Wild Speculation: Brightest Day And You
The buzz coming from DC's next crossover project has, naturally, perked a lot of ears on the comics blogosphere. As we approach the tail end of Blackest Night, the internet's filled with fan forums crying "event fatigue" and writers concerned with the apparent related optimism of Brightest Day with Marvel's Heroic Age. But if the relatively vapid teasers have offered any sort of glimpse into what Brightest Day is going to be, I think we're looking at a heavily modified and fairly refined system of crossover comics.
Blame the English major in me, but when DC's The Source blog previewed David Finch's gorgeous cover to Brightest Day #2, I see more than just a revived and conflicted Aquaman. Arthur Curry is taking a long, hard look at DC's latest shakeup and the crap it's likely caused (read: dead fishies). DC's stated that, in light of their upcoming Who's Who collection, it's not looking for huge shifts in the status quo nor events that promise to Change Everything. And in the solicitations for Brightest Day, we're being shown a more toned down anthology of stories. While the Brightest Day banner will likely be splayed across as many titles as its infectious precursor, it seems to promise stories that are more sectioned off and character-centric, carrying a common theme without having to summon all the colorful capes to some hole in the ground (though not to say that the Black Lantern ringleader didn't have an appropriately fabulous entrance).
One of my fears with the inception of 'Blackest Night' was that the other, less-prominent Corps, with their fun and engaging cast, would be tossed aside once the major conflict was through. It's still a possibility, but with the BD banner splintered across so many titles and seeing the so-called "New Guardians" playing with characters from other franchises, albeit tentatively, we're seeing set-ups for stories that have a moderate, universal impact while retaining the weight necessary to move a superhero history forward.
Brightest Day is promising an event-lite; While the actual books are covering a vast majority of the DCU, we'll be reading about a series of conflicts, not just a single pervasive issue. Even if Brightest Day proves to be little besides a bunch of old folks shaking their gravedirt off and fighting with renewed vigor, we as readers are poised to see a fresh take on the crossover.
Rubber Justice
Posted to Crossover, Say What? on 12 February 2010
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: aquaman, blackest night, brightest day, DC
I am looking forward to stories that are more sectioned off and focused around individual characters. I know there will be plenty of hype leading up to this series, but I think The Brightest Day just might live up to hype.
I would love this, especially if a different style of crossover results in more short series, with defined beginnings and ends. Insert standard rant about how I want comic books to be more like British TV shows here, if you wish. I love a contained, completed narrative, and that makes ongoing series difficult for me as a reader. I can't even imagine trying to write them.
I am hoping the same. One of the best parts of any story is the end! With contained and complete stories, we won't need to wait for the ending. Though, recently I have noticed that many of the latest comics in the Blackest Night series contain complete stories within the comic. I believe the Brightest Day will follow that trend.