I’m going to focus on THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, but, in short, DC COMICS PRESENTS is notable as a Superman book that launched in the run-up to the first Christopher Reeve movie. It’s less consistent than THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD; the creative teams were much more changeable, but you have scripts by Martin Pasko, Cary Bates, Steve Englehart, and Paul Levitz, and art by the likes of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Murphy Anderson, Joe Staton, and Dick Dillin, and they’re certainly very readable stories. Truth be told, DC COMICS PRESENTS may be a bit better in this volume.
But, I can tell you, I think the Haney/Aparo THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD was the most consistent Bat-book of the 1970s. Yes, it never scaled the heights of the O’Neill/Adams stories or the Englehart/Rogers run, but ever since they first teamed on THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #98 in 1971, Haney and Aparo delivered a package of a lot of action and adventure, insane plotting, and terrific art at least six times a year to 1979. BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD was inspired by their books, and the same basic strengths are in these reprinted issues.
That said, we’re closer to the end of the Haney/Aparo run, and it shows. There’s one Haney/Aparo issue left following this volume, THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #157 featuring Batman and Kamandi, so this essentially takes you up to the end. Of the 15 issues of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD reprinted, Bob Haney writes 14 of them, and Jim Aparo does the covers of all 15 and illustrates 13. Romeo Tanghal and Frank Laughlin illustrate one issue, and Don Newton and Bob Smith illustrate another, so no slouches are filling in. And for the pedants, Joe Staton co-illustrates an issue with Jim Aparo. The art has not declined at all.
That said, the stories aren’t as memorable as what will come earlier in the series. And later. Alan Brennert and Mike W. Barr will come later and will end the book on a series of high notes. And quite frankly, Haney’s most memorable stories on the title are in the past. THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD can best be thought of as an anthology of single-issue stories, and the occasional two-parter, where Batman teams up with a different guest character in each issue for a high-stakes adventure. There was little continuity, and frankly, Bob Haney never let continuity get in the way of a story. Good or otherwise. But the younger generation of creators cared about continuity, and I think you can spot the hand of editor Paul Levitz reining Bob Haney in. And without that wild anything-goes mentality, I think it’s rare to see a truly memorable, for the right reasons, story in this bunch.
Sometimes the plot ideas read like something out of BATMAN or DETECTIVE COMICS. But are we really reading THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD to see Batman foil a loan-sharking ring fronted by The Joker? Or Batman teaming with Aquaman and then The Creeper to bust a drug ring? Even with a thinly disguised Walter Conkrite as the drug kingpin. Haney also struggles with wildly different power levels. Especially when asked to maintain consistency with other books.
Even so, there’s only so much an editor can do. Haney’s Batman reads like a different character than in the other Bat-books. He’s a lot more hot-headed and a lot less brooding. His idea of detective work is often to go find a bunch of miscreants to beat the information he needs out of them. Usually accompanied by an explosive backhanding of the miscreant by Batman, courtesy of Aparo. Batman, under Haney’s writing, is a lot less calculating and a lot more of a free-swinging adventurer. He’s more Mike Hammer than Sherlock Holmes. And frankly, that suits what Haney wants to do. He wants to get to the action.
Whether or not that suits DC Editorial at this stage of Haney’s career is another question. And there’s reason to think it didn’t. And there’s reason to think that Bob Haney and Jim Aparo knew so. I don’t think there’s any real surprise that, without the full confidence of DC Editorial, a return to some greatest hits wasn’t done without consideration of the creatives. For Aparo, it meant another chance to draw the likes of Aquaman and The Phantom Stranger. And Aparo drawing The Phantom Stranger, for which he’s arguably the definitive artist, is definitely one of the highlights of this volume.
For Haney, it meant revisiting The Teen Titans and Metamorpho. And together it meant another team-up with Green Arrow, including a former Teen Titan villain, and other JLA members.
As comics moved to be more adult and continuity-driven and anthologies, the bread and butter of the industry for three decades, struggled with the rise of the direct market, the heyday of the era was rapidly approaching. Jim Aparo would be able to transition; he’d finish out the run of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, transition to BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS, and he’d eventually end his run of drawing the flagship BATMAN title and drawing stories like “A Death in the Family.” Bob Haney, unfortunately, wasn’t able to transition and was soon done with DC Comics, although readers fondly remember him from a certain age. And, of course, BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD serves as something of a tribute to him and his go-for-broke writing.
Speaking of fondly remembered, I feel that it’s worthwhile to highlight the best Haney / Aparo story in the book. Or at least the most Haney/Aparo story in the book. Even if it needs the great Joe Staton for an art assist,
I’m thinking of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #148 “The Night the Mob Stole Xmas” starring Batman and Plastic Man. Take a depressed Plastic Man moonlighting as Santa at Christmas time, clearly guest-illustrated by Joe Staton. Batman is trying to solve a case of non-tax-stamped cigarette smuggling, or “buttlegging” as Haney names it. A group of gangsters is stealing the big Christmas display from Lacey’s department store, which coincidentally bares a similarity to Shreck’s. And an apparently dying mob boss in Florida. Combine it all and set yourself up for a crazy, fun time. Can Batman save Christmas for Gotham? You bet he can.
I wish there were more stories this insane and fun. This is the end of an era, but Aparo was always a top-notch artist, and Haney always keeps the plots moving at 100 miles per hour. No classics here, but still a fun time. Just don’t go in expecting WATCHMEN. – Robert Reineke
GRADE: B