Comics are awesome.

[Dominic]

Iron Man #500:
The much ballyhooed 500th issue, (by legacy numbering), does not live up to the hype. Fraction is not a bad writer, but his showing here does not justify the expectations one would have for a 500th issue of a comic, let alone one that was pushed as aggressively as this one was. Fraction could fairly be called this generation's Dixon. He is competent and consistent in his work. But, he is unlikely to really impress, which is a serious detriment in this case. The use of multiple artists helps to distinguish the two time-frames of the story, (though the future-tense portions are very unclear in places).
Grade: C

[Sparky Prime]

Brightest Day #19
Boston demands an explanation for what the Ring did to Hawkman and Hawkgirl in the last issue so the White Lantern at long last reveals its plan in this issue. It seems that soon a Dark Avatar will rise as a result of the Earth's soul having been corrupted, and will ultimately destroy the planet. Meanwhile, Aquaman and the new Aqualad battle against Siren and her forces. And Aquaman suffers an injury he's endured before...

[Shockwave]

I've probably asked this before but darned if I can remember the answer and I'm too lazy to go back and look, but is Brightest Day any good or worth reading? And could I get the whole story self contained within that title?

[andersonh1]

I've probably asked this before but darned if I can remember the answer and I'm too lazy to go back and look, but is Brightest Day any good or worth reading?

I think so. The main drawback to the series early on is that the sheer number of characters and storylines makes it feel like the story is crawling along. But it picks up nicely around issue 10 when they start focusing on only one or two characters per issue. That puts the others out of the spotlight for awhile (we haven't seen the Martian Manhunter for some time now), but more seems to happen per issue.

I happen to like most of the characters in this series (Aquaman, the Hawks, Martian Manhunter), so it's worth the read to me. Even the ones I don't care much about, like Deadman, have something interesting going on which makes them interesting, at least for now. I'd recommend the series. Though it's only about five issues from the end at this point.

And could I get the whole story self contained within that title?

Yes. You don't have to read every title to understand what's going on, just the main book.

[138 Scourge]

Fraction could fairly be called this generation's Dixon. He is competent and consistent in his work. But, he is unlikely to really impress, which is a serious detriment in this case.

I was gonna type out something reasonable in response to this, but instead, I've elected to go with this message:

"Your momma could fairly be called this generation's Dixon."

Yeah, what now?

Nah, I'll attempt to respond slightly more reasonably. Fraction brings a better sense of style and fun to his work than Dixon. Dixon's stuff is...kind of boring, really. What'd he write, some Robin or something? Maybe some Batman, and probably some Punisher? Nothing that sticks out. And I certainly can't think of anything Dixon's done that would be comparable to "Casanova", Fraction's creator-owned project. Your mileage may vary, of course.

And Aquaman suffers an injury he's endured before...

Gettin' to be like Professor X's spine, isn't it? Just to be annoyingly pendantic, though:

Spoiler

This time it's the other hand, from what I understand.

[Sparky Prime]

Gettin' to be like Professor X's spine, isn't it? Just to be annoyingly pendantic, though:

Spoiler

This time it's the other hand, from what I understand.

I think it needs to happen at least one more time before it gets to be like Professor X's spine. But yeah, it was his

Spoiler

right hand this time where as the last time it was his left hand

, so it is a little different.

I'd also have to echo andersonh1's comments that Brightest Day is worth reading and has a self contained story.

[138 Scourge]

Gettin' to be like Professor X's spine, isn't it? Just to be annoyingly pendantic, though:

Spoiler

This time it's the other hand, from what I understand.

I think it needs to happen at least one more time before it gets to be like Professor X's spine.

Oh, man. I almost hope it does. He gets all healed up again, and then one day he's at the Watchtower, trying to open a can of tuna, and BLAM, can opener mishap, it's happened again.

[andersonh1]

My guess would be that the incident with Aquaman's hand is going to be undone in much the same way that the Hawks are unlikely to remain piles of little white powder. I hope so anyway, since I've had enough of one-handed Aquaman, and it's been done already. We don't need more angsty 90s Aquaman running around, as much as I enjoyed that series at the time.

The life entity has been shown to have complete control over life, death and physical condition, so I'm guessing we'll see just about everyone restored before this is over.

[138 Scourge]

My guess would be that the incident with Aquaman's hand is going to be undone in much the same way that the Hawks are unlikely to remain piles of little white powder.

Hopefully the Hawks get restored before Arsenal hears about this. Little piles of white powder are apparently his thing these days.

[andersonh1]

My guess would be that the incident with Aquaman's hand is going to be undone in much the same way that the Hawks are unlikely to remain piles of little white powder.

Hopefully the Hawks get restored before Arsenal hears about this. Little piles of white powder are apparently his thing these days.

"sniff, sniff"
"Roy, no! That was Hawkman!"
"Really? Ooops".