Batman: The Brave And The Bold #8 Review

      

     

Written by: Guillem March. Kyle Starks, Gabriel Hardman, John Higgins
Art by: Guillem March, Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert, Wade Von Grawbadger, Gabriel Hardman, John Higgins
Colors by: Arif Prianto, Matt Herms, Matt Hollingsworth, John Higgins
Letters by: Guillem March, Rob Leigh, Simon Bowland, Troy Peteri
Cover art by: Simone Di Meo
Cover price: $7.99
Release date: December 26, 2023

Batman: The Brave And The Bold #8 delivers four chapters of DC adventure. Batman teams with an imposter to save the day. Wild Dog sets his sights on the new gang in town. Aquaman interrupts a Devastator invasion in progress. And Batman crosses paths with a doctor working on a unique cure.
Is Batman: The Brave And The Bold #8 Good?

DC's latest entry in the anthology series may be one of the strongest issues so far as the multi-art stories and one-shots either end on a high note or keep the entertainment factor at uncharacteristically high levels for most DC titles. Overall, Batman: The Brave And The Bold #8 is a solid pick.

Batman: Pygmalion, Part 3

Bryce/Frank/Batman races to stop gangsters from using Magdalena and Aurora as bai. The real Batman leads the charge into an apartment under siege, but Bryce/Frank/Batman's inexperience and lack of knowledge about Batman's Rogues lands him in a rooftop trap with an explosive ending.

Guillem March's take on the Batman-Who-Wasn't is a fast-paced, dramatic, Grade-A Batman adventure from start to finish. Part 3 is a super strong finish to a strong tale.


Wild Dog: Here Comes Trouble!, Part 2

Wild Dog forces himself to confront that @#$% Alan to find out where the gangs are meeting because the new supervillain in town is set to crash the gathering. When Wild Dog gets the info from that no-good, #$@% Alan about the meeting, he finds out too late the identity of the new supervillain in town and why he's powerless to stop him.

Amusing. Kyle Starks injects Wild Dog's solo adventure with a sharp wit, excellent comedic timing, big action, and great dramatic pacing. I could see Starks injecting badly missing humor into DC's title lineup with a miniseries or ongoing.

Aquaman: Communion, Part 2

Konar, a truth seeker from Gorilla City who opposes their evolutionary doctrine, explains how his colleagues sought answers to their origins by building a secret base to search the stars. Unfortunately, their quest for answers attracted the wrong attention from Dominators. Now, Aquaman and a Gorilla City heretic team up to stop the Dominators from invading Gorilla City and the world.


Part 1 was a confusing, harried start, but Gabriel Hardman delivers tons of exposition to make it all make sense and set up a relatively entertaining adventure for the King of Atlantis. Great action, tension, stakes, and drama are present in a small package.

Angels In The Architecture

A doctor uses experimental military ex-suits to treat children with debilitating muscular and neural diseases that keep them bedbound. Unfortunately, the children start dying when the suits' programming starts receiving mixed signals.

John Higgins's tale of good intentions turned deadly has merit in the premise, but the execution needed more refinement or more pages to tell the story coherently. What you get is a story told in snippets that don't quite play out or make complete sense. A good editor should have helped Higgins tighten this short up.


About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces:

Batman: The Brave And The Bold #8 is one of the better entries in the series, with plenty of action, drama, excitement, and humor. Of the four chapters presented, Guillem March and Kyle Starks tie for the top story, but all shorts have an interesting premise to offer.

8/10