Batman: The Brave and the Bold #14 – Tim Seeley, Mark Russell, Cavan Scott, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Hayden Sherman, Writers; Kelley Jones, Jon Mikel, Travis Mercer, Lisandro Estherren, Hayden Sherman, Artists; Michelle Madsen, Mike Spicer, Andrew Dalhouse, Patricio Delpeche, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: In addition to the second chapters of three stories, we get two new one-offs this month in this strong anthology series.
The second chapter of “Nightwing and Deadman: Down the Road” by Seeley and Jones ups the scares as these two masters of horror take the lead characters deep into the carny underworld. Boston’s habit of possessing innocent people for his purposes makes Dick uneasy, but there’s no time for debate when they arrive at a small-town carnival where the star attraction recently died under mysterious circumstances. With a shady ringmaster and a grieving fire-breather, it’s a perfect tinderbox for an explosive finale that brings in a surprising outside demon whose appearance at the worst possible time spells death for one player. The scares here are subtle, but they really take you by surprise.
The second part of “Time Jerks” by Russell and Mikel couldn’t be more different from the first story. After screwing with the timeline and preventing the extinction of the dinosaurs, Booster is stranded in a world where humans are extinct and dinosaurs rule—including the Jurassic League, which keeps the time sphere under lock and key. Making things even worse… the world is vegan. Things seem grim for Booster—until he runs into the dinosaur version of Booster, leading to a hilarious series of events that… might just make things worse. This is definitely the lighter, funnier version of Russell.
“The Flash: A Day In The Life” by Scott and Mercer is a done-in-one story that oddly takes place before Dark Crisis, so over a year back. At only four pages, it sort of has one joke—this is how much Barry can get done before Iris even wakes up—but it’s drawn incredibly well and packs an impressive amount of story into those limited pages. It’s also just fun to have a light, funny Flash story again, and it’s good to see Scott working for DC now—another rising talent that DC is working with.
The second chapter of “The Invader” by Fialkov and Estherren finds Batman and Guy Gardner on the trail of an apparent alien invader. The two heroes bicker amusingly as they search for the alien, but things soon get serious. The creature is wounded—but its blood is radioactive, which means it’s injuring anyone who comes in contact with its leaking fluids. And when Batman finds the harmless-looking creature, he starts having alarming hallucinations. It’s a tense, pulpy sci-fi story that maybe could have benefited from having longer chapters.
Finally, Hayden Sherman goes solo on “The Evidence Remains,” which is a showcase for Sherman’s brilliant art. Some pages here have over 40 panels as Batman reflects back on the routine that rules his life, and the moments that define him. This is really just a mood piece about what drives Batman’s mission, but that’s enough when the look of the story is this incredible and detailed.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
