It’s time for another set of DC reviews, and this week is a great batch of books. Find out why the dead have risen in Brightest Day, how Tim Drake survives the assassination attempt in Red Robin, and learn more about Jason Todd in Red Hood: The Lost Days.
Minor spoilers ahead!
Brightest Day 
#7
Writers: Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, and Joe Prado
Cover Artists: David Finch, Scott Willams, and Peter Steigerwald
Publisher: DC
Seven issues in and we are getting closer to finding out exactly why the dead have been brought to life, and all it took was a cheeseburger. This is the issue where everything comes together, yet remains a mystery. After indulging in a cheeseburger, at the White Lantern’s insistence, Boston Brand, Hawk, and Dove are transported to New Mexico where the White Lantern rests. When Brand takes hold of the lantern, a white light washes over everyone connected to the lantern, and each individual learns of their purpose. Each of the twelve returned individuals receive instructions that they need to accomplish; one notably has already accomplished his duty. While their purposes create more questions than answer them, this issue establishes the direction that all the books with the Brightest Day stamp will be going in. The instructions given to the returned individuals range from being clear cut directions, such as to burn down a forest, to instructions that are not as obvious, though in most cases we can’t help but wonder what purpose these instructions hold. I think that this is one of the best issues that have come out so far. While it’s not as if this issue magically answers all of the questions the reader may have, it certainly begins to tie everything together, especially if you consider Boston Brand’s purpose. 4.5/5
Red Robin #15
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Marcus To and Ray McCarthy
Cover Artists: Marcus To and Ray McCarthy
Publisher: DC
If this issue accomplishes anything, it is that it proves just how dedicated Red Robin is. Ever since his return to Gotham, Tim has made it his mission to clean up the city. Unfortunately for him, the reporter Vicki Vale is also back in Gotham and she’s getting awful close to revealing the Wayne family’s secret night life. With some help from an old teammate, he is able to deceive Vale and rid Gotham of three more people on his list. The only downside is that he has to be in crutches for a year to keep up appearances. This series continues to be great stuff, both literarily and artistically. As the story moves forward, Nicieza is developing the adult Tim who is highly methodical, inventive, and more mature. My favorite scenes, however, tend to be the scenes where Tim, Damian, and Dick are interacting with one another. While Tim and Dick’s relationship is fairly solid, Tim and Damian’s relationship is still building, and the dynamic is well portrayed in the series. 4.5/5
Red Hood: The Lost Days #3
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Jeremy Haun
Cover Artist: Billy Tucci
Publisher: DC
For those of you who aren’t very familiar with Jason Todd, this mini-series is a great place to start. This issue dealt with a great deal of character development with regards to Jason Todd. Talia al Ghul, who assisted in reviving Todd’s memories, has been sending him from teacher to teacher, keeping Todd busy in hopes that he regains a conscience. While learning how to murder, which Batman chose not to do, Todd uncovers a sex-slave operation and ends it. This issue was great. Even though Jason Todd has been shown to have no problems with murder, this issue does well to show that he’s not a monster. With this mini-series we are getting a look into Todd’s train of thought, and we witness the suffering and the loneliness, but we also get to see just how intelligent Todd is. His actions are well thought out, perfectly timed, and with good intentions. There is an artist change with this issue, and Jeremy Haun does a good job. His artistic style works well with the more dark tone of the mini-series. 4/5
Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net
This issue of BD was a lot better and definitely picked up the pace and the Red Hood title has just been solid so far. It looks like I need to pick up Red Robin in trade because I’ve been hearing nothing but great things about this title
Perhaps Red Robin is the best title I’m not reading…
I’m mildly annoyed that right as I decide to stop buying Brightest Day, they decide to actually do something significant with the title. At least now I’m sure that when I pick up the trade it’ll be an awesome read.
Red Robin is I think my second favorite Bat-title behind Birds of Prey (if BoP even counts as a Bat-title). Then again I only read a few of the titles.
Mattie! You should know better than to doubt Geoff Johns!!
And yeah, RR is awesome. I really like how Tim’s character has evolved over this series. He’s growing up and it’s great. BoP definitely counts as a Bat book IMO- Huntress and Babs are total Bat characters!
@InfiniteSpeech and Aron, Red Robin has been fantastic. Like Andy mentioned, Tim’s growth and character development have been great. Red Robin has been consistently good and is one of my favorite titles.
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I’m diggin the Jason Todd book. It sounds like it has a great vibe.
I think if the contents of this Brightest Day issue had taken any longer to come out I would have told Arnab to drop it. As it was, I read the issue first and I told him to hurry up and read it, which is a huge switch around.
Red Robin is fabulous! I love that there are humorous scenes added in with all the action, i feel like it fits with Tim’s character.
Just been checking out Red Robin, and yes, it is awesome!
Arnab- Would you recommend the whole series or just starting with Nicieza’s run?
Aron- I would recommend the whole series. Chris Yost’s run, the first 12 issues, was great. A lot of Tim’s maturing occurred in those issues; Tim was in a bad place with all the deaths of his loved ones and he believed Bruce was alive when no one else did. Plus the culmination of Yost’s run was awesome. So yeah, whole series.