Brightest Day #2 - The jakob187 Review
Despite the amazing Finch cover art that this issue happens to bear, Brightest Day #2 is definitely a bit of a weak link. The first two issues of this event definitely grabbed me by the balls and did everything possible to keep me interested. A lot of it had to do with a good pacing, as well as a decent length of features with "The Twelve". Issue two, unfortunately, lacks even a decent pacing and tries to rely on huge reveals in order to give itself some form of credit.
To start, those looking for anything Aquaman-related...are going to be B-U-M-M-E-D. Seriously, why is this the default cover for issue #2? Aquaman showed up for one very small part (and I mean, literally, about two or three panels). It feels like a waste of incredibly bad-ass cover art! With that out of the way, the main focus this time around comes in the form of Firestorm/Jason's struggle to separate from each other, as well as a lengthy portion about Martian Manhunter.
In my previous reviews, I mentioned that I've been enjoying the Firestorm stories, and that's where one of the two stars I'm giving this delivers. Something is keeping Ronnie and Jason from separating, and the Firestorm Matrix is becoming a little unstable. Atom shows up to help them out, and the events definitely dropped my jaw on the ground. I'm incredibly curious to see where this is going, and I can only hope that we'll find out who the mysterious voice that is chatting happens to be. The other star would be for one solitary moment at the end of the book, with its massive two-page spread and Deadman delivering the exact line he needed to deliver. It sets up GREAT potential for issue #3.
The problem with this book is that it feels like filler. The lengthy portion where Martian Manhunter visits the daughter of Dr. Erdel to try and find out her side of the story on the events of him coming to Earth. While this is a relatively touching scene in the way that it is portrayed, it's also nothing more than recapping J'onn J'onnz' origins in a way. Is this really the place to do that? For that portion of the book, which again...is pretty damn lengthy...they could've easily put in something with Maxwell Lord or Hawk and Dove. They could've expanded on Hawkman and Hawkgirl a little more. Those two are featured in the book, but only in a minimal form to show that they want vengeance against Hath-set. The only other portion was a piece that felt very out of place, as it plays like a horror movie (and for DC Comics outside of the Vertigo label, this was a bit graphic). However, once the reveal shows up, it all makes sense...much like the big reveal at the end of the last issue.
In the end, it feels like a lot was left out of Brightest Day #2 to put some of those stories (like Hawk and Dove or Maxwell Lord) into the Brightest Day companion books like Birds of Prey and Justice League International. Personally, that's pretty crappy, but I understand. However, it's bad whenever I learn about what's up with Maxwell Lord by reading the DC Nation portion at the back of War of the Supermen #2...rather than in the series he should be featured in.
