Fun stuff

Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a polished, engaging collection of the first six issues of the comic book of the same name, presenting to readers a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek take on DC comics' superheroes and villains. The comic-book series collected here is actually based on the Batman: The Brave and the Bold television cartoon program, with sports the same light, kid-oriented tone. From what I can tell, however, the stories in this book are original creations, done in the style of the TV show but not adapting specific stories from it. The stories in this volume were written by either Matt Wayne or J. Torres, both DC regulars, and drawn by a variety of artists who skillfully keep to a specific light, bouncy look obviously created for the series.

It seems we've come full circle with our superheroes. Time was, viewers like me were annoyed that cartoons always messed up our favorite comic book heroes, making them too stiff, or worse, goofy, and usually saddling them with a stupid animal sidekick for comic relief. But now, probably because we more than have our fill of grim and gritty superheroes on TV these days, we don't mind the occasional light, retro take on our masked, caped friends. At least, that's how I feel: as long as there are plenty of straight-up, fairly adult television adaptations of my favorite heroes, I can enjoy the occasional goofy elements in shows like the animated "Teen Titans", and the overall it's-all-in-fun tone of comic books like this one.

Every story in this collection starts out with a two-page (no more and no less) mini-adventure prior to the issue's main business. I'm guessing this emulates the cartoon series, which probably features a mini-adventure prior to the opening credits, and then the main story after the credits. I'll have to check out the show to see if I'm right about that. Anyway, every issue in this collection tells a complete story (once you get past the mini-adventure), and features Batman teaming up with a different hero from the DC universe. One story guess-starred Aquaman, another Superman, Captain Marvel was in one, another had someone named Kid Eternity, etc. Actually, retro take or not, the book was a painless way to catch up on who's running around these days in DC's various comic book titles fighting crime.

I wouldn't read a steady diet of this type of comic book (a little "Curses, Batman, you foiled my plans!" goes a long way), but subsequent volumes of this title will be fun to read every now and then. Stories like the ones in this colorful, bouncy book are like a refreshing bowl of ice cream after a week of rich, gourmet entrees. After all, the gourmet stuff is great, but sometimes you just want a simple, refreshing treat. This first volume of Batman: The Brave and the Bold fits the bill on that score quite nicely.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold isn't available on Kindle, alas (you'd miss the bright colors too much, anyway), but it can easily be found all over the place for about 10 bucks. The accompanying art shows the cover of the book minus the book's title and other cover verbiage. The better to see the art, my dear!