Thursday, October 15, 2009

Memoirs of a Bronze Age Baby: Brave and the Bold #145

I've likely mentioned on here that the Brave andCheck Spelling the Bold is my all-time favourite comic book series. I have a run from #50 right through to #200, This was the first copy of Brave and the Bold I ever got off the racks. The idea of my favourite character (Batman) teaming up with new heroes each month, was pure bliss for this fledgling fanboy. My copy, however, is a Whitman, and I'm 95% sure that it came as part of a 3-pack. I would have been nearly 6 when this book hit stores - but maybe my copy was acquired a while later as I'm certain those '3-Packs' lagged behind the regularly published versions of the book. I must admit that the subject matter might have been a bit intense for me at the time - but I found the Phantom Stranger to be particularly intriguing. This was also my first exposure to Jim Aparo's artwork and I was sold from day one. This book features plenty of panels where the character are standing on the 'Aparo tilt'. That single technique gave so much life to otherwise static panels. Perhaps not the greatest issue of B&B, but you never forget your first.

2 comments:

Andrew Wahl said...

Scott:

I wasn't a big fan of The Brave & the Bold growing up, but find it's one of the titles I'm really enjoying since I started reviewing Bronze Age books earlier this year. Aparo was an artist I could take or leave growing up, but find him rapidly rising on my list of favorite artists. (FYI, I'm reviewing B&B #181, the classic Hawk and Dove issue, for Comics Bronze Age tomorrow.)

Cheers,
Andrew

Ray "!!" Tomczak said...

The first issue of B&B I read wass #128 with Mr. Miracle. Up til then, most of my exposure to Batman came from the Adam West series and Superfriends, so you can imagine what a revelation this issue was to me, especially Aparo's rendition of Batman with the long pointy bat ears and flowing cape. Since then B&B has become my favorite comic book of all time.