Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12 – Karl Kerschl, Rob Levin, Delilah S. Dawson, Zipporah Smith, Herik Hanna, Writers; Karl Kerschl, Mike Norton, Serg Acuna, Karl Mostert, Charlie Adlard, Artists; Msassyk, John Kalisz, Matt Herms, Mike Spicer, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Two stories continue this month, along with a trio of new stories.
Karl Kerschl wraps up “Batman: Mother’s Day” this issue, as Maps Mizoguchi gets her biggest mission as Robin yet—taking on a Vampirized Bruce Wayne, who is pursuing his love interest Isla. Maps is just such a joy to read as a character, and it’s great to see her get deeper and deeper into Bruce’s inner circle. She now knows his secret identity and has access to his gear—although this story does seem to be somewhat out of continuity or way back in time, given the presence of Alfred in several key scenes. There is some interesting stuff done with the Man-Bat mythology, and I think I prefer this take on making Man-Bat more dangerous than the one going on in another book at the moment. The story is distinctly more based in supernatural horror than is usually the case with Batman, but it works for this story. I’m just hoping this is a lead-in to more Gotham Academy stories where we find out where Olive is.
“Left Unsaid” by Levin and Norton turns the focus on False Face, an obscure villain and master of disguise who takes a simple gig—pretend to to be the deadbeat dad of a young woman, so her grandmother can provide the girl with closure. He does it—and then somehow winds up the target of Gentleman Ghost, who has taken this case very personally for some reason. This is a great tale with a surprising number of layers in ten pages, and I’m hoping we see more of Levin’s writing in Gotham.
The third chapter of “Artemis: The Poison Within” by Dawson and Acuna finds her recovered from the poison and on the run with her horse—only to run into something deadlier than poison. The U.S. military, which is targeting all Amazons, believes Artemis knows Diana’s whereabouts and has come loaded for bear. This ten-page story is mostly one big battle sequence, which sets the scales very high for the next chapter.
“A Parting Gift” by Smith and Mostert is a unique Swamp Thing story focusing on a dying man, murdered by his employers for finding something he shouldn’t have and dumped in the swamp. Swamp Thing hears him in the Green and saves him—in a fashion, making him part of the Green and allowing his spirit to remain there as his body becomes part of the ecosystem. It’s a unique, beautiful story about the cycle of life and the transition of death, in the way only Swamp Thing could tell.
“Henchman” by Hanna and Adlard is this month’s black-and-white tale, bringing one of the most important artists in 21st century comics to the DCU. It focuses on the odd friendship between Batman and a former Falcone henchman whose wife just died—or so it seems. This aged mook seems to have turned over a new leaf, but the truth turns out to be more complicated. It’s great to see a story focusing on the countless people Batman intersects with, much like we’ve often seen with Superman.
Honestly, this might be the best issue of the series. All three of the new stories were excellent companions to the two ongoing ones.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
