Concluding a four-part retrospective of issues of The Brave And The Bold I acquired in the '60s, '70s, and '80s. Part 1 remembered B & B back issues I snagged within the time frame, Part 2 reapplied covers to coverless comics I picked up in the same era, and Part 3 chronicled issues I bought new in the '60s and early '70s. Let's pick up from that point and take this home.
In my 1970s capacity as an adolescent and teen comic book fan, I wrote a fair number of letters to B & B. As I recalled in my letterhack memoir "Dear Superguys:"
"...I was only, like, twelve or thirteen when I began writing these letters in earnest, but I cringe to look back on them now. No physical copies survive, thank Rao, but I remember the sheer pimply cluelessness I exhibited therein. I wrote a letter to The Brave And The Bold's editor Murray Boltinoff, demanding that he explain his editorial policies to me, 'cuz I di'n't like his and B & B writer Bob Haney's disregard for continuity. I recall a letter to JLA which casually used profanity to make this immature soul seem mature. I signed off most of my letters with "Thanx," an attempt to create a signature gimmick for what I hoped would be an abundance of published letters of comment. Not a one of them saw print, nor did they deserve to see print. I cringe at their memory, and recognize them as the work of a square-peg kid in dire need of a girlfriend...."
When I was fifteen, I started getting a few letters published. My only B & B lettercol appearance was in The Brave And The Bold # 120 (pictured up top), wherein a request from "Carl Cafrelli" begged for a team-up of Batman and the Shadow. I have no recollection of making that request, but I will presume I must have.
As the '70s continued, my Brave And Bold purchases slowed and eventually ceased. When I was in college, I all but stopped buying comics entirely. I returned to my beloved funnybooks after graduating in 1980, and I've stuck with them ever since. B & B again became an occasional purchase, then a frequent purchase, and finally an automatic purchase through its 200th and final issue in 1983.
One of the later issues--1983's The Brave And The Bold # 197--presented writer Alan Brennert's "The Autobiography Of Bruce Wayne," which remains one of my five all-time favorite single-issue Batman stories:
"...In the early 1960s, DC Comics canon established that there were multiple Earths, with DC's then-current main continuity of the Justice League of America occurring on Earth-One. Earth-Two was the home of the Justice Society of America, the JLA's counterparts (and forebears) from the 1940s. Earth-Two had its own Batman, about twenty years older than the Earth-One Batman. The Earth-Two Batman had retired long ago, and he'd married the love of his life, his former adversary the Catwoman. Both characters had perished in the comics before 1983.
"But Alan Brennert wanted to go back and reveal the untold story of how Batman and Catwoman got together all those years ago.
"The result was 'The Autobiography Of Bruce Wayne!,' a flashback related in the first person by the retired Caped Crusader himself. It's an amazing story of action informed by emotion, a story of love and dedication, sacrifices, fear, bravery, commitment, mortality, and love's potential power to transcend for whatever time this finite world allows us.
"It is difficult for me to write this, even now. In 2008, my niece was killed in a stupid accident that angers and saddens me still, as I'm sure it always will. Some wounds don't heal. Maybe some wounds shouldn't heal.
"She was living in New York at the time. Yes, Gotham City. The funeral would be in Syracuse. Her parents, my sister and brother-in-law, live in England, and it made sense for me to make as many of the local arrangements as I could. My pain was, frankly, nothing compared to the pain they were going through.
"Part of the arrangements was writing my niece's obituary. God, it still pains me to say those words. It had to be done. And it had to be worthy of what a great person she was.
"My pop culture inspirations are never far from my mind. I remembered the closing passage from 'The Autobiography Of Bruce Wayne!,' as the Batman looked back on the death of his beloved Selina, and I offered that in my niece's memory as well:
" 'Her death was pointless, tragic...but I have long since given up trying to find meaning in death. The meaning is in life, not death. And [her] life was as full of meaning as it was of love, and spirit, and courage. And when my time comes to join her...I would only hope the same could be said for me....' "
Across the four parts of this Brave And Bold cover gallery, we'll be sticking exclusively to the '60s-'80s era of acquisition I've established for these galleries. The selections include books I bought new, back issues I acquired after the fact (but within the timeline), and B-stock contraband originally purchased without their covers. These aren't actual photos of comics in my collection; most images are courtesy of the Grand Comics Database, which is grand indeed. But I did have each and every one of 'em at some point in time.
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