Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Brave and Bold

Jim Aparo — Miracle #19

Original Art and The Artists

Brave and Bold #112, May 1974

We continue to celebrate Jack Kirby’s legacy at DC Comics with a special two-week look at Jack’s characters and concepts as envisioned by other creators. 2021 is the Fiftieth anniversary of the Fourth World storyline. *

Mister Miracle makes his first appearance outside of the Jack Kirby DC universe in this cool Batman team-up story in the Brave and The Bold, penciled and inked by the legendary bat-artist Jim Aparo.

Ironically, Kirby’s own Mister Miracle title had been cancelled the month previously, effectively ending the Jack’s interconnected Fourth World, a little more than three years after it started.

Think of it as the 19th Bronze Age issue of Mister Miracle; it would take another three years for an actual issue #19 — without Jack’s involvement — to see the light of day. 

(The bat team of writer Bob Haney and artist Aparo effectively weave Mr. Miracle into the greater DC Universe, and the two escape artists will team up again in issue #126 as well.)

*Purists will note that some of the characters and titles actually made it onto newsstands before the close of 1970, but the fully integrated series (Jimmy Olsen, Forever People, New Gods, and Mister Miracle) — doesn’t fully materialize until the following year.

The final issue of Mister Miracle (#18) is also the final issue in Jack Kirby’s New Gods saga until he returns to it briefly about 10 years later. But hey, miraculously, our great escape artist shows up right on publication schedule —- albeit as a guest star in a Batman book.

Neal Adams — Jailbreak

Original Art and The Artists

Brave and Bold #81, January 1969

Here’s a splashy Neal Adams page from his fourth overall Batman story. 

As always, Neal’s facial emotions are spot on. I love Bork’s smug face, Commissioner Gordon’s shocked expression, and Batman’s frustration with the entire situation. The body language on all the characters on the page also adds drama to the storytelling.

Vince Colletta was the first inker on the story, and Neal wasn’t happy with the results so he and Dick Giordano re-inked some of it. You can see some corrections on this page, and others in the story, when viewing scans of the original art.

Neal Adams Batman from the Silver Age — Definitely pleased to own this one. 

A little whiteout never hurt anyone.