DC has two big comics out this week, so my pick must be obvious to you all.

It’s written by a major writer for the industry and has better then average art in most comic books.

My friends I give to you my pick: Batman and Robin #4!! Wait….no that’s not it. Blackest Night #3? No no, that wasn’t even close. So wait, if the two big titles this week are my pick. Then what is? Well I wasn’t wrong when I said that a big writer and better then average artist was involved. As amazingly as it sounds and considering how last minute this decision was:

Brave and the Bold #27 is my pick of the week.

I must be insane obviously. How on earth could I not make Morrison’s comic Pick for the fourth straight issue? Geoff Johns is reinventing how event comics are done so why didn’t I pick that? Maybe it’s because my filter for J. Michael Stracyznski is on but I gotta admit. I was looking so forward to this when it was annouced he was doing this series. I’ve enjoyed the revamp of this comic mainly because it’s continuity free. You can do whatever you want but still provide the main essentials for the characters. I was also intrigued by this because of the pairing. How on earth is JMS going to make a Batman/Dial H for HERO a workable comic? Well somehow he did it, but not in a way you might think.

This seriously was Dial H for HERO, a forgotten and bizarre concept for a character. It’s not even really the character, it’s a magical amulet that looks like a rotary phone. You just have to move the ‘dial’ and become a particular hero. It’s kinda like the premise for Ben 10 but without the girlish voice overs. Anyone can use this thing and that’s why I like it that a kid is essential the hero. It’s like Billy Batison being Captain Marvel; a kid becoming a superhero is such a childlike dream for a lot of us.

The story focuses on a different person as Hero though. A down on your luck ‘nobody’ who becomes a hero instead of a petty thief. JMS writes his tale in a way where you really feel sorry for him at first. Here’s a guy trying to get up in the world but he’s never had a chance since day one. A lot of people can relate to his problems, although I hope no one has resorted to crime to solve this. Now that he has this unlimited power, as the hero ‘The Star’, he wants to save everyone. But there is a somewhat seperate thread where Joker is going to kill Batman for good. Let me say that I love this Joker that JMS thought of. More of a business casual look but still gets the voice right for him. Anyways just the thread of this man going from zero to hero and then making a difficult choice just worked for me. Maybe it’s a bit cliche to others but this was a serious look at such a wacky idea.

Then you get to the art by Jesus Saiz and this totally won me over on an artistic level. Sure it’s not Frank Quitely/Philip Tan on Batman or Ivan Reis on Blackest Night; but this works for me. It’s just different, like the scene with Joker talking to his thugs. Again the design for him is slightly different but totally fits the character. But the staging of it and executing of it makes it a really complex scene to read now. Other moments like the original holder of the dial, Robby is his name, turning into an alien like psychic was beautiful. Plus this is a really great look for Batman, I mean it does look standard but when it comes to him moving about it looks really great. A lot of praise should go to the colorist Trish Mulvihill  because it makes these great scenes stand out more. It a bit ‘bright’ to make it stand out but the use of colors (like orange or blue) really stand out.

So maybe I am crazy for picking this over the big heavy hitters of DC this week. But as a whole this comic brought more to the table then those two did. It’s not like they were bad, they were just missing something. I can’t say what that something is but when I hold this comic in my hand it just feels right. It’s a team up of two unrelated characters but turns into a much more personal peice of a regular man getting these incredible superpowers. Somehow JMS was able to write this in a perfect way. If you missed out on this I seriously hope you pick it up later. It’s seriously that good.