The Brave and the Bold #11

Any fears that reader's had with the exit of George Perez are silenced in this issue. Oncoming artist Jerry Ordway does a fantastic job. I remember reading a lot of Ordway back in the late 80s early 90s and I loved his Superman. He gets to double up on the Supes with both Superman and Ultraman hanging around. Mark Waid has the threads of the Megistus arc coming together as the first year of this series draws to a close. Waid has kept me interested throughout this first year with the quirky team ups and running thread of the threat of Megistus. This issue continues with another interesting team up and moves the plot along at a good pace.

Without skipping a beat, "The Brave and the Bold" gets a new, top-notch artist and moves head first towards the final chapter in the Megistus story arc. I'm left looking forward to next month's last chapter and for whatever the future brings this excellent title.

The Brave and the Bold #9

"The Brave and the Bold" #9 is a hit or miss issue. Using the "Megistus" thread from the Challengers of the Unknown "Book of Destiny" arc, this issue covers three team ups throughout DC history. I enjoyed the Metal Men and Dial H For Hero team up because it presented the Metal Men with their traditional look. I've been reading the "Metal Men" miniseries but have to admit that I prefer George Perez's "old school" Metal Men over their look in the miniseries. It was nice to see the throwback to "Dial H for Hero" as well. I remember reading the Dial H adventures in the early 80s, back when readers would send in suggestions that were incorporated into the heros. The Blackhawk and Boy Commandos team up was somewhat bland and didn't add much to the story. I really enjoyed the final team up of Hawkman and the Ryan Choi Atom. Writer Mark Waid captured both characters well and provided a fun little adventure for them.

"The Brave and the Bold" continues to be a fun read that satisfies.

The Brave and the Bold #8

Writer Mark Waid brings Wally's family from his other series, "The Flash", into this issue of "The Brave and the Bold" and teams them up with the Doom Patrol. I haven't been keeping up with who's who on the Doom Patrol and I found Waid's take on the team interesting - especially his take on team leader Dr. Niles Caulder. I didn't realize what an ass Dr. Caulder is. Having just read this week's "The Flash", I found this book to actually capture the family dynamic of Wally's family and provided more insight than Waid's "The Flash" monthly. Perez's art really pops making Wally's kids interesting for the first time. Waid captures the varying personalities of the Doom Patrol with Perez providing excellent layouts displaying quite a lot of detail and story. The bookends dealing with the Book of Destiny and the Challengers of the Unknown is a nice plot device for presenting these stories and provides a thread to connect them all. The little tidbits that are dolled out each issue is enough to keep that story moving along.

This is one of DC's best monthlies and should be on your pull list.