Brightest Day #1

Oh, first issue of Brightest Day, you had me at "free White Power Ring."

Luckily, the comic is pretty darned good, too.

It picks up right where issue #0 left off, with the newly reborn heroes trying to solve mysterious changes in their lives and find their place in the world.

We start with the mystery of the White Lantern, which is exhibiting some unusual properties. Then we catch up with: Aquaman and Mera (who take part in a violent altercation with modern-day pirates); we see Firestorm struggling to come to grips with his new, uh, configuration; the Martian Manhunter tackles a Herculean task; Hawkman and Hawkgirl take part in a grisly reunion; (not-so) Deadman finds himself a helpless witness to all the above; and an old villain returns.

And that's just the first issue! Writers Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi keep the story barreling along, with lots of unexpected twists, guest stars and mysteries to be solved.

The art is outstanding and - surprisingly enough - reasonably consistent, considering it's produced by a small army, including Ivan Reis, Pat Gleason, Ardian Sval, Scott Clark and Joe Prado - and that's just the pencils! Inks are provided by Vicente Cifuentes, Mark Irwin, Oclair Albert and David Beaty.

The team has this series off to a strong start, so I'll be back next issue - even if it doesn't have a free ring offer with it.

Grade: A-