Posted By Dan Greenfield on Mar 15, 2025 | 9 comments

Blue blazes! It’s a BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to the late writer, who was born 99 years ago, on March 15, 1926…

By JIM BEARD 

Do you have any idea how hard it is to focus on anything Bob Haney wrote that wasn’t in The Brave and the Bold?

Sure, I concede that you probably never thought about it, but once I went down that particular road for this article, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Why? Because Haney’s heyday in the history of comics was all over the place, literally. The guy wrote some great comics, whether or not they ended up in B&B.

In my book, Breaking Bold and Brave, I called Bob “The Man Who Could Write Anything,” and that was hammered home for me when I was compiling this list to celebrate the ol’ hoodoo’s birthday. As I pored over the stories I loved as a kid (and even a few I discovered later), I was really struck by the fact that Bob kept showing up again and again on my journey. There’s a few spots on this list that, true story, I never realized were Haney jams, but I was so glad to find them.

I spent a long time waist-deep in B&Bs for my book, so it was nice to peruse the rest of the classic DC universe of titles for this article. I hope you’ll feel the same way before we’re done here.

Happy birthday, Haney! Good gravy and Holy Hannah, you’re sorely missed by this comics kid!

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Sea Devils #3 (Jan-Feb 1962). I took a swim with this one when I hooked a reprint of it in Action Comics #443. A Haney twist on the legend of the sirens, its spooky, eerie tone has stayed with me all these years.

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House of Secrets #64 (Jan-Feb 1964). Did I know or just not recall that Bob co-created Eclipso? Regardless, I will never forget the day I saw this in World’s Finest Comics #228 and was amazed by the idea of a villain and hero all in one. And of course, you can’t beat that Alex Toth art, either.

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Blackhawk #230 (March 1967). I make no apologies for my love of the superhero-era of Blackhawk. I first saw the costumed team in a battered copy of #241 that was lying around the house and fell pretty hard for it. Years later, I went back and bought copies of the trilogy of issues that introduced the wacky Haney concept, this being the third part of the story.

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Teen Titans #13 (Jan-Feb 1968). Pretty sure every comics fan worth their salt knows this story and loves it. I originally came across it in Limited Collector’s Edition #C-34 back in ’74 and its Haney magic remains strong to this day.

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Teen Titans #16 (July-Aug 1968). Great googly-moogly, I still get the chills now when I think about this story. I was so intrigued and even creeped out by the “other side of the mirror” type of alternate reality Bob whipped up for this one. Still am, in fact.

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World’s Finest Comics #216 (Feb-Mar 1973). I didn’t actually encounter Bob’s Super Sons until #221, but not long after I got a beat-up copy of this one from a friend and loved it. Only Haney could have told this silly saga to us. And God love ‘im for it.

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World’s Finest Comics #220 (Nov-Dec 1973). My first issue of the series. I didn’t really realize then it was the second part of a story kicked off in the previous issue, and frankly didn’t care. Bob roped me in with another creepy creature concept and that was all that mattered.

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World’s Finest Comics #223 (May-June 1974). Yeah, this one. The One with Bruce Wayne’s Brother. Kind of cool that it was pretty much derided back in the day, but Scott Snyder made it work much later in modern comics. I still get the same kick from the idea that I did as a kid.

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World’s Finest Comics #225 (Sept-Oct 1974). Do you know this one? All you Lovecraft knuckleheads should know this one. Only Bob Haney could come up with a title in 1974 like “Bow Before Satan’s Children.” Maybe Village of the Damned did it first, but nobody could do it like Bob.

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World’s Finest Comics #228 (Mar-Apr 1975). I remember thinking back then, “Where the heck is Robin with all this Super Sons stuff going on?” and then before I could say “Dick Grayson shaves his legs,” there he was, angry over his inheritance being frittered away by Bruce Jr. Fun stuff. I learned about whale-hunting knives from this one.

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1^st Issue Special #3 (June 1975). Bob Haney, Ramona Fradon, Metamorpho, the Element Man. It sure was nice getting the band back together.

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World’s Finest Comics #239 (July 1976). How cool was it for 11-year-old me to see Gold of the Metal Men teaming up with Batman outside of The Brave and the Bold? Add in Superman and a corker of a story and I’d say pretty damn cool.

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World’s Finest Comics #245 (June-July 1977). I got this only a couple of months before Star Wars took over my life, but until it came along I loved a good SF story from Bob Haney, especially if it guest-starred the Martian Manhunter. And let me tell ya, J’onn J’onzz never looked better before this than when he was illustrated by Swanderson.

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MORE

— ZANY BOB HANEY: Dig These 13 Great BRAVE AND THE BOLD Stories. Click here.

— ZANY BOB HANEY: Dig 13 MORE Great BRAVE AND THE BOLD Stories. Click here.

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When JIM BEARD’s not editing and publishing through his two houses, Flinch Books and Becky Books, he’s pounding out adventure fiction with both original and licensed characters. In fact, he’s put words in the mouths of Luke Skywalker, Superman, Fox Mulder, Carl Kolchak, Peter Venkman and the Green Hornet… and lived to tell about it. Check out his Breaking Bold and Brave, available here.