|
|
Post by MWGallaher on Mar 10, 2021 10:58:04 GMT -5
Week Way Way Later Rooftops! I didn't win a single time when I was actively engaged in this project. This week I finally won one, having participated the last few months without any secret personal contest challenge guiding my selections. So this gave me the opportunity to feature one last character who appeared in the pages of Brave and Bold, not cover-billed, but a surprise guest star, the French Battle Doll, Mademoiselle Marie:  Mlle. Marie appeared in B&B #52, March 1964. The cover promised "3 Battle Stars": Sgt. Rock, Johnny Cloud, and Jeb Stuart, who are tasked with transporting "Martin", encased in an iron suit so that no one knows Martin's identity, from behind enemy lines back to Allied territory. {Spoiler}"Martin" is actually Mlle. Marie Guest of Honor Commentary: B&B had, to my thinking, more than enough WWII Batman team-ups, but I would gladly have traded, say, the Batman/Blackhawk team-up for a Batman/Mlle. Marie issue. I'd have more gladly traded that for one of the other guest stars I discussed above who never appeared in B&B!
|
|
|
|
Post by MWGallaher on Jul 24, 2024 7:23:52 GMT -5
Week Even Way Later Than That Arrested! As noted in this week's Classic Cover Contest, I realized recently that Dr. Thirteen was a legitimate BRAVE & BOLD co-star who should have been included in my roster:  When DC revived its Phantom Stranger feature in SHOWCASE #80, it established a format that would allow them to include reprints from both the original PHANTOM STRANGER run and Dr. Thirteen stories from STAR SPANGLED COMICS, making the Stranger and Dr. Thirteen co-stars in the revived PHANTOM STRANGER title. Although that co-starring format was soon abandoned (as it must have been if the series were to continue, as DC had only published 11 Dr. Thirteen stories in the 50's from which reprints could have been mined), Phantom Stranger and Dr. Thirteen were still co-stars when the Stranger made his first B&B appearance in BRAVE AND THE BOLD #89, "Arise Ye Ghosts of Gotham" by Bob Haney, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito. I had overlooked this fact when I assembled my roster of B&B co-stars and feature leads, since Dr. Thirteen hadn't been granted cover billing or cover depiction, but rereading the story--which is, alas, one of the poorest in B&B history, if you ask me!--made me realize that he was a fully qualifying co-star of the story, and, since he had briefly had his own feature, including several cover appearances, he should have been included before I could declare my challenge complete. And thus the challenge is, finally, complete. Every character who made a substantial appearance in BRAVE AND THE BOLD who had ever had their own feature in another DC comic has now been used by me as a candidate in the Classic Comics Cover Contest. Stealth Co-Star Commentary: I was a huge fan of PHANTOM STRANGER when it was being published in the 1970's, and so I had some fondness for the Dr. Thirteen character, but I don't feel like we missed out on anything by not having him featured as a B&B co-star with Batman separate from the Phantom Stranger himself. While I can certainly imagine Bob Haney and Jim Aparo doing an enjoyable Batman/Dr. Thirteen team-up, such a story could probably have been done using a different, more colorful character operating as a skeptic to some apparent supernatural phenomenon, like Wildcat, Hawkman, or the Creeper. Dr. Thirteen just wouldn't bring much visual appeal or character to the story. But would I have been excited to see that Ghost-Breaker logo next to Batman's, say, during that brief period when Dr. T was returned to cover feature status in GHOSTS? Yes, I certainly would have been!
|
|
|
|
Post by Reptisaurus! on Jul 25, 2024 1:58:02 GMT -5
The Final (?) Week: Icctrombone wants to see covers introducing a new member to the team. I was upset to realize yesterday that, in fact, Batgirl was a co-star in a Batman team-up, in Brave & Bold #78, with her logo right there on the cover: "Batman and Wonder Woman Guest-Starring Batgirl". To my relief today, the topic was one for which I could immediately use a Batgirl cover, thanks to my policy of allowing repeat appearances of Batman and Robin in my selections:  I've talked about Batgirl a few times in this thread, under the mistaken premise that she was only a potential co-star, not an actual one. She was third-billed, in the first B&B "three star" Thank you, MWG from four years ago, that was driving me insane. I can see not counting Batgirl but she's damn well more of a co-star than Catwoman. (Also not the first three-peat unless you're only counting Batman team ups.) I did notice that about 15% of the issues listed where a specific character appeared in Brave and the Bold were wrong (a Hawkman appearance was missed, a Metamorpho story was listed in the 180s, etc.) but fixed in the final recap.... is that another secret game? Also I am personally offended by the Bat Squad slander. The reason they were never reused is that nobody could touch the brilliance of their first appearance and your Alan Moore's and such were too intimidated to even try. I spend a lot of time thinking about who would have appeared in a theoretical B&B 201-212... you covered most of my want list, but I assume a New Teen Titan or two would be in there somewhwhere. |
|
|
|
Post by MWGallaher on Jul 25, 2024 8:08:55 GMT -5
I'm not surprised that there were some errors (unintentionally) present in that wrap-up/overview. I had a hard enough time keeping it straight while I was playing out my little challenge, as I attempted to document in this thread!
Your mention of Titans makes me realize that I was not thinking of the missed opportunities in the issue 200+ time frame, but of issues that might have appeared during the series' heyday. (I would consider that to be 1971-1978 or so.) For a DC '83-'84 B&B, I agree a Titan like Cyborg or Wonder Girl or Changeling would have been contenders, and maybe Vigilante, Amethyst, or the New Doom Patrol would be considered.
|
|
