New anthology series Batman: The Brave and the Bold launches today, and it just so happens to have the same title as the high-profile Batman movie in the works. This comic features four stories. There’s a lot to love about this anthology, even before you crack it open. High-profile comics duo Mitch Gerads and Tom King supply the first time Joker and Batman fought, Christopher Cantwell and Javier Rodriguez deliver a Superman story for the ages, and Dan Mora delivers his first story drawing and writing. If that doesn’t excite you, take this to heart: These are really damn good comics.
This anthology features three ongoing stories starting with “Batman: The Winning Card” by Mitch Gerads, Tom King, and Clayton Cowles. Ed Brisson and Jeff Spokes (with letters by Saida Temofonte) kick off “Stormwatch: Down with the Kings,” and Christopher Cantwell and Javier Rodriguez launch “Superman: Order of the Black Lamp.” Rounding things out is Dan Mora’s “Heroes of Tomorrow”, with letters by Tom Napolitano. All four stories look fabulous, and each offer pulse-pounding moments.
“Batman: The Winning Card” is haunting, disturbed, and deeply human. A lot of this is due to Gerads’ art, which is near photorealistic with facial expressions and character acting. The story opens with Batman basically terrorizing a criminal. The unflinching and seemingly uncaring Batman is in line with the earlier days of the character.
Meanwhile, Joker is playing with his food, so to speak. A young girl is alone on a rainy night and stumbles upon Joker. We don’t realize it at the start. We’re introduced via silent film title cards depicting his dialogue. He’s very creepy in a serial killer sort of way. Still, he’s got a smile on his face and seems to relish toying with people.
Intercut with these scenes is Jim Gordon trying to keep a man alive. We learn through these scenes Joker has struck before, but nobody is taking him seriously. An interesting point is made that every cop is on the case, which shows how little kids in the clutches of Joker can’t be helped unless a caped crusader may be around.
Batman is edgy here, willing to let bad guys get very close to death to make a point.
Credit: DC Comics
“Stormwatch: Down with the Kings” is a really good team and espionage book. Fans of Wildstorm will note familiar faces, but newbies will get handy character profiles when each is introduced. This issue sets up the team and their various dynamics between each other. They are then thrust into action to stop a time bomb from destroying a prison, a city, and by the end of the story, maybe the entire world.
Brisson and Spokes were great together, with a modern and detailed visual style. It’s a great start to a story as we start to fall in love with characters while simultaneously learning they’re all in danger in a way they have no idea.
“Superman: Order of the Black Lamp” understands Clark Kent, Lois, and Superman so well. Cantwell grabs you at the very start with captions that capture the innocence of Superman as he details a time he went camping. Over the course of the story, we learn Lois is asking Clark to do more for the Daily Planet, which is hanging by a thread. The fact that Clark, the writer, is being asked to help Superman, the hero, is an interesting angle.
There’s something so effortlessly hopeful about Rodriguez’s art.
Credit: DC Comics
This story has an underlining idea about memory and how fleeting it may be. That theme is detailed in the captions, depicted via notepad pages in the handwritten font by Simon Bowland, to great effect. The idea of memory returns beautifully by the end of the issue.
Rodriguez continues to show us how wholesome and warm Clark can be. The layouts are also fabulous, showing how a quiet scene between Lois and Clark in plainclothes can be as dynamic as a hero punching out Doomsday. Visuals also hammer home the idea of wonderment, confidence, and togetherness between the couple so very well.
Closing out the book is a black and white Batman tale, “Heroes of Tomorrow.” There’s a futuristic angle on the character, who faces off against a threat that will take out two young boys. Batman looks cool, sporting a robot bat he can command and a slick motorcycle. The costume design is edgy and original, with bat wings attached in a clever way. The story serves as a taste for a larger universe many will be wanting more.
When an anthology arrives that features multiple stories that could easily serve as solo series in their own right, you know you’re in for a treat. Batman: The Brave and the Bold is everything you want in an anthology and more. Heart, drama, ingenuity, and originality, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a must-buy.
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