In this review of Batman: The Brave and the Bold #20, we see an inter-dimensional adventure with Bat-Mite, conclusions to last month’s Wonder Woman & Plastic Man and Martian Manhunter and Animal Man/Girl stories, and a highlight for Kevin Smith villain Onomatopoeia.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #20 main cover by Simone Di Meo
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #20
Writers: Ty Templeton, Dave Wielgosz, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Michael W. Conrad, and Simone Di Meo
Artists: Ty Templeton, Nikola Čižmešija, Travis Mercer, Tom Derenick, Christopher Mitten, and Simone Di Meo
Colors: Monica Kubina, Rex Lokus, Peter Pantazis, and Ivan Plascencia
Cover Artist: Simone Di Meo
Variant Cover Artists: Aaron Bartling, Tula Lotay
Release Date: December 26, 2024
This comic book review contains spoilers
“The Price”
Writer and Artist: Ty Templeton
Colors: Monica Kubina
Letters: Josh Reed
The first story in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #20 takes the reader on a trip through time following the fifth dimensional imp and Batman-superfan: Bat-Mite, as well as the superhero magician Zatanna.
This being the final issue of this book, it’s not illogical to bring in a fourth-wall breaking character to shake things up and give the anthology a somewhat self-aware send off. I like Bat-Mite and when used correctly, he can be a ton of fun. Take for example Paul Reubens’ iconic turn as the character in the final episode of the television series that shares this book’s name. Unfortunately, despite some creative ideas, I did not care for this story very much.
Bat-Mite has a couple funny one liners (“Didja see that?! Of course you did. Who starts reading on page two?”, “you’re dressing like a Tim Burton character now”), and the narrative replicating the backwards structure of one of Zatanna’s spells is a cool idea, but the final product reads as convoluted and lacking in any real substance. Bat-Mite speaks in a combination of pseudoscientific quantum physics and complete nonsense and Zatanna’s guilt for introducing him to Batman is only dealt with on the most superficial level. We get flashes of familiar moments like Batman riding the back of a shark from “The Laughing Fish” and a reference to Batman and Ras’ shirtless desert sword fight, but these moments don’t amount to anything more than fan service. And just to touch on a personal pet peeve, I find Bat-Mite the most interesting when he’s portrayed as an all-powerful all-knowing being, so to see him constantly getting curtailed by Zatanna was unsatisfying. This is not a story I would highlight for either character beyond the initial gimmick of being told Memento-style aka in reverse chronology.
Monica Kubina sticks to a pallet of primary colors with high contrast that mirrors the earliest Silver Age Bat-Mite appearances and Ty Templeton’s lines are so thick you could lay track on them. It’s a style that works for Bat-Mite, but is less flattering for the other characters we come across.
“Man’s Underworld Part 2”
Writer: Dave Wielgosz
Artist: Nikola Čižmešija
Colors: Rex Lokus
Picking up from last month, Plastic Man and Wonder Woman infiltrate the Mirror House, an auction house for superhero relics, to retrieve Wonder Woman’s golden lasso. Plastic Man reflects on his life of crime and develops an unlikely bond with Wonder Woman supplanting his previous unethical partnership with the criminal Roulette. But when the golden lasso comes in contact with Plastic Man, even he can’t hide from the truth.
What can I say, I’m a Plastic Man stan. He’s one of the most interesting DC heroes and based on the strength of this story as well as Christopher Cantwell’s excellent “Plastic Man No More,” the fact that he doesn’t have an ongoing book is unconscionable. I loved the dramatic weight given here by opening with a vignette of a younger criminal “Eel” O’Brian and his partnership with the villainous Roulette. A partnership with Wonder Woman is not immediately obvious considering their contrary natures, but Dave Wielgosz saw something in it that he was able to realize to great effect here. Wonder Woman takes an almost maternal role in guiding Plastic Man to the light and helping him make up for past sins. The ending twist feels a bit muddled but the character dynamics are able to carry it across the finish line.
Rex Lokus colors are moody and Nikola Čižmešija’s proportions are exaggerated in a way that suits Plastic Man’s amorphousity. The panel layout becomes deliberately jumbled as chaos ensues and we get to see Wonder Woman do the Linda Carter spin. I wish the narrative in this second part was ironed out a bit more but it’s still an enjoyable read.
“Keep it Down”
Writer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Artists: Travis Mercer and Tom Derenick
Colors: Peter Pantazis
The assassin Onomatopoeia becomes obsessively paranoid that he’s being followed and targeted by a construction worker. When the sounds of construction overpower his senses, he kills the man before a group of new workers come in to replace him.
Well at least this story looks great. Travis Mercer and Tom Derenick’s artwork blend together harmoniously to create a good looking stretch of pages and I don’t remember ever seeing a story where the lettering takes such a center stage. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou’s choice to have the sounds of the city literally closing in on Onomatopoeia provides a sense of auditory claustrophobia which is impressive given that comics are exclusively a visual medium. Unfortunately the gimmick overpowers the story which is virtually non-existent.
“Hive Mind Part 2”
Writer: Michael W. Conrad
Artist: Christopher Mitten
Colors: Ivan Plascencia
Animal Girl and Animal Man have a dream world father-daughter talk about the nature of life and death in the universe.
Michael W. Conrad closes out this two parter with an existential conversation containing basic ecological platitudes featuring vibrant impressionistic collages from Christopher Mitten and Ivan Plascencia. This story continues the theme of style over substance with the same great indie-influenced art I praised last issue coupled with a very basic and predictable wrap up. I will admit that this story has made me a fan of Christopher Mitten who I was not too familiar with before, so I guess that’s a win.
“The Tattoo”
Writer and Artist: Simone Di Meo
Letters: Carlos Mangual
Bruce wakes up with a tattoo he doesn’t remember getting. We’ve all been there, right? As the night goes on he notices more and more mysterious tattoos appearing on his body. Eventually he turns to Alfred who gives him a cup of tea and helps him calm down from all the anxiety and fear. The tattoos slowly start to fade away.
Here in the final story of the final issue, Simone Di Meo finally gets his hand at a full story after giving us all those eye popping covers that I don’t care for very much. Honestly, it’s not a bad looking story. Although he draws Bruce so young he’s almost indistinguishable from Nightwing. The story boils down to: Batman got too stressed. Ugh, what a lame ending, but then again that’s been the modus operandi for this book hasn’t it?
On a Positive Note…
This issue is a disappointing ending that feels like the creators are just throwing mud at the wall to get one last issue out. In some ways that’s how this entire book has felt. But there are a few stories that I do legitimately think are worth revisiting so for anyone who wants a compact list of highlights from this anthology, you can bookmark this page for reference. This is completely my opinion and yes, I do tend to gravitate towards stories that highlight lesser known characters that are seldom seen in mainline DC books. Afterall, that’s exactly what an anthology book at its best can do. So without further ado, here’s a few stories published in Batman: The Brave and the Bold vol. 2 that have stuck with me since their initial publication:
- Wild Dog: Here Comes Trouble! Parts 1-3 (collected in issues #7-9)
- Aquaman: Communion Parts 1-3 (collected in issues #7-9)
- Private Stein (collected in issue #11)
- Time Jerks Parts 1-3 (collected in issues #13-15)
- The Invader Parts 1-3 (collected in issues #13-15)
- Duality Parts 1-3 (collected in issues #15-17)
- What’s a Calendar (collected in issue #17)
And that’s all folks!
Final Thoughts
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #20 feels like they’re just barely crawling past the finish line. This twenty issue series had a few diamonds in the rough, but sadly none of them are here.
