gotta hand it to you, Arthur

i still don't know where Brightest Day is headed, but just to keep our attention from meandering from the meandering series, they give us some (regurgitated) shock and awe. in 2028, some other villain will use telekinesis to rip off Aquaman's hand once again.

the Devil makes work for idle hands, while God cuts them off - wait, what?

still haven't found what they're looking for

drive-by readings

Brightest Day #9 (DC) "Lost and Found" Geoff Johns/Peter Tomasi Patrick Gleason/Ivan Reis/Joe Prado Rebecca Buchman/Keith Champagne/Tom Nguyen Peter Steigerwald Rob Clark Jr. David Finch (cover) Reis/Hi-Fi (variant cover)

what we learned: ah, so the black dude with the eel tattoo is Black Manta's son. why did it only take this long for him to get up his butt and look for him? J'onn's search for the telepathic black hole lands him in Oliver Queen's enchanted forest and they needed to hightail it out of there before the forest ate them up.
oh shit moment: never saw Black Manta this cool and aggressive. but that costume is still funny.
what's next: message in a bottle, yeah.


Ollie didn't like his first session with The Mentalist.

buildup

drive-by readings

Brightest Day #8 (DC) "Defiance" Geoff Johns/Peter Tomasi Patrick Gleason/Ivan Reis/Ardian Syaf Vicente Cifuentes/Rebecca Buchman/Mark Irwin Peter Steigerwald/John Starr Rob Clark Jr. David Finch/Scott Williams/Steigerwald (cover) Ryan Sook/Fernando Pasarin/Joel Gomez/Randy Mayor/Carrie Strachan (variant cover)

what we learned: Shiera fights for her life with her mommy issues, and while Carter finds himself an army to fight against Queen Shrike. meanwhile, J'onn tries to find out where's that Green Martian who jumped M'gann and it leads him to Star City. the White Ring is still messing with Deadman's, Dove's and Hawk's heads. i have no idea what its rapping about.
oh shit moment: how many creators does it take to finish a book? or should we just blame Blogger for having a 200-character tag limit???
what's next: they promised us an Aquaman/Black Manta rematch. they promised!!


and so Hawkman found himself leading the Thundercats AND the mutants ...

protect this house

drive-by readings

Brightest Day #7 (DC) "The Secret of Life" Geoff Johns Peter Tomasi Ivan Reis Ardian Syaf Scott Clark Joe Prado Vicente Cifuentes David Beaty Mark Irwin Peter Steigerwald John Starr Rob Clark Jr. David Finch/Scott Williams/Steigerwald (cover) Ryan Sook/Fernando Pasarin/Joel Gomez/Randy Mayor/Carrie Strachan (variant cover)

what we learned: apparently, the entity in the White Lantern has been the DCU's version of the Watcher (unlike the Watcher, it hasn't made any moves beyond watching - until now). the 12 revived characters are here to protect this world until the arrival of its "new protector". huh? like this world needs more protection, given the long list of DCU her- oh you mean this time, its a competent protector? are you suuuuuuuuuuuuuuure?
oh shit moment: we'll go with what a Deadman could feel ... eating a damn burger after far too long. ohhhh, man. that is the shit.
what's next: the White Lantern has issued instructions for each of them (burn what, J'onn? stop Magog, Max Lord?), so get cracking! move it, move it, move it!


why? what's wrong with the current crop of protectors?

Roy Harper is a choker

-----
Justice League: Rise of Arsenal #2

and now, a word from the Batcave

hey, Batman, Tiger Woods returned to the golf course this week. he didn't win the Masters but America seems to be finally getting over his scandal. we're thinking of throwing him a big party in the Batcave; what do you think of that?

snaps: Justice League - The Rise of Arsenal #1

... where we stick the knife in deeper into Roy Harper's broken heart, gouge at his entrails, and kick his severed arm around the room. seriously, James Robinson severely damaged this character and now we're supposed to believe he's going to come back as a badass evil-crushing vigilante of sorts - that is, if he doesn't die first (see, its the powerless archers that get deconstructed and "die honorably" - see The Nail, and Another Nail). and how do we explain the 2000 resurrection of Oliver Queen? ah, editor ex machina. welcome back to the '90s, DC. i guess that Hot Tub Time Machine does work!

"Freddy Marvel" is a sore loser with video games.


ah ah, tactical error, Roy. you shoulda stomped him to the ground. do not ever listen to a villain prattling.


whoooops - somebody's pulling a fast one, Mr. Green-Gigolo-who-allegedly-had-a-threesome-with-Zinda-and-Helena.


for once, the Canary Cry is silenced.


you know who i'd cast as that pusher? Christopher Walken *. YEAH.



* well, only because David Carradine accidentally killed himself.