Brightest Day
Brightest Day is a 2010 - 2011 crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of a year-long comic book maxiseries that began in April 2010, and a number of tie-in books. The story is a direct follow-up to the Blackest Night storyline that depicts the aftermath of the events of that storyline on the DC Universe.
Plot
At the end of the 2009–2010 Blackest Night storyline, 12 deceased heroes and villains are resurrected for some unknown purpose. The events of Brightest Day follow the exploits of these characters as they seek to learn the secret behind their return to life.Assignments
Brightest Day #7 revealed that the 12 resurrected must complete an individual assignment given to them by the White Lantern Entity. If they are successful, their lives will be fully returned.- Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash helped release Barry Allen from the Speed Force.
- Jade balanced the darkness.
- Osiris freed Isis, the goddess of nature.
- Maxwell Lord stopped Magog from bringing about the events seen in Kingdom Come.
- Hawkgirl prevented Hath-Set from killing Hawkman.
- Hawkman closed the dimensional gateway between Hawkworld and Earth.
- Aquaman already enlisted the new Aqualad to his side before the "others" do.
- The Martian Manhunter burned down the Martian forest, killed D'Kay D'razz and chose to devote himself to the protection of Earth..
- Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond defeated the Black Lantern corruption in their Firestorm Matrix before it destroyed the universe.
- Captain Boomerang threw a boomerang at the Dove.
- The Hawk was assigned to catch the boomerang thrown at the Dove by Captain Boomerang, but failed to do so.
- Boston Brand was to find the new champion who will bear the white light of life and take the Entity's place.
Publication history
Brightest Day also crossed over into the Green Lantern series, the Green Lantern Corps, Justice League of America, The Titans and The Flash. It was later announced that Gail Simone would return to a new volume of the Birds of Prey comic book, which will also be under the same banner. Other tie ins included the first issues of a relaunched Green Arrow and the Justice Society of America. Jeff Lemire wrote the one-shot Brightest Day: The Atom Special with artist Mahmud Asrar, which acted as a springboard for an Atom story to co-feature in Adventure Comics with the same creative team.
The Green Lantern series featured more of the characters Atrocitus, Larfleeze, Saint Walker, and Indigo-1 in a story arc titled "New Guardians." At Emerald City Comic-Con 2010, Johns also stated that Firestorm would be a "main character" in Brightest Day.
The first issue, issue #0, was penciled by Fernando Pasarin. David Finch, a newly DC exclusive artist, illustrated the covers for the entire series.
In June 2010, writer Geoff Johns announced that the "Brightest Day" event would also be used to introduce Jackson Hyde', the new Aqualad created for the Young Justice animated series, into the DC Universe. Similarly, the final issue of the series reintroduced the Swamp Thing and John Constantine into the mainstream DC Universe after a number of years in DC's mature Vertigo'' imprint.
Summary
The story begins the day after Blackest Night showing Boston smashing his tombstone. Nearby, a baby bird falls out of its nest and dies, but is resurrected by the white ring that Boston has on. The ring then takes him to everyone that was resurrected and he sees how they are celebrating their new leases on life. Boston then asks the ring why it is showing him this; its answer was - it needs help. It then takes him to the destroyed Star City and creates a forest.Meanwhile, in New Mexico, Sinestro discovers a White Lantern battery. Hal and Carol arrive and try to lift the lantern, but it will not move...
Boston brand fights the Anti- monitor and damages the anti- monitors chest plate then the anti-monitor blasts Boston brand the heroes figure out that the anti- monitor owns the mobius chair and that his real name is mobius and he regrets a unknown mistake from his past
Titles
- Brightest Day #0-24 focuses on the resurrected Deadman, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Firestorm.
- Green Lantern #53-62 focuses on Hal Jordan, as well as the other representatives of the other Lantern Corps, as they attempt to prevent the capture of all the emotional entities which eventually leads to the Green Lantern Corps War.
- Green Lantern Corps #47-57 focuses on Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, and Ganthet as they face the revolt of the Alpha Lanterns and the return of the Weaponers of Qward until the War of the Green Lantern Corps erupts.
- Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors focuses on Guy Gardner, Kilowog, Arisia, Sodam Yat and the Red Lantern Bleez as they put in motion a universe-saving plan against a new, hidden foe to prevent the War of the Green Lantern Corps.
- Brightest Day: The Atom Special is a one-shot that was bannered as a Brightest Day tie-in, but is in actuality an introduction to the Atom miniseries contained within Adventure Comics #516-521 and Giant-Size Atom #1.
- Birds of Prey #1-6 focuses on the resurrected Hawk as well as the Dove's connection to the White Light.
- The Flash #1-7 features the resurrected Captain Boomerang.
- Green Arrow #1-12 focuses on the Star City forest that sprouted from the White Lantern ring.
- Justice League of America #44-48 focuses on the resurrected Jade as she tries to save her brother and father from the control of the Starheart.
- #1-24 focuses on Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire, and Ice as they attempt to find the resurrected Maxwell Lord.
- Justice Society of America #40-43, which is part of the storyline shared with Justice League of America #44-48.
- Titans #24-30 focuses on the resurrected Osiris as he joins a team of villains led by Deathstroke the Terminator, and composed of the Tattooed Man, Cheshire and a new character named Cinder. An additional special called Titans: Villains For Hire Special #1 precedes number #24 and deals with the death of Ryan Choi, the fourth Atom, at the hands of the villains. For unknown reasons, issue #28 was the last issue to be labeled as a Brightest Day tie-in.
Involved, but not listed, under the ''Brightest Day'' banner
- Action Comics focuses on Lex Luthor and his universal quest to locate the energy of the Black Lantern Corps. Incidentally, issue #890 was labeled as Blackest Night Aftermath.
- Booster Gold #33–43 picks up on elements of the search for Maxwell Lord in '.
- Power Girl #13–23 is loosely connected with '.
- Untold Tales from Blackest Night #1 : while it was labeled as "Blackest Night", this one-shot is loosely connected with Brightest Day #11–12,
- Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special: while not bannered as a "Brightest Day" tie-in, this issue is a tongue-in-cheek one-shot issue focusing on Larfleeze's misunderstanding of the meaning of Christmas.
- Shazam! #1: this one-shot is loosely connected with Osiris' mission to rescue his sister Isis.
- Teen Titans #83 explains why the Blue Beetle would be taking a leave of absence from the Titans, and the events of Generation Lost #2 are indirectly mentioned there as well.
- War of the Green Lanterns is a storyline that crosses over all three Green Lantern titles, and is a direct continuation of the "Brightest Day" story arcs.
''Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing''
- Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #1, 32 pages, June 22, 2011
- Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #2, 32 pages, July 27, 2011
- Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #3, 32 pages, August 24, 2011
Collected editions
- Brightest Day Volume One
- Brightest Day Volume Two
- Brightest Day Volume Three
- Birds of Prey Volume One: Endrun
- The Flash Volume One: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues
- Green Arrow Volume One: Into the Woods
- Green Arrow Volume Two: Salvation
- Green Lantern: Brightest Day
- Green Lantern Corps: Revolt of the Alpha Lanterns
- Green Lantern Corps: The Weaponer
- Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors Volume One
- Justice League: Generation Lost Volume One
- Justice League: Generation Lost Volume Two
- Justice League of America: the Dark Things.
In other media