Comic Book Resources

Good grief! The Brave and the Bold is just about the most fun I've had reading a superhero comic since Busiek & Pérez's run on The Avengers. Smart, funny, clever, and beautifully drawn. Sure, character-wise it's just a vignette, but the structure of the series basically imposes that restriction. Other than that I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I didn't buy anything else on your list, although I will probably read Rex Mundi when it comes out in TPB, though after reading the first two volumes I was on the fence about it, mainly wishing the story would move along a little.

Was Brave & The Bold the one you bought by suggestion this week? Because I'd figure by issue 6 you'd know already if you liked that style or not. While I'm not big into silver age style works, I found a lot of the "superpower combination" stuff was very well done. Supergirl getting triple powered from three suns and x-ray/telescope speed reading and Green Lantern powering a Zeta Beam through time both struck me as very well done for that style.

Catwoman, on the other hand, seemed really disappointing, but everything touched by Amazons Attack has seemed that way to me. Was it the last issue or something? The head off into the sunset ending sure made it seem so.

I liked Terror, Inc. It's not excellent, but it's very good.

I also thought Brave & the Bold was neat. The book's not great-- well, the quality varies from issue to issue-- and this one threw a lot of stuff at the reader-- but it's good, and probably one of the DCU's best books. It's big and goofily epic. Waid writes this Supergirl better than anyone else I've seen.

Also, I like dashes.

You know, of all the people here who SHOULD have liked Brave & Bold, you'd think it would be me. I generally like Mark Waid's DCU stuff a great deal, I like the concept, I have fond memories of the old series, and I have enough geek trivia in my head to never get lost following the story.

But I didn't love this storyline. I thought it was only on the low side of okay; and like our other Greg, I thought the Challengers being the get-out-of-jail card was dumb. Why not Superman? or Booster Gold? or any one of a dozen other heroes who've died/been displaced in time/etc.?

I think I mostly agree with Greg on this. The problem isn't that the book's goofy or "just fun." It's that it's ALMOST goofy and fun and then has to veer back into modern sensibility long enough to make sure it's okay for modern fans to read.

If you're going to do B&B then, you know, DO it, damn it. Loosen up on your continuity stuff and lighten up on the art, make it something in the spirit of the Marvel Advewntures line.

It almost was, but it felt like they pulled back at the last minute. I would give it a C-plus, I think; I am too often distracted by thinking about what the book SHOULD look like instead of enjoying what it is. This is one of the books where you wish the fun the creative team says they're having actually showed up on the page more.

I don't know if it's the fact that he's inking himself or just that he's getting to cut loose on a level that his previous few assignments would have never allowed, but I think Zircher's work on Terror, Inc. #1 is possibly the best of his career. Lapham's writing was top-notch as usual too.

It's not for everyone, but I'd heartily recommend the series to anybody who enjoyed Punisher MAX, Barracuda, or Fury. It's very much in the same vein as Ennis's work for the MAX line.

You know what was a GOOD book this week that I never hear about any more? Ultimate Spider-Man. The art was top quality, expressive and entertaining. Character plots were advanced and there were a couple explosions. What more could you want from a comic?

Greg H. summed up what I didn't like about Brave and the Bold perfectly. Good job, sir! This WAS the first issue I read, Dave, so I haven't seen what Waid and Perez have been doing. It just seems like there are plenty of "fun superhero" books out there, and this doesn't really match up well.

I liked Terror, Inc., but my point is that I doubt if it's worth 20 bucks (which is what it will cost as individual issues) when the trade will probably be somewhere in the 15-20 dollar range.

I get Ultimate Spider-Man in trades, Ryan, so I can't speak to this issue. I do enjoy the title, however.

The Terror Inc cover looks awfully familiar. Swipe perhaps?

I'm thinking the pose reminds me of Deadpool.

I thought the thing with the Challengers was, not that they died and came back, but that they were *supposed* to die, and didn't. For everyone else, death, return or displacement was the destiny, but they cheated theirs, and therefore were an anomaly in the book.

Then again, I followed the Batcave fight in issue 1 with no problem, so maybe I just have some kind of psychic link to Mark Waid's brain.

Michael said above exactly what I was going to say about the Challengers.

I saw B&B as something of a mind game for both Waid and the readers: What if a villain got hold of the Book of Destiny? Wouldn't Supergirl have a huge crush on Green Lantern? What if Supergirl had to go toe-to-toe with Lobo, not physically, but because she needed him to do something for him? What if Batman had to go up against the Legion on their home turf?

And more centrally to the 6th issue: Why is the Rann/Thanagar war still going on? (Because the Luck Lords have been manipulating it.) And why do the Challengers of the Unknown have such a fundamentally ludicrous premise, why are they the heroes that are "living on borrowed time"? Well, because they somehow escaped the notice of the Book of Destiny.

I think it all actually worked very well: Waid did a fantastic job of weaving together some traditional pieces, some modern pieces, and asking some questions and providing some answers, all in the framework of a coherent and fast-paced story. It was like all the best parts of 52 boiled down to six issues, and with much better artwork.

I think my brain would have exploded if they had packed much more fun into this series.

I’ve noticed something about the recaps at the beginning of Marvel comics. Occasionally they advance the actual plot of the comic. We didn’t find out what M.O.D.O.K. wanted his gang to rob last issue, but on this issue’s recap page, we learn what it is. What’s up with that?

The Infinicide isn't what they want to steal, but the place (and the people) from where they want to steal. That was mentioned in the last issue.
MODOK later explains they are going to steal the Hypernova from the Infinicide.

What I really liked about 'Brave and the Bold'? STUFF HAPPENS. Christ, am I sick of "decompressed storytelling". I don't want to say it's not a valid form of storytelling, but the line between "decompressed storytelling" and "pad a two-issue story out to six issues so we can sell it as a trade" is very fine, and 90 percent of current comics are on the wrong side of it. Every issue of 'Brave and the Bold' had something happening, sometimes even several things. Even if those things weren't always great, just having a plot that moved faster than a dull plod was a blessing. (And yes, Brian Michael Bendis, I am looking at you. 'Mighty Avengers' #2 was just embarrassing, and there's no getting around it.)

Yeah, I screwed up - the Infinicide was WHERE the thing was. But I don't recall MODOK mentioning it last issue. I'll have to go back and check it!

I haven't been paying attention to DC books in months. In part because what I have seen I haven't liked (see, the first issue of the restored-numbering of "Flash", "Countdown", and whatever the hell that stuff in Justice League was), and in part because the hobby shop I work at part-time, which carries a relatively small slice of comics, doesn't get most of these, except for one "subscriber" that seems to get almost everything that Marvel & DC puts out (but I can't just read all the books in someone's box, y'know, it's rude.)

I guess I need to find a "real" comic shop and check things out. Sounds like I'll either really like or really hate the new B&B.

I thought B&B #6 had some cool moments and it's the type of superhero book I'd like to read. The Challengers element was odd but I really didn't mind. Only part I didn't like was the heroes impaled on the spikes, which seemed out of place with the tone of the book. I work some in a comic shop and this is one of the books I read for free. I doubt I'd buy it but it's not bad.

I'll echo all of the favorable comments for the Brave and the Bold and add that, as a bonus, so far we have not had any COUNTDOWN tie-ins!
A little story here - A few months back I jumped on the DCU message boards, just to see what was going on, and found a Brave and the Bold thread.
The book for some odd reason has not been given it's own forum yet, so this was under Batman or Green Lantern or something. Only a few people had posted, mostly positive comments. But I got a severe headache when one of the posters asked - "Is Brave and the Bold necessary to understand Countdown?"
And that, my friends, is what in a nutshell is both wrong with the DCU and right with what Waid and Perez are doing. The poster was basically implying that if Brave and the Bold IS NOT part of some great event tapestry, then why buy it? What is wrong with at least one DCU book which simply celebrates the characters and universe WITHOUT having to tie-in to the next big event?
There used to be a book like that on the shelves. I believe it was a little something by Grant Morrison called JLA.
Now, in a head to head competition I'd pick Morrison over Waid, BUT Waid comes in a close second for me as one of the few writers out there who can just produce fantastic tales of the DCU. And as long as Didio decides to let him play in the sandbox and leaves Waid and Perez to their own devices in Brave and the Bold, I'm there!

Please. It's the Brave and the Bold, and it's drawn by George Pérez. If any comic is screaming "retro," this is it. I too think it's an awful lot of fun and I really like the vibe.

t still has the nice but very dark art, and there’s some weird stuff about how a girl doesn’t like Jews, which I hope will come back at some point.

I'd say it would - Milligans not the sort to throw out an anti-semetic comment and not have a reason for it.

Unless he just hates Jews, and I've missed the subtext in all his other work...

I always had a vague feeling that was what Enigma was really about, and all the identity stuff was just a smoke screen. Maybe that's because Mel Gibson reccomended it to me, though.

Milligans not the sort to throw out an anti-semetic comment and not have a reason for it.

Unless he just hates Jews, and I’ve missed the subtext in all his other work…

Well, the scene presents the girl in a negative light, so it's not like Milligan is just having a character say it out of the blue. At least, I don't think so. We'll see if he follows up on it in the future.

Since you haven't yet posted to ask us for help in purchasing this week, I figured I'd be proactive and give you my recommendations now:

Birds Of Prey #109 - Tony Bedard's first issue. I cried after Simone's last issue. Haven't gotten around to posting about it yet because I want to see what Bedard's like first. I hope it's not really bad like the Black Canary miniseries was.

Blue Beetle #18 - Always a solid read. Always lots of fun.

Spirit #9 - Ditto.

Superman #666 - This should be interesting. Busiek has been really good lately.

Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #2 - #1 was really great. I'm expecting more of the same from this issue.

Astonishing X-Men #22 - Always fun, but isn't this arc over yet?

Cable Deadpool #44 - Last month's issue showed just how much fun this title can be.

That's it. Of course, you'll also be buying your regular purchases, of which these might include a few. But I hope this helps.

jonathan