I’ve very much been enjoying The Brave and The Bold for the past couple of years, mainly because it’s a throwback to Silver Age sentiments when superheroes didn’t always just exist in their own microcosms, but instead teamed up occasionally to help one another. The interactions were always fun and some were unexpected.
The first series featured random pairings. It lasted 5 or 6 years this way, but eventually ended up as a vehicle to team Batman with some other superhero, and that iteration of the book went something like 150 issues. The next idea was to team Green Arrow with the Question, and finally, the Flash and Green Lantern.
But when this newest series was started, it came as a reboot of the original idea of random teamings. It’s been good reading, but this latest issue was particularly notable. The issue is part of the “Lost Stories of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” arc that’s currently running through the comics.
Written by the excellent J. M. Straczynski, the story is called Ladies’ Night, and it’s a lovely, light story about Wonder Woman, Zatanna, and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), all going out together, just to kick up their heels and dance the night and their superhero burdens away. Zatanna tells Wonder Woman that she wants to be sure the night is special; they have to practically drag Batgirl away. The story itself is charming, with great emphasis on the characters, and great little details that just make it all so believable. Some examples: Barbara runs off to the restroom to nurse her aching feet because her shoes are terribly uncomfortable, but when Zatanna offers to make them more bearable with an incantation, Barbara waves her off saying that her father caught her admiring them in a magazine and saved for months to buy them as a birthday gift for her. Because of that, she wants them exactly as he gave them to her. Later in the evening, Diana goes missing, so Barbara goes to see if she’s in the restroom – a logical assumption. When she opens the door, she sees Zatanna and Wonder Woman locked in an embrace. She discreetly turns and leaves, saying, “There’s something you don’t see every day.” I chuckled out loud, knowing that couldn’t have been what it looked like, no matter how much I might have wished it were.
The truth turns out to be ever so much more poignant than amusing, and although I began to see where he was going with the story quite a ways before the ending, I still had tears in my eyes when I got there. It was a lovely, unexpected issue of this book, and one of those rare moments in comics that just make wading through the dreck all worth the effort.
The art, by Cliff Chiang, is simple and declarative – not quite animation style, but very stylish and attractive, clean and clear, just the way I like it. There was a clear focal point or direction to each panel or page, and the last panel of the second to last page was terribly touching, drawn with great tenderness.
For me, this was a perfect comic book. It used the art to move the story along, and it didn’t put me to sleep explaining things that I could easily see by simply looking at the excellent illustrations. There was plenty of detail, but not so much that you couldn’t see the story unfolding – and see it is exactly what you did, because there wasn’t so much exposition that you had to sit and slog through it.
I give this issue of Brave and the Bold my highest recommendation, and hope you will seek it out. Even though you need to know a little history of the characters, particularly this Batgirl, it is a true gem. It’s sold out from DC now – word has gotten around. And watch for J.M. Straczynski to start making serious waves very soon as he begins his run on Superman next month.
The Walking Dead continues to be one of my favorite comics, which is weird, because I really am not a fan of zombie stuff. Issue #71 was on the rack this past week, and as usual, it was a solid issue. Nothing earth-shattering happened in it, but I can feel things moving around in there. Stuff is going on that will shape the story for the next year or so, it’s almost certain.
At this point in time, our little band of 12 or so has run into a guy named Aaron, and this guy has convinced Rick and company to come with him to where he lives – a walled community. It’s just a couple of streets, but several families are living there in relative safety. They’ve been welcomed and assigned jobs (everyone must pull their weight) by Douglas, the leader. But there seems to be an undercurrent of strangeness underneath the pleasant façade. Carl notices it. He tells Rick that he’s afraid they will become soft and weak if they stay, and then they won’t be able to survive outside if they need to any longer. The boy tells his father that he feels everything is “pretend.” Rick wants so badly to believe that they could be safe and leave the madness of the outside world behind that he is willing to go all in. But by the issue’s end, even Andrea has remarked that the place feels fake.
So now my antennae are quivering. I’m sensing that things are going on that we’re not getting. It turns out that this issue with no zombies whatsoever has creeped me out a lot more than some of the gorier ones. Despite the fact that the book is in black and white, it feels a lot creepier and freakier than a lot of more splashy and sensational books – quiet little engine that could.
And because the TV show on AMC is premiering this October, I wanted to highlight this book ahead of time. Obviously, the tv series will be its own entity, separate from the continuity of the book. But writer Robert Kirkman is trying to stay as involved as possible, to keep the tv writers on the straight and narrow, so I have high hopes for it. Apparently, the network has foregone the usual “let’s air a pilot and see how it goes” process, and has simply ordered 6 episodes. There will be at least that many, and it looks pretty good for more to come.
Come on, I couldn’t let this pass. I’m a great fan of Torchwood and Doctor Who. The passing of the torch from the Tenth Doctor to the Eleventh… I had to have something to say, but I wanted to make my comments as objective as possible.
I say that in the full understanding that David Tennant makes my heart go pitter-pat, because he is just that good. When I knew he would be leaving, I wondered if I would still love the series as much. So let’s talk Doc.
I loved Christopher Eccleston’s dark, edgy energy Ninth Doctor in the first year of the revival series. He was a little crazy, a little tough – he was channeling Tom Baker, so it seems, and probably was cast for his more than passing resemblance, since Baker’s image is seemingly the iconic one, unsurpassed. Until 2005, when David Tennant became the Tenth Doctor. My favorite Eccleston episodes: Rose, The Unquiet Dead, The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances.
From the very beginning, I was captivated by the younger Doctor – his energy was robust, witty, sharp, fun. Like Jennifer Garner in Alias or the lifeguards at Baywatch, Tennant was always running – and that was the genius of him, he was always in motion. Not just on the outside, but also on the inside. You could see the restless intelligence in every gesture, you could see that he had an inner life, and that he embodied the role entirely. I saw his “Hamlet” the other night, and was very impressed. He gave an interview afterward, and in it, he did not do as I’ve seen countless other actors do – when talking about the role, most actors will say, “Mulder is haunted by all of his demons and I do my best to bring him out,” or “This is a woman trying to work something out.” No. Tennant says, “When I have to see Ophelia being buried, when I realize that it’s Claudius behind everything…” I think that’s the key. Like the great Patrick Stewart (who, incidentally played Claudius in the Tennant version of Hamlet), who says, “I shrug there.” He doesn’t say, “When Claudius shrugs.” He says, “I shrug.” Tennant likewise inhabits his character so fully that it’s not Hamlet who sees poor Ophelia buried, it’s himself. “I see her buried, I love her so much that I go a little crazy…”
The Eleventh Doctor’s arrival was a little less than auspicious – a weak premiere episode left me wondering if my love was about to die. Never fear, though, the second episode in the new Doctor’s run was magnificent. The new companion, Amy Pond, suffers from the worn device of the runaway bride syndrome, however, she’s lovely and perky and smart, so we’ll overlook that for now. Although Matt Smith is a bit odd looking, in the second episode, The Beast Below, he is revealed to be a capable torch-bearer for the franchise. His performance as he realizes the horror being perpetrated on the people of Britain, their Queen, and the marvelous StarWhale they have “captured”, was layered, believable, and entirely wonderful. Companion Amy Pond was no less sensational, as the creepy story peeled back one new layer of weirdness after another.
So after a weak start, the new Doctor seems to be finding his footing. I suspect it will be a little while before he truly settles in, and there are bound to be rough spots, but for now, I will be traveling with the Doctor.
I wish American TV would make up its mind about whether or not to do an American version of Torchwood. Apparently, this is why the BBC is delaying making another series of Torchwood for the UK. Frankly, I’d rather this stayed as a BBC program. It’s hard for me to think Torchwood without Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper. She and Captain Jack are the beating heart of that show, and separated, I’m not sure the show would fly as well. Give up your option, Fox, and let the show go back to the UK!
