This is a comic that's been pretty erratic lately.The Brave and the Bold started out a couple of years ago as a vehicle for Mark Waid and George Perez to tell team-up stories with an assortment of heroes. Of course, they ended up using most of the DC Universe, and those issues were great fun.
Then the title became something of a hodgepodge of stories, some good, some not so good. In an effort (I assume) to give the series some direction, it's gone back to its long-running Silver Age concept of being a team-up book starring Batman.
They've also wisely turned the writing duties over to J. Michael Straczynski, a darn good writer. The art is by Jesus Diaz, who turns in strong work here, with several standout pages.
But the real reason I bought this comic is because the other hero in the book is one of my sentimental favorites - Robby Reed and his HERO dial.
Robby starred in the relatively short-lived series of stories in the '60s titled Dial H for HERO. He discovered an odd device that looked like a classic telephone dial. Of course, it's a terribly outdated concept now - would a kid today even know how to use a phone dial?
Anyway, he deciphered the alien language on the dial and dialed the letters H-E-R-O, and found himself transformed into a never-before-seen hero (except for the time he turned into Plastic Man). Every time he used the dial, he turned into a different hero (with a few exceptions).
It was a fun, inventive series that I really enjoyed as a kid, and I was sorry to see it canceled (though one suspects the writers were somewhat relieved - it had to be quite a challenge to dream up three new heroes for each issue).
The character has returned a few times in the decades since, and I was happy to see him back in the spotlight for this issue.
Except it's not much of a return - he's a secondary character in the story of Batman's attempt to stop the Joker's deadly plan, although the HERO dial is prominent.
Yes, it's confusing, and while the story's well constructed and entertaining, it also leaves Robby less of a hero than he was before.
So for me, it's an inauspicious start for the "new" Brave and the Bold. It's always difficult to see an old favorite return and get rained on.
Hopefully we'll have better luck next time.
Grade: C+
2 comments:
I dug this issue. A "one and done" story, although not really featuring Robby, gave us some new insight into this hardly seen character. What I liked was how the story tackled the idea of what it means to be a hero. Maybe Robby doesn't really have "it."
Anon, that was where I struggled with this one. The upshot of the story is that Robby doesn't have "it," yet in all his previous experiences he does have the courage to tackle difficult situations. I thought the story diminished his character. However, it was well written and believeable (since Robby is, after all, a kid). But I still didn't care for it.
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