When you’re a kid who has to use your own meager allowance to buy comic books, a company’s surest way to snag that money is a team-up book. At least it was in my spending decision, because it was like getting two titles in one not normally seen together – the four-color equivalent of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

That explains why I grew up with a stack of DC’s THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD in my collection. Each month, Batman would fight crime alongside one B-level hero or another, and the variety of oddball partners month in and month out made for half of the fun. Now 21 before-my-time early issues are collected in the clumsily titled SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD BATMAN TEAM-UPS: VOLUME 1.

I figured the BATMAN TEAM-UPS phrase was redundant, but originally the B&B title featured adventure stories starring the likes of Robin Hood and Shining Knight (so maybe we’ll get a SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD FEY STORYBOOK CHARACTERS down the road).

But these are the first bunch with the Caped Crusader, and he’s every bit the ’60s Batman as one would hope, which means lots of logic-bending concepts. In the first issue, he and Green Lantern break the time barrier to defeat The Time Commander. Alongside Metamorpho, Batman turns into the fat-faced, monosyllabic Bat-Hulk. Joining with Green Arrow, Batman battles a giant bird.

The more obscure sidekicks make for more interesting reading, such as the Metal Men; Eclipso, a half-hero/half-villain; and the otherworldly dudes known as The Spectre and Deadman. Even The Creeper shows up for a round, as does Sgt. Rock, in another time-warping adventure. But that’s not to take away from the big boys, like Flash, who puts in a couple of appearances, or even Wonder Woman, here in her super-sexy, powerless, Emma Peel-esque days. Or Batgirl, Aquaman, Plastic Man, Hawkman, The Atom and Teen Titans, because there’s not a real yawner amongst them.

You gotta love a book that’s not afraid to play around, stretching the boundaries of both silly and serious. I also love how melodramatic some of the issue’s titles are – witness “Punish Not My Evil Son,” “Doom, What Is Thy Shape?” and “So Thunders the Cannoneer!”

Reading BATMAN TEAM-UPS left me juiced for more. If not for the year-based constrictions of the SHOWCASE titles, I’d love to see a collection of the B&B issues currently rotting away in my attic, despite being bagged in plastic. My particular favorite as a horny prepubescent was one in which Batman joined forces with blonde bombshell Black Canary. Because in the climax, he had to save her from bad guys who’d stripped her to her bra and panties, and tied her to a chair. That image (see left) forever seared itself into my brain, and I’m not going to apologize for it – that chick was h-o-t. –Rod Lott

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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATMAN: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE ELONGATED MAN: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS GREEN ARROW: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE HAUNTED TANK: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS JONAH HEX: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS METAMORPHO: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE PHANTOM STRANGER: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS SHAZAM!: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS SUPERMAN FAMILY: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER: VOLUME 1