This is one of the best, if not the best, issue of Brightest Day thus far. I know that's not saying much, but like I predicted in my review for Brightest Day #9, I said that things would start to happen at issue #12, if we were fortunate. Apparently, we are fortunate, because more things are happening in this current issue. Read Full Review

Johns and Tomasi do make some inroads this month, revealing exactly what Hath-Set and Khea want and how it plays into the larger picture. The journey to that point is bumpy, however, particularly during a drawn out exposition sequence towards the middle of the issue. Overall, though, this issue wasn't as underwhelming as I would have expected given the subject matter. One benefit to the near-exclusive focus is that the team of artists are able to break from their usual assignments and tackle the war on Hawkworld. It's refreshing to see Joe Prado and Ivan Reis tackle Hawkman now. And fortunately, the various styles mesh fairly well together over the course of 22 pages. Brightest Day is now at the halfway mark. While this issue wasn't the finest method of ringing in the occasion, improvements made to the Hawkworld conflict suggest the series as a whole could be headed for an upswing. Read Full Review

Topped off with a dramatic cover from David Finch, "Brightest Day" #13 serves as a good halfway point to the series. While all but two pages focuses on a single plotline, it's still a good moment of transition; things are actually happening, resolutions are around the corner, and chances are looking good everyone will come out of the experience with a positive memory of the story. That's about all you can ask for, really. Read Full Review

Even at its best, Brightest Day could never fool anyone into thinking that its a comics masterpiece. Still, the bulk of its plot threads have often been interesting enough to cover up its rather simplistic storytelling techniques. When that interest wanes, however, as it is wont to do whenever Hawkman and Hawkgirl step onto the page, this books defects cant be denied. Read Full Review

Nearly an entire issue dedicated to retconning and retelling the already confusing and convoluted origins of Hawkman and Hawkgirl? No thanks.