Batman: The Brave & The Bold #14
Artists: Kelley Jones, John Mikel, Travis Mercer, Lisandro Estherren, Hayden Sherman
Color Artists: Michelle Madsen, Mike Spicer, Andrew Dalhouse, Patricio Delpeche
Letterers: Rob Leigh, Ferran Delgado, Steve Wands, Becca Carey, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Review by Davydh Tidey
Batman: The Brave & The Bold #14 continues last month’s amazing new tales, debuts a brand new Flash-centric story, plus a new black-and-white strip. These books really do spoil us.
Tracks
At least you still get to have an audience sometimes.”
– Deadman
“Down the Road” continues down its winding track, stopping off in all the best places for the circus,and a few objectively terrifying places as well… just like in life.
Deadman is, and will always be, a fascinating character, especially after the recent changes he suffered during the Knight Terrors event.
Tim Seeley continues to display an innate understanding of the character of Nightwing, although this is primarily a Deadman-centric story (in my humble opinion), Dick gets his chance to shine in this chapter. The dynamic between the pair continues to be strained, yet entertaining, and, as Dick himself says, they’re a lot more alike than they both think.
Kelley Jones and Michelle Madsen really are not shying away from the supernatural elements of this story. The artwork is equal parts horrifying and mesmerizing. Deadman looks scary in every panel, and the new villain makes an imposing figure on the page. Who is this new threat, and what’s his connection to the circus? Well, you’ll just have to read on further to find out, won’t you?!
Time
So… for humanity, then?”
– Booster Gold
Booster Gold’s latest colossal slag-up continues in the latest chapter of “Time Jerks”, heavily featuring the Jurassic League again. It’s really like the Batman: The Brave & The Bold writers are able to see directly into my mind sometimes. They seem to know exactly what I want, literally all the time.
When it comes to a complicated narrative with many moving parts, and an over-arching point to the story, your first choice should always be Mark Russell. The Butterfly Effect is a tired narrative trope at this point, and it’s rarely done right, but Russell makes it feel new and unique in a way few writers can.
He always seems to find a way to bring a new perspective to a narrative, like the achievement of the Singularity in Not All Robots (with Mike Deodato Jr.) or Reed Richards’ endless fight to be taken seriously in Fantastic Four: Life Story (with Sean Izaakse). It’s a serious talent, and it makes me check out every book bearing his name.
Jon Mikel and Mike Spicer, once again, kill it on the artwork, balancing whimsical and action-packed masterfully. I’m reminded in places of Kevin Maguire’s work on Justice League International back in the day, it carries the same tone and light-heartedness that the series always conveyed so wonderfully. Mike Spicer is always a firm favorite, but I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more from Jon Mikel in the future!
Travel
Sorry, Thawney, ol’ pal. Maybe call ahead next time.”
– The Flash
A day (or a few minutes) in the life of the fastest man alive, The Flash!
… of course, it’s debatable whether or not Barry actually is the fastest, as Wally’s right up there, but I’M NOT STARTING THAT FIGHT RIGHT NOW!
“A Day in the Life” is exactly what it says on the tin. The Flash is just like you or I; he wakes up in the morning to coffee and puts his spandex on one leg at a time, just like us… except he can cross a continent in a heartbeat.
Cavan Scott is a very versatile writer. Between his small, human stories like this one, his bombastic Jedi adventures over in the Star Wars: The High Republic comics, and his brutal, small-scale horror/action in Union Jack The Ripper: Blood Hunt (which is shaping up to be my one of favorite comics of the year), he’s a shown a talent for a great range of narrative styles. You never really know what you’re going to get from him, and I love that element of his storytelling. He’s unpredictable in style, but always consistent in quality.
I’ve always said that you have to have a certain something to draw Speedsters well, it’s something in the movement, and how dynamic you have to be to show the sheer velocity at which they travel. I’m pleased to report that Travis Mercer and Andrew Dalhouse have it. Their Reverse Flash in particular strikes an imposing figure, reminding me of Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund’s Eobard Thawne from the New 52 run of The Flash, which is still one of my favourites.
Terrestrial
Go away, Guy. I’ll handle this myself.”
– Batman
Batman: The Brave & The Bold #14 brings us back to the little grey man in “The Invader”, and things are only getting weirder! More hallucinations, more of Guy’s attitude, and a whole lot more danger!
With Batman at a dead end, and Guy Gardner’s ring failing at the worst moments, the only option the heroes have is to follow the green, radioactive blood trail. I’m sure that this will go well for everyone involved.
Joshua Hale Fialkov continues his sojourn into classic sci-fi, and I love his take on old urban myths. So far everything points to this Alien being related to the original flying saucers, and I’m on the edge of my seat for the answers to that! I want to see what DC has decided is canon for the Roswell incident… what do they know? Following the Area 51 tradition; storm the DC offices, they can’t stop all of us!
Lisandro Estherren and Patricio Delpeche, while not your traditional comic artists, are doing great work here. The radiation-induced hallucinations look striking, add so much to the narrative, and really affect the reader. You can feel how out of their depth the main characters are, and how out of the ordinary all of this is, by the artwork, and that lends itself so well to the narrative.
True Purpose
…do I matter?”
– Batman
This story is not what you’d expect. It is, in essence, not really a story, but a vignette. There’s no real plot here, just a succinct exploration of the Batman and his thought process. We’ve seen so many takes on this idea, but this one now ranks among my very favorites.
“The Evidence Remains” is a masterpiece. Hayden Sherman, I salute you. You knocked this all the way out of the park and grazed a 747 on the way. The way this is put together, from the panel layouts to the text box placement, the fourth wall breaking to the pure rage and determination in Batman’s white eyes (yes, you can feel it through the mask), these pages are a work of art as pure expression.
The format is perfect as well. This style wouldn’t work as a longer narrative but as a single stand-alone vignette… it’s perfection, absolute perfection.
Conclusion
Every month, we always get something new and exciting from this title, and Batman: The Brave & The Bold #14 continues that tradition. I can’t wait to see how these stories collect, whether we’ll get a new Batman: Black and White graphic novel out of these vignettes and whether my personal favorite so far, Stormwatch, will get its own collection. I want them all! I know that Tom King and Mitch Gerads’ brilliant The Winning Card has already been collected, but I need more, dammit!
One thing I do know, though, I will continue to read and love this book as long as it continues delivering this quality.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment