That Zany Bob Haney: The Brave and the Bold 115

The Brave and the Bold #115 (October/November 1974)
"The Corpse That Wouldn't Die!"
Bob Haney-Jim Aparo

Doug: I pen this before I've even read the story: Warning -- The Surgeon General has determined that you need to take your regular dosage of anti-"What the...?!?" pills before you go any further. I only bring this up now, because as I was setting this up using the Comic Book Database for the cover link and creator credits, I came across the following:

Synopsis:
The Batman is well on his way to tracking down a missing girl when he receives a massive electric shock, sending him into a near-death coma. But he's the only one who knows where the girl is being held. Enter the Atom, who by moving about in Batman's brain is able to stimulate his body and get it moving like a puppet. Can Batman's body instinctively get the Atom to the girl in time? And is this the end of the Batman?

Doug: So what are our chances that ol' Bob Haney's going to be extra-zany in this one? Let's have a look-see together then...

Doug: This gets off to a good start. Haney has a narrative box at the top of the splash page that reads: "A dark night in Gotham City -- and rain-slick streets echo with the cry of innocence seized by brutal hands..." Awesome intro. to a Batman tale, isn't it? The abduction of our damsel indeed in distress occurs right on said splash page. The Batman is with Commissioner Gordon a short time later, when the girl's parents arrive. Batman tells Gordon that he already knows the Mantons, having met them through their daughter. The Batman had encountered her through her service work in Gotham's run-down neighborhoods (Haney again uses the word "ghetto", as he did in the Teen Titans team-up we reviewed several weeks ago). But one night while on her way home, Debbie Manton had cut across a playground in the ghetto and had witnessed a mob hit. As the only eyewitness, she did the right thing and went to the law. Trouble was, Buggsy Cathcart's toughs got to her and kidnapped her. As Batman and Gordon walked through the GCPD holding cells, Cathcart let out a laugh. Batman flew into a rage, grabbing the man through his bars and threatening him. Gordon called Batman off, but it was clear -- the Dark Knight was not going to rest until Debbie Manton was saved!

Doug: And then fate set in. The Batman encountered one of his contacts, a wino named Army Eddie. Eddie tipped him off, albeit somewhat cryptically. Batman contacted Gordon to tell him that he has a hunch, but if any cops present themselves the girl would surely be killed -- he hangs up on Gordon without telling him where he's going! So into attack mode went the Caped Crusader, but as he leapt toward the building he received a tremendous shock. Moments later, as Cathcart's thugs gathered around the body, they commented to themselves that it was a good thing they'd juiced up all of the possible entrances to their hide-out. Hey, if I were you or you were me, wouldn't you take the opportunity to, I don't know, UNMASK the Batman? Heck no you wouldn't. You'd do what these bums did -- put his limp body in a car and drive around until you found a good place to chuck him out the door! Duh...

Doug: Once at the hospital, Batman is pronounced clinically dead. Heartbeat, respiration, but no brain activity. The shock had shut down his brain. Again as fate would have it, physicist Ray Palmer happened to be lecturing at the hospital that day. Now, what might you ask would a physicist be lecturing about in a hospital? That was my question, too. But hey -- Haney had to get the co-star into the story somehow. Palmer is summoned to the emergency room; someone knew he had a relationship with Batman, and Gordon simply won't accept the doctor's diagnosis. You think a physicist is qualified to give a second opinion? Really -- would a PhD in history be of any more value here than a PhD in physics? Nah... but that doesn't stop Ray Palmer from concurring with the medical staff.

Doug: As we head into part two, Palmer tells that he actually did have a purpose for being at the hospital -- he was demonstrating a micro-camera/monitor to surgeons. Still not sure how that's physics, but go with it. Palmer mounts the camera on Batman's chest, and holds the receiver. He determines that he is going to take a risky venture and attempt to allow the Batman to finish his last mission. So, shrinking and shrinking some more, the Atom climbs up onto the table and enters the Batman's ear. Haney gives us an anatomy lesson of the inner ear and brain. Not sure it's accurate, but I'm also not going to take the time to look it up. The Atom seems to know an awful lot about the brain and its zonal functions -- shoot, maybe he also has a PhD in psychology! Well, believe it or not, he uses his little footsies to stimulate the part of the brain that... resurrects the Batman!

Doug: Using the receiver in his palm, the Atom sees what Batman sees. Up and moving about, the Atom is manipulating the Dark Knight remote-control style! Batman is like a zombie now (or should we say zuvembie?). The Atom attempts to control his thoughts, but he's really banking on the subconscious of Batman, taking him back to the place where he met his end. The Atom watches the whole trip unfold, until they arrive at an abandoned police station. Taking the barred doorway apart, Batman enters the building. Very shortly he encounters one of Cathcart's hoods. Here is where this gets silly. Oh, wait -- did you think it had already gotten silly? Hey, you're only getting the synopsis -- I'm reading this thing for detail! The Atom decides he'll send Batman a signal to punch this bad guy. So he leaps onto the right side of the cerebrum for the idea, then onto the cerebellum for the execution. Trouble is, he forgot that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. So, reversing his strategy, the Batman delivers a right cross that fells the villain. Yeah!

Doug: As we enter part three, an assailant wallops the Batman with a pipe. The Atom gets knocked around inside the brain but is able to check out his monitor. He sees the baddie raise the pipe for the death blow. Some pseudo-line dancing allows Batman to level a kick at his would-be killer, taking the guy out. But next, a shotgun is leveled at his head. And, as like most bad guys, they don't take the hero out when they have a chance. Somehow, somehow, the Atom gets Batman to do a backward somersault out of harm's way, actually kicking the shotgun in the process (is the gunman killed? We don't see him again...). Finally, Batman walks his way to the room where Debbie Manton is being held by Buggsy Cathcart. Cathcart has a gun to her head, and tells Batman he'll use it. But Batman staggers forward, and collapses in a pile at Cathcart's feet! Feeling smug now, Cathcart must have been surprised when he got whacked hard on the chin -- by the Mighty Mite! The Atom, sensing that Batman's body functions needed to expire in order for the girl to be saved, beat it out of his head to save Debbie on his own.

Doug: Back at the hospital, the Batman is again "dead". Gordon, knowing how the Dark Knight Detective had risen again and saved the girl, continues to rail against the doctors. Suddenly, the machines measuring Batman's brain activity begin to hum again, as waves start to make their way across the screen. Batman will live! Palmer, noted neurosurgeon-wannabe, surmises that the stimulation he'd given the Batman's brain must have jump-started it. Sounds plausible to me... nah.

Doug: Bob Haney writes at the bottom of the last page of this story: "This concludes the most bizarre Brave and Bold epic yet! The B&B beat goes on-- in every issue! Stay with it!" No. Kidding. I'm not sure "bizarre" is a strong enough word. "Offbeat" certainly isn't. But you know what? It was sort of fun. I mean, it's really a twist on what Neal Adams did in Avengers #93, and what we'd see later from the Vision in Avengers #150. And it was certainly a creative way to use the Atom (by the way, talk about a character whose powers seem to be unlimited). And even though I've criticized and/or teased Haney's script (your perspective -- I don't think I was overtly cruel), I must declare that Jim Aparo's art is the best we've seen over the five B&B issues I've reviewed thus far. At the beginning of the story, when Batman cuts loose, that is some really solid work. As always, if you don't take these stories all that seriously, they become a nice 20-minute diversion.

Garrett -- here's your Ray Palmer pipe-shot! -- Doug