Brightest Day - Success or Fail? Your Final Thoughts

[El Sombrero]

This refers only to the main "Brightest Day" series, not the various series that launched with the "Brightest Day" banner or tie-ins.

Do you think Brightest Day was ultimately a success or a failure? And why?

I think this series had its fair share of cons but I will ultimately go "success."

The featured characters are definitely better off now than they were beforehand.

Aquaman has a ton of spotlight, a new apprentice, he's back with his wife, and they've set up a bunch of story avenues for his solo series (Black Manta and the Xebel gang, Aqualad, etc). I thought the "Aquawar" mini-storyline was a bit of a dud, and I kinda wish more of Aquaman's stuff happened underwater as opposed to on land, but I imagine most of his solo series will be underwater. Reis' art was gorgeous and in general I thought this segment was a success.

Firestorm started off and ended a bit weak but I thought the middle was strong. They got past the "Ronnie and Jason hate each other" stage, and these two guys developed some great chemistry while showing off some cool Firestorm abilities. I hope they continue to work with the Atom because I like him as a "teacher role" for them. I don't know why Professor Stein really had to die, but I guess they figured keeping him around makes Ronnie feel more like a kid, so I can understand that. I loved Deathstorm's first few appearances, but like Aquawar I thought the final Firestorm showdown in the anti-matter universe was a little anticlimactic. Also, they seemed to sorta transition from one "we're gonna die" plotline (the Firestorm matrix will destroy the universe) to another ("the Firestorm matrix will implode"), but that does set them up for future stories. Scott Clark killed it on the art (I mean that in a good way) and I think Firestorm is clearly better off than before BD. I hope they bring back Gehanna because that was another fairly pointless death, and I thought she helped add to Jason's character.

I did not like the Hawks' story. Definitely feels like beating a dead horse with how many times they have died and been reborn. They kept talking about "the curse" and "the curse is broken" and being together, then they are absorbed as elementals, then they are back, then Shiera is gone again...I think this story might have almost hurt them more than helped, because it's like a running joke now how many times they have died / failed. I never really got into this story, and I thought some potentially cool ideas (tying the Hawks into the Star Sapphires) were wasted.

I loved the Martian Manhunter story, as I thought it was written well and the art was very appropriate for a MM story (thoughtful yet weird). However, Jonn got by far the least exposure of the main characters, and he wasn't set up with any future storylines. He definitely seemed to be the "forgotten" character of this series. I wouldn't say he's any worse off after this series, but I think he's kinda stuck in neutral.

I did not like the Deadman story at all. I thought it had the worst writing of any of the storyilnes in BD and was just really contrived and hokey. I didn't like Boston's characterization, it didn't really feel true to the character and felt overly forced. I understand what Johns was trying to do but I just didn't like it. Deadman is better off now in terms of exposure but I find his character much less appealing after BD.

In terms of Swamp Thing, while yes, they did have a few teasers / hints along the way, his introduction felt extremely inorganic and forced. But, to play Devil's Advocate, it does sorta "make sense" in the comic-book-logic way that Johns set up. I think the "Protector of Earth" is a good role for him, and I think by making him actually Alec Holland now, they've struck a good balance between being able to use some of the Alan Moore influence, but clearly doing their own character here.

With John Constantine, similarly it feels very forced and "out of nowhere," but I really like that they brought him back, and de-aged at that. I don't expect to see him in the JLA any time soon but I think he'll be really fun for special appearances and in his own corner of the DCU.

In terms of the series as a whole, I thought the artists did a stellar job, and my MVP is Peter Steigerwald, who's colors really unified everything and made this book look absolutely gorgeous on a weekly basis. DC would be crazy to not offer this guy plenty more work in the future; he should be one of their top colorists alongside Alex Sinclair.

I can certainly understand why they decided to publish the book this way, as an anthology title; if they would have gone with individual miniseries, the book probably would have sold much worse (I can't see people buying MM and Deadman minis). However, it was a bit frustrating, as my enjoyment of the issues varied wildly. The Deadman-centric issues were awful and the Martian Manhunter issues were wonderful. The Aquaman issues felt like a big deal and the Hawkman issues felt like a mess, etc.

Too much violence in this series as a whole. I understand "Brightest Day" was by no means meant to reflect the tone or content of the book, but seeing innocent people get butchered in a meat shop, seeing a mom kill her family while playing Guitar Hero...really overdoing it. Even Swamp Thing killing those executives in the last issue felt out of character.

The big "fail" for me was the White Lantern and basically that entire "search for the Earth's protector" storyline. It was some of the most inorganic and deus ex machina type storytelling I've ever read. I just really don't know what Johns & Tomasi were thinking with some of the White Lantern's dialogue and the way they handled that aspect of the story.

So yeah, in the end I would have to give BD a "Success." It's definitely not an amazing achievement, but it looked great, most of the featured characters are much better off than they were beforehand, and the majority of the stories (Aquaman, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter) were good in my book. I don't think I would buy it all over again if I had the chance, but I thought it did more good than bad.

[Superbeast]

It sold well so yes. However considering Hawkgirl is dead... again... Firestorm is set to blow up and die... again... Deadman is dead... again... it seems like 1 step forward by bringing back Swamp Thing and John Constantine and two steps back by screwing up the status quo of characters again already, change for the sake of it rather than with purpose.

I also think BD basically was concieved as a GL tie in and it's became something else entirely which has actually made it's purpose all the more confusing given Krona apparently came to Earth to collect the other entities but didn't bother with the White Lantern or it's entity, arguably the most powerful of them all given Sinestro's feats in Blackest Day while the White Lantern host.

So while it served it's purpose, it doesn't really align with the series that brought it to the dance in the first place and so I'm left wondering if it couldn't have been compressed so we didn't have Hawkgirl allegedly die in FC only for that to be retconned away as a misunderstanding on the part of the readers, die in BN, ressurect at the end of BN, die during BD, resurrect as wind elemental then die all over again by the end of the series. Talk about women in refridgerators, that character is an amazon in the arctic circle when it comes to her deaths being used as motivation for other characters.

[Apathy Lad]

I am aghast that Jason and Ronnie suddenly became friends; Ultimate form of hack writing by Johns.

[Methalius]

As primarily a reader of Marvel I picked up every issue. I was a little confused in some spots not knowing DC as well as I'd like but overall I liked it. I'd give it a 7 out 10 overall for the entire series. What really kept on reading was the artwork. For me, that is where DC outshines Marvel.

Overall though I think it was pretty good.

[Lancerman]

I am aghast that Jason and Ronnie suddenly became friends; Ultimate form of hack writing by Johns.

Why. They were pretty much forced to work together in a single body to stop an earth threatening crisis and saved their respective father figures. Why is it so hard to assume that they might bond and develope a friendship out of that.

[Superbeast]

Well Ronnie did kill his girlfriend by turning her to salt... although Professor Stein got killed by Deathstorm later, so you could argue it balances out although Jason could argue Ronnie as BL Firestorm and Deathstorm were two different entities as one was Ronnie's reanimated corpse and the other just a construct made up by the Anti-Monitor to bring the white lantern to it. Still, given both are now set to die because of everything that's gone on, I can see why they'd be more likely to be blaming each other for this mess rather than buddying up and writing a bucket list to go through in the next 3 months.

[Drz]

Ronnie and Jason will definatly argue later on, but anyhow yes Brightest Day is a massive success due to it's sales alone and it's very likely we'll see good sales on the upcoming JLI, Aquaman, Firestorm, Hawkman and other titles we're receiving and this series got people INTERESTED on them so thats the major win here, long time fans for new (to them) characters and good sales on DC = win!

[Apathy Lad]

Why. They were pretty much forced to work together in a single body to stop an earth threatening crisis and saved their respective father figures. Why is it so hard to assume that they might bond and develope a friendship out of that.

Because Ronnie killed Jason's girlfriend.

[FailureByDesign]

Because Deathstorm killed Jason's girlfriend.

I think Jason was obviously upset with Ronnie as would be expected but slowly he has seeing that it wasn't really his fault, also they were told they both had to remain calm or explode, and being basically in someone's head...i think you are allowed to bond a little.

[Apathy Lad]

I think Jason was obviously upset with Ronnie as would be expected but slowly he has seeing that it wasn't really his fault, also they were told they both had to remain calm or explode, and being basically in someone's head...i think you are allowed to bond a little.

Ronnie could stand to be more sensitive about it. A realistic, human reaction to seeing the face of your girlfriend's murder try to say there's "no hard feelings" would be to never stop punching him in the throat.

Anyway, the whole thing was just Johns being as misogynistic as usual, and using a cheap fridging for angst. No more, no less.

[FailureByDesign]

Ronnie could stand to be more sensitive about it. A realistic, human reaction to seeing the face of your girlfriend's murder try to say there's "no hard feelings" would be to never stop punching him in the throat.

Anyway, the whole thing was just Johns being as misogynistic as usual, and using a cheap fridging for angst. No more, no less.

It was a long time ago but im pretty sure i recall Ronnie actually being pretty cut up about it but hiding it from Jason.

[SpideyCzar]

I'd rate it a 4 out of 10

It was a uneven read, some highlights, but the bad and contrived moments outweighed the good. It did make me respect D listers like Aquaman, Hawkman and Martian Manhunter for the first time ever. But the ending fell flat.

[Skaddix]

Ronnie could stand to be more sensitive about it. A realistic, human reaction to seeing the face of your girlfriend's murder try to say there's "no hard feelings" would be to never stop punching him in the throat.

Anyway, the whole thing was just Johns being as misogynistic as usual, and using a cheap fridging for angst. No more, no less.

Agreed.


It was a long time ago but im pretty sure i recall Ronnie actually being pretty cut up about it but hiding it from Jason.

Right he was so cut up he did not even know her name. That is pretty much the height of douchebaggery.

[Buried Alien]

I thought it was a great deal of trouble to accomplish very little...sort of like clearing out an entire closet just to get a pair of nail clippers.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[jamie23m]

Ive never read Brightest day. Can someone summarize what it was all about. Like at the end, what did this event all boil down to?

[Apathy Lad]

It was a long time ago but im pretty sure i recall Ronnie actually being pretty cut up about it but hiding it from Jason.

That was one issue; that doesn't really count for much.

[zryson]

its like two steps forward two steps back. an extremely average series.

[Justice~!]

Agreed.



Right he was so cut up he did not even know her name. That is pretty much the height of douchebaggery.

I see someone didn't read Brightest Day, or you'd know that he did actually know and in fact remembered all the time. I didn't realize DC needed to hire people to read their comics to them.

[Omega Supreme]

Average indeed. The Hawks treatment made me sick.

What's the deal ? Is there some kind of vendetta ordered by DC against these poor bastards or something ? Come on, how many decades before an on-going ?

[Skaddix]

I see someone didn't read Brightest Day, or you'd know that he did actually know and in fact remembered all the time. I didn't realize DC needed to hire people to read their comics to them.

When they first met in BD he did not know her name or was dumb enough to pretend not to. He did get it right when the salt version attacked though. So yeah I read.

[Skaddix]

Average indeed. The Hawks treatment made me sick.

What's the deal ? Is there some kind of vendetta ordered by DC against these poor bastards or something ? Come on, how many decades before an on-going ?
Supposedly they have one coming. Id expect after Flashpoint is done.

[El Sombrero]

Supposedly they have one coming. Id expect after Flashpoint is done.

James Robinson & Philip Tan. Robinson basically confirmed it but it hasn't been officially confirmed by DC yet.

[ArnoldoAAD]

Ive never read Brightest day. Can someone summarize what it was all about. Like at the end, what did this event all boil down to?

ok the white lantern revived 12 ppl because they were necessary to laid the path of Earth´s Savior

Hawkman and Hawkgirl needed to kill the guy who was always screwing with them and prevent an alien invasion

Aquaman needed to find Aqualad and stop an attack from an Atlantis colony
Firestorm needed to work only with Jason and Ronnie
Martian Manhunter needed to find D´kay and burn her
Captain Boomerang needed to try to kill Dove
Hawk needed to save Dove
and Deathman needed to find the new Savior

the rest had mostly nothing to do with BD, but affected the mission of Deathman at the long run, for example Max needed to Kill magog to prevent the War of Kingdom Come to happen on this timeline and earth, how does the war affected the savior, never explained but the idea is that it would had affected in a negative way

now all of them fullfilled their missions except Hawk, he couldnt save Dove and Deathman died cause of it which made the white ring to go to Alec and revived and purified the Swampthing

the point was simple really

Nekron corrupted the Swamp Thing in an attempt to destroy the world since the Swampthing was the green elemental, only Alec could stop it
in order for Alec to return one of the 12 needed to die cause the white ring couldnt revive Alec on its own, it needed to be transfered, the why was not really explained but maybe it was cause the ring didnt had enough power
so Boomerang was revived to make sure that one of the 12 died
Hawk was revived to sacrifice his live to revive Alec
Deathman needed to find Alec and increase the power of the white ring in order to do so, in his trip he meets Dove and they fall in love which is why he sacrifice himself to save her instead of Hawk
Aquaman, Manhunter, the Hawks and firestorm were selected as elementals to empower Alec so that he could defeat the evil Swampthing, but in order to do so they needed to complete their missions first
the rest had missions that affected Alec on the long run but really had nothing to do with him, like Osiris needed to save Isis cause Isis is suppose to help Alec

a problem is that it is a huge run of missions and quest in order to return the Swamp thing

another issue was that we never saw any of this stories really connect until the very end all of them had their own mission and in addition to that there was something completely new that was the all elemental thing, if it was hinted a little more may have had a better outcome

[Omega Supreme]

James Robinson & Philip Tan. Robinson basically confirmed it but it hasn't been officially confirmed by DC yet.

Well, that's encouraging news.

[Action Ace]

I enjoyed the series, particularly the back half. I think there will be a few series spinning out of this that I'll be picking up.

Success

[El Sombrero]

Well, that's encouraging news.

Haha I genuinely don't know whether you're being sarcastic or not

[Electric Version]

If the Hawkgirl we get back is Shayera instead of Shiera, I'll consider it a rousing success.

[maniacmatt]

Commercially, yes. It brought back and put a spotlight on some previously underused characters.

Story-wise, it was an uneven, messy and ultimately unsatisfying disaster of a series.

[Schnitzy Pretzelpants]

I thought it was a great deal of trouble to accomplish very little...sort of like clearing out an entire closet just to get a pair of nail clippers.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

This is a hilarious analogy - though I can't fairly comment on the series as I dropped it after 8 issues, and from the sounds of it, it seems like - for my tastes, it was the right move.

Can someone illuminate me on Deadman and The Hawks?

When I see people stating that Deadman is dead, do you mean he's simply returned to his former state before the end of Blackest Night, or do you mean he's dead, as in 'rest-in-peace' dead, and essentially gone?

As far as the Hawks go, I have to confess - and again, didn't read past issue 8 - but I am sorely confused, why DC even felt the need to mess with them yet again. I felt, that the reintroduction of Hawkman back in the last JSA run was pure gold, that couldn't be bettered, and felt that at the end of Blackest Night, with Hawkgirl remembering Carter, that that was all that we needed to set them 'straight' as a couple.

So, I am kind of confused why the end of this series has seen the two of them killed again.

I'm also confused why after finally reuniting Hawk and Dove, in a way that seemed to work, or at least set the stage for 'working' that they opt now to kill Dove off again.

Again, having not read the series, I'm inclined to see this as yet more of what is driving me crazy at DC - change for the sake of change alone. If there is a problem, absolutely go crazy and in a nutty and inventive way - fix it. But I really don't see what needed to be fixed here.

It's like a mechanic restoring your car back to mint condition, and then him showing up at your door a year later and saying - 'you know I'm gonna take your car to the wreckers yard and build you a new one from scratch.'

Once, more I am conscious of making comments on something that I haven't done more than skim since issue 8, but it really seems to me that the problem with these events streaming into the next event and the next event really isn't so much that I am suffering from event fatigue - if the events were dynamic and compelling I would gladly lap them up - the problem is - and to continue with the mechanic and car analogy - is that all of these events, post 52, seem to be about constantly and incessantly tinkering with the car (the DCU) in the garage - and NEVER getting a chance to actually take the damn thing out for frikin' drive on the highway.

There's always the need for a tune up, or need to replace the odd part on the car, but DC needs to realize that it's time to get back on the highway, and drive.

[ArnoldoAAD]

This is a hilarious analogy - though I can't fairly comment on the series as I dropped it after 8 issues, and from the sounds of it, it seems like - for my tastes, it was the right move.

Can someone illuminate me on Deadman and The Hawks?

When I see people stating that Deadman is dead, do you mean he's simply returned to his former state before the end of Blackest Night, or do you mean he's dead, as in 'rest-in-peace' dead, and essentially gone?

As far as the Hawks go, I have to confess - and again, didn't read past issue 8 - but I am sorely confused, why DC even felt the need to mess with them yet again. I felt, that the reintroduction of Hawkman back in the last JSA run was pure gold, that couldn't be bettered, and felt that at the end of Blackest Night, with Hawkgirl remembering Carter, that that was all that we needed to set them 'straight' as a couple.

So, I am kind of confused why the end of this series has seen the two of them killed again.

I'm also confused why after finally reuniting Hawk and Dove, in a way that seemed to work, or at least set the stage for 'working' that they opt now to kill Dove off again.

Again, having not read the series, I'm inclined to see this as yet more of what is driving me crazy at DC - change for the sake of change alone. If there is a problem, absolutely go crazy and in a nutty and inventive way - fix it. But I really don't see what needed to be fixed here.

It's like a mechanic restoring your car back to mint condition, and then him showing up at your door a year later and saying - 'you know I'm gonna take your car to the wreckers yard and build you a new one from scratch.'

Once, more I am conscious of making comments on something that I haven't done more than skim since issue 8, but it really seems to me that the problem with these events streaming into the next event and the next event really isn't so much that I am suffering from event fatigue - if the events were dynamic and compelling I would gladly lap them up - the problem is - and to continue with the mechanic and car analogy - is that all of these events, post 52, seem to be about constantly and incessantly tinkering with the car (the DCU) in the garage - and NEVER getting a chance to actually take the damn thing out for frikin' drive on the highway.

There's always the need for a tune up, or need to replace the odd part on the car, but DC needs to realize that it's time to get back on the highway, and drive.


ok in order
Deadman is a ghost again
the Hawks were turned to dust then into the wind elementals then only Hawkman returned, Hawkgirl is missing
and i think the entention of Johns was to reconcile even more the idea of Hawkman of Thanagar and the Hawkman of Earth by building a new world in the middle and he also tied in with the Star Saphire cause well the GL are hot right now

[Schnitzy Pretzelpants]

ok in order
Deadman is a ghost again
the Hawks were turned to dust then into the wind elementals then only Hawkman returned, Hawkgirl is missing
and i think the entention of Johns was to reconcile even more the idea of Hawkman of Thanagar and the Hawkman of Earth by building a new world in the middle and he also tied in with the Star Saphire cause well the GL are hot right now

Alright - thanks - I have no issue with Deadman, because really, who didn't see that coming?

The Hawks - maybe I'll need to read that for myself, but based on what you wrote, I don't see why they needed to do more than they did in aforementioned Return of Hawkman storyline. They did a bang-up job in that story of tying Thanagar, The Marvel Family and Carter Hall into a pretty seamless story. On the face of it what happened in BD seems needlessly complicated.

[MajorHoy]

Let's see . . . I had bought the last two issues of Blackest Night at my Barnes & Noble, but they didn't carry Brightest Day (at least, not that I ever saw), and I never saw BD at any of the other places I sometimes buy comics, so DC didn't make any money off of me on the series.

I have seen the hardcover collection with Brightest Day (part one I guess), but I'm not spending the money for that (though I did glance through it a little in the store). And I don't really intend to buy any tpb version(s) of it when those are finally released. (Still deciding on whether to buy Final Crisis in tpb or not.)

So. since Brightest Day is a series I haven't bought, and really don't see myself forking out any money for in the forseeable future, I kind of have to rate that as a failure on DC's part.

[ArnoldoAAD]

Alright - thanks - I have no issue with Deadman, because really, who didn't see that coming?

The Hawks - maybe I'll need to read that for myself, but based on what you wrote, I don't see why they needed to do more than they did in aforementioned Return of Hawkman storyline. They did a bang-up job in that story of tying Thanagar, The Marvel Family and Carter Hall into a pretty seamless story. On the face of it what happened in BD seems needlessly complicated.

the retcon was more like this
the original mother of Shayera tricks everyone into killing each other and then tries to leave to thanagar in egypt, thats why the kingdom of Khufu was lost, but she is stop in the middle way between earth and thanagar a world called Hawkworld with half hawk half men ppl fighting tigerppl, yeah i know it sounds campy but i actually liked it, there she develops something(i cant remember if it was magic or not) that allows her to live forever thanks to the NTH that is on this planet and she rules it over for thosands of years

[jade_nova]

Alright - thanks - I have no issue with Deadman, because really, who didn't see that coming?


I didn't. I figured he was being setup throughout the series to becoming the new guardian for the White Lantern. After being dead for a long time and then brought back to life it would give him a new purpose.

[Buried Alien]

There is one question that remains at the end of BRIGHTEST DAY, and it shouldn't be a trivial matter: just what *was* that crucial piece of information that the White Lantern obtained from the Anti-Monitor. I figure that in the DCU, anything that involves the Anti-Monitor is going to have cosmic implications.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[SJNeal]

Overall, I really liked it. It made me a fan of Deadman and brought my beloved Aquaman back to prominence.

The one thing I'm still torn about is the incorporation of Swamp Thing/Constantine back into the DCU. I love early Vertigo, and feel these characters are perfect for the kind of stories they were telling with them in the early 90's. However, Vertigo dropped the ball with most of their DCU properties over the years, and if this is the only way we'll see a new Swamp Thing (or Animal Man or Shade...) series, then so be it.


If the Hawkgirl we get back is Shayera instead of Shiera, I'll consider it a rousing success.

This will be the only thing that saves the Hawks lackluster showing in BD. A shame because they're among my favorites.

[The Black Guardian]

Overall, a success, but... the wrong Hawk died.

[stk]

Did Aquaman get his hand back somehow by the end of the series, or is it still chopped off?

[ArnoldoAAD]

Did Aquaman get his hand back somehow by the end of the series, or is it still chopped off?

:eek:
I just notice that
he did recover his arm

damn i guess my thread of water hand vs hook was wasted =P

[Flamebird]

I thought it was a great deal of trouble to accomplish very little...sort of like clearing out an entire closet just to get a pair of nail clippers.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

But nail hygiene is an incredibly important activity.

This series, not so much. . . :wink:

[Theozilla]

Overall, a success, but... the wrong Hawk died.

Actually Hawkgirl is not dead, just trapped in her air elemental form (and apparently unable to communicate with people).

[Wulfmir]

Success. We had posters here saying we favoring the Aquaman parts or Martain Manhunter or such character, shows they did right with the characters. You can't also deny the exposure these characters had, far more than I think could be achieved if they did separate minis. Despite how good Generation Lost is, sales show just how many were reading it, quite low for its quality, a fate that would befallen had they've gone for separate minis.

Story wise Brightest Day really needed a much stronger rope to tie the stories together and the holes in the overarching plot we quite glaring.

[Karl O'Neill]

Who's story was the most epic? And what did they actually do with Firestorm?

[Desaad]

Depends on how one looks at it, and what one determines was the goal of the series.

If one considers the goal to have been to tell a good story, I think it failed, and failed consistently. I can't think of a single issue I found to be compelling. I felt there was just some really heavy handed, childishly poor dialog and info dumps. I thought most of the stories were cliche and predictable, and that there weren't very many new, interesting concepts. As a showcase for these characters, I think it was mostly pretty mediocre.

If one considers the ending, with the return of Vertigo characters to the DCU, as the ultimate goal/end point of the series...I think that was , at least, a successful decision. I'm happy about their return - especially as most of them have been languishing in limbo over at Vertigo, and the one who is continually being published is in fact staying published over there - and I'm excited to see where they go from here. Especially now that slightly more nuanced, adult writers are going to have the chance to take them on -- Vankin, Lemire, Cornell, Snyder, Morrison, etc all have a good shot of portraying them correctly.

As a platform to get people talking or excited about someone of DC's characters, I think it probably succeeded well enough. It was consistently a top seller, yet focused on no top selling heroes, so it at the very least got people FAMILIAR with Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, the Hawks, etc as co-leads. At the very least it'll help the inevitable series' that launch out of this (currently only Aquaman confirmed, I guess, but Hawkman almost a sure thing and even Firestorm seems likely after that cliffhanger).

As a big overarching, direction-setting thing for the DCU, I appreciate that it apparently provided the impetus for the return of Birds of Prey (hawk and dove) and Generation Lost (Maxwell Lord), but those books quickly went off and did their own, totally independent thing, and were better for it. The one book that tied in very closely to Brightest Day, Green Lantern, has sufferred horribly, and is at it's absolute creative worst.

Basically, while I appreciated some of the end results of Brightest Day - some more visible characters, the return of Vertigo characters, launching of Generation Lost - I felt that as a story it was devoid of passion and verve, that it felt like exactly what it was; a means to an end. And I absolutely despise stories like that.

[Theozilla]

Success. We had posters here saying we favoring the Aquaman parts or Martain Manhunter or such character, shows they did right with the characters. You can't also deny the exposure these characters had, far more than I think could be achieved if they did separate minis. Despite how good Generation Lost is, sales show just how many were reading it, quite low for its quality, a fate that would befallen had they've gone for separate minis.

Story wise Brightest Day really needed a much stronger rope to tie the stories together and the holes in the overarching plot we quite glaring.

I pretty much feel this way also.

[the4thpip]

Because Deathstorm killed Jason's girlfriend..

Deathstorm wasn't even created when Ronnie killed the girl.

[Tenacious_AA]

To me it kinda turned Meh..

Started out cool...then just Meh...
Loved the art.
Pretty much think the ending was Meh...
There was a lot of build up...
But the things that where built up really ended Meh...

They turned into elemental's to fight the Black Lantern earth(sorta), what the Eh?
Swamp Thing becoming the chosen "one" was kinda out of left field ending leaving me with the feeling of Eh?

The separate stories with separate endings I kinda liked except for the ending of Deadman and Hawk and Dove which I guess was the boomerang.

[Flamebird]

Actually Hawkgirl is not dead, just trapped in her air elemental form (and apparently unable to communicate with people).

So, she's a less potent ghost than Deadman. . . sounds dead to me.

[FailureByDesign]

Deathstorm wasn't even created when Ronnie killed the girl.

No but Ronnie was a black lantern, sure at this point under the control of Nekron, but later known as Deathstorm.

[Theozilla]

So, she's a less potent ghost than Deadman. . . sounds dead to me.

The point is that she is she technically not dead, the new Swamp Thing made a point of telling Hawkman (I paraphrasing here) "That she is all around him now." My guess is that Hawkman restoring Hawkgirl will be the premise of of new on-going or a story arc in JSA or JLA.

[Flamebird]

The point is that she is she technically not dead, the new Swamp Thing made a point of telling Hawkman (I paraphrasing here) "That she is all around him now." My guess is that Hawkman restoring Hawkgirl will be the premise of of new on-going or a story arc in JSA or JLA.

Airwave didn't technically die in that godawful space story during Infinite Crisis.
Just dispersed for no reason, while beaming radio waves Light-years away (how does that work, anyway?).
No one has seen him since though. So in my book, he's dead.

Same thing with Hawkgirl. Dead until shown otherwise.

[Godlike13]

Come on with Hawkgirl already. Can't the Hawks just once catch a break.

[tabo61]

My favorite part of the series was the Aquaman and Firestorm storylines.

[Mr Prince]

Enjoyed all the characterization and development of new status quo for characters–that goes for pretty much each story.

Wish that the mystery of what each character had to do was a little more central and meaningful to the plot.

I get the Swamp Thing reveal, but it wasn't as elegant or as cool a moment as I would have liked. That said, I'm glad that the door is open for Vertigo characters to rejoin the DCU in new forms.

I'm totally bummed that Aliveman is back to being Deadman and Shiera is gone... Hopefully not for long though.

[Flashpoint]

Success. We had posters here saying we favoring the Aquaman parts or Martain Manhunter or such character, shows they did right with the characters. You can't also deny the exposure these characters had, far more than I think could be achieved if they did separate minis. Despite how good Generation Lost is, sales show just how many were reading it, quite low for its quality, a fate that would befallen had they've gone for separate minis.

Story wise Brightest Day really needed a much stronger rope to tie the stories together and the holes in the overarching plot we quite glaring.Kudos to the spot-on criticism of Justice League: Generation Lost. No matter how much very vocal online fans of the book praise it, saleswise it really did underwhelming numbers--which simply doesn't bode well at all for the new JLI book. The "Bwa-Ha-Ha!" era of the Justice League gets so much nostalgic love, but people tend to conveniently forget that after a couple years sales went way down and the book languished for years until Grant Morrison & Howard Porter's definitive run. Honestly, I don't see a relaunched JLI doing anything but eventually getting cancelled all over again once the nostalgia-related hype for the concept dies down.

The plot holes were relatively minor to me. I didn't go into this expecting a 5 star graphic novel designed to rival classics like Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns or Maus. This was supposed to be a fun book where some of DC's struggling B-listers got a full year-long spotlight in what was one of the Top Ten bestselling books of 2010.

I am very eager to see DC's official announcements on the long-rumored Firestorm and Hawkman relaunches and even more excited about the Johns/Reis Aquaman which I think will easily be a Top 10 book alongside Geoff's GL and Flash. Brightest Day has brought new life and major reader attention to some of DC's most underrated veterans by showcasing them in a book that was one of DC's Top 5 titles throughout the year. I couldn't be happier about that.

[Flashpoint]

The point is that she is she technically not dead, the new Swamp Thing made a point of telling Hawkman (I paraphrasing here) "That she is all around him now." My guess is that Hawkman restoring Hawkgirl will be the premise of of new on-going or a story arc in JSA or JLA.

BINGO. You got it.

Just as Firestorm, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter didn't "die" either, the same is true for Hawkgirl. Now she's an air elemental. Ultimately, we're going to see Robinson & Tan put the focus squarely on Hawkman in the beginning while the search for Hawkgirl runs as a subplot. I think it'll be nice to see Hawkman be the sole star of his own title for a while. When Hawkgirl does regain human form, then we can get back to exploring their relationship for the umpteenth time.

Having the new Hawkman book actually just feature Hawkman for a while would be a refreshing change.

[Flashpoint]

Ronnie and Jason will definatly argue later on, but anyhow yes Brightest Day is a massive success due to it's sales alone and it's very likely we'll see good sales on the upcoming JLI, Aquaman, Firestorm, Hawkman and other titles we're receiving and this series got people INTERESTED on them so thats the major win here, long time fans for new (to them) characters and good sales on DC = win!

Ditto. The Johns/Reis Aquaman is going to be simply amazing and easily the bestselling Aquaman title in years. I can't wait to see where Geoff takes Aquaman creatively and commercially. After all the major storylines featuring GL and Flash in the spotlight the past 5 years, I get very excited at the thought of what's in store for Aquaman with Johns at the helm. Really big things are on the horizon for Arthur Curry.

If Scott Clark is the artist on the new Firestorm and Robinson & Tan are also confirmed on the new Hawkman, that makes 3 for 3 on post-BD ongoing titles that go immediately on my pull list.

Brightest Day was most definitely a success for me as a reader and a fan. Loved it. :biggrin:

[Mr. Holmes]

I pretty much skipped out on all of Brightest Day, after feeling like I wasted so much money on Blackest Night. Does anyone think it's worth to get the whole story in trades?

[Skaddix]

I assume all these new books are Post Event Summer so once flashpoint is done. With details coming in San Fran.

And yes it did look like there were hooks for the opening of Hawkman, Firestorm, and Aquaman. I mean certainly Aquaman thanks to this and the recent exposure of his new supporting cast is on fire. Even Aquagirl got some time on the TT.

[Ben D]

Aquaman was good
Martian Mahunter was good
Deadman was so-so
Firestorm bored me to tears.

Grade: C


If the Hawkgirl we get back is Shayera instead of Shiera, I'll consider it a rousing success.

If the hawkgirl we get back is Kendra I'd die of happiness

Oh yeah the hawkman part: I hated it.

[Ben D]

I pretty much skipped out on all of Brightest Day, after feeling like I wasted so much money on Blackest Night. Does anyone think it's worth to get the whole story in trades?

For the aquaman and martian manhunter parts alone

[Rothstien-Smash]

I'd prefer Hawkgirl to be Kendra rather than Shiera, and either one is preferable to Shayera. If the Hawks get hit with the Mercury Age hammer I'm dropping a whole lot of DC titles.

And I don't know who coined the phrase "Mercury Age" but I like it. It looks like silver on the surface but it is really a very poisonous substance.

[Flashpoint]

Aquaman was good
Martian Mahunter was good
Deadman was so-so
Firestorm bored me to tears.

Grade: C



If the hawkgirl we get back is Kendra I'd die of happiness

Oh yeah the hawkman part: I hated it.

I think much of it depends on characters you were predisposed to like. For example, I've never been a big Martian Manhunter fan and frankly, little of his storyarc did much to change my mind. MM was the one that bored me to tears.

On the other hand, I love Aquaman, Deadman, Firestorm, Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Seeing Ivan Reis, Scott Clark and Ardian Syaf (all artists I love) draw characters I love, well, of course I enjoyed their arcs. And honestly, the Hawks storyline really was action-packed and delivered if for no other reason than the curse was finally ended in this series.

So much depended on which characters you liked and which creators you liked.

[Ben D]

I think much of it depends on characters you were predisposed to like. For example, I've never been a big Martian Manhunter fan and frankly, little of his storyarc did much to change my mind. MM was the one that bored me to tears.

On the other hand, I love Aquaman, Deadman, Firestorm, Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Seeing Ivan Reis, Scott Clark and Ardian Syaf (all artists I love) draw characters I love, well, of course I enjoyed their arcs. And honestly, the Hawks storyline really was action-packed and delivered if for no other reason than the curse was finally ended in this series.

So much depended on which characters you liked and which creators you liked.

Not really for me. I mean I love the hawks, firestorm, deadman and I still disliked their stories.

[Flashpoint]

Not really for me. I mean I love the hawks, firestorm, deadman and I still disliked their stories.

I get your point. I think for many fans, though, their fondness for certain characters and creators was pretty obvious.

[Desaad]

Not really for me. I mean I love the hawks, firestorm, deadman and I still disliked their stories.

Same (except for the Hawks)

That isn't to say that I woudln't be excited for ongoing series featuring them, but it would be independent of Brightest Day, almost wholly dependent on creative team and direction.

But again, this got those characters in front of a lot of eyes, so if that translates to sales for a good book, it was worth it. Blackest Night didn't do it for me at all, but if it gave Doom Patrol and REBELS a few extra issues, it was more than worth it for me.

[Flashpoint]

Same (except for the Hawks)

That isn't to say that I woudln't be excited for ongoing series featuring them, but it would be independent of Brightest Day, almost wholly dependent on creative team and direction.

But again, this got those characters in front of a lot of eyes, so if that translates to sales for a good book, it was worth it. Blackest Night didn't do it for me at all, but if it gave Doom Patrol and REBELS a few extra issues, it was more than worth it for me.

On that point, I could not agree with you more.

[El Sombrero]

I think much of it depends on characters you were predisposed to like.

I have to disagree with this. With the exception of Martian Manhunter (who I liked before the series started), I was totally neutral / indifferent to the rest of the main characters. While reading BD, I thought Aquaman and Firestorm were a blast and really disliked the Hawks and Deadman.

I understand what you're saying, that people always carry their biases, but on the other hand I think each of these segments had an equal chance to impress me; some did and some didn't.

[paulski]

Big success.

Reinvigorated characters like Aquaman, Firestorm, J'onn (and Deadman too, for that matter) and sold absolute bucketloads for an entire years. Oh, and brought back Swamp Thing - that alone is a big plus for me.

Perfect? God no - a long way from it, especially the resolution of the story in the last couple issues. But the pros far outweigh any of the cons IMO.

[stk]

I'd prefer Hawkgirl to be Kendra rather than Shiera, and either one is preferable to Shayera.

I'm exactly the opposite. For me: Shayera>Shiera>Kendra

[Godlike13]

Shiera>Kendra>Shayera

[HopeLantern]

To me it was a failure. It took 7 issues to find out what the missions were, and I began picking the book up because I felt it was related to the Green Lantern mythos somehow, but really it wasn't. There were a couple of cool, "Holy @#$%" moments, and the story did a great job of making me care about both Deadman, MM and Aquaman. I will be picking up any series that those guys are in now. But there were a few contrived moments. Who didn't suspect Boston would be dead again by the end of the series? Deathstorm, being a nice throwback to the 90's style villian was a nice touch. But the Firestorm storyline just didn't matter to me. And the Swamp Thing story came just too far out of left field for me to be engaged. To be honest, to be very honest, I think all of Brightest Day (the main series) easily could have been written as either a 1-3 issue epilogue to Blackest Night or as a part 9 to Blackest Night which sees the White Lantern resurrect our 12 heroes and villains and Swamp Thing. You could explain, "The Entity is dying. Swamp Thing is an elemental. Swamp Thing is the new White Lantern" Then you have 2 white Lanterns: Swampy and Boston. If you keep Boston alive with a Ring, he has character growth and we still care about him as opposed to predictably returning him to status quo. In fact, why not just add Swampy to the four page spread shown in BN#8. By now you could have already had a "Swamp Thing", "Aquaman", "Hawkman" and "Firestorm" series. If you want to kill Sheira (spelling?) You can do it in Hawkman's series.

I guess these things are easier to judge post facto, but I think DC dropped the ball with the last 2 issues. It just seems like a very, very long route to get to a very, very short distance. If everyone is being resurrected left and right with these rings, why not just resurrect Swampy in Blackest Night #8.
I guess it doesn't matter what I think...the series was a commercial success and $$$ is probably the reason they went this route. But I won't be getting anymore weekly or bi-weekly series from DC ever again. Not to invest that much for that big a let down. I will say, I absolute love the various White Lantern costumes and such. They all look so nice artistically to me.

[Aquadoc]

I really wanted to like the book, but overall it was a bit of a letdown. The revitalization of Aquaman and his Aqua-Crew, especially Mera, is an awesome thing. I wish that Johns could have found a way to do this without crapping all over Arthur's history, but I guess you can't have it all.

I didn't really come to like Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Dove, or the Hawks any more than I did when Brightest Day began. Deadman's story was interesting at times, but his death seemed unnecessary (and kind of a bummer).

The White Lantern aspects of the story just seemed like lazy writing and an awkward jolting means of story progression.

The gratuitous, sensationalistic violence was another mark against the series for me. These elements could have been left out and the story would have been unaffected.

Problems of focus and pacing aside, the story really faltered at the end. I had no idea who Alec Holland or Constantine were, so the big reveals just came as a big WTF moment for me. The fact that the characters had next to nothing to do with the story at the point just made this feel like a rushed, botched job.

It did give me something to look forward to every other week, even if it ultimately turned out to be a disappointment. Not sure what lesson I'm supposed to learn from this, but I will regards Johns' work with a little more caution in the future.

[Dial W for What the...?]

It's half and half feeling for me. There were things I really liked and things I really didn't.

I hate the way the Hawkman and Hawkwoman storyline ended. Seems like their whole story arc was a waste.

Also the way the White Lantern decided Hawk wasn't finished because he didn't rid himself of his war avatar. Now I don't read Birds of Prey but was this even mentioned or hinted at anywhere?? Just seems cheap to me. I mean at least Digger knew he had to throw a boomerang, just not why.

I wasn't surprised Deadman is dead again.

I was surprised about the return of Swamp Thing.

I liked how the other white lantern stories were explained how they were resolved (for those of us that don't get the books they were in.) Which reminds me of Hawks unexplained storyline.

I loved the art all the way through.

I wish they woulda had at least one of the Earth Gl's appear more regularly throughout the story than just Hall at the beginning.

[MajorHoy]

I guess it doesn't matter what I think...the series was a commercial success and $$$ is probably the reason they went this route. But I won't be getting anymore weekly or bi-weekly series from DC ever again. Not to invest that much for that big a let down. I will say, I absolute love the various White Lantern costumes and such. They all look so nice artistically to me.

It may be better to just pass on these things initially and wait to see if they make it to tpb or not. Then you'll have a better idea if it's worth investing in.
Plus these days, it seems some stories read much better as collections than as extended monthly/biweekly/weekly chapters, where you lose interest (and sometimes any memory of what happened in the first place) waiting for the end to finally be published.

[stk]

I guess it doesn't matter what I think...the series was a commercial success and $$$ is probably the reason they went this route. But I won't be getting anymore weekly or bi-weekly series from DC ever again. Not to invest that much for that big a let down.
I still like the idea of a weekly or bi-weekly comic, and I have really enjoyed JL Generation Lost and the DC Universe Online comic. So I'm still open to future weekly/bi-weekly series. It just depends on the individual quality of each attempt.

[Black Hood]

Read them all together, in one day. Trust me, Brightest Day gets better.

[TJ Shoun]

I enjoyed Brightest Day until the last issue.

The way Holland was ultimately used came off as a hamfisted advertisement for the Green Movement.

The Oil Executives getting choked by Holland really seemed childish and simplistic to me.

I'm not defending the Seven Sister of Big Oil here. But many environmentalists miss other threats due to the mainstream media pounding the obvious, like the Gulf disaster.

Take man-made, cross-species DNA Chimera organisms released into the natural biosphere, for example. This happens more frequently (and much more non-chalantly) than you might think.

But no, Brightest Day was awesome, until it felt like bad propaganda at the end.

[Zenstrive]

And the mistery of the original Dove continues......

.....so what is the purpose of Dawn Granger here again? To be bait for either Hawk or Boomerang?

[fishbonex]

I enjoyed Brightest Day until the last issue.

The way Holland was ultimately used came off as a hamfisted advertisement for the Green Movement.

The Oil Executives getting choked by Holland really seemed childish and simplistic to me.

....

But no, Brightest Day was awesome, until it felt like bad propaganda at the end.

So you were never a fan of Swamp Thing before, I take it? Because this is what Swamp Thing has done in the past, many times. GJ wrote him pretty accurately.

I liked Brightest Day, Aquaman came across excellent and I can't wait for his next book. Firestorm was good too, but that was a character that was already fine in my book. Hawkman ending, meh. I don't understand why they keep messing with him when GJ "fixed" him perfectly in JSA and his own book years ago. But overall, i liked this series a lot.

[HopeLantern]

Read them all together, in one day. Trust me, Brightest Day gets better.

I think that's what I meant to say. From here on out, I will probably just do the weekly series as TBK. By that point I already know the ending and can then just decide if I want to read it or not. I just hate that feeling of following something so long then at the end it's like, "What just...?" ha ha.

[Spidey Sense]

Great:

Bringing back the classic characters together in a big way. Deadman.
Firestorm, Hawks, Aquaman, MManhunter, Green Arrow.

New Characters - Aqualad, etc.

Hawkworld.


Weak:

Ending. Elemental theme. Disjointed plots that did not all work cohesively together. Anything to do with Green Arrow's Forest.

[Mat001]

And the mistery of the original Dove continues......

There is no mystery. Don Hall is at peace.


.....so what is the purpose of Dawn Granger here again? To be bait for either Hawk or Boomerang?

The purpose of Dawn is that she and Hank are in the Birds of Prey. She's the balance to his rage.

[adamisme]

to be honest I wasn't too impressed with it in the end but I give it a 6 out 10