So far my experience with the new DC status quo has been very poor with me. The direction Johns has taken is confusing to me. People have tried to explain it to me, and while I appreciate the help, I still can’t grasp on some of these new ideas and revelations. Brightest Day #0 felt more like an advertisement and less of an actual comic. So here I am, once again, trying to see if my experience with Brightest Day will be better. The result?

This was an improvement to be sure. The stories in the beginning with the New Guardians and Aquaman were the clear the highlights. Whether it was the ‘Sword in the Stone’ reference, or Sinestro being sheepish, I enjoyed the hell out of the beginning. Part of me still wonders why this couldn’t just be focused in Green Lantern proper, since no major revelations happen here. Still it wasn’t bad. Then Johns (presumably) writing a very badass Aquaman. I’m not sure what the deal with him is yet, but with this new revelation on his powers and a return of an old foe; this should be an entertaining story. Martian Manhunter had a good start, but to be honest it felt a bit too light for me. The art made that work more. Then we have the Hawk people and Firestorm and….I’m sorry I just don’t care. Maybe in the future they will have importance to this story. But after two issues I am just already bored by their stories.

The art is what truly made me appreciate this series more. We got the heavy hitters like Reis, Pardo, and Gleason doing their respective stories. Plus the lesser name artists, Syaf and Clark, made their respective stories look also pretty damn gorgeous. My problem, and it’s not even a problem, is that…..Other then Gleason, you really couldn’t tell who was doing what. It was easy to tell Reis started the issue with Green Lantern cause it looks like his touch for the characters. But because everyone virtually looks alike, with some differences in the inking/coloring, it’s hard to tell the difference. When you look close, obviously the Hawkman/woman strip looks different then Aquaman. Seriously though, it all looks the same and it isn’t a bad thing. It makes the issue look consistant and it doesn’t bother the eyes. Again other then Gleason, but his work was so amazing with Manhunter I could gush about it forever.

I still find myself confused on this whole venture. This was an improvement, yes, but still there are some problems I had with this. Mainly that a good half of the book bored me to tears. But I felt that the creators on the art front was going to make it all worthwhile. They did and make it that much more of a good title. Still, I hope in the next couple of issues something exciting happens to make me care about some of these characters. Cause even if Aquaman’s powers is out of wack; that story might get old before it even gets started.