{"id":25833,"date":"2022-05-20T08:00:56","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T08:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=25833"},"modified":"2022-05-19T16:50:49","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T16:50:49","slug":"the-all-new-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-volume-3-small-miracles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/05\/20\/the-all-new-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-volume-3-small-miracles\/","title":{"rendered":"The All-New Batman – the Brave and the Bold volume 3: Small Miracles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Sholly Fisch<\/strong>, Rick Burchett<\/strong>, Dan Davis<\/strong>,<\/strong> Robert Pope<\/strong>, Scott McRae<\/strong>, Stewart McKenny<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-3852-0 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

The Brave and the Bold<\/strong> premiered in 1955 as an anthology adventure comic featuring short complete tales about a variety of period heroes: a format reflecting the era’s filmic fascination with flamboyantly fanciful historical dramas. Devised and written by Bob Kanigher, #1 led with Roman epic Golden Gladiator<\/em>, feudal mystery-man The Silent Knight<\/em> and Joe Kubert’s Viking Prince<\/strong>. Soon the Gladiator was alternated with Robin Hood<\/em>, but the adventure theme carried the title until the end of the decade when the burgeoning costumed character revival saw B&B<\/strong> transform into a try-out vehicle like Showcase<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Used to premiere concepts and characters such as Task Force X: The Suicide Squad<\/strong>, Cave Carson<\/strong>, Hawkman<\/strong> and Strange Sports Stories<\/strong> as well as the epochal Justice League of America<\/strong>, the comic soldiered on until issue #50 when it found another innovative new direction which once again caught the public’s imagination.<\/p>\n

That issue paired two super heroes – Green Arrow<\/strong> and Martian Manhunter<\/strong> – in a one-off team-up and was followed by more of the same: Aquaman<\/strong> with Hawkman<\/strong> in #51, WWII \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Battle Stars\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sgt. Rock<\/strong>, Mme. Marie<\/strong>, Captain Cloud<\/strong> & The Haunted Tank<\/strong> in #52 and The Atom<\/strong> & Flash<\/strong> in #53.<\/p>\n

The next instant union – Robin<\/strong>, Aqualad<\/strong> and Kid Flash<\/strong> – evolved into The Teen Titans<\/strong> and after Metal Men<\/strong>\/The Atom<\/strong> and Flash<\/strong>\/Martian Manhunter<\/strong> appeared, a new hero debuted in #57-58: Metamorpho, the Element Man<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

From then it was back to the proven popular power pairings with #59. Although no one realised it at the time, that particular conjunction – Batman<\/strong> with Green Lantern<\/strong> – would be particularly significant\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.<\/p>\n

A return engagement for the Teen Titans<\/strong>, issues spotlighting Earth-Two stalwarts Starman<\/strong> and Black Canary<\/strong> and Earth-One’s Wonder Woman<\/strong> and Supergirl<\/strong> soon gave way to an indication of things to come when Batman <\/strong>returned to duel hero\/villain Eclipso<\/strong> in #64: an early acknowledgement of the brewing TV-induced mania mere months away.<\/p>\n

Within two issues (following Flash<\/strong>\/Doom Patrol<\/strong> and Metamorpho<\/strong>\/Metal Men<\/strong>), B&B<\/strong> #67 saw the Caped Crusader take de facto control of the title and a lion’s share of team-ups. With the late exception of #72-73 (Spectre<\/strong>\/Flash<\/strong> and Aquaman<\/strong>\/Atom<\/strong>), it was thereafter where the Gotham Gangbuster invited the rest of DC’s heroic pantheon to come and play\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Even after the title finally folded, its mighty heritage inspired returns as assorted miniseries and as a second dramatic on-going run in the 2000s.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile elsewhere over a few decades, Batman: The Animated Series<\/strong> – masterminded by Bruce Timm & Paul Dini in the 1990s – revolutionised the Dark Knight and subsequently led to some of the absolute best comic book adventures in his 80-year publishing history. It also led to a spin-off print title\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

With constant comics tie-ins to a succession of TV animation series, Batman has remained immensely popular and a sublime introducer of kids to the magic of sequential narrative and the printed page. One fun-filled incarnation was Batman: The Brave and the Bold<\/strong>, which gloriously celebrated the team-up in both its all-ages small-screen and comicbook spin-off.<\/p>\n

Shamelessly and superbly plundering decades of continuity arcana and the comic book inspirations and legacy of power-pairings in a profusion of alliances between the Dark Knight and DC’s lesser creations, the show was supplemented by a cool kids’ periodical full of fun, verve and swashbuckling dash, cunningly crafted to appeal as much to the parents and grandparents as those fresh-faced little TV-fed tykes\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

This stellar collection re-presents issues #15 and 17 of original spinoff series Batman: The Brave and the Bold<\/strong> and #13-16 The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold<\/strong> in an immensely entertaining all-ages ensemble suitable for newcomers, fans and aficionados of various vintages. Although absolutely unnecessary to the reader’s enjoyment, a passing familiarity with the TV episodes will enhance the overall experience, but not as much as will knowledge of the bizarre minutiae and lore of DC down the years\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Scripted throughout by Sholly Fisch, and following the TV show format, each tale opens with a brief prequel adventure before telling a longer tale.<\/p>\n

We start with a run from the second series. TA-NB:TB&TB<\/strong> #13 was cover-dated January 2012 with Rick Burchett & Dan Davis illustrating ‘\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Batman Dies at Dawn!’<\/em>, as Nightwing<\/strong> leaves his Teen Titan ally Speedy<\/em> to answer a call from the eerie Phantom Stranger<\/strong>. The enigmatic envoy of the unknown has assembled an army of Robin<\/strong>s from the past, present and alternate histories (such as Frank Miller’s Carrie Kelley<\/em> from The Dark Night Returns<\/strong>) to save a fatally wounded Batman, and their fractious trail leads ultimately to the grandfather of Damien<\/em> (Robin) Wayne<\/em>: Ra’s Al Ghul<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Issue #14 (February 2012) sees the Gotham Gangbuster and Blue Beetle<\/strong> wipe out colour coordinated crooks Crazy Quilt<\/em>, Doctor Spectro<\/em> and Rainbow Raider<\/em> before Batman shares a moving and appropriately wonder-packed seasonal fable with Ragman<\/strong> in ‘Small Miracles’<\/em>. Jewish Rory Regan<\/em> is very much a minor-league hero working in the poorest part of Gotham, and sees nothing to celebrate until he eventually finds his own miracle after exposing a land-grabbing corporation trying to shut down the local synagogue\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Mister Miracle<\/strong> steals the spotlight in #15’s ‘No Exit’<\/em> (illustrated by Stewart McKenny & Davis) as he and Batman are caught in the most inescapable trap of all, but still find their way back to freedom, after which things get really silly and soppy as #<\/strong>16 (April 2012, Burchett & Davis) sees Batman’s battle against the Mad Mod<\/em> interrupted by 5th<\/sup> dimensional imp and premier stalker\/fan Bat-Mite<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Batgirl<\/strong> also shows up and for the pesky pixie it’s ‘Love at First Mite’<\/em>. Cue a whacky wander down the daftest miles of DC’s memory lane and a truly hilarious brief and so-very-doomed romantic encounter\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Wrapping up the comic craziness is a brace of tales from the first series. Batman: The Brave and the Bold<\/strong> #15 (May 2010) saw Fisch, Robert Pope & Scott McRae piling on the weird as Batman joined seminal swinging sixties stalwarts Super-Hip<\/em> and Brother Power, The Geek<\/em> in their own eccentric era to stop Mad Mod taking over the Mother of Parliaments (that’s Britain, OK? London, Eng-er-land?) before teaching third Flash<\/strong> Wally West<\/em> a thing or two about patience and diligence in main feature ‘Minute Mystery’<\/em>. It all began when someone stole something from the Flash Museum and the superheroes made a contest of finding out what, who, how, and why\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

We draw to a close with #17 (July 2010) of that series, with Fisch, Pope & McRae proving ‘A Batman’s Work is Never Done’<\/em>: tracing one week of standard crimebusting capers with cameo appearances from Metamorpho<\/strong>, Mr. Element<\/em>, Mongul<\/em>, the Green Lantern Corps<\/strong>,\u00c2\u00a0 Toyman<\/em>, Merry, Girl of Thousand Gimmicks<\/em>, Jonah Hex<\/strong>, Bat Lash<\/strong>, Hawkman<\/strong>, the Gentleman Ghost<\/em>, Etrigan the Demon<\/strong>, the Inferior Five<\/strong>, The Creeper<\/strong>, The Scarecrow<\/em> and Doomsday<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Despite being ostensibly aimed at TV-addicted kids, these mini-sagas are also wonderful, traditional comics romps no self-respecting fun-fan should miss: accessible, well-rendered yarns for the broadest range of excitement-seeking readers. This is a fabulously full-on thrill-fest confirming the seamless link between animated features and comic books. After all, it’s just adventure entertainment in the end; really unmissable entertainment\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6
\n\u00c2\u00a9 2010, 2012, 2013 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sholly Fisch, Rick Burchett, Dan Davis, Robert Pope, Scott McRae, Stewart McKenny & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-3852-0 (TPB\/Digital edition) The Brave and the Bold premiered in 1955 as an anthology adventure comic featuring short complete tales about a variety of period heroes: a format reflecting the era’s filmic fascination with flamboyantly fanciful historical … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The All-New Batman – the Brave and the Bold volume 3: Small Miracles”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[92,10,110,91,82,69,220,273,275,172,263],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-batgirl","category-batman","category-blue-beetle","category-flash","category-green-lantern","category-hawkman-hawkgirl","category-jonah-hex","category-nightwing","category-phantom-stranger-graphic-novels","category-robin","category-the-brave-and-the-bold"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-6IF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25836,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25833\/revisions\/25836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}