The Brave and the Bold # 13 - American Samuroids
is an issue published by DC that was released on 7 / / 2008Plot Summary
Overview
Batman and Jay Garrick stand against an android samurai with a bad attitude!
Spoilers
When Batman is investigating a murder scene, he is attacked by an android samurai. As he begins to fight off the android, Jay Garrick, the Flash arrives to disassmble the samuroid. It turned out the murder victim was a friend of Jay's.
It turns out the samuroids were built by T.O. Morrow and came under the possession of the Penguin after the Riddler paid off a debt to him. The Penguin wants to have Bruce Wayne killed since Wayne Enterprises won't sell the supplies their start up company needs to become the first in the global security business.
Jay follows Batman back to the cave to try to figure out who else could be in danger. Jay tries talking to Batman about the inevitable day that he'll have to "pass the baton" of Batman. Batman avoids the conversation. As they head upstairs, Jay takes a patrol of the estate and discovers more samuroids making their move towards the mansion.
Jay soon realizes that while the samuroids have more decorations on them, they are also faster. He also realizes that the ones he's fighting are simply a distraction as others have made their way to the mansion.
Inside Bruce finds three samuroids ready to attack him. He wonders why so many when one would be enough to take out Bruce Wayne. He then figures either he's earned the respect of someone or it's just someone that does things in excess...like the Penguin. Jay enters and asks why there isn't any security. Bruce tells him it wasn't activated in order to draw them in. Jay doesn't want to risk Bruce's life and says they need to get back downstairs. Unfortunately their path is blocked. So Jay vibrates them through the floor.
Since the samuroids are being run on a chemical artificial intelligence, Jay says the form of bacteria they have will be susceptible to antibiotics. He uses Batman's lab to create a gas that will neutralize them. Only the gas will be poisonous to them too. Batman puts on a gas mask and heads to cause a distraction while Jay readies the gas to run through the ventilation system.
They soon trace the 'droids to a factory and find T.O. Morrow there. Jay isn't too happy with the fact that Morrow murdered one of his friends. He has set demolitions all over the factory and threatens to leave Morrow inside. Morrow quickly says he'll confess to everything but begs that his "children" aren't hurt. Batman explains to Jay that Morrow develops an attachment to his creations (just as he did with Red Tornado). Before they can do anything, T.O. Morrow escapes into the timestream.
The factory explodes and the two need to depart to answer distress calls from the JLA and JSA. They leave with a great respect for each other.
Batman is fighting off the samuroids but the swarm of them is getting to be too much even for him.
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Story Arc
American Samuroids
The first issue of Brave and the Bold I ever read was a Batman and Green Arrow team-up. Not sure who the artist was, maybe it was Jim Aparo inked by Dick Giordano. But it had a cool look and a pretty wild updating of The Maltese Falcon. Oliver Queen had either inherited or bought - at an auction - a Falcon-like statue. Queen was obsessed with possessing this thing, and Batman was the sensible, level-headed one, trying to warn Queen. I still, to this day, have not been able to track down the next issue that concluded that story in the original Brave and the Bold. But I was hooked, and when I could, I grabbed it every month. Even after it had become Batman and The Outsiders.
I would have loved to see George Perez on this issue. But, you know what? Jerry Ordway's not so bad. I read this thinking, Geroge who? Jerry's got a good team backin' him up, too.
This is the change of pace that Mark Waid needed. He should have done this sooner and scapped all that cosmic, universe-spanning Megistus...stuff. The Brave and the Bold that I remember was never really about that. It may have been about science-fiction, but it was never so grandiose, cosmic or universe-spanning as Mark Waid made out some of the previous issues. I can't fault his ambition, thinking big and starting out with a bang. It was a good read, but the thread in some places was just brutal and painful.
This is a very cool team-up. I think other than a Green Arrow team-up, my favorite was a Batman, Barry Allen team-up.
Here in this issue of Brave and the Bold, Jerry Ordway reminds me of the All-Star Squadron. If I remember, I think he worked with Rich Buckler on that - I may be wrong. There's this whole classic, old school, Golden Age look. Mark Waid does an excellent job of bridging the generation gap. I'd like to see Batman partnered up with Alan Scott, or Dr. Mid-Nite, or Wildcat - although that might be redundant.
The Penguin is an interesting choice - and it works! The Penguin and T. O. Morrow. Although I'm not really clear as to why or how he manages his escape, everything else works. As Harrison Ford said about The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it's all about the McGuffin. If you can by that, sit back, kick your feet up and enjoy the ride. make sure your seatbelt is fastened and keep your hands and feet inside the car until it makes a complete stop. Watch that first hill. Everything else is cake.
