Batman Meets Atom And Firestorm

Batman met the atomic age well, and worked with a few heroes involved with atoms and nuclear power, specifically his fellow Justice League of America members, the Atom and Firestorm, in the pages of Brave and the Bold.

When Batman met them, they were already beginning to be legends in the DC Universe, but the team-ups still proved to be fresh and interesting....

Brave and the Bold #77

Batman first met with Atom in B&B with Brave and the Bold #77 (April-May, 1968), with "So Thunders The Cannoneer!" by Bob Haney, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, with the Darknight Detective and the Mighty Mite facing off against the Cannoneer (a human cannonball) and Lilli De La Pooche (his midget assistant) as they plot to rob the Brotherhood Express train (packed with artistic treasures, passing through Gotham City).  Batman faces off against the Cannoneer while Atom deals with Lilli, eventually prevailing and getting the art back.


This story has only been reprinted in black and white, in Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups #1 of 2007.

Brave and the Bold #115

Batman was "The Corpse That Wouldn't Die" in Brave and the Bold #115 (October-November, 1974) by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo.  Batman was fatally wounded while searching for Debbie Manton, and Atom is called in to stimulate Batman's body, and continue the hunt to find the kidnapped girl.  While keeping Batman's body moving, Batman's brain also is stimulated, eventually restoring the Gotham Guardian to life.

This story has been reprinted in black and white, in Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups #3 of 2008, as well as in color in Batman: The Strange Deaths Of Batman of 2009 and in the Legends Of The Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Volume 1 of 2012.

 

 

Brave and the Bold #152

Batman's next solo team-up with the Atom is in Brave and the Bold #152 (July, 1979) with "Death Has A Golden Grab" by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo, with Bruce Wayne and Ray Palmer finding themselves labeled as criminals due to a computer mix up, which puts their alter egos on the chase across the country to find out the hackers behind this problem.


This tale should be reprinted in the Legends Of The Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Volume 3 of 2016, though it appears computer hackers have messed with the various listings of this online, as descriptions of this volume have the book starting with Brave and the Bold #151, and not containing #152 (though it appears #151 was in Volume 2, with a team-up with the Flash, which has been covered here).

 

 

Brave and the Bold #172

Batman moved on from the Atom and the 1970s, and had his only B&B team-up with Firestorm in Brave and the Bold #172 (March, 1981) with "Darkness and Dark Fire", by Gerry Conway, Carmine Infantino and Steve Mitchell (under a cover by Jim Aparo, at least).  This tale, written by Firestorm's co-creator, has Batman being called in by the Justice League facing off against Firestorm (a relative rookie in the JLA at this time), who has been taken over by the nuclear reactor that gave him his powers, and Batman has to play detective to find out why Firestorm is a menace, then free his nuclear powered friend.


This tale has been reprinted, in the Tales Of Batman: Carmine Infantino book of 2014, though sadly, the Nemesis back-up contained in the book has not (and that series cries for collection!).

 

Brave and the Bold #129 and #130

With all this excitement, almost missed Brave and the Bold #129 and #130 (September and October, 1976), but Atom was one of a few co-stars there, along with the Joker, Two-Face and Green Arrow....and Green Arrow team-ups with Batman (including this one) have been covered here.....so, go back there to read more on these, and we'll B&B seeing you soon!

Arrgh!

For the life of me, I couldn’t think of anything to write. And it made me go…Arrgh!



And, Arrgh! was a 5 issue horror spoof comic from the Marvel Comics Group, and it ran from December 1974 to September 1975.

A Horror Spoof

Marie Severin drew the first couple of covers…Alfredo Alcala the third, Tom Sutton the fourth, and Ross Andru and Mike Esposito the fifth (who also did the interiors of #5…

...interior artists for some of the other issues included the early Justice League of America artist Mike Sekowsky and Sub-Marinerr creator, Bill Everett, as well as Tom Sutton, Howard Post, Joe Maneely and Jerry Grandenetti; some stories reprinted from the humor magazine of the 1950s, Crazy).

It was some light-hearted fun at the Universal Monsters' expense...

…and some goofy humor you could use to pass a slow afternoon…or fill a column when you have writer’s block, the scariest monster of them all!

So there, writer’s block....a little fun, and Halloween related as well!

Swing With the Spidermobile?

Yes, Spidey swung around Manhattan with the greatest of ease…but, I guess there were some days he needed a car.

So, here’s the spectacular Spider-Mobile!

Introduced to the world in Amazing Spider-Man #130 (March, 1974, by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru…one issue AFTER the 1st appearance of the Punisher, by the way), media moguls Carter and Lombardo (working to advertise Corona Motors; they had approached Spidey a few issues earlier), set up a deal with Spidey, where he accepted a check to have the Spider-Mobile…except he had to build it himself! With the help of his hot rod friend, the Human Torch (honest, Johnny Storm was into cars, check out early Strange Tales!), the Spider-Mobile came into being! The car had web-shooters, a spider-signal spotlight, and even an ejector seat (how very James Bond), and, with a push of a button, could disguise itself as a 1950s Chevy fleetline. Spidey even used it to capture some of Hammerhead’s hoods (but not the main villain himself…as Spidey could barely drive! All those spectacular things Peter Parker could do…didn’t include driving; yes, Spidey had never taken driving lessons!).

Spidermobile quick drives!

The Spider-Mobile next appeared in Spider-Man/Human Torch #3 by Dan Slott and Ty Templeton in May, 2005 (though it was a flashback tale), then a few more times…in Amazing Spider-Man #141, where Spidey looks for Jackal in the Spider-Mobile, and sinks the car in the Hudson River when an alley becomes a pier! (This tells you Spider-Man’s foe, the illusion-welding Mysterio is back in town…or does it?).

Then, in Amazing Spider-Man #142, Spidey checks out the wreckage of the Spider-Mobile and Mysterio jumps him!

It took until Amazing Spider-Man #157 (this time written by Len Wein instead of Gerry Conway), where Spidey finds the Mobile’s mirror, and in Amazing Spider-Man #159 where we see someone rebuilding the Spider-Mobile!

The Spidermobile wheels back in

The Spider-Mobile returned in Amazing Spider-Man #160 (September, 1976, by Len Wein and Ross Andru), but this time under control of the Tinkerer (himself a Spidey foe all the way back from Amazing Spider-Man #2…where he worked with the original Mysterio before he was Mysterio!). And, like all car guys, the Tinkerer couldn’t resist tinkering with the Spider-Mobile, having added a remote control (to allow him to attack Spidey with the car), drive up walls (allowing the car to live up to its name), and launch gas bombs that nullified Spidey’s spider-powers! Still, Spidey was able to defeat the car…and returned it to Carter and Lombardo (albeit not in cherry condition!).

Likely, the Spider-Mobile was made to tie into the merchandise that was hitting store shelves in the 1970s…

Toy car?

Spider-Man had himself a Mego action figure, and that was followed up by…the Spider-Car?
Well, it kind of looked like the Spider-Mobile (and likely might have been a reason for it to be put into the comics), but, sadly, this cool little Spider-accessory wasn’t quite in line with the comics, but it sure looked fun! (Isn’t that what having a car you modify all about?).


The Spider-Mobile has even returned a few more times in recent years….with a brief stop in a flashback in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #7, but more would follow…

The Spidermobile Returns

Popping up as a museum piece (fully restored) in Amazing Spider-Man #600 (in one of the stories in that September 2009 book by Zeb Wells and Derec Donovan; but the car was not quite fully respected by the museum patrons….).


In Amazing Spider-Man #647 (December, 2010, by Fred Van Lente and Max Fiumara; this time, the villain Overdrive, who has the power to make machines with his mind, turns an unsuspecting limousine into…the Spider-Mobile!).

It even made an alternate future, where it had been upgraded even more…and was driven by Hawkeye (so he could help Old Man Logan in a run of Wolverine, easier to look for the “Old Man Logan” tradepaperback, though it is issues #66-72 in 2008 by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven!).

The Spider-Mobile might not be as famous as Batman's Batmobile, or even Green Arrow's Arrowcar, but it’s still….amazing!