A BIRTHDAY SALUTE: The celebrated Mr. K pays tribute to one of comics’ most entertaining writers…
By PAUL KUPPERBERG
For me, the Silver/Bronze Age title most closely associated with writer Bob Haney (March 15, 1926–Nov. 25, 2004) was DC’s The Brave and the Bold, especially the period between 1966 and 1979 when it was the regular Batman team-up book. With editor Murray Boltinoff and artists Neal Adams and Jim Aparo, Haney forged a memorable run for many Dark Knight fans of a certain age. My favorite Batman depiction of all time remains the Haney/Aparo version from the early-1970s.
Bob was an insanely prolific writer, getting his start at DC in 1954 for editor Robert Kanigher on the war titles, with occasion forays into the Westerns edited by Kanigher’s office mate, Julie Schwartz. When it started, The Brave and the Bold was an adventure title, reminiscent of kids’ television programming of the day and starring a trio of historic heroes, Robin Hood, Golden Gladiator, and the Viking Prince. With the 25th issue, B&B was transformed into a tryout title, like Showcase, with three and four issue tests of such concepts as Suicide Squad, Justice League of America, Hawkman, Cave Carson Adventures Inside the Earth, and Strange Sports Stories… until B&B #50’s first superhero team-up story, written by Bob. An early Sgt. Rock one-shot and two-issue introduction of Metamorpho (written by Haney, co-created by Ramona Fradon) aside, B&B would remain a team-up book for the rest of its existence.
Batman co-starred in a few of the early team-ups but didn’t take the regular lead in B&B until Issue #67. Neal didn’t enter the picture until #75, Aparo until #98, and Haney stayed on the book until #157 in 1979.
I made a few observations about Bob’s famously casual attitude toward what little continuity existed in the DC Universe in those days, in Direct Conversations: Talks with Fellow DC Comics Bronze Age Creators, noting he “was pretty contemptuous of the whole idea of continuity. I once asked him about something from one of those Brave and the Bold stories, and he snorted and laughed and said that trying to keep all that crap straight was too much of a hassle and gave him a headache, and it was all BS anyway. Essentially, ‘When continuity gets in the way of a good story, ignore the continuity.’ He was just writing the Batman he wanted to write. I doubt he even bothered keeping up with what the other Bat-writers were doing. … I think he thought all the talk and worry over things like continuity was bullshit, like, how could grown-ups take all this fairy tale fluff so seriously?”
But we’re not here to celebrate the Batman B&B (buddy Jim Beard covered that last year on this date). This year, to celebrate Bob’s birthday, I’ve decided instead to spotlight MY 13 FAVORITE BOB HANEY BRAVE AND THE BOLD STORIES — WITHOUT BATMAN:
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The Brave and the Bold #12 (June – July 1957). Robin Hood in “The Apple of Peril,” art by Russ Heath. Cover by Irv Novick.
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The Brave and the Bold #19 (August – September 1958). “The Challenge of the Flying Horse,” art by Joe Kubert. Cover by Novick.
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The Brave and the Bold #50 (October – November 1963). “Wanted—the Capsule Master!” art and cover by George Roussos.
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The Brave and the Bold #51 (December 1963 – January 1964). “Fury of the Exiled Creature,” art and cover by Howard Purcell.
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The Brave and the Bold #53 (April – May 1964). “The Challenge of the Expanding World,” art by Alex Toth. Cover by Bob Brown.
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The Brave and the Bold #54 (June – July 1964). “The Thousand-and-One Doons of Mr. Twister,” art and cover by Bruno Premiani.
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The Brave and the Bold #55 (August – September 1964). “Revenge of the Robot Reject,” art and cover by Ramona Fradon and Charles Paris.
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The Brave and the Bold #56 (October – November 1964). “Raid of the Mutant Marauders,” art and cover by Bernard Baily.
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The Brave and the Bold #63 (December 1965 – January 1966). “The Revolt of the Super-Chicks,” art John Rosenberger. Cover by Jim Mooney.
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The Brave and the Bold #65 (April – May 1966). “Alias Negative Man,” art by Dick Giordano and Sal Trapani. Cover by Premiani.
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The Brave and the Bold #66 (June – July 1966). “Wreck the Renegade Robots,” art by Mike Sekowsky and Mike Esposito. Cover by Ramona Fradon and Charles Paris.
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The Brave and the Bold #72 (June – July 1967). “Phantom Flash, Cosmic Traitor,” art by Carmine Infantino and Chuck Cuidera. Cover by Infantino and Murphy Anderson.
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The Brave and the Bold #73 (August – September 1967). “Galg the Destroyer,” art by Howard Purcell and Trapani. Cover by Infantino and Cuidera.
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MORE
— ZANY BOB HANEY: Dig These 13 Great BRAVE AND THE BOLD Stories — Starring BATMAN. Click here.
— THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: What JIM APARO Thought of BATMAN’s Many Guest Stars. Click here.
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PAUL KUPPERBERG was a Silver Age fan who grew up to become a Bronze Age comic book creator, writer of Superman, the Doom Patrol, and Green Lantern, creator of Arion Lord of Atlantis, Checkmate, and Takion, and slayer of Aquababy, Archie, and Vigilante. He is the Harvey and Eisner Award nominated writer of Archie Comics’ Life with Archie, and his YA novel Kevin was nominated for a GLAAD media award and won a Scribe Award from the IAMTW. Now, as a Post-Modern Age gray eminence, Paul spends a lot of time looking back in his columns for 13th Dimension and in books such as Direct Conversations: Talks with Fellow DC Comics Bronze Age Creators and Direct Comments: Comic Book Creators in Their own Words, available, along with a whole bunch of other books he’s written, by clicking the links below.
Website: https://www.paulkupperberg.net/
March 15, 2023
Happy birthday to the late Bob Haney!
March 15, 2023
I’ve some of those in the 100 pp Super Specs. I want to read all of them
March 15, 2023
The Flash / Atom team up was a gorgeous classic, thanks in no part to the beautiful Alex Toth art.
Today’s DC should look to these stories and have more unusual team ups for their characters in stories now.
March 15, 2023
Oh, if only there had been a second Brave and Bold Team-Up Archive so that more of these non-Batman stories could have been reprinted in a nice format. Since half and a couple more of the stories from that period have already been reprinted, it seems like it would be an easy production to come back and create a good softcover collection with all of the B&B stories from that time.
March 15, 2023
Take my money now! Great idea
March 15, 2023
Bob Haney did so much great work on B&B! Thanks for the list!
March 15, 2023
Wonderful! Thanks so much for these images! For some reason I saw the cover of #72 advertised in a lot of secondhand comics I bought at the used stores in the 70s. Wow!
March 16, 2023
I agree with Bob about not letting continuity get in the way of a good story! His tales always read as such joyous displays of FUN! Happy Birthday, Bob! Never forgotten!
March 17, 2023
I agree 100% with Bob. Tell great stories, period.