Turn Of A Page
The Brave and the Bold 9 shows what a clever genius Mark Waid is in using the Book of Destiny as a device for team-ups. With The Challengers of the Unknown pouring through its pages to find a clue about Megistus, we can see The Blackhawks and the Boy Commandos, The Metal Men and Dial "H" for Hero and Hawkman and the new Atom. Except for maybe Hawkman and the Atom, characters you really don't get to see much of. Except for maybe a Crisis-like event.
I got more familiar with Blackhawk from Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron and from Who's Who entries. Maybe a Secret Origins issue.
I'd never read anything that featured the Boy Commmandos. To me they're pretty much like the Newsboy Legion.
Will Magnus has had his days, both good and bad in 52 and elsewhere. It's good to see them in their prime.
The same with Chris King. I took Geoff Johns suggestion and gave Will Pfieffer's H.E.R.O a try. It was different. A bit on the dark side. Kinda cool. Maybe just not the right fot for the character. I think what was missing was the magic and wonder that you can see here, especially from Tin. There's a charm to it, kinda like Harry Potter in Hero. I remember that during the late '70's, early '80's, before Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC tried to make Hero interactive. Not a bad idea.
I'm not a big fan of the new Atom, probably for the same reasons I'm not a big fan of the new Blue Beetle. It's nice to see that heroes come in all types, from all different kinds of backgrounds, but once again, this to me feels like an end, rather than a beginning. The years haven't been kind to Ray Palmer. Kinda like the late '70's and '80's weren't too kind to Hal Jordan.
It's very cool to see such a variety under one cover. I'm not a big fan of the split covers. I hope this is one of the few that they use.
Otherwise, this is a pretty enjoyable issue.