is the emotional centre of the series and becomes someone the reader invests in. His blossoming relationship to Dove feels organic while his sympathy for others is inspiring.

            Unfortunately, not all the narratives in Brightest Day are created equal. Firestorm and Martian Manhunter’s stories are tedious and dry. Firestorm’s requires the reader to have a basic understanding of the character's history in order to attach emotionally to him while Martian Manhunter’s fails to really be as captivating as the others. The issues focused largely on these two often leave the reader with the following question – when is Aquaman going to show up again? Another point of contention is a scene in which Batman is declared the greatest and most intelligent hero by Deadman. He may be iconic and have a mindless horde of fans but to decide he’s the best is a bit absurd especially coming from writer Geoff Johns who spent his entire run on Green Lantern trying to convince readers that Hal Jordan is the greatest hero of all-time. Being the 'greatest' is a fairly subjective notion especially with fictional characters but upon reading Brightest Day it's hard to imagine any male being the 'greatest' when it is the female characters who come across as the most interesting and exciting.

            With 24 issues to its series and a handful of characters to deal with, it’s hard to expect Brightest Day to be perfect. Given the anthology nature of the stories, some are inevitably more interesting than others. Nevertheless, there is some solid work done within the narratives and is worth the read if only to get to the parts with Aquaman and, of course, Mera.

Grade: B-