Batman: The Brave And The Bold #9 Review

       

       

Written by: Tom King, Kyle Starks, Gabriel Hardman, Bruno Redondo
Art by: Mitch Gerads, Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert, Wade Von Grawbadger, Gabriel Hardman, Bruno Redondo
Colors by: Mitch Gerads, Matt Herms, Matt Hollingsworth, Bruno Redondo
Letters by: Clayton Cowles, Rob Leigh, Simon Bowland, Wes Abbott
Cover art by: Simone Di Meo
Cover price: $7.99
Release date: January 23, 2024

Batman: The Brave And The Bold #9 continues three serialized stories and adds a one-shot to delight readers with Joker's murderous intentions, Wild Dog's extreme methods, Aquaman's cosmic challenges, and Batman's latest moment of self-reflection.
Is Batman: The Brave And The Bold #9 Good?



Batman: The Brave And The Bold #9 wraps three of the ongoing serials and adds a short story one-shot for good measure. On the whole, the serialized chapter wrap up their respective stories as well as, if not better than, the way they started.


Batman: The Winning Card, Part 4

Batman chases down the Joker to conclude their first conflict during Batman's first year as the Caped Crusader. Will a lethal test of wills be the beginning of something monstrous or the very end?

"Batman and Joker duke it out in the woods," is the simplest way to explain the conclusion to Tom King's take on the first meeting between Batman and Joker. Gerads's creepy art significantly elevates King's tense story, but the script doesn't bring anything new to the mythology of either character other than King saying, "This is how I would do it."


Wild Dog: Here Comes Trouble!, Part 3

Wild Dog decides to hang up the jersey for good after getting his butt beat by Gizmo and his tech-enhanced hired goons. When he heads to the big game to say goodbye for the last time, he finds himself cornered in Gizmo's hostages-for-ransom scheme, prompting Wild Dog to suit up for a big crowd.

Kyle Starks's on the sports-themed vigilante has been a hoot from start to finish, and Starks adds icing on the cake when Wild Dog goes through a hero's journey and a little character growth to get back in the saddle after a hard defeat. Of all the B&B stories so far, Starks on Wild Dog has the best potential for continuing.

Aquaman: The Communion, Part 3

Aquaman arrives in Gorilla City with an urgent plea to reach King Solovar for help to stop the Dominator invasion. After a brief battle against pursuing Dominator soldiers and an invitation to mind meld, Aquaman and the Gorilla City soldiers launch a full offensive against the undersea base.

If nothing else, Gabriel Hardman proved that the right concept can pull seemingly disparate characters from completely separate ecosystems together for a tried and true adventure. Who knew Aquaman and Gorilla City would make an effective pairing? But Hardman makes it work with a fairly solid finale. This series is one of the rare cases where the ending worked out better than the beginning.

Nor Is The Batman

Batman steps out to respond to the Batsignal during his early days as the Caped Crusader. Alfred laments the risks Master Bruce takes, especially when a particularly nasty fall prompts Lucius Fox to come up with a new gadget.

Bruno Redondo pulls double duty and artist with a brief tale that imagines how Batman received his first grappling gun. This short is an interesting imagining of a very small piece of Batman's origin story.



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 #9 wraps up Tom King's take on the first Batman/Joker meeting, Wild Dog's journey to upping his hero status, and Aquaman's team-up with the apes from Gorilla City. For their part, each story ends at least as well as each started, if not stronger, and the art is excellent on average.

8/10