The Brave and the Bold # 1

The Brave and the Bold # 1: Roulette (The Lords of Luck Chapter 1)

Mark Waid/George Perez/Bob Wiacek/Tom Smith/Rob Leigh/Joey Cavalieri
Cover: George Perez/Tom Smith
April, 2007 (released February 21, 2007)
DC
$2.99

Plot Highlights: Green Lantern and Batman stumble into an intriguing murder mystery and join forces to find out more, which they eventually do.

I have looked from afar with a certain longing at comics drawn by George Perez over the years. He mostly draws projects for DC. Projects that are deeply ensconced in the history and details of their super-hero universe sometimes using scores of characters per issue. Projects that a more casual DC reader, like myself, might not necessarily find all that entertaining. I have not read much by Mark Waid, but lately I am interested in his current Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes issues. As far as dedicated hero team-up books go, generally, I have not read much of those either. Of the most recent 25 issue run of Marvel Team-Up I only recall buying two issues. Team-ups are fairly common in solo hero titles though, so I have read plenty.

Summing all those factors, this new title feels very promising. With Green Lantern as a favorite of mine, Batman, and creators with good reputations in the first issue my expectations are high. With just a pair of headliners, I can be more sure of the kind of character interaction I will get. Green Lantern and Batman could conceivably go several issues in a comic with a larger cast, like JLA, without talking to each other or getting to show their skills either individually or in combination.

The two covers for this issue are similar enough that I am unsure as to why they bothered to produce more than one. Aside from the one I have (see above), you may view the other version here. I suppose the good part about it is that even if one is unavailable for purchase, there aren't serious differences. Both show the hero characters in a classic pose or action moment with Green Lantern's ring shining. The cover design itself is interesting as logos of the two lead heroes in the issue are essentially given slightly greater prominence, through size and coloring, than the title of the book itself, surely in an effort to draw in those with specific interest in those characters. I wonder if this will continue on future covers, especially if there are more than a couple of featured characters at a time.

Since Batman and Superman already have a monthly book together, replacing at least one of them here seems like an obvious decision to give the book something unique. Given beginning with a murder mystery, keeping Batman's detective skills available for story purposes makes leaving out Superman easy enough. Enter Green Lantern for any brute force and quick flights needed. The perfect addition for me, because I was in the mood for an extra Green Lantern story. Looking ahead, it seems Supergirl and Blue Beetle will show up in the first few issues to help out Green Lantern and Batman.

The story so far though is with Batman and Green Lantern, who are challenged with a mystery investigation and fierce enemy attacks in varied and unexpected locales. Aside from a few less than perfectly clear sequences, this is a solid, if not quite sensational effort, and I look forward to more. It is nice to finally have a chance to collect some issues with Perez art.

As an old Sandman reader I am intrigued to see that an item from that series appears as a principal artifact of interest in the story. With a theme of money and gambling running through the issue, the knowledge granted by this object could allow someone to wager perfectly on future outcomes.

Blade of the Immortal # 122

Blade of the Immortal # 122: Barefoot Part 1 (of 5)

Hiroaki Samura/Dana Lewis/Tomoko Saito/Scott Cook/Ryan Jorgensen/Philip Simon
Cover: Hiroaki Samura/Dan Jackson
February, 2007 (released February 14, 2007)
Dark Horse
B&W, 32 pages (no ads)
$2.99

Plot Highlights: Rin's nightmare. Rin and Doa look for Isaku and Manji, spying. A visit with Burando shows changes.

Having collected Blade of the Immortal since # 81, and supplemented that with reading the first 11 issues in book form, I can only describe it as one of my favorites at this point. The consistent output by one creator helps too. Despite the periodic scenes of brutal sickening violence, this is a beautifully illustrated comic series. I think many readers just buy the collections at this point, but I cannot resist the little extra trappings of the regular issues like color covers, larger pages, and I also want to know what happens with the story every once in a while rather than in large doses.

This is not one of my favorite covers, but it is appropriate to the contents and makes for a change of pace.

A striking moment in this issue points to just how rash Doa can act in all aspects of her life. It doesn't require a tense life threatening situation. When Rin unveils a delicate telescope, Doa grapples and whines in order to use it herself immediately. In fairness it shows she is curious as well. It is a wonder she has the patience to search with Rin's methods for four days before going off on her own.

This issue gives me hope that Rin may soon figure out where Manji is and possibly find a way to help him. The terrible experiments of recent issues were getting a little repetitive, and it is nice to have a break from that.

Because this title has such a long history, and I have not yet read all of it, I sometimes don't know or remember a particular character, or maybe some confusion comes from converting the series for English speaking audiences. That only diminishes my enjoyment slightly, so I still recommend it.


Possibly of interest:
CBR Pipeline Blade of the Immortal Book Club Thus Far (Vol. 1-14)

New Avengers # 27

New Avengers # 27: Revolution Part One

Brain Michael Bendis/Leinil Yu/Dave McCaig/Albert Deschesne/Brad Johansen/Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson/Tom Brevoort
April, 2007 (released: February 7, 2007)
Marvel
$2.99

Plot Highlights: The latest New Avengers team to the rescue. What? More specific? Ronin talks about her life/work in Japan, asks for trouble with Elektra and The Hand (or is she really in trouble?), and The Avengers answer her note for assistance.


Although I have enjoyed Bendis' stories on Daredevil and Powers, I have only read issues # 7 and 8 of this particular series so far. Nevertheless, I have been anticipating this issue since I saw the cover art. I expected Yu to do a wonderful job on art based on this, and potential story coverage of Elektra and her ninja forces had its appeal as well. I admit to abandoning David Mack's abstract expressionistic Daredevil issues featuring Echo partway through. Still, this appeared like a good chance to follow some characters with strong Daredevil ties.

It does not disappoint on that level, though I'm not yet sure whether Elektra has the same good intentions that I last encountered with her. She does not treat Ronin well, but only, in my estimation, because she does not know who she is at first. Not ideal, I agree, but this is Elektra. I like her earrings though. Of course, Iron Fist, who helped DD out lately, is here too.

I love the cover for this issue. I'm glad the contents looked good too, so that I could justify buying it.

Inside, the updates Ronin provides are fine. The events between her and Elektra are pretty interesting. The visuals are cool. At this point, I look forward to more from this creative team.

Civil War # 7 provides an additional piece of context that might prove important to this arc. In the wind up Reed Richards mentions that "a small band of Cap's followers remain radicalized in the underground movement." This is that group, and perhaps Elektra is aware of their status. I'm not sure how that could come into play yet.

newuniversal # 3

newuniversal # 3: Mathematics

Warren Ellis/Salvador Larroca/Jason Keith/Ron Wooton/Daniel Ketchum/Alex Alonso
April, 2007 (released February 7, 2007)
Marvel
$2.99

Plot Highlights: An interesting conversation about the nature of the newly emerged super-powered person(s). Some brutal revenge/justice. Discoveries of ancient city and artifacts, what they might mean, and how to handle them.


Despite my unfamiliarity with the previous iteration(s) of the New Universe, I started picking up this series from # 1 a couple of weeks ago. I have enjoyed Larroca's art in the past, so this was a natural draw. I have not read anything by Ellis (that I can recall at the moment), but he has been well regarded. There was the danger that after at least some exposure in recent years to things like Rising Stars, Supreme Power, the X-Men films and Heroes, that another setting newly injected with individuals with extraordinary powers would fall flat in terms of freshness at this point. However, the first two issues were interesting and enjoyable.

The covers of this series are essentially just remixes of interior imagery. The title design eschews typical capitalization, size and spacing. The issue number is larger than normal. The monochromatic coloring washes out the details on an initial viewing and comes across as easy to throw together. A cynical (or grateful) person might feel this last item saves some time and gets the series out faster. While that might be a side effect, the overall design does give the book a distinctive, if not quite totally compelling, look.

The conversation between Voight and Swann early in the issue is nearly worth the price of admission. I am impressed with the way that they are both fierce and intelligent advocates for their respective positions. Ultimately, they cannot prove either of their speculative theories at this point, but Swann's points are good.

There are neat moments of visual storytelling in the scenes after Swann leaves Voight's office. The content of those scenes is unexpected, and I am already satisfied with purchasing the issue by this point.

Glimpses of Tensen's brutal slayings in the preview art released for this issue had me worried this would degenerate into a slasher comic. The level of violence is overkill but played better than I expected because of the circumstances of the scene. The depictions are still quite unnerving in their brutality.

Despite the fact that the character is butchering terrible people, I wonder how long this behavior can remain even partially sympathetic to the reader. At some point an unending string of violent merciless allocations of justice will grow tiresome or too repulsive. Then again, comics creations like Punisher, Spectre and Ghost Rider have long endured. It also leaves open as to how he will interact with the other fledgling powered characters. Will he work with them all? Or perhaps he will find them wanting, and destructive struggles will erupt. For now Tensen provides some action during the set up stages, which some are sure to appreciate.

The closing pages leave open the intriguing possibility of learning much more of the powered from the earlier era. My curiosity is piqued by this archaeological component to the tale and what story avenues it might provide. I expect Carson and his team might be called to aide the government as the best qualified experts.

One element of the art, the resemblance of faces to real actors, does create some interesting questions. When I look at Carson, I first think Johnny Depp. Should I hear his voice for the character in my mind? Should I assign some of his traits or those of roles he has played? Perhaps not. I am free to treat it as a new role, I suppose.

I am pleased with this series so far. If you asked me a month or two ago, I would have had little interest in buying this project. It is a nice surprise, and I expect to continue reading.