Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "jim-aparo"

Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold: The Batman Team-Ups, Vol. 2 by Bob Haney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 88-108 of Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups. All but one are by Bob Haney.

Rather than detail each team up , I'll offer some highlights both good and not so good.

The good:
Jim Aparo takes over the art. While the art in the book was always solid, Jim Aparo took it to a new level as he did the art for nine of the final eleven stories and began an epic run on this title with legendary art.

Wildcat Returns (#88)

Dennis O'Neill only appearance sends Batman into the House of Mystery with art by Neal Adams (#93).

Batman is sent on a mission to recover a wealthy woman's missing husband and brings back a character who hasn't been since the Golden Age of Comics. (#96)

Batman has to deal with ritual sacrifice and discovers the chilling truth about a late friend's family. One of the most disquieting Batman Comics I've read from this era. (#98)

Metamorpho returns to rescue his girlfriend from an assassin and Bob Haney retcons his horrible conclusion to the Metamorpho solo series with something far better. (#101)

A good youth activism story as Batman helps kids positively clean up their neighborhood. (#102)

The Metal Men are feisty because of "robot lib." (Hilarious) (#103)

Batman teams up with mod Wonder Woman to deal with intrigue in a Latin American country. (#105)

An heiress has sold shares of her estate, yet the shareholders are being killed off and Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) is on the list. (#106)

A great team up with Black Canary as they try to foil a $3 million skyjacking. (#107)


The Bad:

Adam Stranges uses a Zeta Beam to accidentally time travel (that's not how Zeta beams work and then hands Batman a news article from the future announcing Batman's own death as casually as one might share a cate photo on Facebook. (#89)

Bob Haney totally disregards the centrality of Batman's parent's deaths and Bruce's many visits to their gravestone for a ghost story about a Portuguese sailor possessing Batman. (#99)

Batman is wounded in a Wheel Chair and decided to play Ironside to bust a drug ring. He gets a team of four heroes to help him. However, Black Canary almost ruins his plan when she goes inside to keep her hair dry. (Horrible treatment of the character.) Denoument ends up disappointing as well. (#100)


The So Bad It's Good:

In a youth rebellion story, teenagers hold Gotham City hostage with nuclear weapons and orders powerful adults thrown in concentration camps and Batman acts like we need to be more understanding. That's our problem. Not a nuclear terrorist juvenile delingquent. (#94)

Batman falls into a well, panics, screams he'll sell to get out, is rescued by a man who claims Batman's soul for evil. Batman finds out that Sergeant Rock believes that the man who bought Batman's soul is Hitler who is still alive.

Overall,there are some great team ups unlock with a few klunkers and some unintentional hilarity. Still, there are far more than good stories than bad . The art is good throughout,, although it goes to another level when Aparo steps in.



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Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Vol. 1 by Jim Aparo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the beginning of Jim Aparo's legendary run as artists on Brave and the Bold, collecting Batman team ups from Issues 98, 100-102, and 104-122. The stories are all by Bob Haney

Rather than detail each team-up , I'll offer some highlights both good and not so good.

The good:
Jim Aparo has been an overlooked talent who brought so much to Batman with so many great panels, and little added touches that bring emotion and power to the work.

Wildcat Returns (#88)


Batman has to deal with ritual sacrifice and discovers the chilling truth about a late friend's family. One of the most disquieting Batman Comics I've read from this era. (#98)

Metamorpho returns to rescue his girlfriend from an assassin and Bob Haney retcons his horrible conclusion to the Metamorpho solo series with something far better. (#101)

A good youth activism story as Batman helps kids positively clean up their neighborhood. (#102)

Batman teams up with mod Wonder Woman to deal with intrigue in a Latin American country. (#105)

An heiress has sold shares of her estate, yet the shareholders are being killed off and Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) is on the list. (#106)

A great team up with Black Canary as they try to foil a $3 million skyjacking. (#107)

Batman thinks the Joker committed a murder, then concludes the Joker didn't do it and the Joker wants to catch the one who did, setting up a "team up" with the Joker and a surprising end. (#111)

Batman and Mister Miracle head on a collision course inside an Egyptian tomb. (#112)

Batman wants to find out about a plane brought down that was carrying an important witness and is shocked when Aquaman claims responsibility. Some good twists in this one (#114)

The Joker infects a prison population and its up to Batman and Wildcat to save the day, but the Joker makes them fight each other if they'll have any prayer of saving the day. (#118)

Swamp Thing is put on display by an unscrupulous promoter but Batman needs Swamp Things help when the city is attacked by a strange vine. Really good Swamp Thing tale. (#122)

The Bad:


Batman is wounded in a Wheel Chair and decided to play Ironside to bust a drug ring. He gets a team of four heroes to help him. However, Black Canary almost ruins his plan when she goes inside to keep her hair dry. (Horrible treatment of the character.) Denoument ends up disappointing as well. (#100)

Gotham City decides to force Batman and Gordon into retirement and have the Metal Men replace Batman. This goes about well as you'd expect. (#113)

The Metal Men and Batman are forced to battle undercover Native Americans who are hijacking the Freedom Train to hold the Declaration of Independence and Constitution for ransom. (#121)


The So Bad It's Good:


Batman falls into a well, panics, screams he'll sell to get out, is rescued by a man who claims Batman's soul for evil. Batman finds out that Sergeant Rock believes that the man who bought Batman's soul is Hitler who is still alive. (#108)

Batman is brain dead, but the Atom goes into Batman's body and restarts his nervous system so he can finish his last case. It's a superhero version of Weekend at Bernie's. (#115)

Batman is sent forward in time through Indian magic while his body in the 20th Century put into a coma. He discovers a post-apocalyptic world where Kamandi is the hero and a copy of Brave and the Bold #118 survived the apocalypse and they have a working tape recorder. (#120)

The Annoying:

The book leaves out covers that Aparo didn't draw even for issues that he did. I missed the covers. However, any comic cover can be found online, so this is a minor quibble.

Overall, despite some mixed quality stories, the book is a fun read and the art is superb throughout.




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