Team-ups of the Brave and the Bold
In the 1970s and ’80s, The Brave and the Bold featured team-ups between various DC Comics superheroes. The title and concept were resurrected several years ago, and recently Straczynski—best known as writer of Babylon 5 and other television shows, but who in the past decade has turned increasingly to scripting comics—took over the book and began relating tales from earlier periods in the heroes’ careers, often teaming DC’s most prominent stars with obscure, largely forgotten figures from the company’s roster: Batman was paired up with both mopey teenager Robby Reed from the 1960s “Dial H For Hero” series, and the kitschy hippie-era character Brother Power. Saiz’s realism-heavy artwork is a good match for the emphasis on characterization in Straczynski’s stories. Longtime fans who remember the characters from their original appearances will get the most out of Straczynski’s flashbacks; a “girls’ night out” yarn in which Batgirl, Wonder Woman, and Zatanna hit the town takes on a genuine poignancy for those who recall the tragedy that was soon to strike that characters’ lives. However, there’s enough context supplied that newer readers won’t be hopelessly lost --Gordon Flagg