At this point in my project IT SUDDENLY OCCURRED TO ME: I could expand the reach of this by including *all* of the B&B team-mates, not just the ones who were teamed with Batman. After all, there were some non-Batman team-ups that ran in the comic.

This would add in:

Martian Manhunter (cover featured in House of Mystery)
Haunted Tank (cover featured in G. I. Combat)
Johnny Cloud (cover featured in All-American War Stories)
Doom Patrol (cover featured in My Greatest Adventure/Doom Patrol)
Starman (cover featured in Adventure Comics)
for 5 additional options.

This required considering the Robin/Kid Flash/Aqualad team as part of the Teen Titans. Otherwise, I did have some options; although I didn't remember any solo Kid Flash or Aqualad covers, I could include the Wally West Flash and the Tempest miniseries, which featured the same characters, although under different names. That would expand things to 7 more options.

If I wanted to go even further, I could aim for all of the B&B headliners:

Viking Prince/Silent Knight/Golden Gladiator
Robin Hood
Suicide Squad
JLA
Cave Carson
Strange Sports Stories
The Human Target
for 7 more. Golden Gladiator only appeared on the cover of B&B #1, so all three initial B&B features would be included. It would be a little scary to be backed into having to use a single specific cover again, like I had to in order to include the Bat-Squad, but I'd have to commit to it if I went all out.

That would be 12 (or 14) more covers. A possibility to keep in my back pocket if things get tough!

So updating the roster and including the backup teams at this point, I still had:

A Team:
Eclipso, Nemesis, Elongated Man, Huntress, Wonder Woman, Zatanna (6)
Black Lightning, Atom, Deadman, I...Vampire, Joker, Kamandi, Metamorpho, Outsiders, Scalphunter (9) 
Black Canary, Catwoman, Metal Men, Swamp Thing, the Unknown Soldier (5)

B Team:
J'onn Jonzz, Haunted Tank, Johnny Cloud, Doom Patrol, Starman, Kid Flash, Aqualad (7)

C Team:
VP/SK/GG, Robin Hood, Suicide Squad, JLA, Cave Carson, Strange Sports Stories, Human Target (7)

My successes so far were making this expansion look tempting.

Week 42: European Comics, by European creators, no reprints of American comics.

Well, if it weren't for the "no reprints of American Comics" part, this would have been a perfect place to use Eclipso, who lent his name to a European comic that reprinted his stories under some very interesting covers, as discussed in the forum many months back. I didn't think there have been any European-generated comics featuring any of my remaining roster, so I had to bow out for this week. As it later turned out, there would be more than one European cover I used, but it required the step of drafting the third string, and I wasn't ready to do that yet. 


Week 43: Rainbow-ish
OK, this one's gonna be hard. I'd already  used up some of the ones that I could probably easily find a rainbow inspired cover, like Flash and the Outsiders. You'd think Metal Men would have had a rainbow cover, but not that I could find. Black Lightning? Nope. Swamp Thing? Nothing turning up there...I could go with the backup A Team, because I know of a J'onn Jonzz cover that's somewhat rainbow inspired, but that's a last resort. Unfortunately, after a vigorous search yielded no good options among my remaining candidates, I'm drafting the A-Team (moving Kid Flash and Aqualad to the B-Team, because I can still consider their headlining roles as the first of the "Teen Titans"; hey, my game, my rules). This did not count as "House of Mystery" for my purposes, but only as "Martian Manhunter".




Co-Star Commentary 
The Martian Manhunter co-starred with Green Arrow when the team-up format kicked off with issue 50, and he joined up with the Flash in issue 56, but he never guest-starred with Batman. Maybe that's because he was off-planet for most of B&B's heyday, although he did co-star in an issue of World's Finest and DC Comics Presents with Superman, and then with the Superman-Batman team in WF. I'd have liked seeing him appear under Haney and Aparo; I could imagine him being used in a more down-to-Earth style akin to his early adventures, assisting the Caped Crusader with stealth and subtle use of his Martian powers.   

Week 44: The Blue, Blue Ocean
Thanks to badwolf for a wide-open category that might allow me to knock off some difficult choices in my now-expanded roster. Initial thoughts: Kamandi definitely had some ocean covers, and there are probably some Johnny Cloud covers with combat over the Pacific. I might also look at Doom Patrol, Starman, and Metal Men. After a quick look, there were a couple of good Johnny Cloud covers, but the classic Kamandi #1 was my choice. I don't usually aim for a win and I usually try for more obscure covers, but oftentimes the familiar and beloved covers win the game, so there's a little bit of hope for this one:



Co-Star Commentary:
Kamandi teamed twice with Batman, in 120 and 157. In one issue, Batman traveled to the future; in the other, Kamandi traveled to our present. Seeing Kamandi showing up in B&B was a surprise. I think this was his first appearance outside of Kirby's series (Haney and Aparo also presented the first non-Kirby Mr. Miracle). Certainly not a character you could use often, but it was pretty nifty that his two appearances swapped the direction of time travel. Batman's trip to the future was more memorable; I'll never forget the trip to Mt. Rushmore and Aparo's gorillas. 

At this point, there are 19 characters on the definite roster:
Eclipso, Nemesis, Elongated Man, Black Lightning, Atom, Deadman, I...Vampire, Joker, Metamorpho, Scalphunter, Black Canary, Catwoman, Metal Men, Swamp Thing, the Unknown Soldier, Haunted Tank, Johnny Cloud, Doom Patrol, Starman (19).

One thing to consider is using Catwoman twice: once for the Earth-II version (Possible choices: B&B 197, Batman #62, 65, 69) and once for the Earth-I version (probably using the Catwoman 62 cover with Nemesis, which I had happily discovered). As mentioned before, both versions appeared with what could be considered cover billing. The Earth-I Catwoman was a solo feature of long standing, so she should probably count, and the Earth-II Catwoman was the one who actually got billed as a formal co-star. At this point, my plan was to use whichever course proved most expedient. This would increase the count by 1, but assuming the Catwoman/Nemesis cover is used, this will balance out.  

Here are a few covers  that I was keeping in mind. These would take out two in one stroke:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Joker #9: Catwoman/Joker
Power of the Atom #5: Elongated Man/Atom
Brave & Bold #55: Metal Men/Atom
Brave & Bold #62: Starman/Black Canary (Not #63, which has Wildcat)
Brave & Bold #66: Metal Men/Metamorpho
Brave & Bold #141: Black Canary/Joker/Catwoman
Brave & Bold #62: Catwoman/Nemesis (Hey! Here's a new find, a new option for Nemesis!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Week 45 : All Tied Up
Icctrombone offers up a topic that I ought to be able to make use of!
First thoughts: Scalphunter, Unknown Soldier and Atom should be easily found tied up on a cover. Sure enough, five Weird Western Tales featuring Scalphunter show him immobilized. Several Unknown Soldier covers are available, and the Atom was bound up tightly on three or four of his Silver Age covers. The Metal Men/Metamorpho issue of B&B has Rex bound by the robots, so that would knock out two. This would be preferable to using either a Metal Men or a Metamorpho cover. There aren't any Metamorpho covers likely to get a vote, but there are probably a few Metal Men covers that could be winners some day. Still, no sense wasting time going through them--I'll go for the B&B if I want to use Metal Men. Looking through the rest, there are no good Eclipso covers, and I'm trying to hold on to the painted French reprint covers. No good I...Vampire! or Deadman covers. I know Swamp Thing's bound in one of his B&B covers. There's one really good Doom Patrol cover. Once again, I didn't see any options that look like potential winners this time around, so it came down to Metal Men/Metamorpho,  Doom Patrol, or one of the better Scalphunter covers. The Doom Patrol is the most "immobile" on their cover, but there's no arguing that the Metal Men have Rex reasonably secure on theirs. Weird Western has a cool cover of Brian Savage dropping from the gallows that tempts me. I was anxious to finish off this game, so I chose to go with a twofer:




Co-Star Commentary:
The Metal Men co-starred with Batman in issues 74, 103, 113, 121, 135, 136, and 187. They also teamed with the Atom in 55, and Metamorpho in 66. They also appeared in 2000's "Silver Age: The Brave and the Bold #1", once again co-starring with Batman, just like old times! Bob Haney must have loved these guys! Their comic was defunct for most of B&B's glory days, but they kept cropping us as some of the most frequent guests. As I mentioned with the Teen Titans, the Metal Men had an intrinsically subordinate status, being non-human robots, so Batman could still dominate the stories. 
Metamorpho co-starred with Batman in 68, 101, 123, 154, and 186. He also appeared with the Metal Men in 66, and was introduced as a solo feature in 57 and 58. Issue 101 is my sentimental favorite of the entire run. It was my first exposure to Metamorpho, and I adored the character from first sight. 

Week 46: Master of Puppets
rberman served up a topic that might be a bit challenging: "a cover that depicts one of the characters as a marionette, dancing to the tune of someone else. Finger/hand puppets are OK too."
Well, if I'm lucky, I might be able to find a relevant Atom cover. Unfortunately, I've already used the Metal Men--I think there was a relevant one there. Blast last week's decision! Maybe Catwoman, but certainly not any of the war characters or Scalphunter. After a search, I don't see any good Atom covers. 

Might need to consider drafting the B-Team of VP/SK/GG, Robin Hood, Suicide Squad, JLA, Cave Carson, Strange Sports Stories, Human Target, Aqualad, Kid Flash. If I do that, I can use the JLA--IF I jump on it before anyone else gets to it! Lucky I've got an early start, but it's a dilemma! Do I expand the roster and get in on the game, or risk not being able to find a good example among the remainders? Or wait this one out? Nope! I'm gonna go for a less literal entry, but one that still has the puppeteering vibe: Catwoman and Nemesis! I admit, it feels like I'm stretching the boundaries of legitimacy with this one, but I went for it, despite misgivings. No one complained. 



Co-Star Commentary:
This Catwoman, the Earth-I version (OK, post-Crisis, but from my perspective, this is the same character), didn't quite qualify for a formal logo, but was prominently depicted on the cover and mentioned in the masthead for 131: "Batman and Wonder Woman vs. Catwoman!" That puts her a step ahead, in my reckoning, of villains who just appeared on the cover or in a blurb, and who weren't ever the solo super-stars that this character turned out to be. A legitimate team-up between her and Batman seems like a missed opportunity for a trial balloon, since Catwoman would later star in several long solo runs. It might have happened sooner if there was strong response to a B&B team-up (it certainly worked for the Joker!).

Nemesis teamed with Batman in 170, having debuted as a back-up solo feature in 166, appearing in every issue except 179 until his final team-up with Batman in 193. I didn't warm much to "plain clothes" heroes like Nemesis, and back then, I really didn't like the art of Dan Spiegle (who would eventually become one of my very favorites!). I think I sort of felt like Nemesis was taking unfair advantage of his position as a back-up feature to squeeze his way into a couple of lead stories, stories that I'd rather have seen someone else in, since we were already getting Nemesis every issue, anyway.   

Week 51: Things Historical. 

Slam_Bradley issued the challenge to post a cover depicting events before 1933. My roster's down to Elongated Man, Black Lightning, Atom, Deadman, I...Vampire, Joker, Scalphunter, Black Canary, Catwoman of Earth-2, Unknown Soldier,  Johnny Cloud, Doom Patrol, and Starman. 

Thank goodness I hung on to Scalphunter! I'm not going to bother looking elsewhere. I've got my pick of the best, but those Weird Western covers weren't all that spectacular. I pick this one:



It also met my old criteria for meeting both this week's and last week's topic!

Co-Star Commentary:
Scalphunter co-starred in issue 171, in an issue by Gerry Conway and J. L. Garcia-Lopez, one that brought back Professor Nichols and his time-travel-through-hypnosis act that used to crop up in Silver Age Batman stories.
DC didn't have a lot of western characters active during B&B's prime team-up years, but if you're gonna do one, Jonah Hex would be the expected choice. Instead, we got Scalphunter. I think Gerry Conway was writing Scalphunter at the time, so maybe that was the reason behind this choice. Conway took over from Michael Fleisher, whose Scalphunter stories were on par, in my opinion, with his excellent Jonah Hex work. Conway's, not so impressive. Scalphunter (originally "Savage") was linked by heritage to DC's older western feature "Matt Savage, Trail Boss", although I recall readers arguing that the time line wouldn't be right for whatever connection was suggested. He was also later revealed to be an ancestor of Steve Savage, Balloon Buster of World War I. 
Not exactly a prime choice for a B&B co-star, but for a single adventure, worth a try. 

Week 52: Beautiful... A Face of a Girl

My roster was down to Elongated Man, Black Lightning, Atom, Deadman, I...Vampire, Joker, Black Canary, Catwoman of Earth-2, Unknown Soldier,  Johnny Cloud, Doom Patrol, and Starman. 
At this point, Elongated Man was the one that was starting to scare me. I've got one miniseries, one of which includes the Wally West Flash. If I used that, I'd have to add in Aqualad (treating the Teen Titans debut instead as a three-way Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad team-up), which would, so far as I could tell, require me to find a place to use a cover from the Tempest miniseries. The other three miniseries covers didn't appear to lend themselves to many potential topics, unless I got a "Mike Parobeck" cover contest. I've also got the Showcase Presents Elongated Man cover, Carmine Infantino art, but not much other than a figure shot of the character. The best option is the Power of the Atom cover, so I felt I had to hold on to the Atom for as long as possible, or hope for a miracle win. I also had the B&B issue itself, so maybe a Jim Aparo contest would save me (how appropriate!).  If I was desperate, I could resort to a Detective Comics cover with an EM cameo. And there are a few Wally West Flash issues available, which again would require me to bring in Tempest.

And then MechaGodzilla wins and offers up this topic! It's certainly broad enough that I could use the cover of Elongated Man #1, with its lovely Sue Dearbon Dibney courtesy of Mike Parobeck making a deliciously exasperated face:




It was worth at least considering other options: I'm not likely to find any beauties on a Johnny Cloud cover, or Starman, maybe one or two Unknown Soldier candidates. I don't think Black Lightning will offer much, and the Doom Patrol cover artists never did an especially beautiful Rita Farr. Catwoman wasn't particularly beautiful in the Golden Age. Black Canary is certainly a possibility, but are any of those likely winners? Hard to say, but it's not worth the risk! Elongated Man #1 it is!

Co-Star Commentary:

Elongated Man guest-starred in 177. It's surprising that it took him this long to appear, since he was actually one of the earliest Batman co-stars, when he joined Batman and Robin in the lead story for Detective Comics #331, receiving cover billing as a co-headliner in 1964. In fact, I can't think of any earlier Batman team-ups in the Brave & Bold vein other than the regularly-scheduled Batman/Superman team-ups in World's Finest Comics. However, I wasn't exactly clamoring for this team-up, and I don't recall any special appreciation of Ralph Dibney's sole appearance in B&B. Batman already had a frequently appearing stretching superhero in Plastic Man. In fact, B&B felt a bit like Plas's foster home when he was on hiatus from his regular magazine, with Bob Haney redefining the character and tone, and contributing Ruby Ryder to his supporting cast. So maybe I even resented Ralph a little, but he did have a lot of potential as a guest, so I can't say he was a bad choice, with B&B already frequently playing up Batman's detective aspects, especially when Haney was on board.  


Week 53: Rob Allen offered up "Mental Health" as the topic. 

First thoughts: this screams "Joker", but the covers of his series, collections, and various specials don't seem to mention mental health. I might need to look at some Batman covers, but I should also consider other options. Doom Patrol has some promise. I remember Robot-maniac...but this seemed better:



There's also an installment of I...Vampire! labeled "Bennett Goes Berserk!" but 'berserk' doesn't imply mental illness as much as 'mad', right?

Doom Patrol it is! 

At this point in the challenge, I posted a link to my posts in the contest, and in response, I got my first successful guess at the theme. I was messaged by foxley, who picked up on the original challenge: Batman's B&B co-stars. Congrats, foxley, for being the first (or at least the first to let me know)! 

Co-Star Commentary:

The Doom Patrol were paired up with The Flash in issue 65.

There were a couple of years when the DP could have paired with Batman, but for the most part, the Patrol was deceased during the era when Batman was the permanent star of B&B. So I never expected to see them there...although, I'm sure Bob Haney would have found a way to use them, even if he had to just plain ignore that final issue! 

Week 54: chaykinstevens offered up the topic of "Bears".

And here's the final 10 I had to pick from: Black Lightning, Atom, Deadman, I...Vampire, Joker, Black Canary, Catwoman of Earth-2, Unknown Soldier,  Johnny Cloud, and Starman. 
I felt pretty good about this group as my last options. Johnny Cloud is pretty limited, since his covers were mostly air combat, and Black Lighting's second series doesn't offer much besides pin-up style art. But I had war options, horror options, villain options, pretty women options, Golden Age options, Silver and Bronze. I was fairly confident that I could pull this off, but I had to start being extremely judicious, reserving the most "open" characters as long as possible. With The Atom, I had most of his original run (couldn't use the ones with Hawkman, Al Pratt or any other big guest stars if there were any), I had Sword of the Atom, and I had Power of the Atom--plenty of issues with a lot of variety. The Unknown Soldier had a long run, with a little less variety than one might hope for, and again, some disqualifying cover appearances by Enemy Ace reducing the count. Black Canary has 20 issues that qualify for potential use, 17 once you subtract the covers with other characters like Green Arrow that I've already used (I couldn't have used the Archive since it had some non-B&B characters on the cover). There's some good variety in the I...Vampire! covers, and quite a number of them. 

But did any of them have bears? I remember some Joe Kubert war comic cover with a bear, but was that a Sgt. Rock or an Unknown Soldier? Yes, there is an Unknown Soldier with a bear...but unfortunately, it also has Enemy Ace prominently featured! If only I could make an exception based on Enemy Ace teaming with Batman in Detective Comics #404! Only if I'm desperate...

Wait...let's check Starman...and...bingo!



This is actually quite a fine cover--it's well drawn, with some nice texture work on the fur. It didn't turn out to be a winner against a tough field, as I'd hoped for, but really, completing this challenge without ever getting the chance to pick the topic just makes the accomplishment more satisfying!

Co-Star Commentary:
Starman played a prominent supporting role in the Batman teamup in 182, but didn't appear on the cover. He teamed with Black Canary for issues 61 and 62. This is another character Aparo drew very nicely, and he'd have been a suitable team-up partner with Batman, I think. Modestly super-powered and appropriate for a good gimmicky Haney story with an astronomical science angle, I think a few more Earth-2 characters would have drawn in some readers. Or, Haney could have just ignored the multiple Earths as he so often did and have Ted Knight hob-nobbing with Bruce Wayne at the opening of a new observatory when a situation arose, both of them switching into their respective secret identities and... 

Around this point Crimebuster, in a "First Appearance" thread, argued that the Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad team-up is not the Teen Titans, but a three-way team-up. More fuel for adding the Wally West Flash and Tempest covers to my roster, but I was so close to the end! The arguments are strong ones, and so I didn't see any choice but to accept the reasoning, and add Kid Flash and Aqualad. Granting myself the leeway to use the Wally West Flash incarnation, this gave me some additional flexibility with a large number of available covers, although I was then stuck with finding covers for Aqualad. Turns out there are more that I realized, although I realized I might need to relax some rules since some include other characters such as Aquagirl, and one has highly distorted but recognizable depictions of Cyborg, Deathstroke, and Jericho. There's also the Tempest miniseries available for use, as previously noted. Once the decision was made, as we'll see today, I quickly found opportunities to use these two additions. 

Week 59: MDG declared Suitcases would be the topic for this week, allowing for briefcases and knapsacks.

Those additional stipulations should make it easier. My first thoughts were that I'd be most likely to find these on Atom covers, maybe Unknown Soldier, possible (Kid) Flash. As it turned out, the Atom was the best I could dig up:


Not the "briefcasiest" of covers, but it meets the specs. Not a chance for a single vote, I know, but I was resigned to and presumptively proud of finishing this off without a single win. 

Co-Star Commentary: 
The Atom teamed with Batman in issues 77, 115, 130, and 152. He also appeared as a partner to the Flash in 52, the Metal Men in 55, and Aquaman in 73.The Atom was always a fun co-star, bringing some interesting super-powers to the tales without overpowering the mainstay character. Most memorable was the wild story in which Batman was brain-dead for most of the entire issue, with the Atom finishing what might be Batman's "final case" by controlling Batman's unconscious body by running around in his brain!  The Atom brought some variety in the visuals, frequently welcome in the more grounded environment that B&B tended to operate in under Haney.


Week 60: Improbable Vehicles was foxley's choice of topic this week. 

foxley, so far as I knew, was the only member who had caught on to my secret challenge theme, and, helpfully, proposed a reasonably broad topic (but there was no collusion!). However, with my remaining roster of Black Canary,  Deadman, I...Vampire, Kid Flash (or Flash), Aqualad (or Tempest), Unknown Soldier, and Johnny Cloud, the war characters and the vampire were unlikely to provide useful material. A quick look at the Deadman and Black Canary covers revealed nothing relevant. That left the Wally West Flash and Aqualad. With so many Flash covers, I could probably find something there, but that's such a rich resource I wanted to hold that one until closer to the end. Looking through the limited Aqualad (and Tempest) covers, I hoped to find some improbable underwater vehicles, and I settled on this one:



Unfortunately, it required relaxing one of my ground rules, allowing Aquaman to make another appearance. There are, sadly, only 4 covers (that I'm aware of) where Aqualad's logo appeared on the masthead; three of those had other superheroes: the B&B Teen Titans prototype issue, and two issues of Teen Titans Spotlight. A Teen Titans Year One miniseries featured a solo Aqualad, but was unlikely to be usable in any contest. Hey, I hadn't originally planned on having Aqualad in the roster in the first place, but the debate over whether the team-up with Robin and Kid Flash counted as Teen Titans or not tipped me this way. So I figured it was better to use one of the rare cases where Aqualad got the big logo, even if his mentor appeared alongside him. At least I didn't use one with a non-B&B character on the cover, since Aquaman made multiple appearances in the series.

Co-Star Commentary:

Aqualad co-starred with Kid Flash and Robin in issue 54. I doubt he would ever have been considered as a potential Batman co-star, although I would have gone for it if Jim Aparo, who drew the first-ever Aqualad solo story (a 3-pager leftover from the cancelled Aquaman series that was used as filler in an issue of Teen Titans) had drawn it. It might have been an interesting variation on the Aquaman team-ups, who knows? I know that they came close to co-starring Mera in an issue late in the run, so why not Garth? The forum here, of course, has already hashed over whether B&B 54 was the first "Teen Titans" or a 3-way team-up. It would have been a lot more convenient to think of it, as I initially did, as "Teen Titans", but I had to eventually agree that it was a team-up, with Robin as the lead, much more in line with the typical B&B team-up format Haney would do so often with Batman as the lead, rather than a team debut like JLA or Suicide Squad in earlier issues. In an alternate reality, I can imagine the success of B&B 54 leading to a few more teen pair-ups, like Robin & Speedy, Aqualad & Kid Flash, or Wonder Girl & Superboy (sure, that would be a confusing time/character combo, but who thinks that would have stopped Bob Haney?). 

Week 62: Sherlock Holmes. Well, dang, who could have guessed that the most obscure of B&B team-mates would have popped up as a topic? Unfortunately, I already used him, unless there was another fake Holmes appearance in one of my remaining series, but I didn't think so. My only hope, which was dashed, was that one of the old covers with Batwoman had Alfred in his detective get-up. Nope.
Two of my previously-used covers showed up here, Sherlock Holmes #1 and an issue of The Joker with a Holmes look-alike. 

Week 63: Land Down Under was foxley's topic.

First thoughts: Black Canary, Deadman, and I...Vampire are definitely out. I might possibly find a war comic with an Australian connection, so it's worth a check, but if not, I can find a Wally West Flash cover with Captain Boomerang. Not the most fitting response to the topic, but foxley explicitly remarked that the topic, as always, was open to interpretation, and this gets me one step further:



I wish I could have used an explicitly "Kid Flash" cover, but that probably would have been an issue of the Flash (I couldn't use the New Teen Titans since that incarnation of the Titans didn't appear in B&B), and I already used The Flash back when wasn't planning on having Wally on the roster. I could relax my rules like I did with Aqualad, but hey, I was lucky to have anything with a remotely Australian connection, and foxley gave my entry a thumbs up, so I considered it fully qualifying. But hey, the man from Down Under is absolutely "down under" on this cover! And Wally is at least wearing what appears to be, at least from the navel-up viewpoint here, a costume identical to his original Kid Flash uniform, if not the much-loved and unique second costume he wore in his B&B appearances. 
 
Co-Star Commentary:  Kid Flash appeared alongside Robin and Aqualad in the prototype Teen Titans team-up in B&B 54. He appeared alongside fellow Teen Titans teaming several times with Batman, but never appeared as an individual B&B partner with the Caped Crusader. I always liked the character of Kid Flash a lot, and I especially loved his costume, after he abandoned the mini-Flash look. But I don't think it ever crossed my mind to imagine him as the guest-star in B&B. 

Week 64: Coffins by pinkfloydsound17

I cast the tie-breaking vote leading to pf's win, and pf delivered a topic that I should be able to meet (there was no collusion!). Deadman, I...Vampire are obvious choices, but this might prove to be a chance to use Johnny Cloud! But, as it turned out, there were no Johnny Cloud covers in AAMOW that referred to a "flying coffin" as I'd hoped there would be. The one I...Vampire cover that worked had coloring that obscured the coffin so much that I could not really be sure it was there. Deadman offered up a coffinless grave, and But there was this one:

  

A bit more somber and serious than the Halloween-inspired theme might have called for, but it's a beauty of a Kubert cover, with a prominent coffin. 

Co-Star Commentary:  
The Unknown Soldier had his only Batman team-up in B&B 146, in a WWII partnership with the Earth-II Batman. These days, the Unknown Soldier is one of my favorites of the DC war line, but I had no interest back when he appeared (and given that Jim Aparo was absent from pencils that issue, I didn't buy it). Well, let me add a qualifier to my fondness for the Unknown Soldier: he's one of my favorites except when Bob Haney was writing him, which he did for roughly half the character's original run, as well as in B&B. That gets him a low co-star rating from me. 

Week 65: Once again, I cast the tie-breaker, this time for Graphic Autist, who offered up Jack-O-Lanterns!
Let's see what I can do with the (then) final four: Johnny Cloud is right out, but maybe Deadman or I...Vampire! Nope...no Black Canary, either. The backup roster might have had something to offer--the JLA probably had some Halloween covers, but I don't want to go there. Had to sit this one out!

Week 66: Mister Spaceman's theme was The Signs of the Zodiac.

If I'm allowed to single out a single sign, I should be able to make this work. Let's see, ram, crab, bull, lion, twins, virgin, scales, goat, scorpion, water bearer, archer, and fish. My first thought was to compensate for a cheat a while back, and use my Catwoman/Nemesis cover again. That one was a stretch when I used it for my "puppet" entry. But ahh, this looks good! All American Men of War #96! Indirect, but obvious, and it'll use up Johnny Cloud, who's my most challenging roster member as of this point. 




Co-Star Commentary:
Johnny Cloud made his only B&B appearance in issue 53, as one of the "3 Battle Stars". Johnny was never a significant war star for DC. In the prime B&B team-up era, he appeared as a member of the Losers, and if he had made it into a Batman team-up, it would surely have been as a part of that crew, not as an individual headliner. And really, I think the Losers would have been a decent choice for one of the few WWII team-ups with the Earth-2 Batman, easier to work with than Blackhawk, who did make it into a team-up, and about as fitting a wartime battle-pairing as the Unknown Soldier was. The Losers, though, were more associated with Kanigher, whereas Haney had a long association with the Unknown Soldier, so that may have influenced the decision. Not that there were very many wartime team-ups, anyway. I doubt that they were as popular with the readers. I certainly felt a divide between war comics fans and the superhero fans, and while I got a big kick out of any Sgt. Rock appearance, most of those were modern day, not WWII. 

Week 67: Prince Hal asked for adaptations of literary classics. The characters on my roster are not going to provide any qualifying covers, so I had to sit this one out again.

Week 68: Musical Notes was the topic chosen for this week by Mister Spaceman. My roster is down to Black Canary, Boston Brand, and Andrew Bennett--do any of them have music notes on their covers? One would expect maybe a Black Canary cover to have some, especially in her most recent (and thus ineligible) series.  Unfortunately I'm not seeing one. There's a great Andrew Bennett cover with a band, but no notes. How to participate?
Well, one thing occurred to me: I'd piggy-backed the Earth-2 Robin in back in the Frankenstein contest. Maybe I could use him? Or since I treated Earth-2 Batman as a "co-star" in that same contest, maybe I should give Earth-1 Batman a place on the roster as an individual character? Or both? Ultimately, I just sat this one out.

Week 69: Cavemen was DubipR's topic this week. 

Are there any Black Canary, Deadman, or I...Vampire cavemen covers? None that came to mind right off the bat! As expected, with my options so constrained, I'm running into difficulty. Do I dare? I mean, after all, what's a cave man other than someone who lives in a cave? And who do we know like that? I could use any of the Brave & Bold covers, with Black Canary, Deadman, or Andrew Bennett. It's a desperate ploy, but I'm a desperate man.One thing I discovered here at the wire: a lot of the Black Canary covers are pretty useless, with bland scenes that aren't likely to fit a typical contest topic. I also discovered that Black Canary has one of the very worst-drawn covers I've ever seen on a professional level mainstream comic book, but I'm trying to forget that. Black Canary also has the meager benefit of being associated with caves--specifically, mines ("canary in the coal mine"), so she adds a little bit more appropriateness. Considering there was no chance of a win, I went with one of my favorite B&B Black Canary covers:



Co-Star Commentary: 
Black Canary teamed with Batman in issues 91, 100, 107, 141, and 166. She also teamed up with Starman in issues 61 and 62.Black Canary was one of the ideal B&B co-stars by some standards: she didn't overpower Batman even though she did have a minor superpower, she was a flexible character that could be used in a variety of settings and situations, she had a distinct visual appeal, she had a relationship with Batman via the JLA so there was a comfortable familiarity and it was easy to justify a team-up. But she wasn't the kind of partner who'd generate a lot of interest and enthusiasm, just confidence in an entertaining story. 

Week 70: Skiing was Slam_Bradley's topic.

This would have been easy if I'd still had Green Arrow or Blackhawk on my list, but I doubt that Deadman and Andrew Bennett are going to qualify for anything on this one. Worth a quick look, though. I could, however, expand the list to Deadman, I...Vampire! Suicide Squad (Task Force X version ), JLA,  VP/SK/GG (All three as one, since GG only appeared on one cover, with the others), Robin Hood, Cave Carson, Strange Sports Stories, and Human Target. Doing that might give me some options, but would raise my roster to a total of eight remaining. It's worth a thought. The way I figured it, it could easily be another 8 weeks before I get an opportunity to use Deadman or I...Vampire, anyway. By expanding the challenge again, I'd at least have JLA as a very reliable secret weapon, although I'd be stuck trying to find a spot for B&B #1. If only I'd done this last week, I could have used Cave Carson!




Headliner Commentary:
Strange Sports Stories were featured in B&B 45-49. Editor Julius Schwartz was a sports fan as well as a sci-fi buff, and tried a few times to get this concept to catch on. 

Week 71: beccabear67's topic was Sailing Ships!

Now, this ought to be one I can work with! The roster was Deadman, I...Vampire, the B&B #1 trio, Robin Hood, Suicide Squad, JLA, Cave Carson, and Human Target. Oh, wait...wait...could this be the opportunity to use B&B #1??? The one I dreaded? The sole eligible cover featuring the Golden Gladiator???  Yes! Yes it is! There's Jon, the Viking Prince, ripping the sail of a barely-visible Viking ship! It qualifies!




Co-Feature Commentary:
The trio of Viking Prince, Silent Knight, and Golden Gladiator debuted in individual stories in Brave & Bold #1. B&B remained an anthology of adventure heroes from the past until issue #24. The Golden Gladiator, who made his only cover appearance on this issue, only appeared in issues 1-4 and issue 6. This was my favorite of the features, every installment drawn by the terrific Russ Heath. Issue 5 saw the Golden Gladiator replaced with Robin Hood, who would appear with the other two continuing leads through issue 16. Russ Heath continued as the usual artist, although Joe Kubert did at least one installment. As of issue 16, Robin Hood was gone from the pages of B&B, which then became a two-feature anthology rather than a three-feature one. The Silent Knight appeared in every issue until 22. He was usually drawn by Irv Novick. The Viking Prince was clearly the breakout character, appearing throughout the period adventure phase of B&B, missing only a single issue (#6), and getting the entire book to himself in issues 23 and 24. In those two issues, his logo dominated the cover, with the "Brave and the Bold" banner logo shrunk to make room above the Prince's. The legendary Joe Kubert illustrated the Viking Prince, who would crop up fairly often over the years, sometimes in surprising places like a team-up with Sgt. Rock in World War II!

Week 82: I've been stalled for three weeks now. Will Farrar offer up a contest theme I can participate in? This week's topic: Deal Me In. Playing cards. I just may have something here!
The Human Target had a perfect cover:


Whew! I was really sweating this one, but there was actually quite a lot of variety in those Vertigo Human Target covers.

Co-Feature Commentary:
The Human Target was the backup feature during the short-lived "DC Explosion", in issues #143-144, produced by writer Len Wein and artist Dick Giordano. Proving once again the unlikely luck of so many B&B features, the Human Target would eventually be the star of two different broadcast television series, although both would deviate significantly from the comic feature, in which protagonist Christopher Chance used his powers of disguise to masquerade as his threatened clients. The kind of super-disguises that characters like Chance and the Unknown Soldier specialized in were always too incredible for my suspension of disbelief. I can believe a guy stretching like a rubber band a lot more than I can believe a rubber mask fooling anyone from anything other than a significant distance. But it crops up again and again in comics (the aborted Yankee Doodle Dandy, the Chameleon, the Unknown Soldier, the original conception of Johnny Double...). Batman himself pulled this kind of thing enough that the Human Target wouldn't have been a particularly appealing guest star, if he had ever been considered for a team-up with Batman.

Week 83: mrp says "It's Good to be a King!" and asks for covers with King Features Syndicate characters. Considering they never published Cave Carson or I...Vampire (or even Hour-Man, Secret Six or Challengers of the Unknown), I guess I'm out of the game for another week.

Week 84: EdoBosnar wants Marvel Comics with their ugly banner ads along the top. Another highly specific topic that I won't be able to participate in. It was very discouraging to find that as I neared the end of my project, these sorts of topics seemed to become the norm rather than the exception. I'd been able to participate in only two out of the last eight contests. Although a few rebels disobeyed and posted non-Marvel covers, even if I wanted to flaunt the rules it's not much of a challenge if I force-fit my few remaining covers. Besides, none of my potential covers have any kind of non-related banner ads to satisfy the topic.

Week 85: brianf asks for Bill Sienkiewicz covers, so I'm out again.
Week 86: EdoBosnar asks for Charlton covers. Seems like the topics have gotten far more specific than when I started playing this game!

Week 87: The coronavirus sequestration is in its second week, and last week's winner Crimebusters offers up this topic: MEDICINE. Hmm, now *that* may be something I can work with..but...no...not even going to the reserves of Hour Man and Batwoman. You'd think that the Challengers would have had a medical cover, at least!

Week 88: kirby101 asks for Escapism from the 50's.
Unfortunately, this rules out Cave Carson and I...Vampire, so if I want to participate, I'll have to expand the roster once more, and really, I might as well include all reprint features who got cover billing, namely, the Challengers of the Unknown, Hour Man, and Secret Six.
That allows me to use the Challengers, and changes my remaining roster from 2 to 4, which might give me a little more flexibility, but is still putting off what I've already found to be a very difficult wrap-up!



Backup Reprint Feature Commentary:
The Challengers of the Unknown had some of their adventures reprinted in issues 113 and 115. I think the Challengers would have made for a good Batman team-up pairing. B&B gave the co-star slot to several other teams (Teen Titans, Metal Men, Legion), so it wouldn't be unprecedented, and the non-powered quartet of adventurers wouldn't have overshadowed him. It's easy to picture Batman running into the Challengers while investigating some mystery in a remote exotic location, since Haney had Batman doing a lot of Challenger-style globetrotting in B&B anyway.

Week 89: edobosnar asks for Pacific Comics covers. Another week that's too specific for me to participate in. I'm starting to think it may be another year before I can use my final four features, I...Vampire, Cave Carson, Hour Man, and Secret Six. Except for the first, they've all got a limited number of covers available for use, so even the less specific topics will be a challenge.

Week 90: Jeddak wants movie adaptations. I don't think that's gonna work for me without an unreasonable stretch of the topic. Although I am seeing some parodies via Mad and "Bloodshot's Day Off"! So I was tempted to use an Andrew Bennett cover with a Universal-style Frankenstein and the title "Carnival of Souls"...but I really need to play by the rules if I'm going to feel a true sense of accomplishment if I can ever finish this!

Week 91: beccabear67 wants 100th issues. None of my remaining comics appears on a 100th issue. I...Vampire! appeared in the 300's in House of Mystery, Cave Carson appeared prior to the 100th of B&B and Showcase, Hour Man was in the middle double digits of Adventure Comics, and Secret Six, well, they didn't make it to double digits. Looks like I gotta wait this one out again!

Week 92: hondobrode wants comics with Alan Moore stories. I'm out of luck again.

Week 93: bert wants she-cats, and I've got Cave Carson, I...Vampire, Hour Man, and Secret Six to pick from. Do I have a shot at this? I...Vampire would seem like the most likely series, but nothing there. Secret Six is right out, and none of the Hour Man covers have anything remotely catwoman-like. Dang! I could possibly turn to Batwoman, my honorary roster member, but only if I used a Catwoman cover, which would violate my other rules. So once again, I sit one out.

Week 94: kirby101 wants Gil Kane covers. Dang it, I'm out of luck yet again!

Week 95: chadwilliam asks for characters wearing unusual costumes other than the ones they usually wear.
There's no chance to win this one, but I think I have one...
Hour-Man's not going to deliver, nor is Cave Carson. The Secret Six? I don't think that having one of them in street clothes fits the bill, but maybe Andrew Bennett?

NOT USED:



A better-suited cover, though, would be this one with Batwoman (Batman and Robin, of course, allowed by my rules; and this doesn't count as a duplicate "Catwoman"):



I just couldn't convince myself that that I...Vampire cover was truly fitting the spirit of the topic, and I don't want to bend the rules here near the end. Besides, Batwoman was as significant an unbilled co-star in her B&B appearances as Sherlock Holmes, who didn't even get a cover appearance!

Honorable Mention for Unbilled B&B Appearance:
Batwoman had one cover appearance on issue 182:


She also appeared in a significant role in 197. B&B seems like the kind of book that would have been used to resolve her long absence, had Bob Rozakis not done so in Batman Family #11. I think Haney and Aparo would have done it a lot more interestingly than Rozakis, Brown, and Colletta, but I'm prejudiced...

So now I feel like I've expanded the roster to its max, and I'm left with Hourman, Secret Six, I...Vampire!, and Cave Carson. One from the original roster of Batman team-up partners, one from the second expansion of all B&B non-reprint features, and two from a late expansion to included the handful of reprint features that didn't appear in new stories or team-ups. Have I missed anyone? Well, there is one more that might qualify for consideration, but considering I haven't yet completed the reprinted features, I may not ever commit to that final roster expansion.