The Swamp Thing is back in the DC Universe! Not only is he back, but he is the champion the White Lantern has been searching for. There was a lot of of action in this finale issue of the Brightest Day saga. We saw a tainted Swamp Thing fight the recently resurrected Alec Holland (the scientist that became Swamp Thing) giant Robeast style (it’s a Voltron reference, Google it), assisted by the 4 Elementals; Firestorm (Fire), Aquaman (Water), Martian Manhunter (Earth) and Hawkman & Hawkwoman (Air).
Aside from the epic battle of Swamp Thing vs. Swamp Thing, we finally saw the White Lantern’s prophecy fulfilled when Captain Boomerang Digger Harkness finally had the opportunity to “Throw His Boomerang at Her”. The Her is Dove, Dawn Ganger, and it is up to Hank Hall, better known as Hawk to stop the boomerang. Now here’s the rub, in order for Alec Holland to fully rise from the dead a life has to be sacrificed. That life was supposed to be Dove, but Deadman had other plans.
One of my favorite parts of the whole Brightest Day saga was the relationship formed between Dove and Deadman. When Boston Brand was alive he wasn’t the best man, through his second chance he was able to make some amends and grow. That being said it made his sacrifice of his newly returned life that much harder and their final goodbye before he went back to being a ghost was heartbreaking. Hopefully, we will get to see more of these two in another book somewhere down the line because I don’t believe this story is over.
My biggest problem with Brightest Day was the lack of direction. It was all over the place with the story and there were just too many characters. The other thing that bothered me, after a year of focusing on a ton of characters, the final two issues focused on the return of Swamp Thing. While yes, it is an epic return, perhaps they should have allowed the rest of the heroes more of a chance to shine rather than getting their Avatar on.
So after a year of faithful reading, Brightest Day is over and it ends with a mixed reaction. I’m happy to see Swamp Thing return to the DCU (and the special visitor at the end of Brightest Day #24). I’m also happy to see Firestorm back, but this time with a big problem. Hopefully he will get his own book or at least a miniseries out of the deal. On the down side of things, I’m a little bummed I invested a year of my comic book life into a series I was never that crazy about.
Well, the sun has set on Brightest Day. The next big event from DC is Flashpoint starting next month. It’s going to be a huge event with a ton of crossovers so make sure to at least add the main title to your pull list!
