Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Brightest Day #23 Review

So this was the Ratings and Rantings post, but I reviewed Brightest Day #23.... and that put me in the most foul mood I've ever been in after reading a comic, so instead of taint the other reviews with my rage, I made this it's own post. So.... expect Ratings and Rantings later this week, but this is for Brightest Day's fury. By the way, there are MAJOR Spoilers...


Brightest Day #23

We start things off with Deadman explaining what it's like to die, all the while we see various heroes saving people from natural disasters and stuff as they claim the Earth is turning against them. From there we see Deadman confronting Firestorm and asking for the Lantern. Firestorm asks where they are and Deadman tells them the only place where the world is still safe and only the chosen ones can enter, as we see people running for the safety of the forest are blocked by a barrier while Ollie screams at the forest to let them in and it says no, or the White Lantern Ring does or something. After figuring out the Lantern brought them there, it tells Ronnie that it needed information only The Anti-Monitor had and he needed to see Stein die to really embrace being Firestorm because he needs to embrace it now, since the Dark Avatar is on its way. We then see Hawk and Dove are headed towards Star City to find Deadman, FINALLY!!!! Now Boomer can throw this damn Boomerang, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The White Lantern teleports Hawk and Dove to right in front of Firestorm and Deadman, we then see Boomer arrive at the forest and he's told to throw the Boomerang at Dove. After that a giant Black Lantern sprouts up and starts breaking stuff, just.. you know... because. The Lantern won't let the heroes leave the forest so the Dark Avatar just strolls right in. Everywhere the Avatar walks it brings death, and it walks past Boomer which turns his hands black... so the White Lantern tells him to throw the Boomerangs. Meanwhile the ring makes Deadman blast Firestorm which ends up turning him into Fire. Then Fire, Water, Earth and Wind aka Firestorm, Aquaman, MARTIAN Manhunter (yet Earth...) and the Hawks come back to form Captain Planet like I predicted about two weeks ago. The four elements then go somewhere, and the White Lantern tells Dove, Hawk and Deadman to protect the White Lantern tree. Where's Green Arrow? Don't ask cause apparently no one cares. The issue ends with Earth's protector rising.... and it's Alec Holland, Swamp Thing. YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME. Are you SERIOUS?! Okay, a year ago Brightest Day started after Blackest Night ended. At the time I didn't care that Reverse-Flash was brought back even though he was alive. I didn't mind that The Hawks came back even though they ALWAYS come back. I didn't mind that Ted Kord, Vic Sage, The Dibneys or anyone I really enjoyed was ignored over bringing back The Hawks, Osiris that's done nothing, Old Captain Boomerang instead of his younger, better son. But as a year goes by DC Comics slowly turns into The Power Rangers with a bunch of color-coded heroes flying around and then just completely ripped off Captain Planet, but after a YEAR of a hero being hyped up as the SAVIOR OF THE PLANET EARTH, the SAVIOR of a planet that is the home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, FOUR GREEN LANTERNS, THREE FLASHES and countless teams, and you give me fucking SWAMP THING?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! That's it, I'm officially done, I made jokes about X-Man because he stopped reading stuff with Geoff Johns but honestly I don't blame him because this is ridiculous. I already wasn't reading Flashpoint but I see I'm not going to be able to read anything Johns writes until he goes back to how he was a few years ago, because if Grant Morrison wrote this I'd be about to explode, so I'm not playing favorites. I'm done with Johns, I'm done with Green Lantern and everything he writes from this moment forward. I'll finish the last issue of Brightest Day and the rest of War of Green Lanterns but unless he writes something that's critically acclaimed and shakes the foundation of the earth, I won't be reading it. This is probably the first comic Ive ever reviewed where the rant is longer than the review, and let's make another first. The first comic I've ever finished that I'm giving a N/A rating. Congrats Brightest Day you piece of Garbage.

P.S. - Captain Boomerang STILL has yet to throw the goddamn Boomerang.... so yeah., get ready for issue 24 because THAT'S on the way!!!! (SMELL THE SARCASM!!!!!)

31 comments:

  1. I agree. I was rather disappointed that it ended up being...SWAMP THING (!?!?!?!?!?) as the Protector of Earth. I still have faith in Flashpoint and that Brightest Day was just a fluke. I think he also wasn't trying too hard on the last few issues since he wanted to get started on Flashpoint. I'm finishing off Brightest Day for my birthday (April 28, when 24 comes out on the 27th) and then waiting until Flashpoint for Geoff again. Disappointed, disappointed, DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Man that annoyed me so much... I'm still upset about it. If Flashpoint is good I'll hear it from you because I'm not reading it and I don't think too many of my fellow bloggers are either. Happy Birthday in advance in case I forget before then though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Damn...I thought you guys would be excited about this when I heard it was Swamp Thing (they leaked the issue's final page a day early and I saw it then). Guess you haven't read much of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing...otherwise I think you'd be a lot more positive, haha. Old Swampy has been tragically underused since Moore stopped writing him, and I've been waiting for a long time to hear what was coming up next for him.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well for me, it's not that Swamp Thing is back, (I've never read anything about him, but I would like to) it's that he was chosen as the Champion of Earth over...say...I don't know... A new character? Boston Brand? Ted Kord, Ralph Dibney? ...Jason Todd? (trying to lighten the mood a little)
    I could think of almost anyone who could be better than him. Sorry! Just saying.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Again, check out Moore's run on the character. It establishes Swamp Thing as one of the DCU's most powerful characters, an elemental, almost god-like being. If anything, I'm kind of surprised that he would be interested in being Earth's champion...he's always been a bit of a loner, as his immense power sets him apart from most other beings. But as for his qualification to be Earth's champion? Yeah, that part is more than justified.

    ReplyDelete
  6. LMFAO!. Now this is the review I didn't expect, but love. I just remember hearing the big sigh you let out when you were reading this while we were on the phone. And even though I haven't wasted my time with reading this, I'm still upset at who it is. I mean I definitely would've been upset had I still been buying this crap. It's like a wasted year of reading.

    Swamp thing?! Jesus I don't know what to say about that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I couldn't agree more Falisha, and Marc, I feel exactly like Caz does. It couldn't be anyone else? Not Ted Kord. Not Deadman who they have a weird obsession with. Not Don Hall who they KEEP BRING UP, Not Aquaman by pushing his return back by a year, Not Batman, Not Wonder Woman, Superman, or anyone else but Swamp Thing?! I don't care how powerful he is, the point is a year was wasted hyping up the return of a champion of Earth and all it is is someone from DC then Vertigo now DC again, if that's the case it could've been Sandman or Yorick fucking Brown, and that's what annoys me. I'm not so much mad that It's Swamp Thing as I am mad that it's not someone else of more importance...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Seriously gotta reiterate Marc's point. You guys gotta check out Alan Moore's Swamp Thing stuff, not just to see why Swamp Thing IS one of the most important characters in the DCU but also 'cos it's some of the most amazing comics ever made.

    ReplyDelete
  9. To all you Swamp Thing-lovers: Okay but first of all, I can assume that Alan Moore won't return to DC JUST to write a Swamp Thing series. He may have had a great storyline with a bunch of fans but it's a new generation of fans and most of us (me being almost 15, I would know) don't know all that well about Swamp Thing. His powers may be close to God-like, but to be the Champion of Earth...? Notsomuch.
    I actually think either Boston Brand or Don Hall should have been revealed as the Champion of Earth. Or both. They both have been portrayed as characters who could pull off guarding the Earth and being the ultimate force of power.
    Jason: I think they have been paying a lot of attention to Deadman because he is a hard character to create a fanbase with since he has been dead for his entire comic book career. I think he had a decent storyline in Brightest Day (though it could have been better) and I would like to see him have some sort of spot in the continued DC Universe.
    Back to the general conversation: I think that almost all of us can chalk Brightest Day to being Geoff Johns' "Brightest Failure".

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Caz: No one here is saying anything simply because they're "Swamp Thing-lovers" and no one has said anything about Alan Moore returning to write the character, so I don't even know how to address that part of your comment.

    However, the fact that you don't know anything about a particular character, much less a universally celebrated run by one of the medium's best creators, does not make your opinion right and the opinions of everyone else wrong. I'm not some middle-aged guy waxing nostalgic about the "good old days" here, I'm 23 years old -- meaning that Swamp Thing came out before I was born too. And I first read it when I was your age. It's been available in trade for years, so it's not like it's inaccessible to "new" fans.

    So why not take this opportunity to investigate a new character and an excellent creative run, rather than declaring that you're somehow more entitled to get what you want from a comic book than everyone else? Expanding your horizons is never a bad thing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Okay, first things first, JT, AWESOME review! I could NOT agree with you more. This was an absolute travesty. And I'm glad you've realized that Chairman Johns has lost it.

    Oh, and Marc, I HAVE read Swamp Thing comics, and Caz is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT in being annoyed by the ST reveal. There is NO WAY Swamp Thing belongs in the mainstream DCU, ESPECIALLY not on a stage THIS big. This is like the Millennium mess all over again. Remember the Floronic Man? I don't get the snarky tone you're taking at all. This comic was trash. The Swamp Thing reveal was absurd, and yes, Alan Moore did some good work on Swamp Thing(a LONG time ago), but if his work, and any subsequent Swamp Thing appearances have shown us anything, Swamp Thing works best in the corners of the DCU, same as John Constantine. Putting SWAMP THING at the center of this comic, and therefore at the center of the DCU was a terrible move. Simply terrible.

    I totally agree with Caz here. This WAS Chairman Johns "Brightest Failure"... As a matter of fact, I think I'll lift that for my review of BD #24! I love that!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm not trying to defend this comic in the least. I haven't read it, and I fully believe you guys when you say it's trash. I can also understand people being annoyed with the Swamp Thing reveal on one level...it came out of nowhere, and I don't think he's been mentioned in any of the previous 22 issues of the series. That's just not how you tell a story, and in terms of the plot that's been laid out, it obviously should have been a character who's played a bigger role (or at least some role) in the series.

    However, what annoyed me was Caz's sense of entitlement: he says that because he is younger and of a "new generation," things need to be catered to his tastes specifically. And unless he's paying more for his comics per issue than everyone else, that's ridiculous. Besides, if you really want to make an argument based on demographics, statistics show that comic book readers are getting increasingly older. The "new generation" Caz is talking about doesn't exist.

    So again, I'm not trying to defend Brightest Day, or to offend anyone. The part of this that excites me is the prospect that Swamp Thing will now probably get his own ongoing series again. Yes, on a story level his showing up makes Brightest Day an even worse comic, but that book is long past the point of redemption anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love how Brightest Day has split people down the middle! It's the Marmite of comics, you either love it or you really, really hate it. :)

    If there is a case to be made against the reveal of Swamp Thing as Earth's protector it's that the revelation that has no impact unless you've read Moore's decades old run. So it doesn't really satisfy as a great surprise revelation.

    But in terms of the character's suitability as Earth's protector I gotta say he fits the bill. As DC's Earth elemental Swamp Thing pretty much IS the Earth. I honestly think it makes perfect sense in terms of the character. However in terms of Brightest Day as a story, as Marc said, Swamp Thing pretty much has come out of nowhere and I can see why a lot of readers are like "WTF!?"

    X-man, dude, I gotta chip in regarding your comment about Moore's work proving that Swampy doesn't work as part of the DCU. Moore makes such good use of characters like the JLA and Zatanna's dad in his Swamp Thing run and was able to show us sides to the characters that we've never seen before. He used the Crisis on Infinite Earths as a springboard to tell some great stories involving both Swampy and Constantine. There's definitely an argument to be made that Swamp Thing doesn't work as part of the DCU but I don't think Moore's work proves it. On the other hand, you're right, Millennium was shit. :)

    I'm gonna write a blog post after issue 24 comes out to get my tuppence worth in about Brightest Day. I'll probably be generally pro-Brightest Day (although the series hasn't been perfect) but I'd love to see what you guys make of the post after it's written.

    ReplyDelete
  14. X-Man, apologies, just read your comment again and I've noticed that you're arguing that Swamp Thing belongs in the corners of the DCU rather than arguing that he doesn't belong in the DCU at all, which makes sense. Consider my counter-argument retracted. OOps. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. No problemo, Paul! Like I said, I like Swamp Thing, but I'd rather see him get a Vertigo-type series where the creators could ntake more liberties with him, like the 70's/80's run. I mean I could NEVER imagine Constantine working in the mainstream DCU... Same as Swamp Thing.

    I'm sorry, but I STILL agree with Caz, Marc. And I definitely don't see the "sense of entitlement" you're coming up with... IMHO, he didn't say anything that deserved to get him attacked. He didn't like the Swamp Thing reveal. He's got a great point, how many of today's fans read the Grant Swamp Thing run? How many of those fans from the 70's/80's are still reading DC comics? Who knows, or cares? What DC did made no sense. They took a character with ZERO connection to BN/BD prior to this issue, and with no build-up thrust him in the spotlight. Regardless if that character was a part of a "universally celebrated run" or not...

    ReplyDelete
  16. God bless this blog, I literally couldn't agree more with Caz and X. The main thing here is Swamp Thing MAY be a great character, but as the character they hyped for a year?! The Character they want people like Superman and Batman to look up to as the Planet's savior and protector? Pardon my language but that's grade A Bullshit. The problemn is, the reveal was NEVER gonna live up to a year long hype, whether it was a new character or someone from the past, and their mistake was making it someone who the basic fan knows even less about. Sure Swamp Thing is readily available but we shouldnt HAVE to go look him up to know who the hell he is. We knew Aquaman, Max Lord, Martian Manhunter, The Hawks and etc without having to look up their history before hand. We even knew about Dove because they've mentioned him since Blackest Night, so for them to literally come out of NOWHERE and say "Oh here's Swamp Thing, protector of the fucking EARTH" Just makes no sense to me personally.

    And considering it's not just Myself, Caz and Lisha that are disappointed but also X who HAS in fact read the Swamp Thing stuff means this reveal just wasn't solid.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You guys are kinda missing my point. I'm not saying that everyone should already know about Alan Moore's Swamp Thing or have already it. I agree with you guys that in terms of the Brightest Day story, the reveal is dumb as hell. If they wanted him to be the earth's protector all along, they should have built up to that within the series itself. Instead, they've relied on people being familiar with a thirty-year-old run on the character, which is just plain dumb. This is what you guys (X and JT) are saying, and I agree with you 100% on that front.

    But if you reread Caz's post, that's not what he's saying. He may reach the same conclusion that we do (and I AM making the same conclusion as you guys, minus being upset about Brightest Day sucking, since I have no personal investment in that series), but he gets there with very different logic. So while I agree with everyone else's final conclusion, I don't agree with his logic for getting there at all.

    My positivity about this reveal has to do solely with the fact that I'm interested in seeing what they do with the character next. It does not in any way redeem Brightest Day, which as far as I can tell is still a pile of shit. In fact, it only makes Brightest Day worse, since it has nothing to do with anything that's come previously in the series. But like I said, that in itself doesn't particularly bother me since I haven't been buying the series and I had already considered it a lost cause anyway. I can understand you guys being upset about it, though, since you've actually been spending money on it!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I honestly don't know what to say, or if it's even worth saying anything... All I know is this. Caz stated his case, and as you yourself said, came to the same conclusion as the rest of us, Marc. What I don't get is your hostility towards him. Just because he's 14 doesn't mean his opinion is any less valid, and it's not like he said, "Swamp Thing is OLD!!! Nobody should care about him/it!!!" He literally said, "He may have had a great storyline with a bunch of fans but it's a new generation of fans and most of us... don't know all that well about Swamp Thing." Why he deserved your wrath for that, I have no clue... But this is JT's blog, and I've said my piece, this is the last time I stick my nose into this bizarre little dust-up. I'll leave the rest to JT.

    Back to the main point(I think...) of this post tough, DC should have done more little subtle things with Swamp Thing so fans who didn't know as much about Swamp Thing WOULD know about Swamp Thing BEFORE this issue came out! I mean Johns had to know he was going to pull the Swamp Thing card out at least two-three years ago, so why hasn't DC done some little things to set this up? A heavily hyped trade, a mention, a Vertigo mini-series, hell, even a quick cameo during Blackest Night. Anything! Instead, we get a last page where the White Lantern tells us Alec Holland(not even Swamp Thing!) is Earth's Ultimate Savior. I don't even think Swamp Thing is mentioned by name except for the next issue blurb at the bottom of the last page! Man, what a weird way to reintroduce a character...

    ReplyDelete
  19. JT- kudos on the n/a. It's been a long time since I've laughed about that rating. I totally see where your frustrations come from, because you've been with the series all the way. Even from only reading your reviews I know Swamp Thing is a "surprising choice" (to put it mildly). Especially with the varying quality of this series, it's a major "screw you" to fans to throw in a random character at this point.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I think I may have come off as a lot more hostile than I ever meant to...I was just trying to prod Caz to back up his argument a little more so we could get a decent back-and-forth going. That's how debate works: you point out the logical flaws of someone's argument, and then they point out the flaws in yours. In the end, whether it changes our opinions or not, it at least makes us better thinkers. But if it came off as a personal attack, I certainly didn't mean it that way, and my apologies to Caz in particular if you were offended by anything I said.

    Anyway, I totally agree with you, X. It would seem Johns & co. have had this little card up their sleeves for a long time, and there's no reason why they shouldn't have at least given some lead-up to it. And you pointed out something which I was about to bring up...that Alex Holland isn't actually Swamp Thing, which makes the whole thing even funnier in a way. Does Johns not know the character's history, or is this some new development? I'm interested to see where they take the character from here (as long as Johns isn't involved!), but yeah, as for the Brightest Day series itself, I think the crappy implementation of this plot point pretty much guarantees that I won't ever go out of my way to read it.

    ReplyDelete
  21. And by "Alex" I of course meant "Alec." :P

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thanks Kello for the comment, I wanted to reply before it got lost in conversation, haha. Glad you enjoyed the review and the return of the N/A, which now has it's own category after being featured more than I expected it to in the last year. Lol

    ReplyDelete
  23. Haha, that's great. Now I can have an "N/A Rating" reading marathon!

    P.S. Are there more Ratings & Rantings coming this week? Hopefully there aren't too many more N/As this week...I'm not sure how much more controversy I can handle right now! :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Actually Marc I think I may just bump the other two comics to the next R&R post instead of do a post for just two issues, but I guess we'll see.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hey awesome review very informative keep it up. Following

    For Comic Reviews And Discussions
    http://marvelcomicuniverse.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  26. I can't say I'm mad. I've enjoyed Brightest Day so far and I like Johns so I'm trusting him with a good ending, however I'm pissed the hero of the universe isn't Ollie.

    I had a running bet going with a friend that it would be. I mean, this awesome life giving tree is in Star City; He gets his own side story for Brightest Day(a good one too); and he's always been friends with Jordan. I was hoping he'd dawn the ring and we'd see a Jordan/Ollie adventure arc like the good old days.

    I will say I'm excited for Swamp Thing though. It's so out of left field that there has to be something interesting coming up.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks for the comments guys. Dick, that's a really good idea actually, I would've loved to see Ollie with a ring, he'd be creative as well but it seems kinda retroactive considering they wanted him to get back to his roots so to speak, but that would've been a great choice and started some great stories.

    ReplyDelete
  28. @X: Thanks for defending me. And I'll have to check out your BD #24 review then! Hahaha.
    @MarcI have been really busy since I commented. So I didn't even know this whole discussion happened until just now. I would have said something like the following if I had known:
    I am not saying that I’m some great authority for young readers. I’m just saying that out of all of the young (between 10-16) comic book readers that I know (which range from 25-30 people at least) they, and I, prefer reading newer issues or newer graphic novels. I think there is a generational gap even between a fan at the age of 14, and one at the age of… 23(? I think you said you’re 23, right?). Individual comics cost less and I know we try to stick to the cheaper stuff because we don’t have jobs and such. I didn’t mean to have you take that the wrong way.
    I was stating my opinion from my personal observations and preferences. I didn’t take any offense in what you had to say and I would’ve gladly responded if I had been on before today. Jason & I’s (what would we be? A friendship? I’ll just say that for sake of argument) started out as a fight, if you might remember. It was also over Brightest Day back when I thought it was really good. I eventually realized that I had completely snapped and took a step back and cooled off. I had a bad time and now this is an easy place for me to come to comment on comics and it’s a good place for comic information.
    Another thing: Since the Tuesday before BD #23 came out (when the last page’s scan was revealed), I have been looking at the three comic book stores in my area for an Alan Moore Swamp Thing trade and I haven’t been successful yet. So that’s something to also consider.
    Thanks for apologizing, but my feelings and stuff weren’t hurt.
    @Jason: Maybe you should do a Swamp Thing feature? (Giving a history of Swamp Thing) I don’t have much time since I have finals coming up in the next few months, then I have a lot of other stuff to plan since I have a job I’m trying to get for this summer and everything. If I hear about anything interesting, I’ll (hopefully) pick it up when I have the money.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yeah I'd say we're friends Caz, and I probably wouldn't be the best for a Swamp Thing post since I don't know much about him, nor do I really wanna search for info on him, whereas someone like X or Marc whose read his comics would be a better person for said feature. Maybe one of those two will volunteer.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Glad you didn't take anything I said the wrong way, Caz. You're an all right guy! :)

    Also, Swamp Thing is now being collected again into a series of hardcovers. I believe they're up through the fourth one, with number five on the way soon.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hahaha. @Everyone who mentioned Millenium: Since I'm a young'un and doesn't (didn't) know what that is/was, I decided to research it! It sounds like shit. xD.
    @Marc: I'm not one to take things the wrong way. I know when it's opinion or just being rude.

    ReplyDelete