So I just read Tom King’s The Human Target recently and have some thoughts. And those same thoughts came up while I was reading this issue of The Brave and the Bold. Namely, how much a character can end up defined by a few stories that people remember, even if they have grown out of their past behavior.
Nightwing & Deadman: Down the Road, Part 3
The 3rd installment of Nightwing and Deadman’s investigation has picked up now that the seemingly dead girl’s brother has also joined their little RPG party. Unfortunately, everything about this section of the story is worse than the last two issues. The pacing of this story has ground to a crawl - which is even more apparent now because this part of the story seems to have been made longer to compensate for the fact that there are only 4 stories - and the novelty of Kelley Jones’ art has worn off (at least for me), with it being harder to ignore the vague unchanging backgrounds. There is a 3rd act twist at the end of the story, but whether or not its resolution will be enough is quite doubtful.
Score: 5/10
Time Jerks, Part 3
Hey, remember in the last story about how Booster caused the genocide of the dinosaurs (can’t call it extinction anymore now that he’s directly behind it)? Well, it turns out that the Jurassic League has its own version of Booster, who tries to genocide the modern human race. And the whole thing is essentially Booster’s fault. Look, as much as I hate Booster being written as an idiot, if public consciousness treats him as an idiot (leading to most writers doubling down on that idea), then it won’t take long for him to become the greatest threat to the DC Universe just due to his sheer stupidity.
Score: 1/10
Duality, Part 1
Someone is targeting people close to Renee Montoya, and realizing the limits of her abilities as commissioner, she chooses to take on the mantle of the Question to find out who is behind everything. Now, I haven’t read G.C.P.D. Blue Wall, which might add further context, but so far, this first part has done everything necessary to keep my interest in what happens next. My feelings on this story will depend on how the next few installments play out, but it's a solid start.
Score: 7/10
The Invader, Part 3
And here’s another former member of the Justice League International reduced to a laughing stock for Batman’s benefit. Remember all the character growth Guy Gardner has gone through over the years? Remember that Batman had a real issue with people being mindwiped to the point that he was going to attack his friends over it? Well, all that is gone for the sake of Batman getting one up Guy again. I’m surprised Batman didn’t punch him in the face, causing the alien to yell, “^$*$$(#%&U#%(I$#@^”
[Translation: YOU TOOK THAT GREEN LANTERN OUT WITH ONE PUNCH!!!]
Score: 3/10
Recommended If
- You still like Kelly Jones’ art.
- Bumbling Booster Gold is not a detriment to you.
- You wanted to read a Brave and the Bold issue without a high quality Black and White backup.
Overall
Without the Batman: Black and White story, which would raise the overall score of the book, we can see the true value of this anthology series. Despite my championing these types of stories as a way for fans to read about lesser-known characters or fan favorites that don’t have their own titles, it doesn’t matter if the stories we get are bland and just grossly misrepresent the characters involved. I mean, at this point, DC might just have the characters going full meta and discussing among themselves how they act differently, even if it doesn’t make sense.
…
Wait, I wasn’t seriou-
Score: 4/10
