A Three-for-One Deal!

I love the stuffing out of this cover, so I’m posting it a bit larger than normal, so we can all groove on its awesomeness.

The Brave and the Bold #9

This whole issue is nice — it’s got three different stories about DC Comics characters, both mainstream and obscure. The stories are all connected, even though they seem, at first glance, to be completely unrelated.

Our framing device is the Book of Destiny… but its pages have come to life, animated by the malevolent power of the mysterious Megistus, to attack the Challengers of the Unknown! In fact, June Robbins reads all these stories while the book-monster is trying to kill her…

Our first story focuses on a team-up between the Metal Men and Robby Reed, the kid with the hero-creating “H-Dial” in “Dial H for Hero.” A robot dragon (mindlessly chanting “ME-GIS-TUS”) is attacking the city, and the Metal Men are powerless to stop it — until weak, stuttering robot Tin gets the H-Dial and turns into a superhero called Manbot the Mighty!

Next, we travel back to World War II, as the Blackhawk squadron and the Boy Commandos try to find the mystical Orb of Ra and fight off mummies serving Megistus.

And finally, in the present day, Hawkman and the new Atom battle the Warlock of Ys, a wizard and Z-list supervillain trying to curry favor with Megistus.

Verdict: Thumbs up. All three stories are great fun, and the characters and plots are first-rate. George Perez’s art is awesome, as ever. The ongoing mystery about Megistus is still going strong, and it’s just getting more interesting as more evidence of his/her/its plots through the years are revealed.