Brightest Day #10
Written By Geoff Johns And Peter Tomasi
Art By Ivan Reis, Scott Clark, and Joe Prado
This book is still fun to me, even with my complaints about it, and an issue like this one reaffirms my stance on it. The cover tells us that it’s an Aqualad issue, and it is for a bit, but this issue is primarily about the most untapped star of this title: Firestorm. There is tons of revelations and infodumps provided for the reader in this issue, everything from confirming that there’s a Michael Jackson about Firestorm (Black or White) to Professor Stein pulling a “Whoops, my bad!” about the true origin of the Matrix.
And you know what? It works! Firestorm as a lead character for this issue was interesting! I was actually pissed when the Aqualad stuff came up because I was craving more Firestorm! That has never happened to me before! It’s just the right kind of hook that they’re giving a character who does really have the most ridiculous powerset in DC comics. I mean, he transmutes matter with a thought, that’s one of the most creative powersets out there and at the same time one of the scariest when you actually think about what it can do.
Enough Firestorm gushing, we also got some Aqualad action, though none of what was promised on the cover. There’s no Deadman, no desert, and no Aqualad costume. Instead we get his origin story, and a sweet fight scene with Black Manta. There’s also a nice little scene where Aquaman does what any sane man would do and takes a little breather from the wife that told him she was supposed to kill him, even if that was over a month ago in real time.
On the art front, I’m just going to go out on a limb and assume that Scott Clark is the artist for the Firestorm sections of Brightest Day just by the fact that I can’t remember the last time I saw his name on the top of the book, or the last time I saw Firestorm. So I’m just putting two and two together and assuming that the two go together. Regardless of who it is, it looks amazing. And the Aquaman stuff, which part of me thinks is Joe Prado, is great as well. Hell, one thing this book does well is the art. Probably the smartest move DC made was having each story assigned to an artist for the long term, it just looks nice.
Aqualad was actually the weakest point of this issue, and it wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. This book continues to be a fun read, even if it’s not the best book on the market. It has its flaws, sure, most books do, but for some reason whenever I read this book I find myself just enjoying it. Sure, tomorrow I might wonder if I scored it right, but as far as instant gratification goes this book gave me a good amount of fun and questions I can’t wait for the answers to, and that’s worth what it’s getting.
Overall?
8/10
