May 25, 2019
I had high hopes for Rainbow Brite, I wasn't around during the series heyday in the 80s but I did remember the character and her abilities. I figured it would be pretty cool to reimagine the character in a modern setting or just pick up from where the 80's cartoon left off.
The biggest selling point for me was the covers but we've already gonna over my love for the Paulina Ganucheau cover art so I won't spend too much time on that here.
With Issue #5, Rainbow Brite has been canceled. It's pretty obvious it was initially conceived as an ongoing series. How do I know this? The issue ends on a too be continued cliffhanger.
The sales for the series have been rough but that's no excuse for this comic. Jeremy doesn't even try to wrap
up the storyline. The comic was canceled at issue 2-3 but rather than give some semblance of a conclusion we get nothing. There are five issues of setup and with no more issues to this series. We've actually only seen Wisp in about 4-5 pages as Rainbow Brite and she didn't even know how to use her powers.
It's a slap in the face to anyone that picked this series up and gave it a chance.
The art has always been hit and miss with this series. I've documented my gripes with the art already and I won't spend a ton of time on it in this review.
The issue picks up from the conclusion of the last comic but the art doesn't really sale any stakes and it feels the opening action sequence ultimately just feels boring.
I know I'm not the target demographic for this series, but on the other hand, I'm not sure who this book was actually aimed at to begin with.
At my day job we live by the mantra "A Sense of Urgency is the Ante to Play". Jeremy had a long game with this series. There was evidence of that if you look at all five issues and the conclusion but he utterly failed at delivering.
By the end of the second issue, Rainbow Brite should have been established. In hindsight, it looked like we were getting there but Issue 4 veered in a totally different and less interesting direction and seemed to be focused on setting up a team book of sorts.
I'm not sure how you transition the series to focus on a group of characters when the lead hero isn't even established.
It's easy to crap all over Jeremy's vision but part of the fault is that the editors, as usual, were sleeping at the wheel. They are the ones looking at this script, and the art and rubber stamping it. How do you write 5 issues of Rainbow Brite and she isn't even in the book.
It's insane.
This is one of the worst series I've ever read. I've never seen a premise so poorly executed. We're currently seeing Tom King being destroyed on social media over his handling of the Heroes in Crisis and Batman storylines.
Jeremy Whitley is over here saying "Hold my Beer".
The best part of Rainbow Brite #5 is that the series is over. It's a complete and utter failure. more
