Brave and the Bold 200



This may have been the first anniversary issue I ever owned, likely buying it sometime in the late 1980's.

Though I'm not really a fan of the idea of Earth 1 and Earth 2 as it applies (or doesn't) to Superman and Batman, I really have to hand it to Mike Barr for coming up with a tale that has Batman teaming up with someone he hadn't already by the time the 200th issue of B&B rolled around and the fact that he's partnered (sort of) with his proxy Golden Age counterpart of 1955 fittingly brings Brave and the Bold (born in 1955) full circle in this, its final issue.  It's a frustrating oversight that DC never had the Earth 1 and 2 Batmen meet (outside of, I believe, a single panel in an issue of JLA).  Alan Brennert wrote a couple of Earth 2 tales featuring the proxy-Golden Age Caped Crusader for this title and those two stand out as some of the finest Batman stories ever told (it's also worth mentioning that Brennert wrote Detective Comics 500's To Kill a Legend already rightfully singled out in this thread.  I mention it again however, because it happens to be my favorite Batman story of all time). 

In 1979, DC killed off the Earth 2 Batman in a fairly forgettable three part tale in Adventure Comics.  This story line culminated in Adventure Comics 463 which - yes, you guessed it, also marked the 40th anniversary of Batman's debut in Tec 27.  So there's another Anniversary issue of sorts for this thread.  Because the Earth 2 Batman was dead and buried in 1979, Mike Barr was faced with the challenge of figuring out how to team the two characters in 1983.  His solution to this dilemma was ingenious.

The story begins on Earth 2 in 1955 where we're treated to a new Batman tale from that era penciled by Dave Gibbons.  It isn't a flashback and it's more than a tale set in a previous era - for all intents and purposes, this reads like a never before published issue of Batman or Tec from that period.  It's a trick that's been played several times since then, but I can't think of it being done (at least outside of a fanzine or something like that) prior to this issue.  I could be wrong, of course.  The point is, this is clearly a labour of love - a "if this title has to end, lets try and top everything that's come before while also paying homage to our beginnings" - and it shows on every page.  I mean, look at this:



You see that?  No?  How about this then?



Look at that!

And what's really impressive, is that this full length tale serves as only an introduction to the larger story Barr is looking to tell.

You see, Barr couldn't actually have the two characters meet, but he could tie this tale from Earth 2 1955 with his modern day Earth 1 1983 story by creating a common denominator of sorts - a new creation who would have made an admirable Batman foe during the Golden Age (or really, any period) named Brimstone (real name: Nicholas Lucien).

Brimstone is the villain of this piece and after getting knocked out by Batman in 1955, remains knocked out until 1983 when he revives from his coma in the prison hospital. This is what greets him:



OK, so it's 1983 and Brimstone is still on Earth 2.  He sure doesn't seem like having a shot at exacting his revenge against Batman since - man, The Joker outlived Batman, that bugs me - anyway, yeah 'BATMAN DEAD - BRIMSTONE OLD' reads the paper and yet, Brimstone has a plan.  He recalls how, as a child, he felt the presence of another version of himself, one he could almost reach out and touch.  With nothing to lose or otherwise to do, he attempts to reach out again to this other Brimstone and this time... succeeds.

He manages to link his mind with the Brimstone of Earth 1 - still youthful and far from criminally inclined, this Nicholas Lucien doesn't stand a chance at preventing his criminal counterpart from overriding his ethics, his plans, and his very mind.  The Brimstone of Earth 2 usurps his Earth 1 self and sets in motion a scheme to do away with the closest companion he can find to the Earth 2 Batman - his Earth 1 self.  Now the Batman of 1983 has no idea who this Brimstone character is - his world is presented as so far removed from that of the one viewed in the 1955 portion of this tale that I'm not sure he'd understand his motivations even if he had read the story he was in.  Gone are the giant props and crime themes and in their place thugs armed with chains and uzi's as news about violent protests blare from the TV.  This is also a Batman who is quite content to let Brimstone's hired goons kill off one other as they try to do away with him which nicely serves to contrast how much the lead character of this title (at least since 1965) has changed during the span of time covered here (although in all fairness, the Earth 2 Batman did knock someone into a coma, so there is that).

Batman gets captured and placed in the same death trap his Earth 2 self was (without the means of escape his counterpart had at his disposal thanks to Brimstone's memory and precautions).  It's a nice touch and one that Barr would revisit some ten years later when he wrote the flip book Two Face Strikes Twice in which one side of the book deals with the Batman of the 1950's and then other with the Batman of the 1990's both having to solve similar problems and think their way out of similar death traps.  Batman is supposed to be the world's greatest escape artist so having him pull off an escape against all odds once and then forcing him to do it again but this time, find another way of managing it, is testament to both his talents and that of the writer.  Both Batman and Barr handle themselves admirably.   





Batman escapes, punches Brimstone, and when he comes to (moments and not decades later) accepts his claim that he has no idea what's been going on now that his other self has departed with his last chance of revenge against Batman vanquished.  The story ends with Batman not knowing what just happened since he still can't account for Nicholas Lucien's actions, but he does have a strange feeling

 

A great story that you just don't see the likes of nowadays.  Oh and for those of you missing Jim Aparo - he draws the back up tale which also serves as the first appearance of Batman and the Outsiders.

And you also get this Bat-Mite page





Man, they invited everyone for this party!