Comic Info
Comic Name: Day of Judgment
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Matt Smith
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2013
Day of Judgment #2
Reprints Day of Judgment #1-5 and Day of Judgment: Secret Files and Origins #1 (November 1999). Jim Corrigan has been freed from the Spectre and now the Spectre has no host. When the Demon summons the Spectre and joins him with the fallen angel Asmodel, the new Spectre lays his vengeance on Earth. With Earth threatened, the heroes and magic wielders of the world must join forces in an effort to stop the Spectre…and that means travelling to Heaven and Hell to do it!
Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Matt Smith, Day of Judgment was a DC mini-series. The five issue limited series is collected along with the one-shot Day of Judgment: Secret Files and Origins.
Geoff Johns has become a force in comics at DC and Day of Judgment was an early foray into comic writing for the company. The series also linked up Geoff Johns with Hal Jordan (aka the Green Lantern) and that teaming later helped cement Johns as one of DC’s top writers.
Day of Judgment really is essentially a redemption for Hal Jordan. The character went mad in his own series, became Parallax and almost destroyed the universe in Zero Hour, and then sacrificed himself to save the universe in The Final Night. This series helps right all the wrongs presented to the character and set him back on the track to become Green Lantern.
Day of Judgment #5
The art for the series is also fun. Matt Smith has a style that is both traditional with a bit of a Kirby-esque comic book to them and also has some of Mike Mignola’s style. The art is rather simplistic on the surface, but I like what he is doing in bringing a classic comic feel to the series.
The series itself is so-so. It doesn’t always make sense (I still don’t really get the Demon’s motives) and the five issues feel like they have fillers in them. The Sentinels of Magic “team” really didn’t go anywhere and making Hal Jordan the Spectre was a mistake…which thankfully was reversed in Green Lantern: Rebirth.
Day of Judgment has its benefits, but it also falls flat in spots. I don’t know that I can recommend it to someone who hasn’t read much of the surrounding comics since it isn’t the best jump on title. As both DC and Marvel have progressed more and more “event comics” like Day of Judgment have gotten bigger and bigger, but I like that Day of Judgment was a rather small comic with some big effects on the DC Universe.
