Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Brave and the Bold

MLLASH -

The GL/Dr Fate issue is indeed worth checking out. Top-notch story.

The Atom/Joker issue... not so much. Especially since you (like me) detest the Joker. If I read one more comic where the hero has the opportunity to put the Joker down for good but then doesn't because it would mean being dragged down to his level or blah-blah-blah whatever... I will scream. JUST. KILL. THAT. FUKCER. OFF. ALREADY!

All that said, JMS's skill with the pen still makes the story *somewhat* worthwhile - and I'm happy to say that the Atom comes out of it quite favourably (I especially liked that he seems to want the Joker dead as much as I do) - but yeah, like Dev-Em said, definitely the weakest of the JMS B&B issues so far.

Bring on the Legion(s)!

P.S. My ranking of the JMS B&Bs so far -

1. Batman & Brother Power the Geek
2. Batman & Dial H for Hero
3. Green Lantern & Dr Fate
4. Flash & the Blackhawks
5. Atom & the Joker

This title is FABOO!!!
(and I thought so even before I learned about the upcoming LSH & SUBS appearances).

the Brave and the Bold #32

Aquaman and the Demon

Another solid comic book by JMS. Not as good as some of the issues of his run so far, but still better than most standard super hero fare these days. Never been a huge fan of the Demon...or Aquaman really, but JMS used both very well here.

Congrats to JMS and The Brave and the Bold for their recent Eisner nomination!

http://robot6.comicbookresources.co...written-top-the-2010-eisner-nominations/

Rather inexplicably, it is for the Flash/Blackhawks issue (definitely not the best of his run so far IMO) but I'll take whatever brings attention to this great book.

I forgot to comment on the Demon/Aquaman issue which I thought was another solid story. I think perhaps we've all been so impressed that we're setting the bar higher and higher each month, because a few weeks later when I think about it, that was a really damn good story.

Great, ominous tone to it all that really played up both Etrigan and Aquaman as larger than life characters. Both kingly, with Arthur being noble yet potentially scary and on the other hand, Etrigan being demonic and scary but potentially noble.

A great idea to team these two up. I actually would love if he did a sequal.

And, as I said before, I think the Flash/Blackhawks story might have been the actual best of the run so far! It's definitely a contender.

^^^ I agree with you re: setting the bar so high with this book CK.

I came away from the Aquaman/Demon story thinking it was good but not great but that's probably only because I LOVED some of the previous JMS issues so completely, and when I compare it to pretty much everything else I've read by DC lately, it really was one of the best comics of the past month!

It's funny we both have different opinions on the Flash/Blackhawks issue though. It was still a very good comic (I'd put it on a par with the Aquaman/Demon one on my personal scale) but I thought the Batman/Dial-H-For-Hero, Green Lantern/Dr Fate and especially the Batman/Brother Power the Geek ones were infinitely better.

I think it was because the Blackhawks were such non-entities in the story. As Lard Lad (or someone) said in an earlier post, that really could have been any group of soldiers Flash was trekking around with. They didn't even get to fly for cripes sake! And short-shrifting one of the headliners in a team-up book is a big minus IMO. Was still a great Flash story though.

I really hope JMS' new runs on Superman and Wonder Woman don't mean his work here begins to suffer though. Or worse, he leaves the book! That would be... very not good.

In regards to the Flash/Blackhawks story.

I've been thinking about it and I don't think it could have been just any other group of soldiers.

The Blackhawks were really out of their regular element as well, being stuck in a ground fight. They are infinitely more at home in the clouds, and were doing their best on the ground when this "Hero" from the future shows up. They have to teach Barry a hard lesson, and they learn a little in return.

Any other group of grunts may not have had the same patience with Barry as they did. They understood the concept of being out of your element, and knew the horrors of war and how hard it can be to adapt.

I cannot see Sgt. Rock being as calm with him, no matter what he has been through. Not to say that Rock is an ass, but that he is a different type of soldier than the Blackhawks.

Great point Dev about the Blackhawks also being out of their element.

I also think from a primarily "artistic" view of all the issues--which have all been fantastic--the two best may have been the Flash/Blackhawks (great war scenery) and Etrigan/Aquaman (really beautiful underwater scenery).

*However*, the best 'clash' of costumes that just felt really dynamic was probably Green Lantern and Dr. Fate. Those costumes just 'pop' together! I want them to team up more.

B&tB # 33 - Wonder Woman, Zatanna and Batgirl

Not going to spoil anything, but go and buy this issue. Read it. It's great, and nothing that you'd expect.

Wow.

Did anyone honestly see that coming?

Kinda, but the way they went about the whole issue was unbelievable. Soooo touching.

I figured it's what Zee saw at the beginning, but wasn't sure what they were doing with it.

Great issue! Really moving ...

The last page is unbelievably touching. Probably the best issue of his run for me.

Oh God this book makes me want to write comics like that SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO badly!

Is JMS going to be able to stay on B & B when he takes over Wonder Woman and Superman?

This issue(#33) is so incredibly good!!
I actually cried at the end!!
I implore my fellow LegionWorlders to read it!!

Missed #33 by a day (drat!) but read the Aquaman/Demon issue. It's good to see Aquaman all noble and powerful. I get annoyed reading the Demon's rhymings, though.

The creature from the other dimension reminded me of the great Vampire Squid, a term that Matt Taibbi used to describe Goldman Sachs, so the issue had some topical interest for me.

This issue and Supergirl #52 made for good reading together ...

I read that yesterday! The story was very interesting, but the art was absolutely GORGEOUS, even moreso than what I've come to expect of Saiz's excellent work on this series. That full page with Aquaman and his army--WOW! The darker inks as showcased in this underwater setting were just perfect. I wouldn't mind seeing his inks being heavier like this in the future at all.

Can't say a lot about Etrigan here, though. He was mostly there to rhyme and provide the fire to Aquaman's water. Aquaman, however, came across very well, even though most of it was in the witness's narration.

So another good, good story by JMS. Not a clunker in the bunch, IMO. (Yeah, even the Atom/Joker issue was good, I thought!)

I wanna see him do one about Two Face & Hawk and Dove like he mentioned.

I just finished it and had to comment right away. Excellent issue... the moment Oracles were mentioned at the table I figured out what was going on and that still didn't lesson the impact of the "remember dancing" stuff.

SO glad you guys got me back onboard BaB after dropping months ago...

Did'ya notice the gals stopped at a gay bar!?!
FABOO!!

Like rhino, I cried at the end of this issue too! In fact I started crying about half way through because I knew where it was leading... not due to any gifted powers of insight that I might share with Zatanna but thanks to a *&%^&$%$ *%^%£!& who spoiled the end of this book in his thread title(!) over at Comic Book Resources! Dante needs to invent a new level of Hell for people who do that!

Another fantastic issue of B&B though. Simply amazing on every level. Cliff Chiang is simply one of the most incredible artists working in the biz today. LOVE his stuff. And JMS's story was like a stealth missile the way it crept up on you. What starts a fun, fluffy girls-night-out type story slowly gets stranger and more ominous until that devastating ending.

And all the fun touches - the gay bar! dancing with the oldies at the Latin restaurant! karaoke to 'Single Ladies'! the 'kiss' between Diana and Zee!

I posted in some other thread that JMS' run of stories here will be talked about in the future as one of the best comic runs of all time. And I stand by that. Every issue has been a knockout. (Yes, even that Joker/Atom issue which I disliked initially because of my Joker-hatred but upon a reread thought to be a top-notch story.)

I pray his new commitments to the Superman and Wonder Woman books don't mean that this one gets dropped. It is my favourite book in all of comics right now!

I'll admit it, I welled up a bit at the end. Very few comics have ever been able to do that to me...this one built to it in sich a way that you could feel it coming, but kept hoping that there would be a different ending to it...but the dialog on the last page, my God.

JMS is writing some of the best stories out at teh moment, and they're all one issue stories. Writers should be looking at this run and taking notes. This is how you do it.