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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 25, 2023 10:20:59 GMT -5
Art by Bill Haney? Did he do a bunch of Jim Aparo swipes?
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 25, 2023 13:23:03 GMT -5
Art by Bill Haney? Did he do a bunch of Jim Aparo swipes? That's Bob Haney's name on Earth-B. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 25, 2023 13:29:31 GMT -5
Art by Bill Haney? Did he do a bunch of Jim Aparo swipes? I did it on purpose, knowing that a typo was likely the only way to get you to leave a comment. |
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Post by chadwilliam on Jun 25, 2023 14:43:14 GMT -5
I got another batch of issues of The Brave and the Bold. The Brave and the Bold #108 Batman and Sgt. Rock “The Night Batman Sold His Soul!” Writer: Bob Haney Artist: Jim Aparo This is the one where Batman accidentally sells his soul to Adolf Hitler to get out of a well. And the only one who can save him is Sgt. Rock. It’s the Haneyverse Sgt. Rock. He’s not quite right. Whoa, whoa, whoa, there buddy! You don't just get to breeze right through this one with an offhanded comment about Batman accidentally selling his soul to Hitler to get out of a well and leave it at that. What's wrong with you? This is Haney at his most Haneyesque - Batman stuck in a well; Batman selling his soul to Hitler; Batman shaking his first at the sky shouting "Batman wants to live!" in third person - you've got to savour these things! Maybe even consider the possibility, sad that it is, that perhaps you'll never get something as wild and crazy as this out of Haney's pen again. Sure, we've got The Atom hopping around inside the brain of Batman's corpse to move him about Weekend at Bernie's style still to come, but man, "BATMAN WANTS TO LIVE!!!!!" One day that's going to be on his tombstone.  |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 25, 2023 15:06:08 GMT -5
I got another batch of issues of The Brave and the Bold. The Brave and the Bold #108 Batman and Sgt. Rock “The Night Batman Sold His Soul!” Writer: Bob Haney Artist: Jim Aparo This is the one where Batman accidentally sells his soul to Adolf Hitler to get out of a well. And the only one who can save him is Sgt. Rock. It’s the Haneyverse Sgt. Rock. He’s not quite right. Whoa, whoa, whoa, there buddy! You don't just get to breeze right through this one with an offhanded comment about Batman accidentally selling his soul to Hitler to get out of a well and leave it at that. What's wrong with you? This is Haney at his most Haneyesque - Batman stuck in a well; Batman selling his soul to Hitler; Batman shaking his first at the sky shouting "Batman wants to live!" in third person - you've got to savour these things! Maybe even consider the possibility, sad that it is, that perhaps you'll never get something as wild and crazy as this out of Haney's pen again. Sure, we've got The Atom hopping around inside the brain of Batman's corpse to move him about Weekend at Bernie's style still to come, but man, "BATMAN WANTS TO LIVE!!!!!" One day that's going to be on his tombstone. Well, some of these stories need to be EXPERIENCED!! I’m hoping to say just enough to get people interested. Honestly, though, I can hardly believe that “BATMAN WANTS TO LIVE!!” isn’t a meme. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 25, 2023 18:45:35 GMT -5
You’re absolutely right about that story with the Atom in TBATB #115. It is totally bonkers!
I attended a panel at Comic-Con in the late 1990s and one of the comics professionals was Bob Haney. Somebody in the audience asked what was his favorite comic book story he ever wrote. Haney cited the Batman/Atom team-up from TBATB #115 and summarized it in three or four sentences.
I was very familiar with that one and I love it! Haney remembered it very well.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 25, 2023 21:21:34 GMT -5
The Brave and the Bold #128
Batman and Mister Miracle
“Death by the Ounce”
Writer: Bob Haney
Artist: Jim Aparo
This is the second of three Mister Miracle appearances in The Brave and the Bold. It’s the first issue of TBATB that I ever bought. And I think it’s the second comic that I bought new that had Batman in it.
It’s a little subdued compared to some of the other issues of TBATB from this era that I’ve reviewed lately. The Shah of Karkan is coming to the U.S. through Gotham City to go to Washington to sign a treaty or something. Batman is helping with security. But he’s not doing a very good job of it. Because this is Stupid Bronze Age Batman.
Batman figures out that Gordon’s phone must be bugged so he tells the president that the shah is safe because they tricked the kidnappers with a double. Batman gets Mister Miracle to help on this case by challenging him to an escape-artist duel. They are both coated with ice and Batman escapes first. Neener neener neener, Mister Miracle.
So Batman doubles as the Shah and stays at the hotel, and the bed on which he is sleeping is stolen through the skylight by a helicopter. He is taken to a sunken ship which has some compartments modified for human habitation. The bad guy turns out to be Granny Goodness!
This story was my introduction to the Fourth World characters and, unfortunately, I don’t remember what I thought of Granny Goodness. I haven’t had a copy of this for a very long time. My old copy from the 1970s is long gone. I bought a replacement copy in the last few weeks, and it’s not really ringing much of a bell. Except I do remember wondering what was up with Barda and Oberon. Barda is Mister Miracle’s wife and he has a dwarf assistant. And ... that’s it. They are gone from the story almost immediately.
Granny Goodness has kidnapped the Shah at the request of some mysterious, unnamed personages. They have a scientist who has perfected a cure for aging and when she hands over the Shah, she will be young again.
Mister Miracle shows up and puts the kibosh on that dream! He was hiding in the frame of the bed that Batman (masquerading as the Shah) was pretending to sleep in. Batman, Mister Miracle and the Shah escape, and the Shah is able to sign the treaty and democracy is saved or something.
Nobody is selling their soul to Hitler or chasing a dog filled with antibodies or animating a comatose super-hero by shrinking, entering the body and activating electrons in the brain. But it’s still fairly entertaining.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 25, 2023 21:41:40 GMT -5
Nobody is selling their soul to Hitler or chasing a dog filled with antibodies or animating a comatose super-hero by shrinking, entering the body and activating electrons in the brain. You can't have everything. Even Haney had to take a breather every now and then.  |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 25, 2023 22:09:44 GMT -5
Nobody is selling their soul to Hitler or chasing a dog filled with antibodies or animating a comatose super-hero by shrinking, entering the body and activating electrons in the brain. You can't have everything. Even Haney had to take a breather every now and then. I read TBATB #119 over the weekend. With Man-Bat. I didn’t review it because this isn’t one of the issues I bought recently. This is one of the comics I bought at the used-book store in 1976 or 1977. I haven’t read it for a very long time. At the end, Batman and Man-Bat are captives of a dictator on a Caribbean island. They escape when Kirk Langstrom gives some of the Man-Bat serum to Batman! The guards are unable to cope with TWO Man-Bats, so they escape in the confusion and fly to the mainland, carrying Killer Krag, the hitman who fled to the island so he wouldn’t be extradited. There’s your Haney moment! Not only does Batman turn into a Man-Bat but it happens in the last two pages almost like an afterthought. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 26, 2023 22:26:00 GMT -5
The Brave and the Bold #130
Batman and Green Arrow, the Atom, the Joker and Two-Face
“Death at Rainbow’s End”
Writer: Bob Haney
Artist: Jim Aparo
This is the conclusion of the story that began in TBATB #129. Oliver Queen has purchased a giant iron eagle that’s said to be cursed. It’s on a jet going to the U.S. when it’s hijacked by the Joker and Two-Face and they force the jet to land in Pathanistan in Central Asia. Various betrayals and tribulations lead to a chase where Two-Face and the Joker are trying to steal the giant eagle by fleeing through the mountains and they are pursued by Green Arrow and the Atom. The bad guys attempt to slow them down by chaining Batman to a giant solar collector and they have to save him before he burns to death.
That’s where this issue begins!
Rescuing Batman is super-easy ... barely an inconvenience. (The Atom jumps on an arrow and Oliver shoots him into the keyhole on the lock that’s securing Batman to the solar panel. The Atom clicks the tumblers from within and Batman is free!)
So then they run into the inhabitants of the ancient city of Pathan, and they forge another giant iron eagle, and in the night they sneak up on Two-Face and the Joker’s camp and switch eagles. Somehow. And Batman is presumed dead for awhile but shows up later and he’s OK.
Oliver eventually confesses that the eagle is filled with gold and that’s why he wants it so bad. The Joker and Two-Face must have found out about the treasure somehow. The evil warlord from #129 shows up and takes the eagle from them but the eagle is struck by lightning and the trail crumbles into a bottomless chasm and the warlord is killed and the eagle is lost forever.
The Joker and Two-Face finally get the fake eagle onto a tramp steamer. They start tearing the eagle apart ... but there’s no gold! Two-Face starts strangling the Joker and his two-headed coin falls out of his pocket. The side for good pops up, so Two-Face decides not to kill the Joker. He’s just going to beat the poop out of him. Ha ha. I guess.
Meanwhile, Batman, Green Arrow and Atom are laughing about the looks on the bad guys’ faces when they find out the eagle is fake. Won’t it be hilarious if Two-Face gets mad and beats the Joker to death? Ha ha. I guess.
And that’s where it ends. The two murdering psychos are still running around free and the good guys have no idea where they are.
That’s the only time that Two-Face’s coin plays a role in this issue. And it was purely an accident that it fell out of his pocket. He never tosses it voluntarily to decide what to do next. I don’t even understand why Two-Face joined up with the Joker on this caper. It’s not a two-headed eagle. There’s no double mountain peaks pointing to the treasure lair. They could have made Pathanistan a dual monarchy!
Actually, I’m thinking the Joker should have recruited the Penguin for this adventure! A giant iron eagle would be quite a feather in his cap!
I love this story! Bob Haney is OUT OF CONTROL! And it’s beautiful.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 27, 2023 10:13:13 GMT -5
Hoosier X, Penguin would have been the perfect villain for this pseudo-Maltese Falcon story, Not just because of the bird, but because of the Sydney Greenstreet look. Maybe with Catwoman as Mary Astor/ Brigid O’Shaughnessy. But in the Haneyverse, that would be way too much planning ahead.
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Post by zaku on Jun 28, 2023 2:03:52 GMT -5
Mentally I've always equated Brave And The Bold to Marvel Team-Up, but at least this last one seemed to take place in the Marvel Universe and sometimes what happened here was referenced in other comics.
But reading the reviews the B & B seems to live in a universe of its own. Was what happened here ever mentioned elsewhere?
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 28, 2023 10:22:05 GMT -5
Mentally I've always equated Brave And The Bold to Marvel Team-Up, but at least this last one seemed to take place in the Marvel Universe and sometimes what happened here was referenced in other comics. But reading the reviews the B & B seems to live in a universe of its own. Was what happened here ever mentioned elsewhere? My gut feeling tells me it didn’t happen much. But there’s a lot of 1970s DC comics that I haven’t read. However, I will note that there was a reference in The Brave and the Bold #122 mentioning that Batman and Swamp Thing met in Swamp Thing #7. So it was not entirely unknown for TBATB to reference other comics. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for this. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 28, 2023 11:39:27 GMT -5
Mentally I've always equated Brave And The Bold to Marvel Team-Up, but at least this last one seemed to take place in the Marvel Universe and sometimes what happened here was referenced in other comics. But reading the reviews the B & B seems to live in a universe of its own. Was what happened here ever mentioned elsewhere? Yeah, Hoosier X is right. Beyond that kind of a mention or the rare two-part story, it was as if B and B did indeed take place outside what there was of DC continuity at any point during the team-up era, which lasted for 20 years and 148 issues. And to be honest, that was a strength of the title. It would have been nigh impossible to try to tie Batman stories from Batman, Detective, JLA and World's Finest together to begin with, so adding B and B to the mix would never have worked. And why bother? The Batman in B and B was Bob Haney's version (for the most part) and though it was at times jarring to compare B and B Batman with the one in Batman and Detective, it was nothing new to DC readers. The WF Batman never squared entirely either with the one in the two flagship titles either. B and B had a What If? vibe to it anyway. Like wouldn't it be cool if Batman met Scalphunter? Or Adam Strange? Or the Unknown Soldier? Like combining your army men with your cowboys in a backyard battle. Yeah, it could never happen, but it just did! As someone who read it faithfully, I can tell you that I was disappointed when Batman was teamed with someone he could just as easily have met in his own book, like Ra's Al Ghul or Lois Lane or Catwoman. The weirder, the better for me. I would have hated a B and B with three pages of backstory telling me that it fit between last month's JLA and next week's World's Finest. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 28, 2023 16:17:59 GMT -5
The more I think about it, the more I think Two-Face was a terrible villain for the Joker to bring into that scheme. This giant iron eagle full of treasure is HUGE! The wingspan is at least twenty-five feet. It is so absurdly big that there are numerous panels of maneuvering it around on mountain trails and over precipitous bridges (not to mention stowed somehow in a commercial passenger jet) that are physically impossible.
The Joker should have enlisted one or more of the DC Universe’s gigantic, musclebound goons to carry it on his back through the mountain passes. Blockbuster, Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, Amazo, somebody like that. How about Giganta! That would be awesome!
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