The Brave and the Bold #35

[arbre_rieur]

This issue and the previous one (Doom Patrol & Legion of Superheroes) make up two halves of a larger story.

The Subs try to recruit the Doom Patrol to help save Earth from a black hole, but the Legion of Superheroes has beat them to it.



Through happenstance, they end up teaming up with the Inferior Five instead.




Now, remember the following scene from the previous issue?



This is a repeating pattern for this issue, as we find out that every one of the inexplicable bits of weirdness from last issue (e.g. the above) was caused by the Inferior Five and the Subs' screw-ups behind the scenes.

Comments

[chrysicat]

So the whole thing was an excuse to be able to tell present-continuity I5 stories? Oooookaaay...

...but wait, isn't one of them related to a modern-age hero anyway?

[freezer]

IIRC, Dumb Bunny is the foster sister of Angel (of Angel & The Ape). So... Yay continuity?

[chrysicat]

Yeah...I was thinking that that had been revealed after 1972, in which case we get kind of bad negative continuity...

...'specially since I don't recall anyone ever specifically mentioning that the Inferior Five fell off the face of the earth sometime in '72...

Still, if we have 'em back, that's all good as far as a funnier DC for the future goes...if anyone's willing to use 'em, that is!

[icon_uk]

It was revealed in the Phil Foglio Angel and the Ape series in the 90's, where the Inferior Five also appeared.

[terrykun]

I need to repost those scans...

[arbre_rieur]

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD plays fast and loose with continuity. It's not clear how canonical any of its stories are.

[tacobob]

I remember reading somewhere that Geoff Johns was going to make "Dumb Bunny", Courtney Whitmore's mother.

[pyrotwilight]

That would kinda be cute, if nothing else so as to offset Courtney's deadbeat dad.

And it'd be fun to see a daughter who has more common sense than her mother. XD

[jaybee3]

When JMS want to be a great writer - he can be. I think he likes working with B&B for the same reason he wanted to the Red Circle books - apparently the DC Editors will let him do whatever he wants on things like that. Coming from Marvel and Joe Q (and OMD) that must feel great. Didio & Co. seem to be giving him a free hand (on par with Morrison's Batman) for Supes and WW too.

And Jesus Saiz could draw just about any DC book and make it look as far as I'm concerned. The art alone is reason enough to pick up the series (not to mention where else will you find Brother Power the Geek and The Inferior 5?)

[crinos]

Puppy eyed I5 is adorable. There, I said it.

[crinos]

Also, when the subs think you fail... hoo boy.

[lonewolf23k]

Next Marvel/DC crossover event will NEED an Inferior Five/Great Lakes Avengers team-up.

It MUST happen.

[chrysicat]

Aren't the GLA/Lightning Rods/GLI mainly dead right now, though?

...though at least that's easier to undo in Marvel than in the DCU right now...

[jlbarnett]

Not unless I missed something. No one can touch Squirrel Girl. Dying is Mr. Immortal's power. Doorman is dead, but he's still active.

That leave Big Bertha and Flatman and I'm pretty sure they're still alive.

[cainofdreaming]

Dinah Soar did die, though.

[cainofdreaming]

And Monkey Joe. How could I forget him?

Plus several Grasshoppers, but I think only one of them was officially a member.

[tacobob]

Well..They did team up with the X-Men..sorta...

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

That comic could be exhibit A if anyone ever wants to demonstrate the greatness of the Silver Age.

[tacobob]

Wonder why the X-Men didn't have their own school song?

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

Probably because they weren't great during the Silver age. I mean, how many super groups are there where their villain is better known and more popular than most of the members of the group?

Alternately, you might have noticed that none of them have the mutation that enables them to sing on key.

[his-spiffyness.livejournal.com]

Or at least DC needs to tempt Dan Slott back over and give him editorial control over all of their humorous books.

[tacobob]

You think they'll put out FUNNY comic books? There's no such thing! >:D

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

Considering that he's the smart guy of the team, Awkward Man has terrible math skills.

No, saying the difference between 1972 and 2010 is almost 30 would be awful math skills for a ten-year old.

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

Merry Man, that should be.

[crinos]

Well, being the smart guy in the Inferior Five isn't exactly difficult.

[equinox216]

Dah, missed your dang comment. Still, agreed.

[silverzeo]

Didn't Blimp appeared for Booster's funeral?

[chrysicat]

Yep...

...like I said, this has 'continuity snarl' written all over it...

...and yet, that's still better than the alternative, which would be to keep the team in limbo forever!

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

Depends who they have writing the I5. They were very much a product of their time; a wonderfully goofy product of their time. It's a very different time now, and I can imagine them done very badly in the wrong hands.

As for it being a continuity snarl, all they have to do is eventually find a time machine and go back to 1972, so they can make whatever cameos they've made in the last 38 years.

[silverzeo]

Wait Wait.... maybe this like what happend when Linda went to the Silver Age of comics and these IF are from back when they were published...

[philippos42]

Scans or it didn't happen.

[thormonger]

Merryman was also in Limbo in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond. Just to add to the fun here.

[equinox216]

I'm gonna say it if anyone else isn't... how is 2010 - 1972 = 38 years "almost 30 years"? Or does Dumb Bunny not have a monopoly on Dumb in this setup?

[q99]

I like how the Subs realize they are in a completely different league from these chumps :)

[crinos]

Also: Someone needs to crop that last closeup of the I5 being all doe eyed and shop in the words "Can we has ongoing?"

[lysythe]

Icons of each of the I5's puppydog eyes would be cool too.

[fraxinus_amer]

icon for you.

[philippos42]

[crinos]

Plus, we have an interesting dynamic with the subs and the inferior five;

On the one hand, we have the Subs who are actually fairly competent heroes, cursed with rather useless powers (with the exception of Polar Boy and Fire Lad).

On the other hand, we have the I5, who have useful powers (except for Blimp and Merryman), but are held down by the fact that they are a gaggle of incompetent morons.

[q99]

-(with the exception of Polar Boy and Fire Lad). -

Or in the dark, Night Girl! Really the team powerhouse.

[kamino_neko]

I kind of wish they'd done the tail-losing scene earlier.

Because as soon as I saw the cover, I figured out what the pink fluff was, so I spent half the book waiting for it.

Didn't stop me positively cackling at most of the issue (including the repeat of the 'finding the pink fluff' scene), but, still....

(And I think I fell in love with Dumb Bunny. My goddess, she is 99 different kinds of cute...)

[okkult3000]

You and Ambush Bug.

[kenn_el]

She needs to get into Birds Of Prey!

[foxhack]

She's probably be incapable of existing now.

She is, after all, an Amazon...

[psychopathicus_rex]

I know that the Inferior Five are kinda dumb by their very design, but I'm sorry, I didn't find that ending funny. 'You are embarrassing morons, goodbye' is just not a nice way to end a comic - even if they ARE embarrassing morons, at least they're good-hearted and believe in what they do. They don't deserve the cold shoulder - a polite but firm 'sorry, but no' would have done the trick.