The Brave and the Bold #24
The Brave and the Bold vol. 3 #24 is the first in-continuity meeting of Static (Virgil Hawkins) and Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) — two of DC's most prominent Black male electrical-powered heroes — and it marks one of the earliest appearances of Milestone Media characters in the newly merged DC/Milestone continuity following Grant Morrison's Final Crisis. By staging the encounter at Hemingway High's commencement ceremony and letting Holocaust serve as the threat that forces the two uneasy allies to cooperate, writer Matt Wayne dramatizes a generational and ideological divide within Black superherodom that had never before been addressed in mainstream DC continuity. The issue opened a brief but culturally meaningful Milestone spotlight run on the series (issues #24–26), signaling DC's commitment — however short-lived — to integrating Dwayne McDuffie's Dakotaverse into the shared universe on equal footing.
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The issue was written by Matt Wayne with art and cover by Howard Porter (colors by Porter and Tom Chu, letters by Rob Leigh), and went on sale June 17, 2009, carrying a cover date of August 2009. It arrived during a transitional period for The Brave and the Bold vol. 3: writer Marv Wolfman's run had just concluded, Dan Jurgens handled the preceding issue (#23, featuring Booster Gold and Magog), and J. Michael Straczynski would take over with issue #27. DC used issues #24–26 as a dedicated Milestone showcase — a byproduct of the 2008 licensing arrangement between DC and Milestone Media that folded Dakotaverse characters into mainstream DC continuity in the wake of Final Crisis. The story title, 'Last Time I Saw Paris,' was provided by an eBay listing corroborated by the DC Database wiki entry.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First in-continuity meeting of Static (Virgil Hawkins) and Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) as DC/Milestone continuity merged following Final Crisis.
- Written by Matt Wayne; art, colors, and cover by Howard Porter (additional colors by Tom Chu; letters by Rob Leigh); published June 17, 2009 (cover date August 2009).
- Story title: 'Last Time I Saw Paris.' Villain: Holocaust (Leonard Smalls Jr.), a Blood Syndicate villain from Milestone's original 1990s line, making his first reappearance in DC's mainstream continuity.
- Holocaust's motivation ties to the 'President Lex Luthor' era of DC continuity: he blames Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning, then Secretary of Education in Luthor's cabinet) for blocking his plans.
- Supporting character Frieda Goren — Static's best friend from the original Milestone series — appears, grounding the issue in Dakotaverse lore.
- Issue #24 is the opening chapter of a three-issue Milestone Media spotlight run on the title (issues #24–26), which also featured Hardware/Blue Beetle and Xombi/Spectre team-ups.
- Collected in the trade paperback The Brave and the Bold: Milestone (DC, February 2010, ISBN 140122654X), which also reprints Hardware #16, Static #12, and Xombi #6.
- The Red Circle characters listed in the database catalog (The Web/John Raymond, The Shield/Joe Higgins, The Hangman/Bob Dickering, Inferno/Frank Verrano) debuted in their own concurrent one-shot series — not in issue #24 itself — published by DC in August 2009 under the 'Red Circle' banner, written by J. Michael Straczynski.