DCU Comic Book Reviews

The Brave And The Bold #24

Last Time I Saw Paris

August 2009

Written by Matt Wayne

Pencils by Howard Porter

Inks by Howard Porter

Cover by Howard Porter

Synopsis

At Blackgate Prison, Leonard Smalls (aka Holocaust) attacks Purcell to learn what happened to the casino he had been promised.  At Hemingway High, Jefferson Pierce (aka Black Lightning) gives the graduation speech.  Virgil Hawkins (aka Static) listens, but is unsure what to think of someone who used to work in the Luthor Administration.  Suddenly, Holcaust attacks, blaming Black Lightning for the lack of a casino.  Static jumps into help and together the two heroes defeat Holocaust.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I think it helps to read this book with the idea that somehow Black Lightning’s secret identity is public knowledge, perhaps due to being part of Luthor’s cabinet.  Otherwise, you started wondering how and why both Holocaust and Static know that Jefferson Pierce is Black Lightning. 

This wasn’t a bad issue, but I think the emphasis on Holocaust, and the reasons for him attacking the graduation speech, take up too much space.  Those two pages might’ve been better suited to introducing the central conflict between BL and Static.  The rest of the fight is okay, although (again) I think it goes on for far too long.  While I like the reasons behind the attack, if you think about it, you’ve got to wonder why and how it has taken Holocaust so long to get around to attacking BL.  Luthor has been out of office for some time now, even in the compressed time of the DCU.  It has been at least a couple of years.  Anyway, this issue should’ve focused on BL and Static and the relationship the two of them have (or don’t have).  I like the idea of Static being upset at Pierce’s perceived graft during Luthor’s administration.  I think it was established in the Justice League re-boot that Pierce was using that to his advantage to do some undercover work.  In terms of that plot point, the issue does what it should, hopefully introducing Static to the DC readers and creating a conflict that the two resolve by the end of the issue.  I just don’t think highlighting the villain was the best way to go about it. 

The “Wilhelm Scream” that Static refers to on page 9 is a sound bite that is used often in movies, usually when a character is thrown or jumps off a high distance and falls to his death.  Most people recognize it from the Star Wars movies (when Luke shoots a Stromtrooper in “A New Hope”), and it has been used a lot in various George Lucas and Steven Spielberg movies, but it was first recorded for the 1951 film A Distant Drum. 

There is a Parris Island (note the different spelling) in South Carolina, but I am not sure if that is the exact place they are referring to.  It is the home to a Marine Corps Recruit Depot. 

Finally, Holocaust starts the issue in Blackgate and then at the end is sent to Iron Heights. 

Comic Connection

In the Milestone universe, Leonard Smalls (aka Holocaust) was part of the Blood Syndicate.  He was later named Pyre to distance the character from another Holocaust in the Marvel Universe. Hotstreak (referred to on page 12) is a villain that appeared in the Static comics and is the first enemy of Static in both the comics and the tv show.  

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