Batman and Hawkman beat Byth, with a little help from a friend. Bruce accompanies Carter as he hauls the shape-changing villain to Thanagar, but on the way they're attacked by Byth's men. Can the Winged Wonder and Gotham Guardian withstand photon torpedoes and, worse, Byth's mocking tongue? And what happens when a brief power outage frees an awfully annoyed alien?
The latest team-up from writer Sholly Fisch and artists Rick Burchett and Dan Davis is another little gem. It's brilliant to see a Carter Hall who thinks with his head, not his mace, rather than the ever-more savage guy who's going to get his own comic post-Flashpoint. This Hawkman is Egyptian Prince and a space cop. In between he's been a cowboy, an archaeologist and more ... who says Hawkman's tough to understand? It's all right here in a book with little kid appeal!
Batman's the usual stoic, good-natured soul, Carter's so long-lived that he risks seeming a bore with all his stories. But Batman loves a little knowledge, and he learns something new as Carter applies his knowledge of Civil War history to a knotty problem.
Fisch's script is bright and breezy, while the Burchett/Davis art is all-ages eye candy. The team ensures this book is a treat month in, month out. Colourist Guy Major and letterer Dezi Sienty also do their part in making the pages look as inviting as possible.
After the main run, a cute-as-can-be epilogue showing us what Hawkgirl's been up to while Carter's been on the '3.10 to Thanagar' (you may have noticed that this tale has one or two things in common with a certain Western). I'd love to see the story that led up to the sequence, which I'd post here, but as it's the last page, I shan't.
Instead, have a very smiley Batman leaning over a seat. How adorable is that?
I should really look into picking up Brave and the Bold. Everyone seems to like it.
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad that a book like this isn't embraced by fandom in general because 1) it's all-ages and 2) it's a television show tie-in. Comics readers therefore choose to believe it doesn't "count".
ReplyDeleteWhich is ridiculous, not the least because B&B is an awesome show, and its aesthetic SHOULD make you want to read the comic, but because many all-ages books have featured some of DC and Marvel's best output these last few years. When you compared this to Tony Daniel or David Finch's Batman, no contest. Compare Tiny Titans to ANY Titans book, no contest. Billy Batson and the Power of Shazam and the way DC treats the Marvel Family? No contest. Marvel Adventures' Avengers vs. Bendis' talky take on the team? No contest. Supergirl in the 8th Grade vs. most of what's been done with the character in standard continuity, NO CONTEST!
Jimmy, I hope you give it a try - risk a digest!
ReplyDeleteSiskoid, A-blooming-men.