This issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD was another comic book that my household wound up owning two copies of, meaning that at some point my younger brother Ken picked up his own copy. Which is understandable in a way, as I would never let him read my comics for fear of them getting damaged. What it was about this specific issue that attracted his attention I really couldn’t tell you. I don’t remember much about the story, my strongest memory of it is the fact that we had two copies of it. So let’s see what it was all about together.
B & B writer Bob Haney had a distinctly individual relationship with continuity. He clearly didn’t care at all about the larger DC cosmology of Earth-1, Earth-2, etc nor even the specifics of a given character’s status quo beyond the needs of whatever immediate story he was telling. And yet, he developed a fondness for a number of Batman’s co-stars in the title, bringing them back again and again. In those case, such as with Wildcat and Plastic Man, he tended to reference his own continuity as though none of the hero’s other exploits outside of B & B mattered. Metamorpho, on the other hand, was his own co-creation, but even here, he skewed away from the broader tone that had been established in the Element Man’s solo outings in order to bring him for firmly into Batman’s world. This shift was carried through in the somewhat grittier artwork of artist Jim Aparo.
This particular adventure opens with Batman heading into the No-Man’s Land area of Gotham City, the most crime-infested section of the metropolis. He’s been promised info on a recent heist by an anonymous informer, but instead he winds up getting jumped by a gang of thugs. But the Masked Manhunter proves more than a match for these lowlife goons, and once he’s dispatched his attackers, the woman who hired them steps out of the shadows. This is Sapphire Stagg, the spoiled daughter of zillionaire Simon Stagg and the girlfriend of Metamorpho. She lured Batman down her in the hopes of enlisting his aid in locating Metamorpho, who had taken off to parts unknown months ago and hasn’t been heard from since. Why she had to go to all of this subterfuge rather than just asking Batman for help is anybody’s guess, but by dangling a million dollars for a Wayne charity in front of Batman, Sapphire recruits him to her cause.
With his new mission, Batman takes off–but he quickly doubles back to waylay a guy who is trying to tail him. This turns out to be private gumshoe Harry Cathcart, who was hired by Simon Stagg to keep tabs on Sapphire and anybody she comes in contact with. Batman scoffs at the idea that Cathcart could tail him anywhere and takes off, but the private eye proves relentless in the hours that follow, always turning up one step behind the Masked Manhunter. Unbeknownst to Batman, however, there’s another party who’s also on his tail. This is Achilles, an international assassin who’s been hired to take out Batman. Anyway, the World’s greatest Detective probes films of recent sporting events, focusing on a Grand Prix race in which one of the drivers was killed but no body was found. By studying the tape, Batman dopes out that the driver was Rex Mason, Metamorpho himself, operating under a fake alias. He survived the crash by transforming himself into a gaseous state. This sends Batman off to the Riviera to attempt to pick up Mason’s trail.
From the Riviera, Batman follows a string of Rex mason’s aliases to first Marsailles and then Turkey. Along the way, he’s twice accosted by Achilles, whom Batman describes as “the only international assassin who uses darts”, apparently a signature move, In each case, the Caped Crusader had been hoping to turn the tables on Achilles but in each instance he’s fouled up by the unexpected presence of Cathcart dogging his tracks. (On one occasion, he’s saved when Achilles’ dart gets blocked by a cheese given to Batman to pass on to the well-loved Metamorpho by a friend in Marseilles. Eventually, though, Batman heads towards the hidden city of Kaldoz, where he’s heard that Metamorpho has agreed to drive a truck across the border. Figuring that there must be something nefarious going on, Batman intends to intercede.
But the helicopter that Batman is travelling in almost crashes when a condor flies into the rotor blades (!). Before Batman is killed, though, a colossal magnesium hand reaches out and grabs the plummeting copter out of midair–it’s the elusive Element Man at last! Batman and Metamorpho confab, and the Masked Manhunter voices his suspicions that the truck Rex is meant to drive back to Kaldoz will be smuggling something illegal. While the two heroes wait, they se a wagonload of gold being prepared as an offering to Dabushka, the Mountain Devil. A giant monster is something that Metamorpho has to see for himself, so he extends his legs and makes for the cordoned-off sacrifice site. And there is a giant fire-breathing creature there. So Metamorpho goes on the attack.
Rex penetrates the shell of the monster, discovering that it’s just a made-up gas balloon meant to frighten people Scooby Doo-style. Down below, a criminal gang has the truck he drove there and is replating the entire thing with the sacrificial gold, intending for it to be driven back over the border. Oh, and Achilles is clobbered in the melee too, turns out he was hired by the bad guys to keep Batman away from Metamorpho, which doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. There’s also a last panel reference that seems to hint at the idea that Metamorpho had been posing as Cathcart the entire time, but that thread doesn’t add up either, nor is it truly tied up properly. In fact, the plotting on this story is pretty godawful and stream-of-consciousness, as though Haney was just making things up as he went along.
This issue did include a new week’s edition of the Daily Planet promotional page, with another quirky Fred Hembeck cartoon strip and more answers to the readership’s assorted questions by Bob Rozakis.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
Re: B&B #154. You mentioned that Bob Haney had his own ideas about continuity and wouldn’t reference the various characters appearances outside of his B&B run, and in many cases creating his own continuity. I may have been in the minority, but as a kid I never minded, or noticed. I just wanted a good story for my $.25-$.35.
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Reading the first Batman/Sgt. Rock team-up last year I was struck that while DC ads make a huge thing (how can Batman team up with Rock in WW II? How? HOW?) Haney treats it like it’s completely unremarkable.
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Y’know, if this were a 60’s DC comic, I’d cut Haney some slack for the loopy story. But given that we’re in the forty cent price era, I can’t be so forgiving. This story definitely qualifies as “Not Good.” I mean even with the plot contrivances necessary for team-up books to function – Hey, Superman, who knew you’d just happen to be in this section of Thanagar? – there must dozens of better stories and means to be these two characters together. Which is a shame as I like Metamorpho.
Can I also add that you would almost have to have a separate continuity for someone as busy as the Dark Knight to find time to get into various adventures with a different crime fighter every month.
At least the art worked for me as I never mind Jim Aparo. And to keep this on a positive note, I fully believe that we’d be worse off as a society if there hadn’t been Fred Hembeck’s silly humor in these comics as well as over at Marvel.
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This was in the era when I bought B&B consistently but I don’t remember this story at all. Then again, why would I? As you say, it’s a mess.
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“No Man’s Land” worse than “Crime Alley”. Wasn’t “No Man’s Land” a big, line-wide crossover “event” 10 or so years after this?
The “Scooby-Doo” reference in Tom’s review jibes with Batman’s awkward joke at the end.
Sometimes I have to pause to check out the “Daily Planet” page. Especially if the accompanying art is notable, as these 3 headshots by Joe Kubert. That digest collection features art by some all-time greats: Jow Kubert, Alex Toth, Russ Heath, John Severin.
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*Yikes. Joe Kubert. Apologies.
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Who among us has not been saved by a big wheel of cheese, SMH
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…and he still screamed.
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I always found Haney’s idiosyncratic style rather refreshing. Heavy on gimmicks and frequently full of plot holes, but never dull.
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I take it Bob Haney got free rein to do whatever he wanted on this series, cause you would think that the Editor would have said this doesn’t make sense Bob. I better plot would either be something along the lines of the 3-part crossover event “World’s Finest” on Superman: The Animated Series ( October 4, 1997 ) on the WB: But with Wayne-Stagg and not Wayne Enterprises-Lexcorp; they use gold in technology, so that could be stolen and Achilles is there to stop anyone trying to get it back or it could just be theft of Simon Stagg’s gold he plans to use and Metamorpho & Sapphire asks Batman for help in getting it back.
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If we ever get more Marvel/DC Crossovers, as one of the backup stories they should do The Thing ( & Alicia Masters/Grimm ) & Metamorpho ( Sapphire Stagg ) like the Spider-Man ( & Mary Jane Watson ) & Superman ( & Lois Lane ) that Jim Lee drew since the 2 women were there for the action, unlike Gwen Stacy & Lana Lang.
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I loved Haney’s stories because of the silliness, idiosyncratic continuity, and seat of the pants plotting. If I won a big lottery, I’d commision a mini set on Earth Haney!
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You mean Earth-B. (B for Bob, and for ‘Brave and Bold”.) I think Bob Rozakis the Answer Man postulated Earth-B once or twice.
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Exactly! Giffen would have been perfect for a story like that. Anyone else who could pull it off?
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Yeah, but it was B for Boltinoff, the editor.
Me, I thought those stories took place on Earth-Twinkie, the parallel reality where all the DC and Marvel heroes had stupid adventures involving cheap mass market baked goods.
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Al Ewing needs to write it! His Metamorpho was the first since Haney that manged to capture that whole feel and get it right!
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Agreed. Possibly the only time Lonnie Donegan has ever been mentioned in an American comic, too.
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J. Michael Straczynski did some great B&B’s with Dial H for Hero, Doom Patrol, Inferior Five. Blackhawk
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I personally find the Haney/Aparo lengthy run on B&B very enjoyable. Haney’s dizzying plots are exhilarating. Some stories have poetic content. The single issue stories are fun. Haney gave the book a James Bond quality. Jim Aparo is one of the best artists in the business. Great use of shadow and his girls are very pretty.Favourites were the Phantom Stranger, Black Canary, Sgt. Rock, Lois Lane.
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This is the Batman I grew up with, so naturally he’ll always be my favorite. He’s a globe-trotting detective-scientist, as likely to be unraveling an occult conspiracy as dismantling a criminal syndicate or mercenary operation. One moment he’s combing for clues in Suicide Slum; the next he’s speaking fluent Turkish with informants in the back alleys of Istanbul. That boundless sense of adventure is what defined Batman for me.
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Even as an eleven year old I found Haney’s writing poor. Lazy in some ways – like a sailor being nicknamed “Boats”. This issue is particularly bad as Metamorpho is only in about 6 pages and it is a farcical plot. I was glad when other writers were put on the book.
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B&B was also the book where Neal Adams started developing Batman into a darker character. Particularly enjoyable is Neal’s Bats & Deadman.
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lot of comments about Haney here. Worth noting that this was towards the very end of his long B & B run…
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I was never really a fan of team-ups, so I rarely read The Brave and the Bold. I also didn’t read bronze age issues regularly, as I prefered to buy and read old silver and golden age (when I could) issues instead. I started buying new comics again around the start of what some are calling the copper age (which works for me, as I stopped reading comics altogether in the early to mid-ninties.
I recently subscribed to DC Universe Infinte (and Marvel Unlimited) to be able to read/reread silver and (when available) golden age issues, as well some of the major events I missed the past three decades (like Flashpoint) and several current titles I started reading the past two years.
Beyond that I’ve decided to read the issues Tom posts about (when available to me). I found this story to be below average in plot, but I do like Jim Aparo’s artwork. I recall his Batman from Batman and the Outsiders, of which I bought and read every issue.
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This issue was my introduction to Jim Aparo’s art, and I imprinted on it. I will never be happy with a cinematic Batman until they cast someone who looks like Aparo drew him — long, lean, tall, and lithe, with sharp, handsome features. I know Aparo gets dubbed a lesser Neal Adams, but he was his own man. This story is pretty non sequitur, but as it’s my introduction to comic book Batman, Metamorpho, and Jim Aparo, it holds a special place in my heart.
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