The Brave and the Bold, Vol. 2: The Book of Destiny

The Brave and the Bold (2007)

by Mark Waid, George Pérez (Illustrator), Jerry Ordway (Illustrator)

Superstar comics writer Mark Waid, the author of KINGDOM COME, is joined by artist George Perez, the artist of THE NEW TEEN TITANS and CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, for the second hardcover collection of sensational team-up of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes. This volume features Wonder Woman, Power Girl, the Flash, the Doom Patrol, Hawkman the Atom, the Blackhawks and other characters joining forces to battle the forces of evil they couldn't handle alone.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes

160 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2008

About the author

Mark Waid is an American comic book writer widely known for shaping modern superhero storytelling through influential runs on major characters at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Raised in Alabama, he developed an early fascination with comic books, particularly classic stories featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, whose imaginative scope and sense of legacy would later inform his own writing. He first entered the comics industry during the mid 1980s as an editor and writer for the fan magazine Amazing Heroes, before publishing his first professional comic story in Action Comics. Soon afterward he joined DC Comics as an editor, contributing to numerous titles and helping shape projects across the company. After leaving editorial work to focus on writing, Waid gained widespread recognition with his long run on The Flash, where he expanded the mythology of the character and co-created the youthful speedster Impulse. His reputation grew further with the celebrated graphic novel Kingdom Come, created with artist Alex Ross, which imagined a future DC Universe shaped by generational conflict among superheroes. Over the years he has written many prominent series, including Captain America, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and Superman: Birthright, bringing a balance of optimism, character depth, and respect for comic book history to each project. Waid has also collaborated with notable artists and writers on major ensemble titles such as Justice League and Avengers, while contributing ideas that helped clarify complex continuity within shared superhero universes. Beyond mainstream superhero work, he has supported creator owned projects and experimental publishing models, including the acclaimed series Irredeemable and Incorruptible, which explored moral ambiguity within the superhero genre. He later took on editorial leadership roles at Boom Studios, guiding creative direction while continuing to write extensively. In subsequent years he expanded his involvement in publishing and digital storytelling, helping launch online comics initiatives and advocating for new distribution methods for creators. His work has earned numerous industry awards, including Eisner and Harvey honors, reflecting both critical acclaim and enduring popularity among readers. Throughout his career Waid has remained a passionate student of comic book history, drawing on decades of storytelling tradition while continually encouraging innovation within the medium. His influence extends across generations of readers and creators, and his stories continue to shape the evolving language of superhero comics around the world today through enduring characters imaginative narratives and thoughtful reinventions of familiar myths within popular culture and modern graphic storytelling traditions.

Reviews

[Andrew]

Not so memorable book. While it’s fun seeing obscure characters like the Blackhawks and Silent Knight, unfortunately the story doesn’t give them a whole lot to do. Perez art is of course, innocent. Not a must-read

[Devero]

I team-up della DC, rispetto a quelli della Marvel, di solito non prevedono una lotta o scontro tra gli eroi solo per un malinteso. Ma siccome la lotta tra eroi è quelli che autori e lettori vogliono, Mark Waid si inventa alcune opportunità.
La storia scorre, specialmente se uno ama i personaggi DC come li ama Waid, e come li disegna Perez.
Nel complesso il tomo è un poco pretestuoso, dal prezzo troppo alto, un TP brossurato andava bene.
Comunque per storia e disegni si avvicina alle 3 stelle.

[Paul Riches]

Brave + Bold + Batman + Blue Beetle = Busy Busy Busy

Take a punch, er pinch, of Batman, a smattering of Green Lantern, a swoosh of Supergirl, a smashing of Lobo, and mix in a million other heroes and villains, and you have a complete whackadoodle of a story in a comic called The Brave And The Bold.

Yes, it is a lot to take in. Let alone comprehend.

To old fogeys like me, The Brave And The Bold was a long running DC Comic that went through several changes in content. Towards the end, in the early 1980’s , the comic had spent years and years being a Batman team-up book, several issue of which I even collected. This stopped way before the book vanished, mainly because after awhile the goofy non-sensical stories caused me many headshakes. DC has tried various experiments over time to revive the title, and even made a crazy animated television show for a few years.

But back to this particular collected graphic novel. When relaunched in 2007, The Brave And The Bold featured a twelve issue story arc, broken into two editions, one called The Lords Of Luck, the second The Book Of Destiny. Written by veteran scribe Mark Waid and illustrated by living legend George Perez, with Jerry Ordway taking over towards the end, the series starts with Green Lantern Hal Jordan returning to Earth and stumbling upon a dead body just floating in space. Seeking advice from the world’s greatest detective, he contacts Batman and finds out he has a similar problem.

Thus begins our first team-up, following the trail and seeking the murderer. This leads to that leads to this, and before you can say Mxyzptlk, Green Lantern is back off in space and getting help from Supergirl and Batman is chasing down a weapon with the help of Blue Beetle. Breaking out a scorecard to keep track of who is where, when, how and with whom, would be an immensely good idea at this point. The cavalcade of characters who pop up are too many to list, and I don’t want to spoil the surprises, just remember the status quo changes every issue.

Which brings up the thought of how this all holds together. Waid and Perez really pack it in and give us all sorts of fun moments and cute jokes, but that only lasts so long. Before the first six issues are over, you get the distinct impression that this fun romp of a crossover adventure is really running out of steam, and what little logic involved has already evapourated. Yes, we know this is just a mega summer blockbuster of a comic and not meant to be taken too seriously, but by the end of issue two you can feel the seams unraveling to this juggernaut. At this point I stopped thinking too hard and settled in to fully enjoy the always great art and layout by the master George Perez.

For a fun little trip, it is not half bad. This is a yarn to just celebrate team-ups and their goofy natures. Just don’t look for anything more than some mindless merriment here or you will be disappointed.

[Guilherme Smee]

Me faltam poucas histórias desta fase sensacional da revista O Bravo e o Audaz, do fim dos anos 2000, para ler. Uma dessas era este arco O Livro do Destino, que é estrelado por diversos heróis da DC Comics, mas em particular dos Desafiadores do Desconhecido. Contudo, a publicação em encadernados da Eaglemoss, com preços muito acima dos praticados geralmente no mercado, impediu que eu tivesse acesso a este encadernado anteriormente. Somente com um bela promoção na Amazon é que pude adquirir esta edição e também por estar com um fluxo de dinheiro estável. No final das contas, o arco não é tão sensacional como o que abre este título, Os Donos da Sorte. É um arco bastante mediano, em que parece que a história não avança, somente apresentando diversas equipes do Universo DC Comics, também em épocas e contextos diferentes. O começo e o final da história são as partes mais interessantes, mas a metade parece uma barriga que foi inflada mais do que deveria ter sido e isso puxa a qualidade da história para baixo. Esse encadernado me fez reparar pela primeira vez como a arte de Jerry Ordway e George Pérez é muito parecida. (!)

[Joe]

Oddly. It was only okay.
Good to see this group of heroes

[Michael Emond]

I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It is kind of the second half of Waid/Perez's Brave and Bold story which started with the Lords of Luck but I think if you just read this on your own you would be fine.

I think I avoided this (after enjoying the Lords of Luck) because I saw George Perez stopped drawing in this volume after four issues and 80% of the fun of the first volume was his art. But Four issues of Perez is still great and the last two issues felt like they were laid out by him or the artist tried to keep the same style.

The story is typical Superhero fare but well written, fast paced, and I loved the team ups of the different heroes. I think the only one I disliked was Ultraman (Crime syndicate Superman) because his inclusion seemed very odd to me and didn't fit with the personality I know of him from past stories.

Other nitpicks would be "who was this villain"? If he was new then I would have liked a smidge of a backstory - if he was an old one then I could have used a smidge of a backstory :). I just roll my eyes at "villain is powerful and wants to destroy the Universe because...he is evil!". Feels like lazy writing, especially when you have 6 issues to build him up.

But, in the end - very fun. I think the story structure was a bit better than the Lords of Luck but I did have a bit more fun reading Lords of Luck because of some better character development (with Supergirl) and all the issues were drawn by the late, great George Perez.

[Shannon]

I liked the first one more, but this was still a good story. I like to see team ups of heroes that do not normally work together. It is something different, and even if the story is not great, it is at least usually interesting. I like the Challengers of the Unknown. They rarely make an appearance in modern comics, so it is good to see them have a major roll in this book. I like that some of the heroes here just have a cameo, or minor part to play, and they do not all have to be given their moment in the spotlight. I like that the story felt kind of old school; it was not very dark, it did not deal with superhero/teenage angst, and it did not go off on tangents that had nothing to do with the actual story.
I generally pass on Mark Waid, but the first two volumes go Brave and Bold have been really good, probably my favorite Waid books so far.
The art was mostly good, but Superman looked a little off.

[Sean]

Oh boy. Mark Waid loves the DC Universe. This, I know. What I also know is he sometimes doesn't know when enough is enough. Here, once again in this title, he throws so much at the wall and almost nothing sticks. The George Perez artwork is a treat but it seemed subdued and was missing in the later chapters. Other than Perez, there's not much to recommend here.

[Steven desJardins]

Much more muddled with the previous volume, with brief team-ups leading up to one big fight at the climax. Some of the character bits are trying too hard to come up with a clever take on familiar characters, but for the most part the author's love for DC Comics rich hoard of lore makes this a fun volume.

[Andy Dainty]

Not so much a team up as a tag team with everyone taking turns in the spotlight.

[Edward Petersen]

This has a decent arc, but some of the individual issues were just terrible.

[Mariano]

Flojo flojo. Sería dos estrellas si no tuviera esos numeritos hermosos de Ordway. Muy raro el cambio con respecto al primero que está buenísimo, este es la nada misma...

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine]

An old-fashioned super-hero round robin on a grand scale! There are a lot of beloved characters in here, some well-known and some obscure, and Mark Waid really knows how to handle them. This is by no means a universe shattering event, and that's a good thing. Sometimes it's great to just read a great super-hero story without it being an absolute must-read in order to understand the next 70 years of comics. I certainly can't end this review without mentioning the artwork. Exactly what can I say about such greats as George Perez and Jerry Ordway that hasn't already been said a million times, though? Here, they outdo themselves. And that says plenty!

[Angie]

Slightly less good than the first. Like the first one, I thought this was too busy, without any real three dimensional characters. This seems like the typical DC super-hero stuff, very superficial. Those Challenger of Destiny guys are so very bad-80s-type superheroes. I definitely wouldn't have built a cross-over storyline around them.

[Christopher]

I was pretty disappointed with this book. Waid went from a writer who I thought was decent to one I will avoid. The story was all over the place, predictable, and not very entertaining. Save your money.

[Fugo Feedback]

Mark Waid sí que sabe escribir historietas de superhéroes que si necesidad de ser realistas no terminen resultando naifs o inverosímiles. Sumémosle los dibujos de dos capos como Pérez y Ordway y un afán por respetar la -yainexistente- continuidad de DC y tenemos esta gran saga.

[Karen]

So much pulpier than the first volume but in a good way? I feel like I would have gotten more out of it if I had a softer spot/more knowledge of the Challengers. Still, good follow up to Volume 1. Quite enjoyed.

[TJ Shelby]

Lame and predictable premise that took forever to develop and left me feeling glad it was over. Disappointed after such a fun start to the newest reincarnation of the series.

[Travis]

More brilliant team up stories full of old school adventure. Fun to see as bits from the smaller stories build up into one big grand finale.

Great stories with lots of beautiful George Perez art.

[Scott]

In one word: Slow. It was an ok story but it really didn't need 6 issues to be told.

[Michael]

OK, but the first book was better, and quite a bit more fun.

[Nick]

These are actually really cool, because you get a healthy dose of a ton of DC characters. One of which who doesn't show up at all in this though, is FREAKING BATMAN!!!

[Wolverina]

Some fun moments but mostly all over the place and really dull.

[Shannon Appelcline]

Nice, nostalgic looks at a lot of heroes and some very solid plotting.

[Jdetrick]

See my comments on the first volume; this is more great stuff with an even more satisfying ending than the first volume had.

[Jipi Perreault]

Réci sympa mais la couleur est horrible et distrait la lecture.