The Brave and the Bold #2 (May 2007)

Back in August of 2025, I wrote about the first issue of The Brave and the Bold, a team-up comic whose name had a long history. You can learn more about that here. That comic was from the third revival of the title, which lasted until 2010. The title was started by the powerhouse creative team of writer Mark Waid and artist George Perez, and they showed their greatness in that issue. 

We were left in that issue with a bit of a cliffhanger. Batman and the Hal Jordan Green Lantern had been investigating an odd murder which led them to Las Vegas. When there, they discovered that the murder was over the powerful artifact known as the Book of Destiny, a tome that contains all knowledge of the past, the present, and the future. Such a book could not just make for interesting reading, but it would also be devastating in the wrong hands. And last we saw, an alien known as a Venturan had gotten their paws on the book, so that means our heroes are going to need some further help. So, where do we go from here? Let's find out in The Brave and the Bold #2!

The cover is a George Perez and Tom Smith piece. Naturally, it's incredible. It depicts the Hal Jordan Green Lantern and the Kara Zor-El Supergirl in the skies over the planet of Ventura. It's incredibly colorful and detailed. The planet is a casino and gambling world. Think of it as Las Vegas as a planet, and the art shows that well.

"The Lords of Luck (Part II) - Ventura"
Writer: Mrk Waid
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Colorist: Tom Smith
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Executive Editor: Dan DiDio

The story begins with the Girl of Steel, the Maiden of Might, Supergirl. This isn't the same Kara Zor-El that we last met on this blog battling Kraken. That version was erased from history. This is the post-Crisis version of Kara, a chatty teenager. She's flying in space with Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern.

"No, Kara. Superman said Khund coffee makes you crazy."

The two have some banter, and Hal catches her up (as well as us) on the last issue. Basically, an alien has made off with the Book of Souls, a powerful artifact that has all knowledge of past, present, and the future in its pages. Batman and Hal started the investigation, and the Dark Knight is continuing the investigation on Earth. Hal called in Supergirl to help track the alien...and the trail leads to the planet known as Ventura.

Ventura is, in the tradition of the "Planet of Hats" trope, is basically a massive casino. Their economy is based on gambling. Kara spots a man being tossed out a window...

...from a very high floor of a building. The Kryptonian powerhouse swoops down and saves the man's life. He begs her to help him, claiming that the casino swindled him out of his life savings. A cop tells Kara to not get involved and takes her away. It's revealed to be Hal Jordan in disguise, who explains to her that the man wasn't cheated, he was just unlucky.

You see, a planet of gambling has very strict regulations. Which is how it can be sustained. Hal shows her an example in the form of a time-traveler arriving at a casino. Now, he thinks he has an easy advantage, knowing future lottery numbers. Problem for him is...Ventura has regulations for that, too.

"Smithers...release the hounds."

They also are not fond of Green Lanterns, hence why Hal not only needed backup, he also had to go incognito. My guess is Ventura doesn't like Green Lanterns because their rings allow wielders to find ways to get around the various security devices they use to avoid cheating. 

Supergirl and Hal fly off, Hal pointing out that the perp is using the book to stay ahead of them. Hal cannot assume that they're going to fail, and that it's supposed to be that way. Let's look in on Earth, shall we?

On a nice night in the skies over Texas, a charter plane is flying. The pilot is talking with his wife about their anniversary plans. Batman has stowed away on the plane, and one of the beings that attacked Las Vegas in the last issue has a very nasty alien weapon locked on him. However, the Dark Knight has a savior: Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle.

"Batman always has to be in everything, doesn't he?!"

He shows Batman where he took down the alien sniper...only to find that he's vanished.

And to make things worse, they're now both in the crosshairs. Back on Ventura, Hal and Kara continue their search. The book is in the hands of a powerful alien bookmaker. 

"Ladies, my new novel is a New York Times Bestseller! My thanks to you all!"

He's feeling good. With this book, he could make the biggest killing in Venturan history. He sees an image in the book change, and it leads him to wonder if the book...just rewrote itself?

Elsewhere, Kara and Hal are witnessing a fight between some aliens and a pair of gladiators called the Cragg Brothers. Well, it was a less a fight and more a brutal beatdown from said Craggs. When the Craggs fight, you do not pray to win, you pray to live. 

You see, Hal figures that the book thief were here. Most people would not gamble with small stakes if they had a book that knew the future. They'd want the big score. They want big money, and this arena deals with amounts of currency greater than some planets have.

Kara tries to flirt with Hal, but he's had enough of it. He awkwardly tries to get her to knock it off, but she just flies off in a huff, angry that Hal thinks she's a child. And things just got harder.

The announcer...announces that there is a new combatant in the arena tonight, fresh meat for the Craggs to slaughter. 

Kara planned to murder the costume designer.

Hal then realizes the Maid of Might has got a little plan going.

The Cragg Brothers charge at her, but being a Kryptonian, she easily makes the rocky warriors into piles of rubble. Hal grabs a betting robot and looks up who bet on Supergirl to win. After all, thanks to the Book of Destiny, a better would not only know that the Cragg Brothers would fight Supergirl, but that also she would fight them and win. The Lantern ditches his disguise to get the Venturan, but he's gone, his box a wreck. The Gambling Police arrive and start shooting at our man. Thankfully, Supergirl has his back. She spots him with the book thanks to her telescopic vision. Said Venturan looks through the book to see how he escapes, but it only shows him getting shot and killed. Which happens right then and there. And then someone else makes off with the book.

"Oh Zarquon, my horoscope said this would happen!"

Hey, it's that gambler Supergirl saved earlier! He flees, but Hal manages to catch him. It turns out that he's from the planet Rann, which is associated with the space-faring Adam Strange. He has adventures there. He's actually on Ventura because of a mission. He's a member of an underground rebellion. He came to Ventura to get funds for Rann's war against Thanagar. With this book, Rann could not only win the war against Thanagar, the Thanagarians could be destroyed. He tries to escape with a Zeta Beam, which ends up taking Hal as well.

Supergirl tries to rescue Hal but ends up eating arena floor. Her outfit got torn up, revealing that she was wearing her Supergirl outfit...complete with the Superman logo on it. One of the most famous emblems in the DC Universe. Yeah, she's in trouble.

I have to admit, like the first issue, I really enjoyed this one as well. I liked the exploration of Ventura. The idea that they have all these security features against telepaths and time-travelers and the like makes a lot of sense considering its hat is gambling. There are a lot of ways to cheat in the DCU, and for Ventura, a planet whose economy is clearly heavily dependent on gambling, preventing that is paramount. After all, who'd want to gamble at a casino where there's no fair chance to win? It also is a great subtle way to show just how powerful the Book of Destiny is. If it can foil all of these security measures, then it's something truly dangerous. 

I also got some laughs out of Hal's interactions with Kara Zor-El and Batman's with Jaime Reyes. Intergenerational banter is quite amusing. I couldn't help but feel a bit for Hal. After all, a teenage girl making doe-eyes at Hal and his awkwardness when trying to deal with this? Yeah, poor Hal just wanted to be professional about it.

The Venturan using the book to gamble on a disguised Supergirl winning makes a lot of sense. After all, if you had a powerful artifact that could tell you the future, the temptation to change things to make your own life better will come with it. Supergirl using this trope to her advantage is great as it helps show that she's hardly your stereotypical bubble-headed blonde. And of course, we got one exciting pair of cliffhangers, Hal on his way to Rann and Supergirl getting exposed. 

As for George Perez's art here, well...come on. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you all know how much I love his art, and how sad it is that he's no longer with us. The man left behind an incredible body of work, something to admire for any comic book artist. I hope that more budding comic artists discover his work and get inspired by it.  

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2024 trade paperback The Brave and the Bold: The Lords of Luck. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give my blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!