The Brave & the Bold #1

I wasn't quite sure about this one at first. It had Batman on the cover, and I think that I've made it pretty plain that I find Batman to be a major pain. On the other hand, it had Hal Jordan, whom I adore, despite the fact that he's an arrogant, self-centered,womanizer. So I picked it up and read it.

Wow! This was fun!

For one thing, John Stewart is in it, albeit briefly. I rather miss John, and so I'm glad to see him whenever he pops up.

Secondly, Batman isn't being a jerk. Hal's discovered a dead body floating in space, while Batman has discovered an identical body in the batcave...as well as numerous other identical bodies all over the place. Hal and Bats are actually working together to try and solve the mystery, without whining at each other. There is actually a pretty cool battle in the batcave, wherein Hal uses the giant dinosaur AND the giant penny,while Batman uses the batmobile as a weapon.

They decide to follow the power signature, so Hal summons his battery and charges up, leading to a rather amusing exchange.

BATMAN......."You have your power battery WITH you?"

HAL......"I've trained it to come when I call...you know, like you did Robin."

Heh.

So off the two of them go, and end up in Las Vegas. Since hiding in the shadows doesn't really work very well there, Bats changes into Bruce Wayne, Armani suit and all, and decides to visit the Kismet Casino, where he is of course, welcomed with open arms. They are a little more leery of welcoming Hal, since his idea of dressing up consists of the bomber jacket, but once Bruce vouches for him, they let him in.

Naturally, the two of them end up at the gambling tables. The Kismet just hands Bruce a huge pile of chips, with an unlimited credit line. Bruce then flips a couple of chips over the Hal. The look on Hal's face is just priceless as he looks at his few lonely chips, while Bruce sits next to him with adoring women draped all over him.

Then they start to play.

A few panels later, most of the chips are in front of Hal, along with the women, while Bruce is just stunned.



BRUCE...."Tha's the most reckless card playing I've ever seen."

HAL........"You should try it sometime."

BRUCE......"I wish Barry had lived to se you with money."

HAW!!

Anyway, the whole point of this was to get to see the Casino's owner, but he/she is locked up in the penthouse and not seeing anyone. Naturally, the dynamic duo doens't let this get in their way,and they go upstairs. I love that Hal offers to create a lockpick, but Bruce just uses a keycard. Then BOOM! It turns out that Roulette is the owner of the Casino, and apparently in a bit of a pickle.

She has a flamethrower going and is trying to burn a book, which of course, isn't working out at all. Bats is trying to calm her down,while Hal contains the fire, but Roulette is in an absolute panic, which is pretty amazing in and of itself. She had promised the murdered man that she'd destroy it, but that hasn't worked out, and now the aliens that attacked them in the batcave have followed Hal and Bruce right to her...and the book.

Another nifty fight scene, with Bats and Hal working together quite nicely. One of the bad guys gets the book however, and takes off, so Bats has Hal go after him. So Roulette then informs him that it is the Book of Destiny, with ultimate knowledge and ultimate power.

THE Book of Destiny? As in Destiny of the Endless? Now THAT'S interesting!

The story is fun, the dialogue is great, and the art is excellent. What more could anybody want from their comic book?