Review – Bravest Warriors #25 (BOOM! Studios)

October 7, 2014

2–3 minutes

Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer: Kate Leth
Artist: Ian McGinty
Release Date: 8th October 2014

Happy second birthday to Bravest Warriors! And what better present than an issue which, while not entirely fulfilling within itself, brings about new characters and stories into the Bravest Warriors universe.

Issue 25 brings about the arrival of Catbug’s brother and evil-doppelganger Bugcat, who says Catbug must return to his original dimension, as he was sworn to do by ‘blood pact’. This story is certainly hinting that the cutest member of the Bravest Warriors has maybe the darkest backstory. Reading almost like Spider-Verse, Bugcat, a palette-swap version of Catbug, with far more eloquent speech (no mere mirror-universe goatees here, Bugcat is a true mirror reflection) brings a swarm of Catbugs to bring catbug home, but is beaten away by Catbug Prime unleashing an unseen power. This storyline isn’t entirely paid off in this issue, as little is revealed about where Bugcat comes from, or what Catbug has seemingly turned his back on, but the mystery of Catbug’s backstory and the introduction of Bugcat as a new antagonist hopefully marks the beginning of new and exciting Bravest Warriors stories.

The introduction of Bugcat is played up even further in the B-story, as Bugcat begins to ‘terrorise’ the Bravest Warriors. This small story proves the worth in this new character, and hints at what is to come from the new character, to the point where a copy of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde quite literally smacks Impossibear over the head. This story is also a smorgasbord of art styles, with each page being a contribution from a different returning artist. My personal favourites are pages 1 and 4, as they are both incredibly beautiful and sharp, a style I would love to see more of in the future.

The art in the main story also held up well in this issue. The Bravest Warriors appear only briefly, with the focus being mainly on the simply-drawn and non-humanoid Catbug. The amount of expression that is brought out of such a simple design is a masterclass in what this series has always strove to achieve within the confines of a previously established art style.

So happy birthday once more Bravest Warriors, and with an issue which looks as much to creating future stories as it does celebrating a fan-favourite character, I can tell it won’t be the last we will be celebrating.

Rating: 4/5.

PREVIEW ARTWORK.

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