DC's popular Batman team-up comics series The Brave And The Bold expanded to the 100-Page Super Spectacular format from issue # 112 in 1974 (but actually on the stands in '73) through # 117 in early 1975 (actually on the stands in '74, because comic book cover dates). We've already concocted a 100-Page FAKES! edition of Batman and The Joker in The Brave And The Bold # 111; now, we go one more past the real-life B & B Super Spec run for a faux expansion of The Brave And The Bold # 118.
And look: The Joker's back! Writer Bob Haney also brings back that battling boxer Wildcat--one of his favorite B & B co-stars--for a story that, frankly, I thought was kinda silly when I was 15. I find it much more entertaining now, but my opinion of Jim Aparo's stunning artwork remains unchanged. Wow. Just wow.
Digging out reprints to expand this into a 100-pager, I wanted one vintage Brave And Bold team-up from the days before The Dark Knight annexed the title for his own Bat-universe. The 1966 story uniting The Flash and The Doom Patrol was either the first or second issue of B & B I ever encountered, albeit vicariously (via a house ad in another comic book). Not sure if I saw that ad before or after I saw an ad for Starman and The Black Canary in B & B # 61, but both ads made an indelible impression on this six-year-old in '66. I also wanted a Batman vs Joker story and a Wildcat solo adventure from the '40s. and Superman and Batman's first encounter with the diabolical duo of The Joker and Lex Luthor seemed a good way to finish things off; that story's splash page was reproduced on the cover of a 1965 Superman & Batman 80-Page Giant, which was my first sighting of our two favorite heroes in one adventure together (again, via a house ad in another comic book). A 1952 Doll Man and Doll Girl story completes our package; I recall seeing the great Reed Crandall's original artwork for that Doll Man cover in Steranko's History Of Comics, and that memory placed this story in today's 100-Page FAKE!
Batman and Wildcat, co-starring The Joker in "May The Best Man Die!," The Brave And The Bold # 118 (April 1975)
Batman and Robin in "The Sound Effect Crimes!," Detective Comics # 149 (July 1949)
The Flash and The Doom Patrol in "Alias Negative Man!," The Brave And The Bold # 65 (April-May 1966)
Wildcat in "Murder Masquerade!," Sensation Comics # 73 (January 1948)
Doll Man and Doll Girl in "The Giants Of Crime!," Doll Man # 40 (June 1952)
Superman and Batman in "Superman and Batman's Greatest Foes!," World's Finest Comics # 88 (May-June 1957)
All characters are copyright DC Comics Inc. The Doll Man and Doll Girl story is now public domain, but the rest can only be shown here in representative samples; I share the whole thing with my paid subscribers. These phony 100-page Brave & Bolds are fun to do, so I'll probably return for at least one more in the near future. For now: Batman! Wildcat! The Joker! Robin the Boy Wonder! The Flash! The Doom Patrol! Doll Man! Doll Girl! Superman! Lex Luthor! Haney! Aparo! THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD!
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