Electronic Ink: Mini-Edition 2

Tonight’s edition of Electronic Ink is, once again, a short one. Rather than last week’s five-issue extravaganza, this week, we have a two-issue mini-post. So let’s dispense with the introduction and get right to it. 

Brightest Day #10

 

The first issue I read was the latest edition of “Brightest Day“, Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi‘s maxi-story about the resurrected heroes from Blackest Night. Leaving the last issue’s focus on the Martian’s Manhunter, this week deals with Firestorm. Firestorm consists of a bonded union between original Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond, and current Firestorm, Jason Rusch. There is enmity between the two because Raymond, while he was a Black Lantern, took over the Firestorm matrix and killed Jason’s girlfriend while he watched. When Ronnie was resurrected, for unknown reasons he was bonded to the Firestorm matrix. At the start of the issue, they are in lab of Professor Martin Stein, Raymond’s half of the Firestorm matrix. What they discover is that the matrix that bonds them is the Big Bang that started the universe. As they react to the emotion, they excite the matrix and raise the potential of re-starting the universe. Their story ends, in traditional Johnsian fashion, with a cliffhanger as the Black Lantern Firestorm reappears. 

The other story in the issue fleshes out the story of the new Aqualad, Jackson Hyde. In an origin typical of most teen fantasies, the people he believed were his parents are in fact his adopted parents. His powers have begun to activate, signaling the arrival of his father, Black Manta. His father attempts to protect Jackson from Black Manta with a rather foolish idea of throwing themselves into a lake. Jackson rescues his father and attempts to fight off Manta, using water-manipulation powers similar to Aquaman‘s wife, Mera. As this is his first time using his powers, Jackson’s not able to fight off Manta, who is joined by new character, Siren. Siren is Mera’s sister, who is has been sent to kill Aquaman. Before Manta can kill Jackson’s father, he is stopped by Aquaman, who has been searching for Siren. 

The Firestorm story was rather silly as tying him to the Big Bang feels really contrived. It comes off as an attempt to make him seem more important but feels like a forced upgrade. The ending with the Black Lantern Firestorm, however, was intriguing enough to keep me engaged. The Aqualad story, on the other hand, was much better (ill-advised parental heroics aside). I have been really looking forward to this new character, albeit based strictly on character design. That’s him on the cover. (As a side note, the cover is in no way an accurate reflection of the contents. At the very least, Deadman does not appear anywhere in this issue.) I have to compliment the art by Ivan Reis, Scott Clark, and Joe Prado. The art was engaging, especially during the Firestorm sequence. In modern comics, there has been a tendency to overuse splash pages. The three that were used in this issue were used with great effect. Overall, I enjoyed this issue much more than the previous one. 

DC Universe: Legacies #10

 

The other comic I bought was the re-telling of the history of the DC Universe (or DCU) in the aptly titled ”DC Universe: Legacies”. The conceit of this series is that history is being told from the perspective of Paul Lincoln, a Metropolis cop who happens to have small moments in the major milestones of the DCU. This issue deals with the arguably biggest game-changer, “Crisis on Infinite Earths“. We see the evacuation of New York from the perspective of an ordinary citizen. 

 The back-up portion of the issue is a short story about Adam Strange joining with other space heroes (including a couple from the future). They have been brought to a random alien world by villains Hyathis and Kanjar Ro, as part of a game they are playing against each other. The less said about this story, the better. 

I enjoyed most of the main story. Len Wein, the author, did a great job hooking me once it reached the Crisis portion. However the lead up was a little odd. It seemed to indicate the Joker had never murdered at any point prior to Crisis. It also stated that the Spectre did not ironically punish evildoers until that time in history. Even taking into account the story’s position that everything in DC’s history happened during the time period the comic was published, it ignores plenty of comics that contradict both of those concepts. The art in the intro, main story, and back-up is fantastic. Scott Kolins, George Perez and Walt Simonson do an excellent job. I especially enjoyed Perez’s art. The amount of detail continues to amaze, especially considering he was the artist in the original Crisis. Overall, I would have rather just purchased the main story and saved the dollar for the back-up.

Electronic Ink 2: Short and Simple

Last week I said that my comic book reviews would be limited to my favorite books of the week. (This was due in part to avoid overly long posts but mostly because Jenn did not want to edit a thousand word post about comics.) However this week, that won’t be a problem. Since I trimmed back the number of comics I buy a month, there are some weeks that are considerably lighter than others. This is one of those weeks, as I only bought two books. 

Brightest Day #9

 

The first one that made it home was Brightest Day #9. This series is one of the two bi-weekly series that DC has come out with this year. (The other being Justice League: Generation Lost, which I talked about last week.) The premise of the series, written by Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi, is that twelve heroes  and villains were brought back to life by the power of life in the form of a White Lantern. (Think of a Green Lantern and subtract the color.) Each resurrected person has a mission they must accomplish in order to bring about the person who will wield the White Lantern ring. Their reward is that their life is restored to them. Some of the twelve have their stories told in other series but this series deals with the bulk of those brought back to life. 

This issue, the focus is primarily on the Martian Manhunter. He has recently learned that he is not the only Green Martian on earth. His hunt for the other Green Martian leads him to a forest that recently sprung up in the middle of Star City, home of Green Arrow. The Martian Manhunter recently received a vision from the White Lantern that told him he needed to burn down a forest and since the Star City Forest was a telepathic black hole, he assumed it was that one.  After being confronted by Green Arrow, the Martian Manunter realizes he is wrong and learns where he needs to be. 

The other story deals with the introduction of the new Aqualad. This is important because the WB is putting out a new teenage superhero cartoon named Young Justice which is loosely based on the old comic series of the same name. It’s been reported that Aqualad will be the leader of the team and this issue allows comic readers to get know him. There is not much meat in the story but I have to admit I was intrigued by the character and look forward to reading and watching him in the future. 

On the whole, I did not enjoy the issue. I am generally a huge fan of Geoff Johns and I like Peter Tomasi but the Martian Manhunter sequence, which was the bulk of the book, did not hold my interest. I found myself hurrying through the story to see if anything else was in the book. A huge part of that is the artwork. The art chores are shared by Patrick Gleason , Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, and for the most are well done. However the sequence that is the hook of the book, the fight between Green Arrow and the Martian Manhunter, is laid out in such a confusing manner that it is difficult to understand what is happening. It is definitely the lesser of the two books I read this week. 

Prince of Power #4

 

Of course, the second book I read would have been the top contender for book of the week even if I did have a larger haul. It is Prince of Power #4. This issue is the conclusion of the mini-series that has continued the adventures of young super-genius Amadeus Cho as he tries to bring his best friend, Hercules, back to their universe. In this issue, Cho and his current partner, Thor, are in the realms of the Hindu afterlife, hunting for the remaining ingredient for a drink that allows a person to become a god. Cho plans to use that drink to become omniscient so he can find Hercules wherever he may be in the multiverse. 

Opposing him is the half-son of Loki, Vali Halfling, who seeks to use the drink to become the Odin. In each issue of the series, Vali has been one step ahead of Cho, gathering all of the ingredients. Vali used one of the previous ingredients, the Book of Thoth, to become even more powerful. The setting is primed for a battle between Vali and Cho and Thor. 

The story, by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, takes some surprise twists and the end of book is satisfying. The art by Reilly Brown and Adam Archer, is fantastic. Each panel is well-crafted and finely detailed. Continuing a tradition from the Incredible Hercules books, several of the sound effects are clever jokes. Thankfully, even though the mini-series is over, the story will continue in another mini beginning in October. I am definitely on-board. 

So a 50/50 week for my comics this week. Not too bad. Hopefully next week will, at the very least, be more of the same. This has been your Electronic Ink for this week.