- I think our dark matter materials are messing each other up!
- — Atom
The Brave and the Bold (Volume 3) #9 is an issue of the series The Brave and the Bold (Volume 3) with a cover date of February, 2008.
Synopsis for "Changing Times"
At Challengers Mountain, Ace Morgan of the Challengers of the Unknown is walking back in the room where the Challengers have stored the Book of Souls when he's attacked by a humanoid creature made up for shredded pages of the Book featuring pictures of different heroes and scenes of the past. June Robbins hears him shout and comes to his aid.
As she fights the monster, Jun sees one page depicting the Metal Men interfering with a battle between a massive mechanical dragon and a giant wrestler. As they engage the creature, which roars "Me-gis-tus" over and over, the wrestler touches a dial on his belt, changes back into a kid and falls down. Tin catches him and the duo crashes relatively safely on a rooftop. At the request of the kid, called Robby Reed, Tin picks his device and dials the word "H-E-R-O".
The Metal Men are being torn to pieces when a flying man comes along, saves the team, rips the creature apart and woos Platinum. Then Robby arrives and demands Tin to dial the word to change back to normal. Later, Robby is explaining to the Metal Men's creator Doctor Magnus that monster intended to steal his transforming device.
June sees another page. Even further in the past, the Boy Commandos are protecting a pyramid and its treasury, the Orb of Ra, from the Axis powers. The German forces are about to overrun them when the Blackhawks come to their aid. During the skirmish a mummy drags Brooklyn into the pyramid's tunnels. Both groups go into the tunnels to rescue him.
Brooklyn is dragged to the pyramid's heart, where a mummy is waiting for him, holding the Orb of Ra. Megistus' magic revived them and commanded to retrieve the Orb, but he requires a demonstration of its power first. The mummy leader is about to use the Orb on Brooklyn, when Brooklyn notices the hieroglyphs on the walls stating every trap in the pyramid will go off if the Orb is placed in the box. Brooklyn quickly wrestles himself free, grabs the Orb and inserts it in the Chest of Sorrows.
Taking advantage of the ensuing chaos, Brooklyn runs away and runs into the Boy Commandos and the Blackhawks. Both teams make it out of the pyramid alive, but now the entrance is sealed. Which actually means they fulfilled their mission.
Back in the present, Sue reads still another page. Atom and Hawkman are attending an archaeological conference presenting ancient animal skins marked with primitive star charts when the Warlock of Ys bursts into the place and summons a tornado. While both heroes suit up, the Warlock examines the skins. He recognizes a nebula familiar to any mage and wonders about Megistus' plans. He's attacked by both heroes but the Warlock's powers beat them back easily.
Atom guesses Hawkman's anti-gravity harness, made of Nth Metal, and his own buckle, made of dwarf star matter, are kind of short-circuiting each other up. Atom presses his belt onto Hawkman's harness, and the energy released shields them from Warlock's blast. However it also creates a kind of energy portal that pulls the Warlock in.
The Warlock drifts through a void until he sees a portal and bursts through it, turned into a paper monster made of pages of the Book of Souls.
Sue gasps in horror.
Appearing in "Changing Times"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Atom (Ryan Choi)
- The Blackhawks
- Boy Commandos
- Alfy Twidgett
- Andre Chavard
- Brooklyn
- Jan Haasan
- Rip Carter (Final appearance)
- Hawkman
- The Metal Men
- Robby Reed
- Will Magnus
Antagonists:
- German Soldiers
- Megistus (Behind the scenes)
- Mummies
- Warlock of Ys
- Mondath (In picture only)
Other Characters:
- Batman (In picture only)
- Flash (In picture only)
- Green Lantern (In picture only)
- Power Girl (In picture only)
- Superman (In picture only)
- Supergirl (In picture only)
- Wonder Woman (In picture only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue has been collected in The Brave and the Bold: The Book of Destiny.
- Hawkman mentions the Warlock of Ys is from Qward. This is inconsistent with all his prior appearances. The Warlock's goal has always been to leave his home dimension, the Other Side of the World; his presence in the mainstream universe is not explained.
Trivia
- The French used in this issue has become the subject of some ridicule. "Une maman a Brooklyn" means "a mommy has Brooklyn", not "a mummy has [captured] Brooklyn".