Seeing as how this is year is Batman’s 75th Anniversary; it makes sense to check out an old Batman comic. The Brave and the Bold concept is pretty great and I’m always up for a good team up. Batman’s had several of these series over the years and they’ve all been pretty good. There are six comics in the collection and it’s time to see if they were all winners!

The first comic was easily the best one of the batch and that’s definitely a nice way to start the collection. The Phantom Stranger has brought all of the Robins together so that they can save Batman. Batman has been shot and the injury appears to be fatal. Can the Robins find a way to put aside their differences and save the Caped Crusader before all is lost!?

This comic was very fun since all of the Robins got to interact. Who wouldn’t want to see these guys take a swing at each other? Unfortunately they don’t get to fight, but we do get to see them team up. I’m not a huge fan of Nightwing’s costume in this one, but the character was portrayed correctly. Tim Drake and Jason Todd were my favorite Robins in this adventure. Todd even got some free foreshadowing about what would happen to him, but luckily he didn’t piece it together. The plot isn’t very convincing since the Phantom Stranger could have summoned anyone to help, but maybe he just wanted to teach the Robins some teamwork. We get some cameos from a few other heroes at the end, which could have made for a nice adventure as well. The comic also gets some extra points for giving Batman a nice amount of willpower when the going got tough.

The second comic had a Christmas theme and it involved the Ragman. There weren’t any big criminals in this comic, but the Ragman isn’t very happy. In his neighborhood, the people have fallen into tough times and everyone is pretty poor. He can stop the hoodlums from causing trouble, but he can’t give them any money. He lets Batman know about his troubles, but then they realize that the hoodlums may have a boss. It could be time for Batman to show why he’s one of the legendary heroes!

This comic was decently good. It’s supposed to be an emotional comic and emotional stories aren’t as fun as action packed ones. That being said, the Ragman is a better character than I would have thought. He’s basically a second rate Batman, but he’s still a fun hero to root for. He is definitely not that optimistic, but by the end of the comic he remembers why its good to be cheerful. Batman made the right call at the end of the issue and it’s something that you would expect from the Caped Crusader.

The third comic featured Mr Miracle as he becomes trapped along with Batman. They don’t know how they’ve been trapped, but they need to get out as fast as they can. There are numerous traps and they will not only test how physically capable the heroes are, but it will also test how long their minds can hold out against the strain!

I liked the twist at the end of the comic and it was cool to see the heroes try to dodge all of the traps. They squeeze in a pretty big villain at the end of the issue, which makes for a pretty unbelievable ending. However, Mr Miracle is around and he does have that name for a reason. They give him a lot of hype and while I believe that Batman is even better at escaping traps; Mr Miracle can be a decent character as well. He has a little too much fun through the danger parts and that’s something that I can never really find believable, but it’s good to know that he enjoys his job. Batman is naturally the one who suspects that something is up and we also get to see how durable he is.

Every comic collection needs to have one comic that drags down the rest and this is what the fourth comic does. Batmite decides that he needs to have someone that’s more important than a friend to him, but Batman isn’t sure that this is a wise idea. Will Batmite learn that romance is not quite as intense as it appears or will Batman have to take him down!?

There’s not much to say about this comic. Batmite was as unlikable as ever and the comic just wasn’t funny. Romance doesn’t make for a great plot in a comedy adventure like this one and Batman didn’t look so good. He let Batmite verbally defeat him in each of their battles. If only Batmite would learn once and for all that Batman is a great hero who does not need any help. You may just want to skip this comic.

The fifth comic had the biggest guest star. Wally West is in town and he’s determined to prove to Batman that he’s a capable hero. He even takes a shot at the Teen Titans, but Batman lets it slide. When there’s a robbery in the city, Flash decides to challenge Batman to a contest. The winner will find the culprit, stop him, and recover the jewels first. Batman never resists a good challenge so the fight is on!

The plot for the comic was pretty good and I’m always up for a race. Wally may have been a little desperate to beat Batman, but it’s okay since this isn’t Barry Allen. With Flash’s super speed it could even be a little believable that he could find the culprit before Batman. It’s a best of three battle, but I can assure you that we don’t get the usual cop out. They don’t tie in the final round and that would have been sad. We do get a big twist at the end of the comic, but it actually helped the ending and everything suddenly made a lot of sense. Batman is definitely a team player and this comic reminds us of that.

The final comic shows how tough a week can be for someone like Batman. He’s needed by many other superheroes and he’ll be facing some of the toughest villains around. Can Batman really match up against this onslaught of villains? Well, Batman definitely has the last laugh when the comic ends and this is also one of the better ones in the collection.

This issue was basically a montage as we get 2 pages for every day of Batman’s week. One day he’s fighting Mongul and the next he’s dealing with Jonah Hex in the past. Batman’s a busy guy so I’m sure that you’re not surprised to see him taking on all of these threats. As fun as the comic was, the ending is what really made it stand out. One guy asks Batman if he really needs everyone’s help all of the time and Batman quickly clears things up. “They need my help!” is basically Batman’s response and it does ring true. Whenever a situation arises, the heroes tend to run to Batman for help. Who else could they trust to save the world?

Batman appears in each of the comics and they do a good job of making him into a likable character. Batman has several different personalities as you go through the eras and this one focuses on his happy personality from the old days. I love this take on Batman since we don’t get it so often. Seeing Batman crack a few puns can get you a little more interested in who he’s actually fighting. Batman looked incredible in all of the good comics in this batch so I really don’t have any complaints about how he was handled. He’s Batman…and that’s all that needs to be said.

The art is pretty good and it’s easy to read. The artist definitely styled it after the TV show and it works for these comics. I wouldn’t say that the art is very high tier, but it’s good enough to be called a very good piece of art. In a way, it may remind you of the art from the 80’s or 70’s and that was a solid era.

Overall, this is a pretty fun collection of comics. It is pretty short so you don’t want to pay a high price for this trade paperback, but it’s worth a standard price. From the 6 comics, all of them were pretty good except for the Batmite one. The comics have a nice mix of action and comedy with Batman getting all of the best punchlines. I’ve always loved Batman’s portrayal in these stories and it’s easy to see why he’s so popular. If you haven’t already read these comics…..I recommend changing that now!

Overall 7/10