COMIC: Top of the Stack - Brightest Day #24 (Review)

Written by Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark & Joe Prado
Cover by Gary Frank & Rod Reis

Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99

For the last week of April once again my stack of comic books waiting to be read was well over 15 titles. And it was a very good week with several titles contending for Top of the Stack recognition. Those just falling short were Marvel's MIGHTY THOR #1 and SPIDER-GIRL #6, both worthy of being at the top on any other week but there was an emotional beat in another comic that made it impossible not to be the one at the top of my stack.

I'm talking about BRIGHTEST DAY #24, the final issue of the series and for the second straight week a title makes it to the top for consecutive issues. The writing team of Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi have masterfully maneuvered readers for a whole year with this story about twelve heroes and villains being resurrected by a white light, leading to an ending no one could have expected when the series started.

In this extra-sized finale issue, the previously reborn heroes that had been turned into elements now combined with the skeletal remains of Alec Holland and one more dead hero to bring about the return of the true Swamp Thing to defend the planet against the corrupted version of Swamp Thing. But the emotional fallout from the events that needed to happen for the light to succeed is what truly puts this book on a whole other level.

Finally seeing the dreaded moment readers had been teased about for most of the length of the series - Captain Boomerang throwing at Dove - happened but not with the result feared yet one just as painful. Deadman stepped in the way and took the hit, dying for Dove and being the final piece for the white light's plan. The moments between a dying Deadman and Dove tug at your heartstrings and again after the battle when back into his Deadman ghost form, Dove is still able to hear him and they declare their love for each other.

That and the return of the elemental heroes: Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm and Hawkman, with the latter two not having the happiest of returns. I do not think you can read this book and not be affected by the story.

And the army of artists that have worked diligently on the series the entire time, again knocked it out of the park with quality that matched the high level of writing. Some might feel it is a bit awkward now that all of these artists are working on the same parts now that the character they had been doing separately for the whole series but they are all so talented that for such a huge concept story it worked perfectly.

BRIGHTEST DAY ranks right up there with 52 and SUNDAY COMICS as brilliant concepts that also turned into great executed series that readers miss once they are done. Anyone that was hesitant to commit to such a paced out story or were discouraged by the slow start of the story in the early issues should definitely look to pick up this series when it gets collected because it continued to get better with every subsequent issue and makes you care about some of the less promoted characters of the DCU. It made me care about Deadman and Dove, two characters I only had faint interest in prior to BRIGHTEST DAY. Read it, you will not regret it!

COMIC: Top of the Stack - Brightest Day #23 (Review)

Written by Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark & Joe Prado
Cover by Gary Frank

Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

Heading straight ahead toward its story climax, BRIGHTEST DAY #23 ran away from the competition to open up the first week of comic book releases for April. Even the first issue of Marvel's big company event, FEAR ITSELF, was no match for the penultimate issue of DC's post-event series.

The cover teased appearances of recently fallen heroes from the pages of BRIGHTEST DAY to reappear in new forms, and the story by series writers Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi did not disappoint. The issue picks up with Boston Brand aka Deadman continuing to try and hold back the power of the white lantern and ring from doing to Firestorm and Hawk and Dove what it did to the likes of Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

But as has been the story with Deadman, he is only a pawn for the white energy and with the dark avatar arising, the need for Earth's defenders becoming necessary. With Air, Water, Fire and Earth, BRIGHTEST DAY was only one heart away from bringing forth Captain Planet.

Instead however came representations of the 4 elements to try and hold off the approaching darkness: Hawkman and Hawkgirl representing Air; Firestorm for Fire; Martian Manhunter for Earth; and Aquaman for Water. While they battled the darkness at the edge of Star City Forest, it was left to Deadman, Hawk and Dove to defend the tree with a last page reveal that had to surprise everyone reading.

There laid Earth's ultimate savior, Alec Holland aka the Swamp Thing.

The art continues to be a collaboration between several artists yet the book flows smoothly without any of the jarring transitions seen sometimes in books with multiple artists. The high level of quality talent on the book is a sure contributor, with even the cover being drawn by Gary Frank who created a stunning piece with the 4 elementals that debut in the issue.

With only one issue left before the end, BRIGHTEST DAY has been a surprisingly consistent title over the last year - something I did not entirely expect from such a long story. Like the art side of the book, having top writing talent was definitely a factor of the quality and while BRIGHTEST DAY is coming to an end I will definitely be reading the next big books Johns and Tomasi put their focus on.

If you have not been able to keep up with the series, a BRIGHTEST DAY collection is certainly something to keep an eye out for when trade paperbacks for the series are released. An entertaining must read for comic book fans.

COMIC: Top of the Stack - Brightest Day #7 (Review)

Written by Geoff Johns & Peter Tomasi
Art by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark & Joe Prado
Cover by David Finch

Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

In recent years DC has revitalized the market of weekly published comics. It started with 52, continued with Countdown and Trinity before they took a breather and did a shorter weekly run with Wednesday Comics. Now, after the last event, Blackest Night, DC has started a bi-weekly run with the title spinning out of that event - Brightest Day. Behind the minds of Green Lantern and Blackest Night - Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi - Brightest Day focuses on the characters that were brought back to life and weaves a story among them that now nearly four months in is starting to come to fruition.

The first several issues were about the characters reacting to being back around and trying to get back to the lives they were living back before their deaths. All that time there was Boston Brand aka Deadman being pulled all across the Earth and galaxy by the power of the white ring that had appeared on his finger. In this issue, the power behind the white ring revealed itself and the reasons behind why it chose the characters it did were shown to readers and the characters themselves. And what seems to be in the future for this book looks to be life defining moments for these characters that will really show them how to live.

With a book that comes out more than once a month, the art chores have to be shared and DC split the work by each character's story so there are several artists every issue. And I have to say that the artwork on this book is superb, there is not a page that looks rushed at all, and the best thing is that the different looks and styles flow so well together that it is difficult to find any jarring pauses in the shifts between artists that sometimes plagues books. The cover by David Finch is just amazing and he has been a great addition to the DC titles. Fans of his will enjoy hearing that his own work will be gracing interiors soon in a new Batman book coming out this fall.

The future seems bright for this title, no pun intended but with Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi as the creative force running it I do not foresee a drop in quality during this title's run. Geoff has literally turned everything he has touched recently into gold and Tomasi wrote a great Nightwing run a few years ago and now is flourishing on the Green Lantern Corps book alongside Geoff's main Green Lantern title. This is a title readers should definitely check out especially now that the plot has certainly thickened.

Check out Geek Plate's Tumblr today for a picspam starring DC's Brightest Day characters.