Like the last issue of the Brave and the Bold I reviewed, this comic was written by J.Michael Straczynski and the art and cover was by Jesus Saiz.
Before I go on and talk about this book, am going to fill you in on the character Brother Power the Geek. From what I learned from Wikipedia, Brother Power the Geek is a character created in the 60’s. The character was inspired by Frankenstein. He was a dummy in a tailor shop owned by Hippies in the 60’s, who decide to dress up the dummy in their clothes. The dummy got hit by lighting and was given powers. The comic only lasted two issues.
So on to this issue. It starts with Bruce as a child watching TV with his parents. It talks about how his dad would let him stay up late every now and then to watch horror films despite his mother getting angry. His dad said it would prepare Bruce to face his fears when the time came. Bruce wouldn’t be scared and too used to a life of luxury. It then shows Thomas and Martha being killed. Bruce then explains why Frankenstein was his favorite movie and the movies now are different the classic one because they don’t know how to end monster movie. We then see Brother Power the Geek climbing out of the remains of a burnt down building. Batman sees Brother Power walking down a dark alleyway looking like he is lost. Batman recognizes him from one of his case files and goes down to talk to him. But Brother Power just keeps repeating a phrase from the 60’s, “Make love not war, flower power.” Then Brother Power asks Batman what year it is and Batman proceeds to tell him that it’s the year 2009. Brother Power seems to be confused. Batman feels sorry for him and lets him go. Batman tells him that he will check up on him in a couple of days to see how he is doing.
There is a flashback to the 60’s when Gotham was a bright place and people are having fun. Brother Power is shown with some friends talking about a riot that’s going to happen. It then flashes forward back to 2009. Brother Power is wondering what happened to all of the trees. We then see Batman fighting some thugs with guns. While he is taking them down, all he can think about is Brother Power and why he is in Gotham. The thought is bothering him, but he can’t figure why. It then makes him remember one night when he was watching Frankenstein. Young Bruce overhears his parents talking about their friends who are going through some problems. Thomas tells Martha the reason why they are having problems is because it is easier to get mad and blame someone else when you are the one who screwed up. Then we see a split screen of Frankenstein and Brother Power calling themselves monsters. Brother Power is patrolling the streets protecting innocent people like he use to do. Batman starts to think about the burnt down building that Brother Power was found crawling out of. Batman leaves a few cameras in part of the building. When Batman leaves, a man and a woman walk in to the building, who we find out are actually living there with their baby.
Then we see Brother Power searching through a charity clothes bin and picks himself up some new threads. He puts on some make-up to make himself look less like a zombie. He remembers that in the 60’s he would go to a free clinic and get his makeup done by a nurse called Cindy. I don’t know if she was in his comics or that she is even important. During this flashback he is in the clinic with his friends and they hear on TV that President Kennedy has been shot. So he and his friends decide that you have to fight fire with fire and start a riot in downtown Gotham. Brother Power and two of his friends manage to not get arrested. Brother Power is not happy about what happened and tells his friends that he wants no part of this violence. Then it flashes back to 2009 and Brother Power is looking out of a window seeming sad and lost. He then he sees a fire. An alarm goes off in the Batcave and Batman rushes to the Bat-Computer only to find out that the building burning is one that he placed the camera in. He sees a man pouring gasoline inside the building and sees the couple tied up. Batman jumps into the Batmobile and races to the scene. At the building, Brother Power climbs up the fire escape and jumps through a window to get in to the building. Batman speeds to the scene and runs into the building. He starts to search for the couple, only to find Brother Power talking to himself. He tells Batman that the world is a much different place from the one he left in the sixties. He tells Batman "This isn’t my time… Maybe it’ll never be my time.” Batman leaves him and finds the couple. The woman tells Batman that their baby is upstairs. Then Batman hears “But maybe it’s not over.” Then Brother Power comes out of the flames and hands their baby over saying “For some of us.” He tells Batman to “Have a nice day” and is engulfed by the flames. Batman grabs the entire family and grapple guns out of the building. Batman’s footage helped the police catch the man who burnt down the building. Later Batman went back to the burnt down building. He looks to see if he could find anything left of Brother Power and finds it strange that there is nothing. Batman knows he is still alive and he is out there somewhere waiting to be reborn. Batman finds this thought strangely comforting.
This issue is pretty cool. At first the cover of this issue kinda put me off, but the story itself is really good. You get a to know Brother Power and you start to feel sorry for him right from the start. This is one thing that Straczynski is really good at. The art work is different and takes to some getting used to, but overall it is good. One thing that I have noticed about Straczynski is that he likes end an issue with something emotional, like a character dying and the other character commenting on their life. I find that pretty cool and different. I would say pick it up because it’s a pretty good read.
The Brave and the Bold #29:
Reviewed by Johnny Impulse
