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Saturday, June 05, 2010

Brightest Day #3 - Aug. 2010

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Comics Weekend "Revelations" by Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, Ivan Reis, Pat Gleason, and more.

This issue of Brightest Day picks up right where the last one left off, with Boston "Deadman" Brand finding himself face-to-face with...The Anti-Monitor!:
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After a brief battle (where Boston tries to learn how to control his White Lantern ring), we cut to Pittsburgh, where Ronnie Raymond, aka half of Firestorm, is recuperating in a hospital after being separated by the Atom.

Then, "somewhere in the North Atlantic":

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...following this is Martian Manhunter investigating the series of grisly murders that have been occurring (and doing a tiny mindwipe on the sole witness to the last one, a dog, a little touch I really liked). After that, we find Hawkman and Hawkgirl going after the villainous Hath-Set, who has managed to find the bones of all of the Hawks' previous lives!

To be continued!


After last issue's super-brief appearance, its great to see Aquaman and Mera get more to do this time.

And personally, I'm thrilled with Arthur's, "No, I'm not going back to Atlantis" line. I've always felt that Aquaman's problems with Atlantis have been more of a bug than a feature to the character, making him less of a superhero and more a character in a waterlogged soap opera.

I'm hoping that one piece of dialogue means that writer Geoff Johns, and DC in general, intend to make Aquaman more of a classic superhero. I think Step 1 in that direction is downgrading Atlantis' presence in any future Aquaman series. We'll see!

12 comments:

Airship Over Water said...

You know, I never thought Atlantis was such a negative aspect to the character, but now that you metnio it -- it really is.

It's cool that it exists, and it's cool that it has history, but the ocean is already so much more interesting without having an entire civilization engaging in politics and other stuff.

I really liked this issue because of the Aquaman bits. Seeing he and Mera stand alone on a shore with the setting sun behind them. It's just cool to see them rekindling their love -- with absolutely no one else.

bribabylk said...

I really like that cover; it's always fun to see the Hawks grouped with Aquaman and Mera.

Dennis Doucette said...

I only have one problem with Aquamans outfit and its that damn belt. Cant it just be a regular straight belt... I like how Fitch draws it on the cover...

Joe Slab said...

I am all over Brightest Day for obvious reasons but am having trouble adjusting to the pacing of a 22 page bi-weekly book...
I feel like I'm being spoon fed when what I really want is a huge buffet!

That being said, the cover to issue #3 is AWESOME and there are wallpaper downloads of it on the DC Comics Brightest Day site.

Any doubts about the prominence of Aquaman and Mera's role in the DCU should be put to rest after seeing Finch's portrayal here :)

Wings1295 said...

Love it! Love them giving Atlantis the boot, it is about time!

And also love them reaffirming their commitment to each other. They don't need her dimension, his old city, nothing but the two of them.

Hope it all goes well for these two, in the end.

Randy said...

I've wanted to see Aquaman say this about Atlantis for a long, long time.

rob! said...

As I wrote on the Shrine's FB page, I don't hate the Atlantis concept, and I think its been the basis of a lot of great Aquaman stories.

I just think that if you're trying to establish Aquaman as more of a superhero in the Superman/Batman/Flash mold (read: successful in terms of long term sales) you need to get him away from this very sci-fi/fantasy-heavy setting, where he only meets people like himself.

Better to put him more on land, where his amazing powers stand out and make him that much more impressive. Keeping Aquaman in Atlantis all the time is, to me, like only doing Superman stories set on Krypton.

Shellhead said...

Atlantis has its place, but for now, I'm in favor of keeping Aquaman "freelance" until he properly re-establishes himself in the DC universe. Don't have a problem with the new belt, but the turtleneck is starting to bug me. But doesn't our boy look GREAT? Awesome art for a bi-weekly series thus far. Hope they can keep it up.

Anonymous said...

Ivan Reis became one of my favorite artists ever since I saw his work in Green Lantern. Having him and Mega-writer Geoff Johns working on Aquaman is basically a dream come true for me.

I love Atlantis. Always have.... Peter David's Ancient Atlantis, that is! Every other incarnation has been horribly mishandled.

This version of Aquaman doesn't really fit in Atlantis, and I hope he stays away from it for good. I'd love to see someone come up with a new base of operations for Aquaman, perhaps a more earthly-city, but one that is partially submerged (kind of like New venice from the Shark Man comics). Every hero has to have a city to protect and I think it's the perfect chance for something like that!

Kachi said...

I have an Aquaman-related question and I didn't really know where to go... Does Mera have a maiden name?

(I'm doing this dorky art project of drawing DC characters as high school students, so Mera can't have Arthur's last name... I've been to a few sites and they don't really have much information on her...)

Anonymous said...

@Kachi: Nope, Mera doesn't have a maiden name...and she doesn't do Mera Curry either. She's just plain Mera. No last name of any sort! =)

HollyH said...

*laughs* You know, I've been thinking that I specifically really LIKE the high collar on this costume!