Brave and the Bold 29 – Book. Of. The. Week. Definitely.

I’ve really enjoyed JMS’ previous two issues on Brave and the Bold.
They’ve been fun, if somewhat heavy handed, morality plays featuring
some nice characters and fun adventures. They haven’t been perfect, but
they’ve been exactly what I wanted from Brave and the Bold. This issue
far outshines both of them, and really elevates my expectations for the
series.

The strongest aspect of this book – and the heart of it – is the
conflict between the past and the future. I’m sure that a lot of people
will write off this bit as preachy, but I don’t see it as such. I see
it as one man’s VISION of the past and the future, about the positive
and negative aspects of each. Just as it’s natural for your father to
complain about the quality of the music being pumped out today in
comparison to the music that was popular during his time, so too is it
only nature that Brother Power – a Zeitgeist of one aspect of the 60s –
would see what we’ve become and be disappointed. It’s OKAY that JMS
doesn’t acknowledge all the negatives of the US at even the height of
the ‘love generation’, because the story isn’t about a fair and
unbiased look at where society was and where it has gone – it’s about
one man’s PERCEPTION of it. And JMS, I think, effectively acknowledges
that the 60s were never so perfect as Brother Power himself was, when
the public takes to the streets and utilizes violent methods. Brother
Power represents an idealized, almost utopian vision for society, not
any period of time that actually existed. His presence reminds us of
what we might one day be, what we should always strive to be. That was
as true during the fragile peace in which he existed in during the 60s
as it is now, in the industrialized and individualistic new millennium.

Part of what makes this book so impressive is the technical proficiency
of the WAY that JMS gets this message across to the reader. He expertly
layers and contrasts the myths of Brother Power, Frankenstein and
Batman, drawing connections between all three of them in a way that is
seamless and with a narrative that weaves them together brilliantly
throughout the issue and draws them together at it’s conclusion. It’s
all very technically adept, with the type of elegant prose that I’ve
come to expect from JMS’ comic book work. I was particularly impressed
at the way he was able to draw a parallel between Frankenstein’s
monster and Batman. I don’t’ know that I’ve seen that particular
comparison made before, and it’s rare to see two popular culture icons
like those brought together uniquely and effectively. Nothing new under
the sun? Suppose not!

Jesus Saiz continues to deliver wonderfully rendered pages, with expert
storytelling and gorgeous figure work. It’s the perfect complement to
JMS’ somber script…there’s a melancholy tone to Jesus Saiz’s pencils,
and a sort of gentleness to his characters, and that really works well
with this story which as much about what we could be (Brother Power) as
it is about what we are (the world around him).

Pretty great, and probably my favorite JMS work since his “Silver Surfer” mini series a while ago.

9/10