The World's Finest, or Lost In The Silver-Age Again
So, it's The International House of Batman, now, eh? Whatever.
Give me a book like The All New Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Our story, written by Johnny DC regular Sholly Fisch and pencilled by Rick Burchett - whose work I've not enjoyed so much since his Batman Adventures days - begins with Batman and the Black Canary fighting The Joker's robot army.
The Good
The production is top-notch. The writing, pencilling, inks, colors and letters. I really enjoyed Scott Peterson's editing of The Batman Adventures through all it's incarnations. Bottle of the Planets is some good stuff.
Best line: When Black Canary asks where The Joker would get a robot army, Batman's reply, "...it's better not to ask." If you're looking for complex, there's the main DCU for that, I guess. Or Morning Glories, which just flat out rocks. I like books that are simple and fun. This is both.
This is Silver Age, Adam West Caped Crusader awesomeness. I've heard talk that this is the Earth-2 Batman. Either way, I'm in.
So, Black Canary and Batman are kickin' butt and taking names, when Superman shows up and helps wrap things up. The two page splash is a beauty.
The Bad
If you're going to call a book Batman: The Brave and the Bold, of just simply, The Brave and the Bold, why would you make it The World's Finest or Superman/Batman? Or The Brave and the Bold #150? It's hard to imagine The Man of Tomorrow playing second to The Caped Crusader.
This is, however, the perfect team-up. I miss the old school The World's Finest. This is a lot like that. The Man of Steel flies The Darknight Detective to the Fortress of Solitude - I can't remember the last time I saw the Fortress, and it wasn't on Smallville! - where they parachute into the Bottle City of Kandor. Last I read, old school, not New Krypton, Kandor was restored.
The Ugly
If there is any, I can't detect it. This is a good, solid, fun story, spotlighting the Silver Age, Kandor, Kryptonian technology and the yin and yang of Batman and Superman. Yeah, this is a story that could have been told in Superman/Batman, and may have been told generations ago in The World's Finest.
But, if you're gonna start a book off with a bang, this is the way to do it. Bring out your big guns.
The Skinny
The only problem I have is that one of the highlights of the original The Brave and the Bold was to spotlight the lesser known residents of the DCU. You've heard of the "Colbert Bump". The Brave and the Bold was the Batman Bump.
I hope this book picks that back up again. It's a fun book. I enjoy it. You might, too.
If you liked the classic The Brave and the Bold, have a look here.