Customer Reviews

Brave & The Bold Vol. 1: Lords Of Luck (Brave and the Bold (DC Comics))

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Brave and the Bold used to be one of my favorite comic book titles as a kid. The title usually featured the Batman teaming up with another hero from the DC universe and it was great seeing the interaction between two superheroes that would not normally team-up.

The latest version of Brave and the Bold features the work of two legendary creators, Mark Waid (writer) & George Perez (artist). This hard cover edition collects the first story arc of the relaunched series, originally spanning six issues. A basic outline of the plot has Batman and Green Lantern teaming up to stop the Lords of Luck from using and prospering from two items they've stolen; a gun that can alter probability and the Book of Destiny (best known from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series).

While the first issue has Batman and Green Lantern as the book's featured team-up, subsequent issues has these two heroes teaming-up with a wide variety of superheroes like Blue Beetle, Supergirl, Adam Strange, and the Legion of Superheroes. George Perez's artwork is sensational and is as detailed as ever. The story is good but not Mark Waid's best work. However, there are some really funny moments and every scene with Supergirl really shines. The team-up between her and Green Lantern is my favorite and features some hilarious dialog like Hal Jordan having to constantly remind himself that Supergirl is "only 17."

A very enjoyable collection overall and it's great to see the return of the team-up to the DC universe. In terms of extras, there's a short introduction by Waid and six pages at the end where Waid discusses all the references to old characters and old stories he made during the series. A cover gallery at the end of the book rather than before each individual story would have been nice.

I'm surprised this excellent volume of stories hasn't received more praise and that there aren't more reviews on this collection of six stories by Mark Waid and George Perez. This volume collects issues 1-6 of the ongoing DC Comics series, Brave and the Bold, and is an old fashioned, fun-filled, gorgeous to look at romp through the DC universe. The stories here generally pair two unlikely heroes and allies, and traverse the earth and end up taking the reader on a fantastic journey through the DC cosmos.

One of the strengths of the Brave and Bold concept, is that it pairs unlikely characters or at least, teams up likeable characters for specific adventures, that help to contrast the strengths and weaknesses of each. Mark Waid exploits this premise to the fullest extent here. As a reader, you get pulled in right away, with an intriguing pairing of Batman and Green Lantern, which starts off oddly enough in space, but at one point ends up with both characters in their civilian identities gambling in Vegas. The contrast between the characters, in terms of dress, and in their approach to Blackjack for instance, is classically in character, and typical of Waid's thoughtfulness as a writer. The interplay between Green Lantern and Supergirl (She's sixteen!") is hilarious at several points, and Waid's gift for characterization makes every character seem strong and fresh and individual. The story traverses several planets and involves several heroes, including Blue Beetle, Adam Strange and others, and is at times, genuinely hilarious. Lobo's encounter with Supergirl is actually engaging and makes sense from a story perspective.

It's a satisfying story experience in its own right, but of course, what makes this an exceptional volume and a must own is the gorgeous, sumptuous feast-for-the-eyes that is the art of George Perez. Although Perez is not inked by his best inker here, his work is nevertheless so strong and so impressive, that every page is a joy to behold. If for nothing else, the excellent pencils of Perez makes this volume essential for his fans and pretty much anyone else who likes solid, good old fashioned comics with a satisfying plot in each issue.

I can't say enough positive things about this volume, and give it my highest recommendation. It's also a much better collection that the second in the series, "The Book of Destiny," where Waid's notoriously short attention span starts to get the better of him, and the series begins to flounder. Get this if you like the DCU, have enjoyed anything by Mark Waid before, are a fan of George Perez, or are a casual comics reading looking for a good story with great art to immerse yourself in the DCU.

I had eagerly anticipated this book, and was not disappointed.

Mark Waid is, as always, a wonderful story teller, and an expert of the Superhero.

George Perez is a master of his craft, and this book showcases his attention to detail and overachiever work ethic.

The book also includes an intro by Mark Waid and a few fun bonus pages of annotations at the end.

This is a great addition to any fan of vintage DC, but is accessible to any new reader. Buy it.

Mark Waid, one of comics' best and most unsung writers, brings back the classic "Brave and the Bold" team-up book with "Crisis" artist George Perez. The art is fantastically detailed and the story is well-paced across the six issues collected in "Lords of Luck".

Unlike some other DC titles, each character here is defined by his or her actions and words. Waid's characterization is brilliant, especially when Supergirl teams up with Green Lantern and Lobo on separate occasions. (If the regular "Supergirl" and "Blue Beetle" comic books were this good, I would be reading them every month!) If you're not reading "The Brave and the Bold", you must be living under a rock on Oa.

Green Lantern and Batman are my two favorite characters and them alone make this trade great to me. It's a race against time and fate that, gives it a very "Zero Hour" feel to it. It has Batman staying ten steps ahead of the opposition as always, and wonderful comic relief from Lobo. Not to mention it has a bit of time travel, and it brings in some obscure characters from the DC universe, two aspects which I love.

Relaunch of a popular comics series that teams up various DC characters, usually with Batman. Initially, Batman and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) team up to find an artifact connected to the Book of Destiny. Eventually Batman finds himself in the 31st century, being aided somewhat by the Legion of Superheroes and Green Lantern, in the funniest part of the storyline, teams up with Supergirl. Actually, the best part of the story involves Supergirl and Lobo who make an effective--if unorthodox--team. Adam Strange also appears, as do the Challengers of the Unknown and Blue Beetle. A definite read for DC fans.

The plot is not bad and it is well organized. Unlike some comic books...

Anyways, the story is a combination of the present and the future mainly (well, maybe a little tiny bit about the past...).

Furthermore, I like the way they team up the DCU heroes together.My favourite parts were when Batman went into the future and the team up with blue beetle.

I recommend readers who like Batman, Hal Jordan, Supergirl or the leigion of superheroes to read it.

The first collected volume of DC's relaunched The Brave and the Bold finds Batman teaming up with Green Lantern Hal Jordan as they take on The Lords of Luck, and try to stop their diabolical plans that involve the Book of Destiny. Later on, Bats and GL ally themselves with Supergirl, Adam Strange, the new Blue Beetle, and even the Legion of Superheroes as writer Mark Waid's (Kingdom Come, Flash) story features enough great action and slight twists to make any longtime DC reader happy. What makes The Lords of Luck even better is the artwork by none other than the legendary George Perez, who seems to only get better with age. As a previous reviewer already pointed out, Hal's thoughts towards Supergirl being "only 17" are hilarious, and as a whole, The Brave and the Bold is one of the better new titles to come out of DC since the events of Infinte Crisis. The only downside here is that the book is too short, and before you know it, it's over and done with. That aside, this first collection of The Brave and the Bold is worth picking up for DC readers new and old, and is plenty enjoyable to boot.

The new Brave and Bold book (of which this is volume 1) is a great idea (teaming up two different heroes in every chapter) and very well executed by Mark Waid and George Perez. The personalities are all 'on character' and the art is excellent. Mixing up some of DC's old mainstays (Batman, Green Lantern) with the newer generation (Blue Beetle) and new versions of old characters (Supergirl, the Legion), the story takes you all over the DCU and will excite both old fans like me, who will wax nostalgically about stories like this from their childhoods, and new fans who will be introduced to just how big and how much fun the DC Universe can be.

Worth mentioning are the 5-6 pages of annotations by writer Mark Waid at the end of the book, which highlight all the little in-jokes, homages, and historical references of the story. This makes shelling out for the hardcover more than worth it and really was the icing on the cake for me.

Waid and Perez are both comic book masters with a string of hits to their names.

But this book is simply not them at their best. It seems like a winning match, two huge fans of DC's universe playing with whatever characters catch their eye, all the while telling a bigger story.

But the book suffers from Waid having far too much love for the mediocre ideas of the silver age. The book reads too much like fan-fic, lots of Easter eggs but no real meaning. Waid's own notes talk about how he worked to reference old Adam Strange and Challengers of the Unknown stories. This is nice but it ends up intrusive, the storyline does nothing really new and the fact that the final deus ex machina is based on 50 year old comic books does not make it any more fulfilling.

That being said, some of the character moments are good, the Supergirl/Lobo team up is a lot of fun. Batman and Blue Beetle are another good pair.

Perez's art is as pretty as ever but I wish it had served a more ambicious book than Waid's exercise in nostalgia.