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A variety of things came out of the 'Blackest Night' event. Some were stories that stayed within pre-existing titles, but the two big ones for me were Brightest Day and Justice League: Generation Lost. Now, unlike some people I understood from the beginning that Brightest Day was not a "Green Lantern event", it merely came from one. Brightest Day was supposed to be about something significant happening in the DC Universe, which appeared to be focused on Earth. Justice League: Generation Lost for me was initially all out fun, new twist on a loved version of the Justice League. Except, rather than being put together by Maxwell Lord the new team came together to fight Maxwell Lord. The two titles were delivered very differently, and the enjoyment of each definitely diverged by the end.
There was never any doubt in my mind that I would be picking up Brightest Day. If Geoff Johns is involved in the writing it's pretty much guaranteed that I will be checking out a story. It's rare he disappoints in my eyes. So, along with Peter J. Tomasi, Johns told the story of the Brightest Day in 24 issues. Unfortunately this was 24 issues of inconsistency in quality. Now, I can be understanding to a degree because there were a few different stories going on at the start of Brightest Day. Of course, we all knew they would connect for some larger event. Plus, those events in the pages of Brightest Day would also connect to other events in other titles.
The smaller stories of Deadman, Aquaman, Hawkman and Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter, and Firestorm were decent stories. Personally I thought the Hawkman and Hawkwoman one was the weakest and the Firestorm one was the best. Unfortunately the reveal that their stories and experiences were ultimately to turn them into elementals for a short time, was pretty weak. The story of Hawkman and Hawkwoman, and Martial Manhunt carried on a bit longer than I thought they had too and I'm wondering if those were factors in the end of the larger story falling a bit flat.
What we finally out was that the White Lantern that started this whole event (technically) was setting things in motion to bring back Swamp Thing. Why? Because apparently "the green" of the Earth needs a defender, and the first thing it needed defending against was a Swamp Thing that thought it was Nekron. Wait…what? You see, this is what made no sense to me. Why Nekron? Out of all of the Black Lanterns that existed on the face of the planet during the events of Blackest Night why would Nekron be the one to create a fake Swamp Thing? Especially so late after the events. You would think that if the original Swamp Thing imprinted off of a normal human (Alec Holland), then it doesn't take much to make a Swamp Thing.
I have to be honest in saying I feel there was a LOT of information left out of the last two issues of Brightest Day that could have created more sense and meaning to Swamp Thing's return. Personally, I would have liked there to be more sense, the long-term meaning can be revealed. However, since the short-term meaning was delivered in such a fashion I really don't see myself following the further adventures of Swamp Thing. I will likely be looking at further stores that focus on the impacts of Brightest Day that focus on Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman, and Firestorm. Firestorm is practically a certainty. The only certainty of what I'll be picking up later though is what will be following Justice League: Generation Lost.
Justice League: Generation Lost came out of the gate strongly for me. Elements of the old Justice League International were immediately obvious. While it wasn't written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis I had faith that Giffen and Judd Winick would deliver the comedy when necessary. For me, it just can't be a JLI without some humor. While Giffen was only there for the start of the series Winick held his own just fine after his departure. While I don't read everything that Winick writes I usually enjoy what I read that he happens to be involved in.
After the events of Blackest Night a newly resurrected Maxwell Lord sets off on a mission. Is it a mission of "good" or of "evil"? Well, he does what he is supposed to do as requested by the White Lantern, and that is to remove Magog from the land of the living. However, after that Max continues to do things moving towards another mission. That mission is one of his own though, and that is to get revenge on Wonder Woman for killing him.
Lucky for Wonder Woman old members of the Justice League International remember Max after he mindwipes the Earth of his existence. After gaining new incarnations of Rocket Red and the Blue Beetle (one of my current favorite characters) the team is rounded out and ready to fight Max. While they can't stop the death of Magog (lucky for the Swamp Thing) they are able to gain another supporter in Bruce Wayne (who regained his memory) and not only stop Max's revenge on Wonder Woman, but undo the spell that Max put the world under. But, Max being who he is changes the game.
At the end of Justice League: Generation Lost, Max Lord proceeds to throw accolades to the Justice League International (as he refers to them) for stopping all the things he set in motion, or for attempting to stop them. This is easy of course when you are able to paint a picture of others being responsible for what you set in motion. Now, we have Max Lord in charge of a new Checkmate, and he says he is there to watch those with super powers. But, who will watch him? Batman decides that he has an idea, and he shares that with Booster Gold. That idea? An actual return of the Justice League International. Next up? Another new title I'll be buying.
So, from Blackest Night we had two short series set up. One following the all-important White Lantern and written in part by Geoff Johns, and the other following a few members of the old JLI and written mostly by Judd Winick. If you had told me when I started both that I would walk away from these two series enjoying the actual Brightest Day storyline less, I would have laughed. However, that's exactly what happened. It's just a difference in good pacing and good storytelling. Justice League: Generation Lost was simply a better story overall. It just goes to show you, that sometimes brightest isn't best.
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