DCU Comic Book Reviews

The Brave And The Bold #10

Challengers Of The Unknown

April 2008

Written by Mark Waid

Pencils by George Pérez

Inks by Bob Wiacek

Cover by George Pérez

Synopsis

The Challengers Of The Unknown have the Book of Destiny and are finding repeated passages that refer to some villain by the name Megistus.  The book literally comes alive and attacks the Challengers, who are able to beat back the creature and disperse the pages all over.  The floating pages reveal the location where Megistus might be heading.  The book also reveals a story when Superman traveled back in time to help the Silent Knight and the story when the Teen Titans helped Aquaman defeat Oceanus.  Later, the Challengers arrive at Edwards Air Force Base to find it desolate.  But they find Hal Jordan’s lantern, which they assumed Megistus was after.  They wonder why he would abandon it.  Then a voice asks, “who says he did,” before Metamorpho busts through the lantern.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

It has taken me a long time to attempt to articulate how I have been feeling about this series and this issue in particular.  There is a lot I love about the book, especially the art by George Pérez, who is perhaps the only person who could draw Waid’s scripts.  I also love the central story structure that Waid employs with the Book of Destiny and the Challengers acting as a framing device between each team-up in which something happens that connects back to the framing device.  I think where I lose interest in the book is the tone of the book, especially the flashbacks.  There is a very strong nostalgic tone.  The style of each flashback, from the way characters speak and act to the type of characters (and sometimes their origin as Aquaman cites his pre-Crisis origin) are firmly rooted in the Silver Age.  Part of me understands this stylistic choice Waid and Perez are using, but a bigger part of me just does not like the Silver Age comics and has trouble reading the originals, let alone pastiches.  Don’t get me wrong, aid and Perez are fantastic storytellers and it is a testament to their abilities that I do enjoy reading this book, but I finally realized why I just don’t simply love it that I way I think I should. 

The credits on the first page indicate that Bob Wiacek was the inker, but the cover indicates Scott Koblish was the inker. 

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