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Welcome everyone, to the first batch of comics from this year. There are only two this week, but believe you me, there will be plenty more.

Minor spoilers ahead!

Brightest Day #17
Writer(s): Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi
Artist(s): Ivan Reis, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, Joe Prado, Vicente Cifuentes, and David Beaty
Cover Artist: David Finch and Scott Williams
Publisher: DC

As the end draws near, the pacing of this issue kicks it up a couple notches. Starting off with Firestorm, Jason and Ronnie discover that they have not destroyed the universe, but rather have been transported to a completely different one. Escaping the grips of the Shadow Demons, they rushed towards Qward at the beckoning of the Life Entity. Meanwhile, on the planet Zamaron, Hawkgirl’s mother opened the gate to Hawkworld and unleashed an army of Hawkmen. Carol frees Hawkman and Hawkgirl, who become empowered by the entity of Love. Unfortunately, the entity of Love decides to take Hawkgirl’s mother as its host, due to the absence of love within her. Back on Earth, Boston Brand and Dove’s relationship continues to grow as the two spend some quality time with one another. Later, while on a trip to experience life with his grandfather, Brand notices that the White Lantern ring has begun charging.
Overall I thought that this was a really strong issue. Even though there were three stories in the issue, it didn’t feel as choppy as the initial issues did. It will be interesting to see which of these stories will wrap up individually and which of these stories will come together before the end. The connection between Brand’s story and Firestorm’s story seems to be obvious, whereas the other stories’ connections are not quite as clear. The art in this issue was particularly strong, as the artists seem to be in sync with the quality of work they put into this issue. 4/5

Superboy #3
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Pier Gallo
Cover Artist: Phil Noto
Variant Cover Artist: Dustin Nguyen
Publisher: DC

This issue plays out alternately switching from the not so distant past to the present, referred to as “then” and “now” in  the book. The “then” portion of the book starts off with Conner and Ma Kent discussing the damages suffered by the town as  a result of the last battle. In an effort to raise money, Conner extends an invitation to Bart for the first ever Superboy vs. Kid Flash race. With that settled, Conner proceeds to school where he informs his friend Simon that the two can no longer be friends in public if Simon is to become Superboy’s companion. Kids in the high school begin dropping, as the “then” progresses into the “now.” As another human discovers Conner’s secret, the human being Lori, a hero from the future arrives with three villains in tow.
I thought that this was a really good issue. In both this series and in Teen Titans, Conner has grown quite a bit. He’s coming off as more focused, more thoughtful, and overall more mature. In this issue, this growth is depicted where he is worrying about the lost crop and how he hopes to alleviate that problem through a twist on the classic “Super-” vs. “Flash” race. The plot, seeing that it feels like the beginning of the next arc, was a strong start. Though I do find it odd that in just three issues, two civilians now know Superboy’s identity. The art, however, isn’t great. It is decent and it gets the job done, however I feel that for the most part it is a little bland. 3.5/5

Be sure to check out previous editions of Crisis of Infinite Reviews by clicking here!

Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net