Remembering Artist Joe Orlando

Remembering Italian-American artist Joe Orlando on his birthday (April 4, 1927 - December 23, 1998).

Usually known for his horror art and editing, as well as dabbling in humor comics, he occasionally did super heroes, such as the covers and insides for Metamorpho #5 and #6 (March-April and May-June 1966).

Celebrating Artist Graham Nolan

Celebrating the birthday of artist Graham Nolan (March 12, 1962) with a look back at his work on a mini-series featuring Metamorpho.

Bringing the Element Man back to his basics, with him travelling the world to save the life of his son, Joey, looking for the Orb of Ra which gave him his powers.  Featuring the usual battles with Simon Stagg and adding female adventurer Jillian Conway to the mix, the game was ready to go as the billionaire was none too happy that Rex Mason married his daughter, Sapphire.

Metamorpho #1 and #2 (August and September, 1993)

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Metamorpho #3 and #4 (October and November, 1993)

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Outsiders Biohazard

On what was suppose to be Free Comic Book Day 2020, the nation is still dealing with a pandemic, from the unleashed coronavirus, trapped in isolation to prevent contact.


The team of heroes formed by Batman had to deal with a potential pandemic as well....but they were slightly more successful in stopping it before it got out of the lab that created it.


Here is that story from Outsiders #15 (January, 1987) from Mike W. Barr, Dan Jurgens and Mike Gustovich!

Biohazard

The story starts when Dr. Helga Jace, the Outsiders' resident scientist, arrives at Biogen Laboratories in upstate California. 

There, she meets with her former student, Dr. Marsha Chandler, who had created an aggressive virus designed to attack the immune system...and Dr. Jace berated Dr. Chandler for creating something that could be turned into a terrible weapon. 

This was enough to distract Dr. Chandler, who accidentally exposed herself to the virus, triggering an alarm, and getting Dr. Jace to summon the Outsiders.


The call went to Halo and Katana, who were in the middle of training, and they summoned the rest of the team.

Once at the lab, Black Lightning used his electrical powers to break in, and found gear to prevent them from breathing in any foreign microbes.  The heroes fought a group of the labs' staff, seemingly possessed, then found Dr. Jace and other members in isolation. 

Dr. Jace explained that the virus also attacks the brain, and had mutated into sentience.  Dr. Jace, using Dr. Chandler's notes, realized the virus could only survive in hosts, and would not survive long in the air, and thus creating a vaccine would eliminate it. 

The virus didn't want to die, so it started to possess the military called in for containment, and started to use the lab safeguards against the Outsiders, with the group saved by Metamorpho.  Dr. Jace finished Dr. Chandler's cure....but as Geo-Force saw, was allergic to one of its components. 

The team rounded up the military members, and got them the cure,  but the virus took Dr. Jace as a host, but some quick thinking by Looker got the virus out of Dr. Jace's body, ending this possible pandemic before it even started!  Would that it were so easy to wipe out a virus in a day!

An Outsiders Christmas Carol

The Outsiders have been celebrating Christmas for a few years, and Charles Dickens' classic tale has been around for a few years longer....

....so, it only makes sense to mash them together!  

Outsiders 

Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo brought us "A Christmas Carol - 1985" in Outsiders #5 (March, 1986), with the Scrooge like character being Eben Mudge, a man who was forced into being a mob account 40 years ago for Tommy Sinclair, after losing his partner at Christmas time.

The Outsiders try a Christmas Carol operation on him to try to get him to turn state's evidence, with Katana putting a samurai potion in his coffee to make him suggestible.  Mudge is then visited by the ghost of his old partner (Geo-Force), who tells him of the three ghosts who will come next.  

Halo arrives as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Metamorpho as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Black Lightning as the Ghost of Christmas Future.  Mudge not only gives up the evidence to telepathic Looker (who needed the trip down memory lane to probe his mind), but also convinced the man to reconcile with his estranged family.

As a back up tale by Mike W. Barr and Trevor Von Eeden, Black Lightning and Katana help save a department store from thieves who kidnapped the store's Santa's son!

Adventures Of The Outsiders

Now, a year later in Adventures Of The Outsiders #43 (March, 1987), this tale was reprinted for the newsstand (The Outsiders followed in the footsteps of the New Teen Titans and the Legion of Super-Heroes having a Baxter series direct to comic shops, then a year later, reprinted the tales for newsstand distribution).

This experiment didn't last long (only 8 issues in The Outsiders case), but did give us this Kevin Maquire/Bruce Patterson variant cover of Jim Aparo's original cover.   The Outsiders had had a few previous Christmas tales, one meeting with Phantom Stranger, the other with Superman, and A Christmas Carol was also used by the Teen Titans as well!

Super DC Giant Brave and The Bold

To be fair, this issue was labeled, "The Best of the Brave and the Bold"....

.....a bit of a stretch for the two issues that were featured (and that also hardly made Super DC Giant #S-16 of September-October, 1970....

....a giant; after all, it was little more than two issues!).


Still, it was two pretty interesting issues, with an edge and bottom of the cover by Murphy Anderson, two classic comic covers by Carmine Infantino and Ramona Fradon, and some additional material to make it worth a look back at!

Brave and the Bold #67

"The Death Of The Flash" was featured originally in Brave and the Bold #67 (August-September, 1966) by Bob Haney, Carmine Infantino and Charles Paris, and has Batman and the Flash facing off against "the Speed Boys", a gang of crooks working through Gotham with sneakers that give them super-speed.  This gang helped run the Flash to his death (as he had a heretofore unknown condition that was killing him as he used his speed), forcing Batman to work alone to stop them (though, thankfully, the radiation of the sneakers was enough to revive the Flash, cure him of his condition and allow him to stop his foes).

This story was also reprinted in the Brave and the Bold Annual #1 of 2001, and in black and white in Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups #1 of 2007.  This was the first of many Batman/Flash team-ups, and makes one think why is DC not collecting Brave and the Bold Team-Ups: the Silver Age (which could feature stories from Brave and the Bold #50-56, #59, #61-64, to accompany the Brave and the Bold Bronze Age Omnibus, which starts with issue #87)?

Brave and the Bold #57

Why not reprint Brave and the Bold #57 (December-January, 1964/1965) in a B&B team-up collection?  Well, it had a solo story, "The Origin of Metamorpho" by Bob Haney, Ramona Fradon and Charles Paris....which introduced readers to archeologist Rex Mason, who, while agreeing to dig in a forbidden Egyptian temple (to get millionaire Simon Stagg to allow Rex cash, which Rex would use to date Simon's daughter, Sapphire), was knocked unconscious by Simon's caveman Friday, Java, and left for dead in a room with the Orb of Ra.  The Orb changed Rex into Metamorpho, who could control the elements of his body (and leading to another solo appearance in the next issue, then 17 solo issues of his own in the 1960s).

A Metamorpho: Silver Age collection featuring his two solo B&Bs, a team up with the Metal Men, a team-up with Batman and the first 8 issues of regular series would be welcome (or perhaps a Metamorpho: Omnibus, having all 17 of Metamorpho's issues, as well as the B&Bs, including a few later ones, and maybe including his Action Comics and World's Finest Comics back-ups, as well as 1st Issue Special one-shot and Superman team-up from DC Comics Presents), would also not be unwelcome (and would cover most of his appearances before joining Batman's Outsiders).

Plus! 

There were a few additional pages with Batman and Flash, leading into the reprints, and, best of all, a drawing by Dick Dillin, featuring the characters who had been featured in team-ups in B&B up to that point...

...but, that drawing was missing a few folks, like Speedy of the Teen Titans (colored in Green Arrow's original costume colors), as well as having Starman and Black Canary (with Black Canary only recently meeting Batman in B&B), as well as Supergirl (who only worked with Wonder Woman, in B&B #63 at the time...and Wonder Woman was there, but in her Diana Prince look (as Diana had a few team-ups with Batman), also missing Batgirl, who worked with Wonder Woman and Batman in B&B #78 against Copperhead).  Still, it is a great little drawing....

Inside Batman And The Outsiders

It's odd to think of a loner like Batman as a member of a team...but he was.

Batman helped found the Justice League of America (and worked with many, many heroes over the years in the Brave and the Bold), but there came a day when the JLA just wouldn't help, and Batman needed his own team....
                                ...the Outsiders!

Batman

Young Bruce Wayne saw his rich parents killed by a thug...and that crime inspired this youth to become the Batman.  We've explored his origins before....and even his team-ups with Green Arrow, with Superman, and even mystical heroes, and Batman even worked with Metamorpho and Black Lightning in issues of Brave and the Bold (Metamorpho in Brave and the Bold #68, #101, #123 and #154, and Black Lightning in Brave and the Bold #163), but as time progressed, Batman just found it easier to work with himself (which was an odd focus of the first story in Brave and the Bold #200, July, 1983).

That was part of the problem.  When the financial adviser to Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox, was taken hostage in Markovia, the JLA wouldn't help Batman free him.  So, Batman felt the need to leave the group, and headed there to free his friend in Batman and the Outsiders #1 (August, 1983). 

Metamorpho

Rex Mason was just a guy who was lucky.  He had Sapphire Stagg (a weathly girlfriend), though her father, Simon Stagg of Stagg Industries, didn't approve of their relationship.  So, Simon sent Rex to Egypt to find the Orb of Ra, giving his caveman manservant, Java, instructions to finish Rex off.  Rex was left for dead in a pyramid, but instead, changed into the master of his elements, Metamorpho (all of which happened in Brave and the Bold #57, December-January, 1964/1965 by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon).

We've talked about the early appearances of Metamorpho in Brave and the Bold, and then Rex went on to his own series, that lasted 17 issues from July-August, 1965 to March-April, 1968 (where Rex faced menaces like Kurt Vornak, Edifice K. Bulwark, Achille Le Heele, Doc Dread, El Matanzas, Stingaree, Franz Zorb, the Thunderer, Jezeba and Mr. Shadow, and working with Urania Blackwell the Element Girl), with Rex making a notable appearance in Justice League of America #42 (February, 1966, by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky), wherein "Metamorpho Says - No!" to the JLA!  Metamorpho wasn't interested in being a hero, he was looking for a cure to his condition (even though it helped him be a hero), and ended up in Markovia at a time of unrest looking for Dr. Helga Jace... 

Black Lightning

Jefferson Pierce was an Olympic athlete who had escaped crime of the inner city, but came back to Metropolis to be a teacher (and ended up fighting against that street level crime headed by the crime cartel 100, who faced the Thorn) starting with Black Lightning #1 (April, 1977, by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden).

Black Lightning's series lasted 11 issues, and along faced many foes, like Merlyn the Dark Archer, Talia Al Ghul, the Cyclotronic Man (a renamed, old foe of Batman's), Synoide, the Annihilist, Flash foe the Trickster, but mostly Tobias Whale, the local leader of the 100.  Black Lightning also worked with Green Arrow (proving they were both street level heroes, and inspiring Green Arrow to leave the JLA for a while), Superman and Batman, and even told the JLA no as well in Justice League of America #173-174 (December, 1979 and January, 1980, by Gerry Conway and Dick Dillin), before heading home, and losing his powers in Detective Comics #490-495 in 1980, and then being recruited by Batman to help free Lucius Fox in Markovia.    

Black Lighting and Metamorpho were the two previous introduced heroes, but there were more in Markovia, and they were all introduced in the back-up story in Brave and the Bold #200 (July, 1983 by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo), though that story featured an already formed Outsiders team operating in Gotham (with a story taking place between Batman and the Outsiders #3 and #4).

Katana

Tatsu Yamashiro was just an ordinary housewife (trained in the Japanese martial arts), at least until her husband, Maseo, and kids, Yuki and Reiko, were killed by Takeo Yamashiro (Maseo's brother, also in love with Tatsu, disowned by the Yamashiros for his Yakuza membership, and wanting her and the Soultaker sword).  Tatsu escaped with the sword (which had Maseo's soul in it, having been killed with it by Takeo), then learned more training under samurai master Tadashi, and started to track down those that had killed her family, ending up in Markovia, where she killed General Franz (who had given the Soultaker to Takeo originally) who was working for Baron Bedlam, and meeting Black Lightning. 

Geo-Force

Brion Markov was a Prince of Markovia, and trying to stop the revolt in his country started by Baron Bedlam, having Dr. Helga Jace give him Earth-based powers, but it ended up with Brion being buried (yet his powers were strong enough to revive him).  Having strength, invulnerability, flight and gravity manipulating powers, Brion did join with the heroes in saving Markovia from Baron Bedlam, but Brion's brother, Gregor, took the throne, so Brion headed to the United States with the other members of the Outsiders (and, while there, met his younger half-sister, Tara Markov, who was working with the Teen Titans at the time under the identity of Terra, with Earth-moving powers of her own...and a secret as well).  Geo-Force often butted heads with Batman, as Brion felt he was a more natural leader as royalty.... 

Halo

Halo was originally an Aurakle (beings of sentient energy who had been inhabiting the universe since near the dawn of creation), who inhabited the dying body of criminal Violet Harper, but she came to take on her own identity as Gabrielle Doe.

As Halo, she could generate aura of different colors, and while she could fly with each, each color also had another power, like red was heat blasts, orange was force blasts, yellow was bright light, green was a stasis beam, blue was a distortion effect, indigo was a tractor beam, and violet...was unknown to Gaby (but allowed the violent Violet Harper control).  Halo was taken in by Katana, who saw her as a surrogate daughter).

The original Batman and the Outsiders lasted for 32 issues and two annuals, until Batman and the Outsiders #32 (April, 1986), wherein Batman left the team (though the title continued on as Adventures of the Outsiders for a bit).  The team had already picked up a new member, Looker, and had moved into their own Outsiders title (which lasted 28 issues from November, 1985 to February, 1988, and even had an Annual and a Special, that crossed over with Infinity, Inc. and added more members like Windfall and the Atomic Knight).  Another run of Outsiders happened from November, 1993 to November, 1995, lasting 26 issues...and was the last to feature Katana, Halo and Geo-Force exclusively....and added even more members like Faust, Technocrat, Wylde and the Eradicator, but all that is a tale for another day! 

The Last Of The Original Brave and the Bold non-Batman Team-Ups

It's getting down to the last of the original Brave and the Bold team-ups without Batman....

....and it's getting pretty interesting, with returning stars and new arrivals!

Only one of the heroes didn't return and if you have read the first and second articles, you'll know who!

Babes Battling

The women took charge for once in Brave and the Bold, with Supergirl and Wonder Woman teaming up in Brave & the Bold #63 (December-January, 1965/1966 by Bob Haney and John Rosenberger, and a cover by regular Supergirl artist, Jim Mooney). Superman editor Mort Weisinger usually didn't allow Superman characters outside of titles he edited, and this tale called "The Revolt of the Super-Chicks"....didn't help much.  Not that was horribly different than tales of the times, but it would NOT be considered a high point of women's lib as Supergirl planned on retiring from being a super-hero, and Superman recruited Wonder Woman to help convince her back into battle...and the two end up dating Frenchmen (Henri for Supergirl, Andre for Wonder Woman) for a time, and fighting the shape-changing Multi-Face!  Eventually the ladies beat the villain and go back to their normal lives (and this issue has an appearance of Wonder Girl between Showcase #59 and Teen Titans #1, establishing her as a separate person from Wonder Woman....).  It also takes a little work to find this issue as it has NOT been reprinted...  

Dark Detour

Brave and the Bold #64 (February-March, 1966) had Batman vs. Eclipso, and that's covered more under supernatural characters (and Batman team-ups).


That said, it was a very good issue, and has been reprinted in color in Super-Team Family #5 (June-July, 1976) as well as in the black and white Showcase Presents The Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups #1.


This second team-up of Batman's in B&B is a well done tale!

Super Hero Joins Super Freaks

With Brave and the Bold #65 (April-May, 1966), it was a chance for previous B&B star, the Flash, to return....and meet a new DC Super-Team....the misfits of the Doom Patrol (Robotman, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man and the Chief) in this Bob Haney story of "Alias Negative Man", with art by Dick Giordano and Sal Trapani.  The Doom Patrol's foes, the Brotherhood of Evil (the Brain, Monsieur Mallah, Madame Rogue, Garguax and General Immortus) captured the Negative Man, and his team recruit the Flash to try to fool the villains into releasing him...it didn't quite work, but the Brotherhood was defeated and Negative Man freed.  A pretty good issue, other than the Flash seemed like an also-ran (as he wasn't much of a part of the story, being more of a device instead of a character).

Even more annoying is that this story, which read like it could have been in an issue of Doom Patrol, was NOT reprinted (even in the Doom Patrol Archives or Showcase Presents the Doom Patrol).

The Doom Patrol also never returned to B&B (but being labeled freaks in the ad for this issue might have hurt their feelings...).

Flash would return many times to work with Batman...

Interesting Alloys

Brave and the Bold #66 (June-July, 1966) let Bob Haney team his own creation (Metamorpho) with one of his favorite B&B co-stars (the Metal Men) in the Mike Sekowsky drawn "Wreck of the Renegade Robots" (with a cover by Ramona Fradon, Metamorpho's co-creator).

Both sides get interesting things to do as Metamorpho approaches Doc Magnus to try to cure him of his condition of being the Element Man.  While doing this, Prof. Kurt Borian takes control of the Metal Men, turning them against their creator, and Rex Mason has to have the Doc turn him back into Metamorpho to save the rogue robots (as Prof. Borian plans to go after Simon Stagg) and might put Rex's love, Simon's daughter Sapphire, in danger.  Back as Metamorpho, Rex fights the Metal Men, destroying the device that controls them....and losing his one time cure.

Sadly, this story has only been reprinted in black and white, in both Showcase Presents Metamorpho #1 (and only) and Showcase Presents Metal Men #2,  as I answer the question posed on the cover that this is a team-up, and a great one at that!  Both Metamorpho and the Metal Men would return repeatedly, and even team-up with Batman and other B&B co-stars like Plastic Man and Green Arrow.  "According to E. Nelson Bridwell, Metamorpho's pairing with the Metal Men in B&B 66 was one of the book's best-selling team-ups ever" according to John Wells' American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969.  

Batman Takes Over

Batman more or less becomes the regular star of Brave and the Bold (thanks of the success of Batman's 1966 TV Show) with Brave and the Bold #67 (August-September, 1967), working with the Flash, then Metamorpho in Brave and the Bold #68, Green Lantern in Brave and the Bold #69, Hawkman in Brave and the Bold #70, and Batman's first team-up of many with Green Arrow in Brave and the Bold #71.  Great fun, but to be covered later...as we still have a couple of team-ups left without the Darknight Detective....

A Ghost of A Chance

Brave and the Bold #72 (June-July, 1967) saw Bob Haney written work with Flash artist, Carmine Infantino, on "Phantom Flash, Cosmic Traitor".

Flash took a trip to Earth-2, and end up being caught by some criminals, who gave the speedster to the Ghost Ace (the spirit of Luther Jarvis, a World War I fighter ace) who wanted revenge against his fellow squad members.

The Ghost Ace turns Flash into a spectral being, and the Spectre gets involved in the case, preventing the murder of the pilots, and eventually frees the Flash and defeats the Ghost Ace.

This title also served as the transition book for the Spectre, as he went from his three Showcase try-outs to his 1960s Spectre book, and can be found reprinted in the Showcase Presents: the Spectre #1!

A Little Underwater

Brave and the Bold #73 (August-September, 1967) was a meeting of two previous stars in B&B, with the Atom and Aquaman facing off against the evil mutant plankston monster in "Hail, Galg the Destroyer!" which, in this story by Bob Haney and art by Howard Purcell (and cover by Carmine Infantino).

The story had Aquaman, Aqualad, Mera, Vulko and Aquababy, so even though Atom was there, it did read like an Aquaman story (so much so that it's only reprint is in Showcase Presents: Aquaman #3)...

....but at least the little man got a kiss from Aquaman's wife, Mera, so it all work out pretty good in the end for Ray Palmer! 


Guess she doesn't think bigger is always better!

With that happy note (and Brave and the Bold #74 of October-November, 1967), Batman took on the regular star role of Brave & the Bold, "a post that he held until the book ended in 1983" (quote also from the American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969).  All but Eclipso and the Doom Patrol returned to team with Batman...but it was still possible to have some fun without the Caped Crusader, as Bob Haney and others showed so well!

More Early Brave and the Bold Team-Ups

The mid-1960s was a time of change at DC Comics!  Showcase was featuring more teams of adventurers (like the Challengers of the Unknown and the Sea Devils) and even robots (the Metal Men), and while Brave and the Bold dabbled in that, uniting various DC solo stars (including Flash and Green Lantern who got their start in Showcase) in the Justice League of America, Brave and the Bold went one step further with its 50th issue and started to team-up even more members of the DC Universe!  Picking up where we left off...

Mighty Mite Meets An Alloy

The Atom was the first return star (and the mighty mite also got a rebirth in Showcase, leading to his own title and a membership in the Justice League), and he came back to meet Doc Will Magnus’ robots…the mighty Metal Men (Gold, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Tin and Platinum aka Tina!).  With Brave & the Bold #55 (August-September 1964, by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon) the links in the DC Universe just grew, and we learned of Doc Magnus’ first robot, Uranium (and the robot that it created, Agantha…who was the element Silver) in the “Revenge of the Robot Reject”.  Battling menaces that Doc Magnus created just seemed to be something the Metal Men did, but this time, the Atom was a part of the mix…and both Atom and the Metal Men would return for one more non-Batman team-up, as well as many team-ups with Batman (in fact, they both even returned for team-ups with Batman and Green Arrow, a distinction they share only with the heroes Green Lantern, Robin and Black Canary!).

Return of the Scarlet Speedster and Manhunter from Mars

With Brave & the Bold #56 (October-November 1964, by Haney and Bernard Baily), it’s the first return for two stars (but neither had teamed with each other in B&B).  Flash and the Martian Manhunter had both been growing in popularity (with J’onn J’onnz moving from the back of Detective Comics to a lead feature in House of Mystery at this point), and these two faced the “Raid of the Mutant Marauders”.  It was actually a mutant android, who had the ability to become a morphed version of heroes (like half-Batman, half-Green Arrow; half-Aquaman, half-Hawkman, and even half-Martian Manhunter and half-Flash…and, he gets a little extra coverage as Batman and Green Arrow ended up being one of B&Bs most popular team-ups, foreshadowed here) who was exiled to Earth by Queen Tatania because he fell in love with her.  And the two heroes weren’t even totally responsible for its defeat…they pulled in Hawkgirl!  Irony abounds here…because of all the members of the JLA (up to and including Firestorm) only Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter never shared a cover billing with Batman!  This, along with B&B’s first Batman/Green Lantern team-up in #59 ends where the Brave and the Bold Team-Up Archives…but not the end of the story!

The Element of Change

Change was in the air…for Brave and the Bold and for its format (at least for a bit); starting with Brave & the Bold #55, George Kashdan was the solo editor of the book (having shared that title with Murray Boltinoff through issue #54), and for Brave and the Bold #57 (December 1964-January 1965) and Brave & the Bold #58 (February-March 1965), the book had a solo star whom George Kashdan came up with the basic idea of…that of Metamorpho, the Element Man!

From John Wells‘ American Comic Book Chronicles 1960-1964 - “Working from Kashdan’s formative concept, Haney named the character and wrote the script for the origin.  In the process, he developed one of the 1960′s most sharply-defined superhero casts: sarcastic adventurer Rex Mason, transformed by the mysterious Orb of Ra into Metamorpho; his wealthy blonde girlfriend Sapphire Stagg, torn between her love for Rex and her devotion to her daddy; scheming magnate Simon Stagg, whose lust for power was equaled by his desire to prevent Mason from marrying into his empire; and Java, a resurrected caveman who gleefully joined in Simon’s plots while secretly coveting Sapphire for himself”.  Kashdan and Haney brought Ramona Fradon out of maternity leave to illustrate the adventures…who graduated to a 17 issue series of his own…as well as coming back to Brave and the Bold frequently…and even being a founder of Batman’s own super-team, the Outsiders!  Sadly, these two issues have only been reprinted in black & white recently in Showcase Presents: Metamorpho, but #57 was in Super-DC Giant S-16 (1970) and #58 was in World’s Finest Comics #228 (March 1975).  Brave & the Bold #59 (April-May 1965) was also by Haney and Fradon, and introduced the Time Commander (but more on this when covering the Batman team-ups of Brave & the Bold).

The Kids Are Alright

Brave & the Bold #60 (June-July 1965) also gets a quick mention, as it was technically a solo feature, introducing the Teen Titans in a story by Bob Haney, with art by Bruno Premiani…and a cover by Nick Cardy with the kids facing the menace of the Separated Man!  This idea was capitalizing on the success of B&B #54, where the sidekicks originally met, and this made a more formal team of them, adding Wonder Girl to mix (more on that here...).  The Teen Titans came back to team with Batman four times over the history of the Brave & the Bold, as well as one team-up with Superman in World’s Finest Comics and 43 issues in their original run…and then a run from #44-53 in the 1970s, and the wild success of Wolfman and Perez‘s New Teen Titans starting in the 1980s.

This story was reprinted in the Silver Age Teen Titans Archive #1 and in Showcase Presents: Teen Titans #1.

Back To The Past

The DC Universe was growing by leaps and bounds in the mid-1960s…and helped along by the reintroduction of the original DC super-team…the Justice Society of America!  Brave & the Bold #61 and #62 (August-September and October-November 1965) cashed in on that phenomenon with a team-up of Starman (Ted Knight) and the Black Canary (Dinah Drake Lance)!  Golden Age characters like Flash, Green Lantern and Atom were reinvented in Showcase, and Hawkman modernized in Brave & the Bold, as was the idea of the Justice Society, becoming the Justice League.  Flash #123 (September 1961) brought back the original Flash, and then with Flash #137 (June 1963), the whole Justice Society was acknowledged as living on Earth-2 (a separate world away from the current heroes, but one they could interact with).  In Showcase #55 & #56 (March-April and May-June 1965), Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson had two issues featuring Dr. Fate and Hourman (two heroes who didn’t have modern counterparts) and with B&B #61 and #62, had Starman and Black Canary (with stunning art by Murphy Anderson on both issues).  The first issue had the pair fight Starman’s old foe, the Mist, and the second put them up against original Green Lantern foe, the Sportsmaster, and Wildcat foe, the Huntress. 

This was even the first Silver Age appearance of Wildcat (who would be no stranger to Brave & the Bold….but, it ended up being the Earth-1 Wildcat teaming up with Batman, in a kind of accidental creation…one of those little details that Bob Haney occasionally overlooked in his zeal to tell great stories, not unlike the creation of a modern day Wonder Girl).  For more on the 1960s appearances of the Justice Society of America, check out Alter Ego #94, which also has part of a great interview with George Kashdan by Jim Amash that gives more details on this era including on Metamorpho, and for reprints of these tales, B&B #61 is in Crisis on Multiple Earths: Team-Ups #1, B&B #62 is in Crisis on Multiple Earths:Team-Ups #2, and both are in the Black Canary Archives #1.

That’s all the space left for now, but there are still some non-Batman B&B adventures to cover, and they even involve most of the people here with a few new surprises…so, come back soon and they’ll be here.

B&B seeing you!