Ok . . with this issue . . J Michael Straczynski, JMS, takes over the Brave and the Bold. I can't believe he's doing it with Dial H for Hero. But . . with the reservations aside, I have to say that I thought this was a fantastic issue. After landing in Gotham with his Grandpa, Robby takes a spin on the dial and becomes '. . Mental Man. The greatest psychic who ever lived'. This is perfect because the Joker has started this string of strikes against Gotham. He's been robbing, or at least breaking into a dozen places at exactly the same time to spread the GCPD forces, and Batman, as thin as possible. Meanwhile he goes and steals what he really wants someplace else. So when he becomes Mental Man, Robby figures that he can figure out where the next strike will be. But then his eyes glow, and . . he crawls back in to bed and covers up his head. Later while he and his Grandpa are out, a homeless guy robs their room. Later still, when he gets curious, he spins the dial . . actually he feels like he's drawn to it, and becomes Star. A Superman type character. His ability to do good overpowers his 20+ years of thieving and treachery. He ends up actually making a difference in Gotham. Also, since he knows the time of the Joker's next visit . . he tips off Batman. Long story short . . he ends up helping with the attack, and saving lives when he rushes in and grabs a bomb. As he flies off into the air it explodes. Come to find out, Robby was scared when he looked into the future. Without seeing specifics he sees that the next person to come out of the dial was going to die. So he left it behind on purpose in his room, hoping that someone would steal it. Now? Now he feels guilty because the guy died saving innocent civilians. But Batman gives him a great speech talking about how the Star died a hero. I thought overall it was a different, and unique take on this character. I really liked it. I also enjoyed Jesus Saiz' art. I thought it was fantastic. I can't wait to see what JMS brings to this series. Anyways, speaking of JMS . . I recently picked up the Twelve series on E-Bay. I got all 8 issues,#0, #1/2 and both variants for $9.99. I thought that was pretty great. Cheaper than the TPB, I would expect. Anyways, a fellow blogger, Kello, suggested this series to me quite a while ago, but I just haven't picked it up yet. So now, when I get it, I'll go through it and tell you what I think. I heard it's pretty awesome. We'll see.
The Twelve is a great mini-series. Just don't be disappointed that you don't get the whole story. It is supposed to be 12 issues long. Who knows if the last 4 issues will ever be published.
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