Curry - The Brave and the Bold: from Silent Knight to Dark Knight; a guide to the DC comic book

The Brave and The Bold

From Silent Knight to Dark Knight

by Michael Curry

Smashwords edition

Copyright 2014

The Brave and the Bold & Batmanare trademarks of DC Comics. All characters shown are TM & DCComics.

The Brave and the Bold, Batman, JusticeLeague of America, Teen Titans, Silent Knight, the Viking Prince,the Suicide Squad, Hawkman, Metamorpho, Strange Sports Stories,Golden Gladiator, Starman, Black Canary and the Viking Prince andall characters associated or otherwise herein are trademarks of DCComics. All associated artwork reproduced in this work is DCComics. All reproductions in this historical overview/index of theBrave and the Bold and related magazines are copyright bythe respective copyright holders, as indicated in conjunction withthe individual illustrations or photographs, and are used herestrictly for historical purposes and under the Fair Use doctrineof 17 USC 106 & 106a for the purposes of criticism andcomment.

Regardless of copyright status, the authorthanks all the creators who poured themselves through their workinto each and every four-colored hero and villain mentioned in thisindex. I wish I could list you all and do justice to your fantasticwork.

Discover other titles by Michael Curry:

Abbys Road, the Long & Winding Road toAdoption; & How Facebook, Aquaman & Theodore RooseveltHelped

and

Toddler TV: A Befuddled Fathers Guide toWhat the Kids are Watching

This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Ifyoure reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was notpurchased for your use only, then please return to your favoriteebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respectingthe hard work of this author.

Michael G. Curry

PO Box 93

Mount Vernon, IL 62864

(618) 246-1296

michael.64.curry@gmail.com

Table of Contents

Note from the Author

Regarding the use of italics - I try toitalicize the title of every comic or magazine. This willclear any confusion between a comic title and a character. When Irefer to Wonder Woman the character, she is not italicized; when Irefer to her comic book, I italicze it - Wonder Woman.

The Brave and the Bold is referred toin many different ways here: The Brave and the Bold, Brave andBold, The Brave & the Bold, B&B, etc. They all mean thesame comic book series.

I may have missed a few and I apologize forthe errors.

Dedication

To my dad who brought home stacks and stacksof comic books when I was a kid for me to enjoy!

And to my departed mother for selling them atyard sales for a nickel. Not that Im bitter ... Ive spent afortune replacing them over the decades yet I would shred them allfor five more minutes with her.

And as always everything I do is dedicated tomy two lovely ladies - my wife Esther and my daughter Abby. I loveyou both with all my heart and soul!

Blazing Adventures

Of silent knights and princes namedJon

Invitation the comic cover called out amidst itsfour-color characters: If you dream of riding in a thunderingchariot if you yearn to explore unknown seas if you are readyto wield a clashing sword to guard an astounding secret then The Golden Gladiator, The Viking Prince, and The Silent Knightinvite you to join them in blazing adventures from now on as amember of THEBRAVE AND THE BOLD !

In May 1955 the first issue of The Braveand The Bold hit the nations news stands. It was published byNational Periodicals (only in the late 1970s did it legally becomeknown as DC Comics) with an August 1955 cover month (hereafter thecover date will be used keep in mind the date the comic wasactually able to be purchased by eager readers would have beenmonths earlier). To introduce new readers to the National Comicsline, #1 featured ads for comics featuring their two biggestcharacters, Superman and Batman, in Action Comics (#206) andDetective Comics (#221) respectively.

Although the number of total comics publishedin the 1950s was more than at any time in history until the 1990s,the number of super-heroes was at its lowest. The funny-animalstrip characters the Fox and the Crow appeared in as many comics asBatman a feat unthinkable today.

A few years ago DC comics rebooted all ofits titles starting at #1. If you dont count the renumbering,there are only five comics published in August 1955 that are stillbeing published today, give or take a hiatus or restructuring of afew months. As you might guess they were the icons of thefour-color world Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman (although itwas also cancelled and restarted as #1 during the 1980s, too, sodoes it count?), Detective Comics and Action Comics. Theonly other superhero magazines at the time were AdventureComics, Worlds Finest (these latter two featured Superboy andthe Superman-Batman respectively, aiding their survival no onebought Worlds Finest to read Green Arrow), and QualityComics Plastic Man, but that would be cancelled within twoyears.

A list of Nationals other comics publishedwhen B&B #1 hit the stands show the typical range ofcomic book readers at the time: A Date with Judy, Our Army atWar, Our Fighting Forces, All American Men of War, The Adventuresof Bob Hope, The Adventures of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis,Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Peter Porkchops, Fox & Crow,Frontier Fighters, Tomahawk, House of Mystery, Mystery in Space, MyGreatest Adventures, Showcase, Strange Adventures, Star SpangledWar Stories, Real Screen Comics, Western Comics and All-StarWestern. I may have missed some. National staples Sugar& Spike (in their own comic) and Tales of theUnexpected had yet to debut. Quality was still publishingmagazines later taken over by National Comics: GI Combat,Plastic Man, Blackhawk and Robin Hood and some romancetitles.

Obviously, grown men in underwear and capeswere not on the priority list of comic book publishers. CaptainMarvel and other Fawcett heroes had been cancelled due toNationals extensive (and expensive) litigation; Timelys CaptainAmerica, Human Torch and Submariner were revived a few times in thefifties without success.

New to comics at the time was the Comics CodeAuthority -- a group created to regulate the content of comic booksto prevent the government from doing it -- ensured no furthersexual exploitation, gruesome and/or violent activity or any fun atall would be depicted in comic books. This rang the death knell forEC Comics and drove their readership underground for the nextthirty years.

The first volley of the superhero revivalwould be fired two months later with Showcase #4 and thereturn of the Flash, ushering in the Silver Age of Comics.B&B #1 and Showcase #3 shared the newsstands.

B&B #1 was a fairly typical comicfor its day focussing on swashbuckling sword operas whereadventures abound in ancient bygone days. Heroes were beyondreproach, their allies no less than absolutely trustworthy,sneering villains were ingenious yet always fallible and damselswere always, always, in distress.

Until issue #16 there were three stories perissue, along with the mandatory page of text (to allow comics to bemailed at magazine subscription rates) and a one-page humorouscartoony strips.

Texts in issues 1 24 include descriptionsof battles, weaponry and peoples, cultures and specific heroes andvillains of Roman and Medieval times. Single page comics rangedfrom public service cartoons regarding the International LaborOrganization, going back to school, Pennies for Unicef, NationalBrotherhood Week and getting a library card. There were alsohumorous knight cartoons scattered throughout the twenty-four issuerun.