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Batman + The Flash vs Phantom Killer (1979)

Chris Well

The two heroes go in separate directions to deal with the killer.

My enjoyment of Brave and the Bold issue #151 was renewed when I recently bought the digital issue for Kindle.

For years, one of the regular comic book series starring Batman was Brave and the Bold. What made the series stand out was it regularly included a guest star superhero—ranging from big names like Wonder Woman and Green Arrow, to more obscure guests like Metamorpho and the Metal Men.

Find out more about Brave and the Bold at DC Database

For Monster Complex friends like you, I should also mention the few times the book featured horror and/or supernatural comics characters like the Spectre, Zatanna, Doctor Fate, Swamp Thing, Phantom Stranger, the star of “I...Vampire,” and the Demon. There was even an issue of Brave and the Bold that featured as a “guest” the House of Mystery, a comic series that offered scary and creepy tales of its own.

Right now, I want to zero in one one of my favorite issues—1979’s issue #151, by writer Bob Haney and artist Jim Aparo—which featured one of my favorite DC Comics characters, The Flash. More importantly, I loved the story—which involved a killer phantom, and the fact that the two heroes went in separate directions to deal with the killer.

Throughout the course of a mere 17 pages, The Flash is trapped by a spirit in the haunted disco, Batman squares off against bombers from the mob, The Flash uses superspeed to shield Batman from automatic gunfire, and we watch a historical threat that requires time travel.

I don’t want to ruin the story for you, so I won’t spill any more about the plot. Just know that I loved this when I first read it as a kid, and my enjoyment of the story was renewed when I recently bought the digital issue for my Kindle app.

I also want to mention the fabulous art by Jim Aparo. He is one of my favorite artists who once worked on Batman.

Oddly, it’s difficult to find a Brave and the Bold reprint collection that includes this issue. The collections I found listed way earlier issues or way later issues.

As such, I had to buy the individual comic. Fortunately, if you buy the digital edition, you aren’t hit with the heftier “collector’s item” price.

Buy Brave and the Bold #151 from Amazon (affiliate link)

Related links

Batman Comic Book Team-Ups | The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Watch the video below as the folks at ComicPOP discuss three Batman team-ups with no-DC characters Danger Girl, The Maxx, and The Spirit…

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