The picture at the right isn't the actual cover of this issue, but . . it was the first one solicited, so . . I thought I'd keep it as it shows the progression of the cover between this one and the final one . . the one below, on the left. I like the final cover better, but obviously this one was set up to hide the identity of the person behind the white flame there. The final cover didn't change all that much, but . . it does give us more of a clue as to the woman's identity. And obviously, from the David Mack cover . . it's more than apparent who's returning this issue . . Jade. But, if you'd been reading
Blackest Night, and the #0 issue of
Brightest Day . . this shouldn't come as much of a surprise to you. To me the only thing that's really surprising about all of this is the question as to why she, or her arrival, seems to be having so much affect on her father, Alan. Obviously this story takes place after the Fourth Reich story, currently running through the JSA title. First of all Obsidian is back, and he makes reference to it as he, Dr Mid-Nite and Mr Terrific are discussing his father's condition. Also it appears that the JSA may be getting a new member, in the form of Sebastian Faust . . Felix Faust' son. He claims that he may be able to help Alan,
but . . 'He's just the beginning. An omen of what's to come . . the End of the World.' I wonder why the new guys always show up with bad news. Anyways, I like the way that James Robinson is slowly building up this team. Rather than the usual recruitment drive, he's got Batman working with what he's got trying to build a solid foundation. A foundation built on teamwork. Right now that includes only Dick, Donna, Congorilla and Mik. But . . you have to start somewhere, and at least they're trying to make it work . . and get to know each other. But their training session is interrupted by a green meteor crashing through the satellite . . literally, on it's way towards Earth. Specifically, the Black Forest of Germany. When they get down to the crash site, they're surprised to find be met by the arrival of the Demon. I'm not exactly sure why he's there. He said he was drawn to it, as if it were calling out to him. But, the team comes together and they use their strengths to calm him down. Although Jason Blood doesn't offer much more information either. Anyways, Bill and Donna pry open the rock and find Jade resting inside . . as in a chrysalis. I'm going to make a comment here, but . . I want to say upfront that I'm not ragging on Mark Bagley. But it's this . . I enjoy his work. However, I think he's doing a much better job on this title than he did on
Trinity.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy his work on
Trinity, but . . he did a lot more of it there. Remember, it was a weekly series. So it seemed more rushed. Or not as 'finished'. Anyways, my point is . . being back to a monthly title, Mark's art once again has that 'finished' look to it. By that, I mean . . it's inked better, has better colors, and has more shading and perspective to it. Also it has more backgrounds. It seems to me that sometimes when they're trying to push out the work, like on a weekly series, sometimes the backgrounds are the first thing to suffer . . or become nonexistent. So basically, what I'm trying to say . . in a roundabout way, is that I think Mark is doing a fantastic job with this series. I was a little afraid at first that I'd compare it to his work on Trinity, but . . he's doing so much more with his craft on this title. And it definitely shows. I guess I just want to say that I appreciate his hard work. Whew! That was long winded. Sorry! So anyways, my suggestion is . . if you ever liked the JLA, or thought about picking up the title . . now is the time to get on board. The creative helm is very solid, and it looks like they're trying to build the team the right way. I think it'll be back to it's position of posture very soon.
The picture at the right isn't the actual cover of this issue, but . . it was the first one solicited, so . . I thought I'd keep it as it shows the progression of the cover between this one and the final one . . the one below, on the left. I like the final cover better, but obviously this one was set up to hide the identity of the person behind the white flame there. The final cover didn't change all that much, but . . it does give us more of a clue as to the woman's identity. And obviously, from the David Mack cover . . it's more than apparent who's returning this issue . . Jade. But, if you'd been reading Blackest Night, and the #0 issue of Brightest Day . . this shouldn't come as much of a surprise to you. To me the only thing that's really surprising about all of this is the question as to why she, or her arrival, seems to be having so much affect on her father, Alan. Obviously this story takes place after the Fourth Reich story, currently running through the JSA title. First of all Obsidian is back, and he makes reference to it as he, Dr Mid-Nite and Mr Terrific are discussing his father's condition. Also it appears that the JSA may be getting a new member, in the form of Sebastian Faust . . Felix Faust' son. He claims that he may be able to help Alan,
but . . 'He's just the beginning. An omen of what's to come . . the End of the World.' I wonder why the new guys always show up with bad news. Anyways, I like the way that James Robinson is slowly building up this team. Rather than the usual recruitment drive, he's got Batman working with what he's got trying to build a solid foundation. A foundation built on teamwork. Right now that includes only Dick, Donna, Congorilla and Mik. But . . you have to start somewhere, and at least they're trying to make it work . . and get to know each other. But their training session is interrupted by a green meteor crashing through the satellite . . literally, on it's way towards Earth. Specifically, the Black Forest of Germany. When they get down to the crash site, they're surprised to find be met by the arrival of the Demon. I'm not exactly sure why he's there. He said he was drawn to it, as if it were calling out to him. But, the team comes together and they use their strengths to calm him down. Although Jason Blood doesn't offer much more information either. Anyways, Bill and Donna pry open the rock and find Jade resting inside . . as in a chrysalis. I'm going to make a comment here, but . . I want to say upfront that I'm not ragging on Mark Bagley. But it's this . . I enjoy his work. However, I think he's doing a much better job on this title than he did on Trinity. 
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy his work on Trinity, but . . he did a lot more of it there. Remember, it was a weekly series. So it seemed more rushed. Or not as 'finished'. Anyways, my point is . . being back to a monthly title, Mark's art once again has that 'finished' look to it. By that, I mean . . it's inked better, has better colors, and has more shading and perspective to it. Also it has more backgrounds. It seems to me that sometimes when they're trying to push out the work, like on a weekly series, sometimes the backgrounds are the first thing to suffer . . or become nonexistent. So basically, what I'm trying to say . . in a roundabout way, is that I think Mark is doing a fantastic job with this series. I was a little afraid at first that I'd compare it to his work on Trinity, but . . he's doing so much more with his craft on this title. And it definitely shows. I guess I just want to say that I appreciate his hard work. Whew! That was long winded. Sorry! So anyways, my suggestion is . . if you ever liked the JLA, or thought about picking up the title . . now is the time to get on board. The creative helm is very solid, and it looks like they're trying to build the team the right way. I think it'll be back to it's position of posture very soon.
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