Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Across the Universe

by Dennis Culver, Christopher Cantwell, Jackson Lanzing

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics

168 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2025

Reviews

[Eva B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

1st story: 1/5 stars. I liked seeing Dick and Deadman working together and, as they lampshade, I'm surprised that they haven't teamed up more since they're both former circus performers, but this just did not work for me at ALL. I found it anywhere from confusing to boring, somehow DICK was boring, and the way Stella was drawn was so cheesecakey and gross, especially considering that her SUICIDE is the inciting incident of the story. Did she really need to be in a bra and thong the whole time? C'mon man. I also did not fuck with how much glazing the circus got as, like, an institution--yes, I know that Boston and Dick are both carnies, but the uncritical glazing of the circus the entire time and bemoaning how it's apparently being usurped by...influencers? Now, I'm no circus expert (though I have been to Circus World!) but I am like 99% sure that TikTokkers are not the reason that the circus isn't as popular as it was in the early 1900s. I think it's the animal cruelty thing, more than that. Should've been a whole Black Label miniseries and gotten properly dark and grotesque.
2nd story: 3/5. Booster Gold accidentally wipes out the dinosaurs. Dumb fun. I love Booster. Not enough (any!!!!! ANY!!!!) Blue Beetle despite there being a bug-Booster at the end. Wasted the potential to see Blue Beetle Beetle.
3rd story: 2/5. Confusing? Really really short, especially compared to how bloated the first story was. Batman and Guy find a radioactive alien? Guy gets his mind wiped and it's played as a joke (and okay maybe I'm being the friend that's too woke here but outside of ONE PUNCH!!!!!, which is classic and iconic, I don't like the Guy head trauma jokes due to his history of TBIs; maybe I also like Guy too much to be objective here but I just didn't find it funny) and the story will probably have no consequences ever. Yay.

[Khurram · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am very dissapointed in this book. I just did not like any of it. The book is broken down into the main story, a short story and a very short story. Batman is hardly in this book. The main story stars Nightwing and Deadman, the short story stars Booster Gold with the trinity as side stars, and finally the very short story is the story Batman never wanted a team up between him and Guy Gardner.

Nightwing tries to save a woman, but what integers his is a phrase she say that brings him back to his carny roots, and also draws in the Deadman. A supernatural story with links to both characters past. I am not a big fan of the artwork or horror style story. The format as well was not great the artwork is in very dark shades, then Nightwings text starts with the Nightwing symbol watermark making it very hard to read.

Boster Gold is a idiot with the technology to destroy history and civilisation itself. He is the same whichever species he is. The seem to be the theme of the story.

Batman needs help with an alien entity. If asking for help is not bad enough he gets Guy Gardner. This story literally has Batman begging for help.

All is all a very dissapointing book, which I would not recommend.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of Brave & The Bold stories is definitely not my favourite by a wide margin.

The opening story teams Deadman & Nightwing for a too-long jaunt that relies far too much on carnival speak and lore that needs to explained every chapter to really have an impact. Kelley Jones' artwork is a saving grace, at least.

Then there's a Jurassic League story featuring Booster Gold, which fails to recapture the magic that made Jurassic League great the first time around, and a Batman & Guy Gardener story about an alien invader that'd probably have more impact if they didn't routinely walk around with aliens all the time anyway.

Eh. Not the best, but I guess when you're collecting an anthology series in this way, there's always going to be some bits that sag more than others.

[Will Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first arc is Nightwing and Deadman and I was really bored. Second story is Booster Gold time travel, so I liked it overall, but not sure I was into the message of the story- was trying ot be deep, but instead turned into a joke. And then the last one was Batman and Guy Gardner and it wasn't funny enough for me.

[Rex · Rating 3 out of 5]

wanted to read some modern nightwing randomly but felt like i would have no idea what was going on in the mainline book atm... this was fun enough because had some booster gold and deadman in too

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky but not my favorite stories.

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent fun.

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good graphic novel.

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Down the Road, ☆☆☆☆
Time Jerks, ☆☆☆
The Invader, ☆☆☆