the Brave and the Bold #34 - DC

This was kind of a pretty straight forward story, but . . it had some 'glitches' in it that left us asking a bunch of questions. Enough questions, actually, that when it looks like this story is over . . they've decided to carry things over into a second chapter . . next issue. In the future, Lightning Lad finds a black-hole out in space around Saturn. It called a primordial black-hole . . one that's been around since the beginning of time. It's small compared to other black-holes, but it still has enough power to destroy any planet in it's path. And it appears to be headed towards Earth. Lightning Lad makes his way back to Earth to warn the rest of the Legion. He presumes they have 3 to 4 weeks until it reaches Earth. But the next thing they know, it's already in Earth's atmosphere. A quick jump forward in time shows that it destroys Earth. So they go back to try to stop it. That's where the Doom Patrol comes in. The only way to stop this is to use the Hawking Principle . . 'The only way to kill a primordial black-hole is to get it to emit more energy than it consumes'. Basically, Lightning Lad will feed it energy causing it to reach out for more. The energy that it's reaching out with will be partly absorbed into Robotman, with the other half being negatively charged, by Larry, so that it repels away from the black-hole. They just have to be able to do this long enough to upset the balance of energy, forcing the black-hole to dissipate. Simple enough, but it puts everyone's lives on the line. In the end though . . it works. Everyone goes home. A little battered and beaten, but . . alive. But now . . the questions. First of all . . the time bubble seemed to have moved on it's own a couple of times. It appears on the opposite side of the room from where they thought they left it. Next, while traveling through time, something disrupts their tachyon collector. When they investigate, they find a 'pink fuzzy' shoved in the panel. And finally, when they get back, the Chief says that he's had the worst day in his life. And how is all of this connected to next issues guests . . the Legion of Substitute-heroes, and . . the Inferior Five. With those 2 groups involved . . how can this story possibly have a 'happy-ending'? I love what J Michael Straczynski is doing with this book. He's been writing some great stories. My only concern is . . he's going to be taking over Superman and Wonder Woman pretty soon. So . . will he still be scripting this book? This title is already missing a month in June . . the second part of this story won't be out until July. Plus, from the previews, it looks like it's going to be skipping an issue in September also. At least they don't have one scheduled to come out right now. So that causes me concerns about the future of this title. I think JMS is doing an incredible job, but . . it doesn't matter if this title no longer exists. Please . . say it isn't so! In the meantime . . enjoy issues #35 and #36. It may be the last. By the way, beautiful art by Jesus Saiz.