#Director Bones

[why-i-love-comics]

Batman: The Brave & The Bold #6 - "Down With the Kings VI" (2023)

written by Ed Brisson art by Jeff Spokes

[weathermanone]

Batman: The Brave and the Bold 6 (2023) by Ed Brisson & Jeff Spokes

Cover: Christian Ward (variant)

StormWATCH: Down with the Kings

[crisisofinfinitemultiverses]

Batman: The Brave and the Bold 6 (2023) variant by Christian Ward

[fungi-maestro]

One of my favorite background Q sightings redraw. To me it looks like Vic said something stupid and they're both resisting the urge to kick his ass.

[we-do-bones-bracket]

Round 1 Match 47

Propaganda:

Lord Death Man

Got the power of immortality from mastering yoga, somehow

Mister/Director Bones

Skeleton man in charge of the Department of Extranormal Operations

He sweats cyanide.

[bi4bihankking]

[superheroes-or-whatever]

Batman: The Brave and The Bold (2023-) #1 art by Jeff Spokes

[augustheart]

If you aren't automatically intrigued by the concept of a skeleton man with invisible skin that can melt whatever flesh it touches who used to speak entirely in rhyme for absolutely no reason and is now essentially a war criminal then there's no saving you. Here's a primer on the best character in comics. Bolded issues are personal favorites by virtue of them having peak Bones content. Feel free to ask for content warnings for any of these comics.

Infinity, Inc. vol. 1 (1984): #16-18, #26-29, #32, #35-36, #38, #40, #42, #50-53

Infinity, Inc Special (1987)

Chase (1998): #4, #8

JSA Secret Files (1999): #2

JSA vol. 1 (1999): #6, #21

JSA: All Stars (2003): #7

Manhunter vol. 3 (2004): #16-17, #20, #31-32

Batwoman vol. 2 (2011): #4-5, #13, #16-20, #24, Annual 1

Infinite Frontier (2021): #1-6

[peacerisendove]

Green Arrow (2001) Vol 3, Issue 22

[dailydccomics]

Kate doing that thing a lot of white liberals do 👀 what an interesting conversation 👀 Manhunter vol 3 #32

[gorogues]

Spoilers for this week’s episode of Stargirl!

So Helix was not in fact spying on the JSA, and the guilty party is still unknown at this point. It likely means Helix didn't kill the Gambler either, and while it's possible they're keeping some skeevy activities hidden, they seem to be generally benevolent. They exist to keep safe obvious metahumans and those with destructive powers, and really were trying to keep the world safe from Todd's powers. They want he and Jennie to stay far away from each other because of how destructive it is to have them in close proximity. However, Courtney persuades Mr Bones and Nurse Love to let them be together and fix Jennie's contaminated power source by letting them heal psychologically…and it works. They're able to control their powers and are happy to be reunited, and that finally lets Pat and the Shade out of the Shadowlands.

As you may have guessed, the trip into the Shadowlands was absolutely no fun for those involved; Pat and the Shade get dragged through their subconscious pain and worst regrets. The Shade can't control things in there like he usually does due to the Green Lantern contamination of his powers, and it's extremely painful for him to be in contact with the flames. And his biggest regret is not going to see his sister Emily as she was dying, so of course the Shadowlands conjures up a vision of her asking for him, and he doesn't want to face it. Pat tells him that maybe he needs to confront and deal with his feelings about it, but the Shade says that he's incapable of feeling anything. That's almost certainly a lie, as in the comics he used to loudly proclain that he didn't care about anything or anyone (even as he did), and it wasn't until Ted Knight's funeral that he admitted "I had for a long time thought myself beyond the boundaries of humanity. Ted Knight taught me how to be a man again." It wasn't just Ted, it was a bunch of people who'd helped with that, but the point is that Richard has often put up a front to protect himself from all the deaths and bad things he's seen and done as an immortal, and he's probably doing that here too. He obviously does care about Emily, and feels terrible that he wasn't there when she needed him.

And Pat is confronted with his cruel and uncaring dad who Pat still loves anyway, as well as the nagging self-doubts about the way he's treating his own son. Hopefully it leads to him being more supportive of Mike, who's often left out in the family and is clearly struggling to be helpful/relevant in his shenanigans with Jakeem. It all leaves Pat pretty messed up at the end of the episode, but he's not ready to talk about it with Courtney even though she offers to. The scenes with his 'dad' also provide another clue of the era Pat's originally from, which is World War II.

After Todd's powers are under control, he decides to leave Helix and go with Jennie. Pat tries to convince the Shade to teach Obsidian about the use of his powers, pointing out that his own life would have been a lot more pleasant if he'd had someone to help, but Richard still isn't interested. Pat then plays his trump card, pointing out that the Shade's an accessory to the murder of the JSA (even if he'd saved Dr Mid-Nite) and that the second generation of the JSA are basically the orphans left behind. Which is a good point, and the Shade grudgingly agrees, once again proving he's lying with his claim of not feeling things. Todd accepts his offer, but Jennie says she wants to find Sandy Hawkins in New York City, because his prophetic dreams had helped her find Todd and she wants to help with his nightmares. So, the trio step through a shadow portal and go to NYC.

Sandy (aka Sand, aka the Golden Boy) is a surprising addition to the show, because the series has scarcely mentioned his mentor Wesley Dodds (the Sandman) thus far. However Wesley was shown in an old JSA photo, so he was certainly part of the team.

Mr Bones had told Courtney that Helix kept their metahumans hidden from the world to keep them safe, but she suggested that's not a great idea and he seems to take it to heart. By the end of the episode he's even suggesting that maybe they should form a super-team of their own. We do see or gets hints of most of the other Helix members early in the episode, and I'm laughing over Kritter being played by an actual dog instead of a humanoid dog-man :> Clearly he was not the guy watching the JSA on the spy cams.

So the next question is, who's been spying, and are they the one who killed the Gambler? They're underground, which potentially suggests the Dragon King (either inside or outside Cindy's body), but it could be someone we've never seen yet. There are five episodes left this season, so we'll probably start getting some answers soon. It'd be interesting if Helix does end up forming a team which helps the JSA, and maybe Team Todd + Sandy will appear before the end. I'm really hoping we get at least a fourth season of the show so things can be wrapped up organically rather than hastily or leaving unsatisfying cliffhangers…it'd be nice if the CW or DC would announce whether it's been renewed or not.

[why-i-love-comics]

Batman: The Brave and The Bold #5 - "Down With the Kings V" (2023)

written by Ed Brisson art by Jeff Spokes

[weathermanone]

Batman: The Brave and the Bold 1 (2023) by Ed Brisson & Jeff Spokes

StormWATCH: Down with the Kings

[gotham-at-nightfall]

DC vs Vampires #7

[fungi-maestro]

Gay people dressed up to go to brunch

[geekcavepodcast]

“Batman: The Brave and The Bold” Returns for “Dawn of DC”

Batman: The Brave and The Bold is returning as a new on-going anthology series, featuring more Batman tales and stories spotlighting super heroes from all over the DC Universe.

The first issue of Batman: The Brave and The Bold will feature four tales.

1. Tom King and Mitch Gerads will tackle a four-part retelling of Batman and The Joker’s first clash. “A tale of loathing, lies, and laughter, this may be the most frightening Joker story in a generation.” (DC Comics)

2. Dan Mora makes his writing debut with a new series of Batman Black & White short stories. “In a Gotham City overrun by the cybernetic henchmen of The Joker, the only person who can save us is the mysterious motorcycle-riding, bat-costumed hero of urban legend…” (DC Comics)

3. Picking up from the story started in Wildstorm 30th Anniversary Special, Ed Brisson and Jeff Spokes’ story follows Director Bones and the new StormWatch team as they “travel the globe on black-ops missions to take super-powered weapons of mass destruction off the board. But this is StormWatch, and as always, not all is as it seems. “Down with the Kings” starts here!” (DC Comics)

4. Christopher Cantwell and Javier Rodríguez’s “The Order of the Black Lamp - Part 1″ finds Superman discovering a “decoder ring with a secret message—“Save Me”—which sends him on a quest to solve a mystery with ties to the Man of Steel’s past.” (DC Comics)

Batman: The Brave and The Bold #1 goes on sale on May 16, 2023. The 64-page debut issue features a main cover by Simone Di Meo, open to buy variant covers by Jim Cheung and Frank Cho, a 1 in 25 ratio variant cover by Bryan Hitch and a 1 in 50 ratio variant cover by Nathan Szerdy.

(Image via DC Comics -Simone Di Meo’s Cover of Batman: The Brave and The Bold #1)